The first thing I said to Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio, Co-creative Directors at Arkane, after seeing a double run-through of a level in Dishonored, was, “The stealth looks really good.” Coming from the Editor of Sneaky Bastards, I hoped the compliment would carry some weight. “My god,” Smith replies, “you have no idea how important that is to us.” I was absolutely sincere. With its unbreaking first-person perspective, light and shadow system, intriguing AI innovations, suite of supernatural powers and overpowering ambience, what I saw of Dishonored evoked the very title that was the genesis of the stealth genre and Sneaky Bastards itself: Thief. But this was Thief on speed. “That was the original intention,” says Colantonio.