Thief: Deadly Shadows
Windows version
All good things must come to an end
The Good
Admittedly my expectations were quite low, what with Ion Stormâs much touted bungling of âInvisible Warâ...I almost made the 3 hour journey to Austin to scream at Warren. Luckily âThief: Deadly Shadowsâ 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 otherâs 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, âDeadly Shadowsâ feels much more like a Thief game to me than the mechanical environment of âThe Metal Ageâ (even though such an environment was vital to the story, but stillâŚ). 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 âThe Dark Projectâ. Also, a lot of familiar entities, friend or foe, have made a comeback as well, including a couple of âold friendsâ from the first game.
Perhaps the most outstanding difference between âDeadly Shadowsâ 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 youâre required to journey to the next mission yourself throughout the various quadrants of the City. Along the way, youâre 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 theyâre 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. Iâm not exactly sure why; it canât be because of co-development with XBOX, because the Thief games already had a very simple control scheme. This most likely wonât bother most, but it did irk me, so if you want a more traditional Thief UI Iâd suggest going to TTLG.com and downloading the âtweakerâ, because it does wonders. Also, there is a known bug with the enemy AI, but the 414KB patch can be downloaded from Ion Stormâs homepage or TTLG.
Many have complained about the âload zonesâ throughout the game (to accommodate the memory limitations of the XBOX), but I didnât find them to be a huge distraction. Many of my favorite FPS games such as âDeus Exâ, âSystem Shock 2â, and âUndyingâ have load zones, so I donât see it as anything to gripe about.
The Bottom Line
Itâs 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 âDeadly Shadowsâ is most definitely a Thief game in almost every sense of the word, and surpassed my expectations across the board. I confess that it doesnât surpass âThe Dark Projectâ, 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 âThe Metal Ageâ. 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 GarrettâŚthanks for six years worth gaming righteousness.
And Mr. Spector, thanks for restoring my faith in you.
by HandofShadow (49) on August 26, 2006