Thief II: The Metal Age

The Good
First was the concept, refined from the first game. A FPS, that doesn't play like a FPS. Who hasn't thought about being the world's best cat burglar or jewel thief? Here you actually get the opportunity to try it. Don't go into a room with bows blazing because you certainly won't last long. This game was a great idea from the beginning, and Looking Glass (R.I.P.) did a great job with the idea. Hide in the shadows, sneak through windows, pick pockets, eavesdrop, kidnap, backstab and any other thiefly skill are all included in ths deep game.

Second, the levels/maps were extremely large and well done. There is always more than one way to reach your level goals, and the variety of objectives ensured that none of the levels seemed repetitive. Puzzles were challenging but never impossible.

Third is the sound. This game has excellent sound and as you would expect if you were a thief, plays an integral part of the game. It is much easier to avoid people if you just stop for a second and listen. Your ears will save your life more times than naught.

Four, The story. The story to the sequel is much tighter and believable. The between mission cutscenes were excellent, even if they were just still frame art. The story kept me enthralled the entire game, and kept me interested in continuing. It is also nice to get side stories that help flesh out the main plot within the game.

Five, the weapons. The weapons are more tools than actually weapons. I must admit, my favorite are the frog-beast eggs. You have to love throwing eggs around, having them hatching into frogs that will follow your enemies around and then explode in their face.

The Bad
As to what was wrong with the game -

First and foremost, the long loading times. It takes over a minute to load the levels. Now granted the levels are huge, but I have seen similar sized levels in other games load much faster.

Second, the graphics. Though the graphics are slightly improved from the first game, there are an awful lot of instances of clipping. I can't tell you how many times I threw a guy in a closet only to have his foot or sword sticking through the door. There was even one point where a guard was stuck in the floor.

The Bottom Line
As you read above, the game is extremely "thief oriented". This is no shooter in the strict sense. You will find yourself climbing through windows, hiding in the shadows and crawling through the rafters, just to find that additional cndlestick that you can sell on hte balc market. Oh, and you get to save the world as well.

The Good
As long as people remember Looking Glass, they will remember the Thief series. The games have become synonymous with the company. The original Thief was a breath of fresh air in what was becoming a stale genre, because the emphasis was on avoiding enemies, rather than running straight into a room full of people with a rocket launcher. Thief 2 is pretty much more of the same except slightly improved.

The atmosphere and lighting are top notch despite the fact light seems to work differently in Looking Glass games than from real life. Although the game doesn't get the chance to use it's coloured lighting effects to the full because of it's historical setting, as opposed to say System Shock 2 which looked beautiful and uses the same engine; it still looks very good even now. The use of near subliminal sound, like SS2, is another Looking Glass trait. It works perfectly and adds to the atmosphere ten-fold. The zombie missions have been pretty much removed. The level design is very good in places. The voice acting is fine and occasionally hysterical: the back-&-forth conversation between the archers on the rooftops and Karras' voice alone is enough to draw a smile - It's nice to see it taken a bit tongue-in-cheek sometimes. The cutscenes are great and drawn and animated in a terrific style. The steampunk theme is carried brilliantly. It oozes class in it's presentation. The missions are pretty varied, and nothing has changed from what made the original so good in the first place.

The Bad
This was Looking Glass' swansong and, despite the quality of this game and the obvious talent that was in the company, it's easy to see why they were forced to close. I love many games that don't sell and I like many games away from the mainstream, but this game actually started to get to me after a while. It's so uncommercial it's not true. The problem lies in the fact that EVERY level is spent sneaking around, usually at night. The lack of variety in the locations, (some credit must go to LG for trying though, it's just that so much wood, stone walls and flaming torches can drive a person nuts) can really mess with your head after a while. If I see another guard with a sword I'm going to hurt someone. The urge and the need to see some daylight and have maybe one level a little bit brighter and happier and open will start to grate. It's damn frustrating completing a level that involved 2 hours of sneaky tension, usually involving you sitting in one place for 20 minutes to see if a guard is going to move or not, only to start another and not have that tension released.

Other than that, the animation is still a little rubbish. The level design, while good in places, is sometimes impossible to navigate if all you've got to find your way around are metal gates and stone walls. The game does stretch the limits of it's technological era too: cameras and robots? You sense that LG wanted to make a game set in the present day/beyond but just didn't have the technology/time.

The Bottom Line
A mixed package. Great at what it does despite being slightly ropey in some areas, but then what it does can drive you insane if you don't have a long break. Worth buying but don't expect something to rival System Shock.

The Good
It's more of the original Thief, with some improvements.

This game presents the best atmosphere of any game. Shivers will go up and down your spine as you hear the approaching steps of a guard.

The story line is present, and while not over-powering, does add to the game.

Graphically superior to the original, and right up there with the best of any genre.

Everything you need to is in the game. The sound is unprecedented.

The Bad
On slower PCs, load times take some time. Throw this on a gigahertz-plus machine, and you'll wonder what load times people are talking about.

Sometimes fighting more undead gets old.

Some people may find controls to be a little difficult. It takes some time, but when you combine mouse and keyboard, you have unprecedented control.

The Bottom Line
The game is a FPS with no shooting (unless you count bow and arrow). The idea is to sneak around. You need to pay attention to everything from people far off who could see you, to lights and shadows, to the noises of someone walking down the hall.

Don't like that shadow being cast by that torch? Douse it with a water arrow. Want to distract that guard for a minute? Let loose a noise-maker arrow.

Just try it.