Thief: Deadly Shadows

aka: Dark Project: Deadly Shadows, TDS, Thief 3: Deadly Shadows, Thief 3: Złowieszcze Cienie, Thief III
Moby ID: 13460
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Master Thief Garrett is contacted by the Keeper Artemus, who wants him to steal two valuable artifacts. Meanwhile, Garrett learns that the coming of a Dark Age had been prophesied long ago. Gaining access to the Keeper Prophecies, Garrett learns that an ancient book known as the Compendium of Reproach contains more information about the prophecy. As Garrett is trying to solve the mystery, it becomes more and more clear to him that there is a traitor in the order of the Keepers.

Thief: Deadly Shadows is the third installment in the Thief series. The game follows the same design philosophy and gameplay structure that distinguished its predecessors. As before, stealth is the key to successful completion of missions. Avoiding confrontation with the guards, Garrett has to make his way through the levels towards the objective. Shadows and sounds play a large role, as guards will react to suspicious noises, and studying their patrolling routines is essential.

A few gameplay elements have been slightly altered. Garrett can no longer swim, but is able to use climbing gloves that attach him to the walls. He can also flatten himself against walls while standing; if in shadow, he remains completely unnoticeable that way. The player can see Garrett's limbs even if he is viewed from first-person perspective, allowing more precise movements. Switching to third-person view is also possible.

The most significant gameplay change is the non-linear exploration of the City, which has been added to the largely linear missions. In order to access the next mission, Garrett has to explore the City. On his way, he can overhear conversations, steal valuables, avoid or knock out the guards, and even accept secondary missions, which will influence his reputation with some of its factions.

Spellings

  • Thief 3. Тень смерти - Russian spelling
  • 神偷:死亡阴影 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

265 People (208 developers, 57 thanks) · View all

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 44 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 105 ratings with 7 reviews)

Steal this Review!

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.

Xbox · by MasterMegid (723) · 2006

The best yet. It's still "Thief" though, so if you're not a fan, stay well away.

The Good
It is to Ion Storm's credit that they have created a game so faithful to the original series. So much so in fact that it feels like an homage to Looking Glass. I, for one, find this heartwarming, especially as many were concerned that the now-defunct company's extraordinary talents would be lost forever. Indeed, Thief:DS feels like it was made by both LG and Ion Storm. It probably was to some extent - I'm sure lots of LG members had a large hand in it, though I don't know for sure.

So this game has the usual LG hallmarks: Slow pace, slight 'fish-eye lens' viewpoint, advanced use of sound, atmosphere...but you can feel Warren Spector's influence. There are subtle similarities with Deus Ex. For example, Thief:DS has a backbone which was missing in the earlier games. Thief 1 and 2 were just one mission after the next, but in this, Garrett spends half of his time in one place: The City. It lends a structure to the game to always be coming back to the City to sell the stuff you've plundered or to meet friends or whatever. You can also roam the City at will and swipe things from people's houses, giving the game a more free-form nature very reminiscent of Deus Ex, if only because that was the first game to really implement such a system.

Thief:DS has real-time, dynamic lighting, which presents a whole new challenge. It's wonderful to knock a candle off the table without snuffing it out and seeing how the shadows alter enormously. You also occasionally see the elongated shadow of an enemy first and think that a 20' giant is around the next corner, when really it's just a man carrying a torch. Such technology is very processor-hungry however.

I actually bought this game on the hype surrounding one of it's missions. It's been frequently called "one of the greatest levels ever" in an FPS. The UK edition of the best-selling PC games mag in the country even ran a special 8-page feature dedicated to it (it might even be 10 pages, I'm not sure since I didn't buy it). It's the "Shalebridge Cradle" level, affectionately referred to as simply "The Cradle". And yes, it's brilliant. Perhaps a tad overrated, but still brilliant. All you should know is that it's an abandoned building that was once an asylum and before that an orphanage. To say anymore would spoil it. Cleverly, you only discover the bare elements of the story behind it, and it's left to your logic and imagination to piece things together. I have to admit being unafraid whilst playing it, (more on that later), except a few times. One time in particular was actually quite chilling. I define that as the kind of fear that creeps up on you slowly AFTER the event has happened, and makes you shudder in painful reflection. Games are rarely chilling.

I've said before that graphics don't mean a thing since they're improving all the time, but the difference between Thief:DS and Thief 2, is a lot greater than the difference between Thief 2 and Thief 1. The series has always had good textures, but here they're great, or at least most of them are. Some levels have a particular look. 'The Cradle' is perhaps the most beautiful level in the game yet it's almost monochrome, like you're watching a black-and-white documentary. I can't help but say it looks almost photographic at times, but I'll bet I'll regret that in a few years.

Finally, the sword has been replaced with a dagger. Because of the sword and the limitations of the Dark Engine, in the previous games you could face 3 enemies head on and beat them without barely receiving a scratch. This is no more, which is a good thing, but has brought problems of its own...

The Bad
...namely the easy misuse of the quick-save key. Without a quick-save, this game would be hell. But considering you are now very likely to die if an enemy sees you and there's nowhere for you to run, you are forced to hit that key more often than you should. Especially because Thief:DS has inherited other faults of the previous games.

My problem with the series is its never-ending need for stealth becomes too draining. When you first start the games, you have a great time hiding in the shadows for 10 minutes waiting for an enemy to walk away. 8 hours later and it's getting pretty old, but the threat has only become greater. You have to hide MORE. It's an enormous pain slowly creeping across the whole city to meet someone, only to meet them and be told you have to now go back to where you came from. You just want to be able to walk there but you can't because of the ever-present threat of the City Watch. So you have to slide from shadow to shadow slowly. It's almost like playing Grand Theft Auto without getting in any cars, or Grim Fandango without ever using the "run" key. This is why so many people can't stand Thief.

The engine powering Thief:DS is very reminiscent of the Dark Engine and has included it's inability to handle large entities. You rarely meet an enemy bigger than a human for example. The Cradle is let down by it's enemies. You marvel at the psychological game it plays, and the beautiful architecture. You can almost feel the life pulsating within the walls of the building, like it's alive and is trying to steal your mind, and then you meet the poorly animated low-polygon enemies and it reduces it. You just want a Half-Life moment. You want the walls to bleed or a ghost to flash past your eyes but it never happens. The engine isn't capable.

The sound is well used as I mentioned earlier, but there is a lot of 'fake' sound throughout the game which simply detracts from the atmosphere. I hate to bring System Shock 2 up AGAIN, but you only have to play it to see how it should be done: with immense subtlety. Silence is so powerful, it should get used more often.

Thief:DS starts badly. The pre-mission cutscenes have been removed, so there's no opening cinematic, just Garrett reading to you, and you aren't told what's going on. It's unimpressive. The story was confusing to me as well.

The thing with Thief is that it almost requires an aesthetic appreciation of it's use of sound, graphics, etc. to be enjoyed, because a large part of your game time is spent doing nothing. You have to enjoy simply being there. This is the pinnacle of the Looking Glass design philosophy - experience and immersion. If you're the type of person who plays games while talking to people in the room and listening to the radio, you won't like Thief. SS2 was different because it blended the Thief aesthetic with proper FPS action, and could be enjoyed even if you're playing it outdoors on a laptop in summer. Another reason why Thief is non-commercial. Thief:DS does not buck the trend.

Also those damn moss arrows have remained. They have a use which isn't mentioned in the manual, which makes them not entirely worthless, but still...why?

The Bottom Line
Thief:DS is just more Thief. If you've never played Thief then pick up the first game and play it, because this is the same thing at heart, and you'll be saving money. This one is certainly the best of the bunch though.

Pity 'The Cradle' is by far the best level. It's no wonder it was left till late in the game.

Windows · by Shazbut (163) · 2005

All good things must come to an end

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.

Windows · by HandofShadow (49) · 2006

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

Difficulty bug

Both the Xbox and PC versions shipped with a bug that affected the AI. The difficulty setting of the AI would default to Normal from all other levels (Easy, Hard, Expert) upon reloading a save game or re-entering a load zone. The game would still indicate that the setting was unchanged, so the only noticeable effect was that the awareness of the guards was easier and they dealt less damage. Ion Storm released a small patch (415 kb) for the PC version that fixes this problem.

Engine

Ion Storm developed Thief: Deadly Shadows with a heavily modified Unreal engine. Its the same engine that was used for Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Graphics

Originally the game did not work properly on ATI Radeon cards. Textures popped in and out, causing walls and floors to turn black and making it appear like there were shadows where there aren't supposed to be any shadows. This was fixed with the Catalyst 4.8 drivers.

Mods

Even though Ion Storm was shut down by its publisher-owner Eidos in early 2005, mod software tools for their final game Thief: Deadly Shadows have been released shortly after.

The mod tools could be found at a number of web file download sites like FileShack and 3DGamers. The 323 MB download will allow players to modify or build new maps for the game along with scripts, conversations and more. It also includes a number of tutorial maps.

[Source: Computer Games Magazine (Feb. 2005)]

References

The various painted portraits gracing walls throughout the game actually depict members of the development team. They were drawn by comic-book artist Frank Teran, who supplied much of the concept art for the game.

Awards

  • GameSpy
    • 2004 – Best Sound of the Year (PC)

Information also contributed by Alan Chan, EndlessDespair, Jack Lightbeard and Jeanne

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by PhoenixFire.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Sciere, Scott Monster, Xoleras, UV, Havoc Crow, Klaster_1, Patrick Bregger, ZeTomes.

Game added May 26, 2004. Last modified March 17, 2024.