As most of you know by now, Stephen Russell, the man who graced former Thief games with his presence and voice-over work for master thief Garrett, will not be reprising his role for the series' fourth iteration. The first episode of Eidos Montreal's community video series attempts to delve into why they have gone in a different direction with Thief. It features interviews with narrative director Steve Gallagher and audio director Jean-Christophe Verbert as well as the new voice actor. So if it isn't Russel... who is it?

Enter Romano Orzario, an actor whose work you may be familiar with, but isn't really worth digging too far into if you're not. He's the chosen new voice and face for the legendary thief, and his face will be used as basis for the model of Garrett's face. And what a face it is. Romano looks like he's seen more action scenes than Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger combined.

Like with most material found on Thief nowadays, there's not an abundance of information to take away from this video. There's a few tidbids and details here and there, though. You'll get a bit more intimate with the character and the actor portraying him, you'll hear some of the voice work, and you'll get a bit of an insight into the decisions that lead to Romano's selection. Steven Gallagher, narrative director at Eidos Montreal, wants to reassure players that changing the voice actor doesn't mean this isn't still Thief:

"I know for some people it's going to be a bit of a shock that we've changed the voice actor for Garrett, but we've put a lot of time and effort into this for good reasons, and I'm 100% confident that Romano is doing a fantastic job. He is Garrett now, for me. I can guarantee you are going to enjoy his performance in the game."

So let me ask you: Does this ruin Thief for you? Was Stephen Russel the only Thief you will ever want to know? Honestly, did you even know the actor's name in the first place, before Eidos announced they wouldn't use him for the fourth instalment in the series? If you're a more rational person who doesn't spout out hatred and start making assumptions and determinations at a way too early stage, then please for the love of everything holy, stay away from the comments section of this video. It's absolutely riddled with gaming hipsters, ignorant to their own (imaginary?) nostalgia.

I personally never felt I had such a strong relationship to Thief's former voice actor that I just absolutely can't live without him. I don't know about you, but I personally am willing to give Eidos at least one fighting chance before I start discrediting them.