Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC)

All of this takes place in one of the most atmospheric game worlds out there, and, mixed with some terrific work on the audio side, it's utterly engrossing stuff. Few games get anywhere near the tension levels that Thief: Deadly Shadows attains, and few will have you holding your breath quite so often.

And there are more ticks in the plus column, too. The game is a lot longer than gamers would have expected before its release, and some of the missions are genuinely exceptional. The only slight downers are that there aren't too many new ideas this time round, and the third-person camera doesn't always work smoothly, which means you're best sticking to a first-person viewpoint.

Nonetheless, this doesn't detract from the fact that Thief: Deadly Shadows is an excellent game, and one of the very best stealth titles around. It's easy to get into, packed with surprises, and is pretty much guaranteed to bring you out in a cold sweat when it ratchets up those tension levels. It deserves to be a big hit. --Simon Brew

1 - I'm reviewing the finished item, not a demo, beta-test or a cracked version :)
2 - I've completed Thief and Thief 2 on both the easy and expert levels: I'm a big fan of the Thief series!

For those in the dark, the Thief series of games are well known for being broody and atmospheric. As Garrett, you play a master thief, sneaking around in the shadows of a mediaeval-steampunk city, nicking stuff and trying not to get caught. A really good player can nstick to the shadows, never alert any guards, steal everything, complete the mission, and never have to kill anyone... These games are intense, and Thief 1 *still* gives me the creeps.

There have been a couple of well-publicised changes to the game in this latest installment.

The new third-person view was greeted by a bit of trepidation from the Thief-purists on the Eidos forums. When I first started playing I thought 'ah, never mind. It's there but I'll never use it. It's for console-lamers...' Out of curiosity I used it a couple of times, and I'm happy to report it works really well, and I never thought I'd say this, but I really like it! The PC game defaults to first person though, and if you are really anti, you'll be fine providing you never press 'v' during gameplay. I guarantee you will though, if only to find out what Garrett actually looks like :)

No rope arrows - this is *very* bad. I loved these in T1 and T2.

Level size: levels are 'zoned' by your PC into 'manageable' sized chunks. The load times on my 512k Athlon 1800+ are about 10s between level sections, which really breaks the 'immersion' of the game, but you can spend a fair while on each section before having to move on to the next, which is a hell of an improvement on Deus Ex 2's 'matchbox' gameplay.

'Loot glint' is a feature that makes loot momentarily 'shine' if you look in it's direction, regardless of how far away it is. This makes it easier to find things, so if you struggled with that in T1 and T2, you'll find it a welcome relief. If this was part of the fun of T1 and T2 for you, you'll find it annoying and curse Ion Storm for not allowing you to switch it off :P I'm not sure if I like this feature or not.

There are some new weapons/equipment though, and with a bit of lateral thinking you can have great fun with these :)

You can also wander around the city in between missions to sell your loot to fences, and buy more equipment (though sadly, not rope arrows :P)

The graphics are beautiful... :) The dynamic lighting means that as torch-carrying guards move, so do the shadows they cast...

The sound is fantastic. The game supports EAX, which means that effects such as reverb and echo are applied (where your soundcard allows it) to footsteps etc., and this will change depnding on your environment. When you're cleaning out a large cathedral there will be echoes everywhere, and woe betide the careless thief that accidentally knocks a candlestick to the stone floor...

Which brings me to the physics engine.... I was quite impressed by this. I was haring around carelessly trying to get out of one level, when I turned a corner and knocked a whole load of (heavy) stuff over. The sudden load noises didn't just make me jump, they also alerted two guards who eventually cornered me and that was the end of Garrett for that game.

If you're looking for a combat game with loads of action and shooting, then you may struggle with this. Thief 3 requires a little patience (a bit like Jet Set Willy) in that sometimes you have to wait for the guards to turn away, so you can douse a distant torch with a water arrow and creep past in the darkness.

There is a bug in these early releases which affects the guards' AI. If you play on expert, save the game and reload it, the AI returns to 'normal' mode. This has now been patched, so if you buy this, make sure you visit the Eidos website.

[Hopefully they'll've added a 'loot glint' toggle to the patch too, or even better: customisable difficulty settings.]

If they'd kept the rope-arrows and not had zoned levels, this would have been 5 stars. I do sometimes miss the large sprawling levels of T2, but am still quite happy as the existing ones do give you enough to be getting on with...

Rope arrows, bugs and zoned levels aside, this is still a fantastic game, which oozes atmosphere and gives you all the thrills of breaking and entering without risking a prison sentence...


Approach Thief with an open mind and it wont dissapoint   June 14, 2004
Mr. M. Woolley (Bristol, UK)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful

Its thief. Go buy.

Now the long version. The original Thief appeared a little while ago when the pc games industry was slowly sinking under an avalanche of bland First Person Shooters. It was non-linear, original, and hard as nails.

Now thief 3 returns, and not much has changed. It shares many traits with Deus Ex 2, but where DX felt rushed and a little soulless, Thief feels polished and atmospheric. The levels are smaller than the originals, but they're large enough. If for some reason you fail to find a map before the missions you'll know what i mean.

Areas are split by atmosphere sapping portals which is an inclusion to allow thief to run on the aging Xbox. However its a small price to pay if it results in games like Thief actually getting published.

The atmosphere it still cracking. The sound is as good as it ever was, and the graphics rival those of Splinter cell. Its "tighter" in a lot of ways than the previous games. Weapons now have multiple uses, which complements the Thief ethos of choosing your own personal route through the game. Theres a slight RPG tinge the way in which the areas open-up and your abilities slowly improve.

The AI, too, often hits the spot. True there are a few flaws, especially on the easier difficulty settings. But the guards are alert enough to notice open doors and switched off lights, and two gurads on your case are usually more than enough to finish you off. Remember, its not about the combat.

Look, what it boils down to is that Thief is both innovative (still) and good. A rare combo at the best of times. Ignore the small minded fools who only like a sequel if it is the original game - believe me for only 30 notes, its a steal.


First Impressions review...   June 16, 2004
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

Two important points to note:
1. I'm basing this review on my first evening's play ONLY
2. I've never played any of the Thief series before.

OK, with that out of the way, down to business...
Thief seems to follow the lines of several other 'stealth' orientated games such as Splinter Cell in that gameplay is very much about sneaking about, completing missions and not getting spotted in the process. It does seem, however, to execute this genre particularly well and provides good entertainment value.

I confess that, like previous reviewers, I was somewhat concerned that Thief comes from the same stable as Deus Ex II which seems to have been generally criticised and which I, personally, don't rate particularly highly either. Thankfully, Thief seems to run well on my system (P4 2.8Ghz, 1GB RAM, Radeon5600 with 256MB) without too much of the 'jerkiness' I've seen on DE:IW. Admitedlly, the Frame Rate isn't going to blow you away but for a stealth-based game where movement needs to be slow and deliberate, this doesn't seem to be too big a problem.

There are some nice touches in the game - being able to extinguish torches (sources of light - very bad for a sneaky thief!) with water arrows or even snuff out candles when you get close enough is quite good fun. I also seem to get some perverse enjoyment out of sneaking up behing the guards in the game and dispatching them to the land of nod with a swift cosh to the back of the head - it makes an engaging change from the 'blast or be blasted' modus operandi of many FPS games. The game also conveys a good sense of 'atmosphere' in that it's quite dark and really encouraqges you to seek out the shadows - this might cause some players problems in that it can sometimes become difficult to actually see where you are and what you're doing. The games does allow you to adjust the overall brightness though which does help.

As I said at the head of the article, I've only been playing for a few hours but this genuinely seems like an atmospheric, engaging and interesting game to play. It's certainly encouraging me to progress further (I sense I've only scratched the surface so far!) and, based on a few hours play, I'd rate it pretty highly. I'd recommend this game to most people although die-hard FPS players might find it hard to adjust to the "softly, softly, catchy monkey" atmosphere of Thief.


Still the sneakiest game around   July 10, 2004
shinyhead (Cheshire, UK)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful

If you've played any of the previous Thief games before, here is what you need to know:

The graphics are much improved: Thief is about lighting and shadows - and in this respect this is the best game yet.
Because of the improved graphics, the feel of the game (and the atmosphere) is much improved.
The sound is just as good as it ever was
The storyline is well written and compelling
The voice acting is just as good as before
The "City hub" adds even more realism - you can thieve in between missions if you are so inclined
3rd person view is entirely optional - it's not an issue
Rope arrows being replaced by climbing gloves works fine - but there could have perhaps been more climbable surfaces

If you've not played any of the Thief series before, then this is THE stealth game. Set in a medieval/steam age, Thief places you as Garret, the master thief who needs to sneak his way around to achieve various objectives in order to stop the "Dark Age" descending on his world.

Brilliant graphics, sound and (sadly overlooked these days) a well-written storyline, add up to a most compelling game. But beware! This is not a game for the gung-ho - going toe-to-toe with any adversary will get you dead very quickly. Thief requires thought, patience and an eye for an easy steal when the guards backs are turned.

For the players of the previous Thief games - this is a much improved game.

For any new players - "darkness is your friend" - you ain't seen me, right?