Thief: Deadly Shadows

The Good
The third and perhaps final(oh no!) entry of the Thief series. Ah yes the series that more or less invented stealth gameplay arrived on the PC and Xbox. In this review I intend to answer these questions: Is it good? And Does it live up to the series? Is it the best one?

The Graphics in Deadly Shadows are excellent. The unreal engine gets put to work and in the end looks it’s best with incredible lighting effects that have to be seen to be believed. The physics are a sight thanks to the Havok engine. The new third person camera view is interesting, but Thief veterans know you have to play it in first person. Also new in Thief III, is the ability to see Garrett’s body in first person, which makes things seem a little more real. The cut scenes are still pure Thief, very sweet indeed.

The Sound/ Music play an important role in this one as in all the Thief titles. Being quite helps you go unnoticed, and eavesdropping on enemies give you crucial clues about an area or a mission. The sounds are all clear and sharp, and incredibly cool in 5.1 Surround Sound. Music is scarce as with most Thief games as well. And like most games the tunes always fit the moment, like an eerie tune that plays in a dark mansion, or a rock track in the games thrilling opening scenes.

The Gameplay is very much like it was in Thief I and II. And for good reason, I mean why stray from something that works. There are still a few surprises however. For one during missions Garrett can obtain up to three ‘special loot’ items. These items are harder to find, but are worth more money and, in the games higher difficulty modes they are required to finish the mission. Speaking of loot, another difference in this one is that you have to sell loot you acquired after the missions, then buy new items in shops around the city. This brings me to another new addition. Instead of jumping from mission to mission, Garrett now must walk to each local. And can partake on side missions in between the main missions.

The Storyline in Thief III is perhaps it’s weakest part. Don’t get me wrong it is good. It is just that past Thief games had a better plot’s that all. Basically in Thief III, Garrett must work with various factions to once again save the city, that he seems to despise so much. The part with the faction is cool and works well, it is very similar to the factions seen in Deus Ex: Invisible War. And yes this game is much better than that was.

The Bad
The Bad, well there are a few nagging issues. For one the A.I. while generally good is occasionally retarded. You can kill a guard and his buddy won’t even notice. Other times Garrett is attacked for something he did not actually do. I also found the blue highlighting of items to be annoying. As well as the blindingly bright blue of the load and save screens.

The Bottom Line
I would recommend this game to Thief fans as well as stealth enthusiasts. So is it good? Yes. Does it live up to the Thief name? Yes. Is it the best one? No, I give that nod to Thief II: The Metal Age. But it is still worth playing.

The Good
Admittedly my expectations were quite low, what with Ion Storm’s much touted bungling of ‘Invisible War’...I almost made the 3 hour journey to Austin to scream at Warren. Luckily ‘Thief: Deadly Shadows’ has in no way suffered the same fate. The list of good and bad aspects is a long one, so here we go:

The most prominent improvement is, of course, the update to the Unreal II engine. More than capable of rendering real-time lighting and shadows, it also gives a boost in the AI department. Because of this, I had to be more mindful of my actions this time around, because guards and others would often become alerted or suspicious if a torch was doused, if valuables were not in their proper place, or even if a guard was not present at his scheduled patrol station. Speaking of which, NPCs will often randomly stop to talk to one another and react to each other’s actions, and even start fights!

Graphics and AI upgrades aside, the nucleus of the Thief atmosphere is one thing that has not changed at all. In fact, ‘Deadly Shadows’ feels much more like a Thief game to me than the mechanical environment of ‘The Metal Age’ (even though such an environment was vital to the story, but still…). One thing I loved about the first game was its dark, gritty appearance, and that it really did give me the creeps. Thankfully, this atmosphere has made a return, and is in fact much more sinister and frightening at times than even ‘The Dark Project’. Also, a lot of familiar entities, friend or foe, have made a comeback as well, including a couple of “old friends” from the first game.

Perhaps the most outstanding difference between ‘Deadly Shadows’ and the previous two games is, rather than employ the traditional complete-a-level-and-then-transport-to-the-next-one, most of the time you’re required to journey to the next mission yourself throughout the various quadrants of the City. Along the way, you’re allowed to break into establishments, pickpocket unsuspecting citizens, and sell your loot to buy supplies at fence shops. Excellent!

The Bad
I only have a couple of major grievances, and they’re artistic ones.

First of all, I was highly disappointed at the disappearance of the between mission cut scenes that the first two games had. Gone are the tantalizing quotes and slide-show movies; now we simply have Garrett reading text that sits against a smoky background. Second, the interface was changed. I’m not exactly sure why; it can’t be because of co-development with XBOX, because the Thief games already had a very simple control scheme. This most likely won’t bother most, but it did irk me, so if you want a more traditional Thief UI I’d suggest going to TTLG.com and downloading the “tweaker”, because it does wonders. Also, there is a known bug with the enemy AI, but the 414KB patch can be downloaded from Ion Storm’s homepage or TTLG.

Many have complained about the “load zones” throughout the game (to accommodate the memory limitations of the XBOX), but I didn’t find them to be a huge distraction. Many of my favorite FPS games such as ‘Deus Ex’, ‘System Shock 2’, and ‘Undying’ have load zones, so I don’t see it as anything to gripe about.

The Bottom Line
It’s well known by many how much of a devoted Thief fanatic I am, so people like myself are 99% more likely to be extremely critical of this game. I can say with confidence that ‘Deadly Shadows’ is most definitely a Thief game in almost every sense of the word, and surpassed my expectations across the board. I confess that it doesn’t surpass ‘The Dark Project’, a magical game than can never be duplicated. In my opinion however it does offer a much more satisfying and thief-like experience than the heavy sci-fi overtones of ‘The Metal Age’. Old-timers like myself will be happy with the conclusion, and newbies will want to know more about this bizarre world that is the City.

So long Garrett…thanks for six years worth gaming righteousness.

And Mr. Spector, thanks for restoring my faith in you.

The Good
- It's closer to Dark Project in terms of atmosphere and overall direction, but also features TMA-style "breaking in" mundane missions. There are zero to none placeholder or just "badly designed to the point it's unplayable" missions. - You get to explore the City between missions to find more stuff or complete side quests for different factions, find new stores to sell different kinds of loot and buy different kinds of equipment. - AI is greatly improved. - Thick atmosphere, elevated by the excellent sound design and voice acting.

The Bad
- Story is kinda "meh". Some parts of it are heavily underdeveloped, some feels like recycled bits from the Dark Project. The game also doesn't seem to acknowledge TMA events which is weird. - After some time City exploration becomes pointless. - Weird choice of engine which resulted in a very clumsy player model, not very responsive controls and some annoying save/load bugs.

The Bottom Line
Requires some modding in order to be playable.