Thief: The Dark Project

The Good
Although a number of stealth games came out around the same time, Metal Gear most notably, this was the one that really focused on Not Being Seen. Yes you could take out your enemies with arrows or your sword but doing so was no guarantee, and a direct violation of the level goals if you were playing on hard mode. The most points, and satisfaction, was had through not even being seen on your way through a mission, which was very, very hard.

The game engine was built from the ground up to make sound propagation and shadows an integral part of the game world and it shows. In no other game do I remember standing in one location for five minutes hidden in shadows, palms sweaty, listening to the local sounds, waiting for my moment to reach out and snatch a key from an oblivious guard as he walked by humming while I prayed he didn't notice me. It's an impressive game that can make standing absolutely still for minutes tense and enjoyable.

The game is honestly scary. Not since System Shock had a game actually installed a sense of fear in me, but this one did, and I don't scare easily. It's ability to create an atmosphere, and back that atmosphere up with game-play, is amazing.

Add to that a unique story well told with good voice acting and strong art direction and you've got a sleeper hit. Many of it's levels were huge, sprawling affairs with multiple (and sometimes changing) goals and hidden areas galore with multiple ways of doing any given thing. It was a game you could get lost in and not mind it. A game you could finish and then play again and have a different experience and then play again because you KNOW you missed something. And because they released an excellent level editor there are fans making some fantastic new levels (and even new story lines) to this day (for Thief II mostly).

It and it's sequels are unique games, like no others before or after them, and it's not very often you can say that these days.

The Bad
Even at the time it was released the graphics were dated. Unreal and Quake were both out by then and the dark blocky graphics, low polygon models and limited special effects found in Thief just didn't measure up.

It had REALLY long load times, which was bad for a game in which you tended to die a lot.

The designers weren't sure of how their new 'sneaker' game-play would go over so they tried to hedge their bets by including a number of fight based levels and monsters which negated much of your sneaking skills. These are often sited as being the worst levels in the game.

It was hard, even at it's easiest level the learning curve for this new stealth game-play was quite steep in Thief and many people gave up playing after dieing numerous times. There is a reason the game came with 'normal', 'hard' and 'harder' difficultly level settings. And dedicating yourself to finishing all levels at the hardest setting while completing each objective and stealing every available piece of loot without ever being SEEN was a life time achievement. It's possible, and some have claimed to have done it, and all I can say is WOW.

The Bottom Line
Its a different game, and not for everyone. It's game-play is tricky and hard, even for Splinter Cell masters, and the story and art direction are unique with it's steam punk atmosphere, rock soundtrack and dark single City at night setting. But if you play it and like it, you'll never forget it.

Splinter Cell is now the crown jewel of stealth games, and justifiably so, but nothing feels like Thief. It's a dark gem, gleaming just outside the light ring of a guttering street lamp.

The Good
There can't be any better way to spend my weekend again... and again... and again... I've been playing this game from when it was released, and I still haven't got bored to sneaking around in the dark streets, gloomy temples and grand mansions. Actually, I've found more places to break in and steal the treasury from. The level design is perversely exquisite, on the streets and in the houses. Not so much detail, but the dark textures and the glorious architecture kept me going deeper.

When it comes to enemies who are clearly on your way, I prefer to sneak around them unnoticed, shoot a rope arrow somewhere high and past the guards by going in the ceilings, and as a last resort, knocking them out. Never using my sword or arrows. It gives you a great feeling to achieve something like completing the game on expert-level with knocking only the the guards that you really have to or entering and leaving a mansion without being noticed at all. The zombies weren't the best enemy there could be. Though the rest of the undead were great, especially in making the atmosphere. They all did their jobs good.

The Bad
There wasn't anything particular I didn't like. But the enemy AI could've been scripted better, now the guards automatically stop searching you if you've hided in the shadows enough, which makes the game easy. Then there was the burrick caves in few levels, they didn't give any competition and were kind of boring so I would've leaved them out of the game.

The Bottom Line
Release your inner thief. Sneak on dark alleys, snatch a key from a drunk guard to get inside a mansion full of riches. All and all, a game you don't want to miss if you happen to be even slightly interested in sneaking.

The Good
Incredibly deep and exciting gameplay! Thief takes the gung-ho notion of most fps games and turns it around on it's ear by delivering a game where the emphasis is not on jumping guns-blazing on enemy territory, but in snaking and infiltrating without being detected. Results? The most deep and nerve-wrecking experience you have ever had. Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you try to sneak past a guard and suddenly a false step makes him turn around and start looking for you in the dark, coming closer and closer while you pray the small modicum of invisibility the shadows provide don't fail you; or the feel you get as you frantically pick a lock while hearing footsteps coming closer and closer... or knowing that time is running out and you have to put that guard you blackjacked somewhere safe before anyone comes by, etc. etc. etc.. I could go on, and on, and on. The fact is that Thief combines a dark and lovingly crated atmosphere with the romantic yet nerve-wrecking feeling of being a thief, you know your enemies are out there, and the only way to defeat them is to hope they don't know where you are while trying to traverse some of the most intricate and finest levels ever designed (Constantine's mansion alone deserves to be nominated as one of the best levels, ever).

Thief introduced sneaking as a viable aspect of gameplay to the world, and if you think you know what I'm talking about simply because you played Metal Gear, Hitman, No One Lives Forever or whatever, then you have no clue whatsoever. This is the one and only sneak-sim, and remains unsurpassed to this day (except by it's sequel).

To top that off, the game makes the first really, really, REALLY impressive use of 3d sound in a videogame. If you are equipped with a surround set of speakers and an EAX or similar enabled sound card, then you are in for a treat. Enough sound channels to bog down a nitrogen-cooled CRAYII make sure that each and every sfx in the game comes from it's specific spatial coordinates, and there are even fantastic effects like the echos you hear on long hallways, or corridors, etc. fully recreated for your listening pleasure.

There's also the addition of a really cool storyline which fully exploits the fantasy-steampunk atmosphere and which is told via unique cutscenes that combine cel-animation, live action, and a lot of post-production magnificence into some of the darkest, most surrealistic imagery I've ever seen since The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Trust me, THIS is how you do cutscenes. Not by hiring the best 3D studio animators, or getting the latest Silicon Graphics Workstations, but by making them unique visual experiences on par with the game they come with.

Also: This game has the scariest zombies EVER. You have no idea the amount of times I screamed in terror when facing those bastards!! Genius I say!!

The Bad
Well, the graphics are not the best ever. They work, but the character models are truly bad.

As mentioned, the cutscenes are some of the best I've ever seen, but unfortunately they were digitized at a lousy resolution, resulting in a lot of blurryness when blown-up for fullscreen playback, a real shame.

Other than that the only real gripe I have with the game is that it relies a lot on dungeon-crawling. There's a lot of crypts, and caverns, and catacombs going on in this game, and that really hurts this game since it is much more fun to sneak around the urban locations of the game than journeying to the lost tomb of Krakatua in search of his magic wand; which also means you have to face off a lot of monsters and truly annoying critters... They would fix all this in the sequel, but no cookie for us now.

The Bottom Line
Thief: An engrossing sneaking experience by Looking Glass Studios. Go-Fetch-NOW!