Fantasy heist sim Project Shadowglass is even more inspired by Thief than I had realised, as a new trailer shows off water arrows, blackjack knockouts, and authentically sloppy swordfighting

I was already aware that Project Shadowglass was at least partly inspired by Looking Glass' stealth masterpiece Thief: The Dark Project. Fellow sneaky bastard Ted Litchfield picked some promising nuggets out of Shadowglass' purse in January, such as open-ended levels featuring guards and traps and simulated 3D audio inspired by Thief's pioneering propagation tech.

But I had severely underestimated just how much of Garrett's DNA is in Starhelm Studios' dark fantasy sneak 'em up. A new trailer for Project Shadowglass debuted at the Future Games Show late last week, and Starhelm's game is so deeply Thief coded you can almost hear it muttering 'Taffer' under its breath.

It doesn't seem that way at first, with the trailer's initial moments focussing on Shadowglass' striking art style. According to its Steam page, Shadowglass uses "a new 3D technology approach to deliver nostalgic pixelated graphics in smooth, full 360 degree freedom." It certainly looks distinctive, almost like a King's Quest game running in real-time 3D.

Project Shadowglass has a daytime component where you plan your missions and can (apparently) explore the game's medieval city openly. But it's at night where the Thief inspirations really come to the fore, as the trailer shows. The allusions to Looking Glass' work are initially broad, like skulking across tiled rooftops, peeking around alley corners, and bonking guards on the head with a blackjack.

Then, Shadowglass' protagonist pulls out a bow and douses a torch with a water arrow. Thief 5 confirmed.

While I inevitably appreciate how Shadowglass wears its inspirations on its sleeve, I am also glad to see that Starhelm has a few tricks of its own. The video shows the ability to slide down rooftops, shoot explosive barrels with fire arrows, and splash water arrows on the floor so guards slip on the liquid. The swordfighting also looks slightly more involved than OG Thief too, though the Steam page notes that your character still fights "sloppily", which is exactly how swordfighting in a stealth game should work.

There are more exciting features mentioned on the Steam page too. The planning stage of a heist will involve "research", with you choosing when, where, and how to plunder buildings. Your actions in the game world will also have long-term ramifications. Getting caught will see you thrown into a prison that you'll have to escape from, while the city's security will tighten as guards become aware that a thief is about. Killing people will also increase the citizenry's fear of you, possibly to the point where they'll flee from you on sight.

It sounds rad, to be honest. There's no release date for Project Shadowglass yet. The Steam page says it is still in "early development", so I wouldn't expect it to arrive soon. But the trailer suggests the game has come a long way since the video Starhelm posted in January, and a demo is planned for later this year, which I can't wait to try.