VIDEO: Gloomwood trailer from The PC Gaming Show (also on YouTube)

Gloomwood is not Thief, because it looks like Thief and feels like Thief at times. But despite the similarities, it is a very unique experience. It is more of a survival horror than a stealth game, and the structure is different: instead of linear, disjointed missions, the game takes place in one open city with multiple connected districts.

Perhaps the most striking difference, however, is that avoiding violence is not a priority as in the "Thief" games; Gloomwood's protagonist is not a master thief looking to maintain his reputation, but simply an assassin looking to survive.

Gloomwood's arsenal dispels any doubts about the difference. There are no blackjacks or flashbangs here: cane swords are quiet but deadly, and the fallback option is the gun. Guns are noisy, take a long time to reload, and ammunition is scarce, so you won't get far by blasting at everything in sight. However, the presence of this gun gives you the option of reloading instantly when (i.e., when) things get seriously bad.

In one play through of the new Gloomwood preview build, I made it quite a distance through the opening area of town without being spotted. It turns out that just because the tutorial tells you to kill people doesn't mean you actually have to kill them.

In Thief this kind of failure is a disaster, but in Gloomwood it's just ugly. I pulled out my pistol and took out the first target, wasting three of his buddies who had come into the room to find out what all the fuss was about. Not exactly the pinnacle of professionalism, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.

There is no penalty for shouting, except for the obvious headache: if the noise causes the enemy to flee and the firefight drags on, you could be put in a tough situation where you need to put a bullet in someone, but have no bullets left. Gloomwood, however, seems to have anticipated this eventuality and has provided plenty of deep shadows to hide in and Deus Ex-like ventilation shafts. While stealth is obviously essential to success, Gloomwood's apparent willingness to let the hammer fall is a nice change from games that are loaded with weapons and power and then punish you for using them.

In full stealth mode, though, Gloomwood really rings the old Thief bell. It's easy to kill him, but it's exhilarating to hide under a staircase or behind a barrel, to listen for footsteps and time the guards' movements, or to dash into a room, grab a key, and slip out again unnoticed.

Gloomwood's demo is still a work in progress; the AI is still rough around the edges. At one point, an alarmed guard opened the door to a room where a dead body had been left, but got stuck behind the door and eventually returned to idle. There is no voice acting or guard chatter, but Dave Oshry of publisher New Blood Interactive said both will be implemented in the future.

He also told me a surprise that Thief fans will love: New Blood is working to bring Stephen Russell, the voice actor for Garrett and Corvo Attano, into the game. If that happens, there will no doubt be rejoicing among long-time Thief fans.

Despite its rough edges, I was really impressed when I played it, and while I had high hopes for Gloomwood from the start, playing this early build makes me even more excited for what's to come. Gloomwood will be available on Steam Early Access later this year, and you can play the demo now.