The player parries an undead guard's attack with their sickle in The Citadel Project. (Image credit: Reliquary Software)

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It's a great time to be a fan of both Thief: The Dark Project and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. A Thief remaster from Nightdive—which features a new campaign—is coming next month , while Dark Messiah is getting a Ubisoft-approved community edition that adds co-op, new modes and more. There are also numerous spiritual successors in the works for both games, such as the dark and Thief-y Gloomwood and the Dark Messiah-inspired Fatekeeper and Alkahest.

Until earlier today, I hadn't seen a game inspired by both Thief and Dark Messiah at the same time (apart from Dishonored, I suppose, though that was made by Dark Messiah developers Arkane, so I'm not sure that counts). But that all changed when The Citadel Project snuck through my eyes and booted my ignorance right out of my brain.

Created by solo outfit Reliquary Software, The Citadel Project synthesises the designs of Thief and Dark Messiah with first-person indie gaming's current fascination with megastructures. It casts you as a sickle-wielding prisoner trying to escape a sprawling medieval fortress prowled by shambling undead guards.

The Citadel Project's Thief leanings are most obvious at a glance. Environments are shrouded in shadow, stealth is your greatest asset, and your character carries a crossbow that can fire various kinds of bolts—including water bolts and moss quarrels. The Dark Messiah DNA, meanwhile, is most prominent in the physics engine. Alongside being able to slip past enemies, your character can give them a hard shove in the back, shunting them off ledges and into conveniently placed spike traps.

The Citadel Project - Official Early Access Date Trailer - YouTube The Citadel Project - Official Early Access Date Trailer - YouTube

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There's a demo available which sees you sneaking through a network of subterranean caverns having escaped your incarceration. I took this for a spin, and as a stealth game, The Citadel Project is fairly meat & potatoes, while some of the player/enemy interactions would benefit from a little refinement. That said, the atmosphere is enjoyably moody, while the environments have a pleasing scale to them.

Alongside Thief and Dark Messiah, there's a sprinkling of Dark Souls in The Citadel Project too. There are bonfire-like checkpoints where you can upgrade your character, while the story is told through item descriptions and notes that you collect as you progress. To be clear though, while there is combat and even a parry system, this is a stealth game through and through, and it's nothing like as demanding as FromSoft's formidable RPGs.

In short, I had a pleasant time skulking through The Citadel Project's shadows, and I'll be curious to see what the "full" game looks like when it launches into Steam early access on November 11. Thief Remastered and Dark Messiah's community edition aren't far behind it, either. The latter is due to arrive sometime in December, while the former has a more specific launch date of December 3.

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Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.