Thief: The Dark Project

aka: Dark Camelot, Dark Project: Der Meisterdieb, Dark Project: L'Ombra del Ladro, Dark Project: La guilde des voleurs, TDP, The Dark Project, Thief: o Projeto Negro
Moby ID: 357
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Description official descriptions

Garrett, discovered on the streets as a beggar, is taken in and trained by the secretive organization known as the Keepers. However, Garrett's plans for his training is different than that of his masters and so Garrett soon parts company. Surfacing as a master thief, Garrett must enter forbidden places and appropriate the treasures of the rich and the powerful. Of course this line of work is offensive to many people including the rich nobles, the town guard and the religious order of the Hammerites. If Garrett can keep his head while he relieves these forces of their valuable trinkets, he should be able to do quite well....

Thief: The Dark Project is a first person game focused on stealth. It is set in a metropolis called "the City", a medieval fantasy world with some elements from the industrial revolution era of technology. Garrett's main skills are in using the shadows to avoid being seen (the level of visibility indicated by a "light gem") and to avoid being heard (different surfaces make different noises). Guards can be alerted by either, and remaining hidden is ever important. Entering combat against armed opponents is not recommended, though some enemies (notably the various undead) can be taken on directly or avoided. It is also possible to silently sneak on guards, incapacitate them with the blackjack, steal their keys, and move their bodies.

At Garrett's disposal is a wide range of equipment, including lockpicks, a blackjack, a sword, flash bombs, holy water, explosive mines, and a bow which fires normal arrows in addition to water, fire, moss, rope, and noisemaker arrows. Each type of arrows has a unique purpose: water extinguishes torches, moss covers the ground to soften the sounds of footsteps, ropes can be used to climb in certain spots or cross chasms, etc.

The levels in the game are fairly open, and most of the time there are several paths and ways to accomplish the objective. Certain objects can be interacted with, moved from place to place, or destroyed. The game has three difficulty levels distinguished by the amount of goals needed to fulfill. Lower difficulty levels may allow the player to skip some of the harder areas due to the lack of a mission objective leading there. On higher difficulties, additional requirements (such as completely non-lethal way of finishing a stage) may be added. Loot gained from Garrett's thieving can be used to purchase additional equipment for the mission ahead.

Spellings

  • 神偷 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

144 People (125 developers, 19 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 91% (based on 35 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 176 ratings with 15 reviews)

An un-matched title in originality.

The Good
The entire theory of the game is so unique, and so well done, you'll wonder why no one has made this before. Thief sets you up in the Middle Ages with sword, bow, and arrows. You need to sneak into a place, grab something, and escape. Sounds easy, until you realize that the place is guarded, and if one guard sees you, he alerts others.

Thief was the first game I've ever played that totally immersed me in itself. When I play, I have to shut the doors and crank up the sound. TVs get annoying as you mistake them for Hammers or guards. You can spend hours on one level, trying to figure out which way the guards move and when.

The graphics are superb, and the sound simply cannot be mentioned enough. I've never played a game where sound was so key.

The game is balanced, and there are always little side-things you can do like pick up more gold, try to complete the chapter without killing anyone, and so forth.

The Bad
Some controls took some time to master.

I occasionally felt like I didn't have enough "real world" time to do what I wanted to do.

The Bottom Line
Such an original game, with such atmosphere and immersion. It's not for the hack and slash enthusiasts, but even they should find something to love about this game.

This game proves you don't need death and destruction to have a good game.

I don't know that a summary can do it justice. Go download the demo, or better yet, buy it. Just don't hold your breath for a Thief 3 (Looking Glass has since gone out of business due to other ventures).

Windows · by Cyric (50) · 2001

Best...Game...Ever!

The Good
Where do I start? This game spawned a new genre: The Sneak. I can't tell you how much pleasure I get from skulking around, unseen, from darkness to darkness. I guess it mirrors some of my real-life social anxieties. If only real life provided this many ways to hide. I need a light meter.

The scenery and the level design is terrific. It is a bit convoluted at times, but never a "maze". Once you get oriented you can find your way around. The cut scenes are probably the best of any game. Spooky! Creepy! You'll scream like a little girl once a hovering fireball fries you or the flatus of a bugbeast consumes you. And Garrett is cool, great voice talent, perfect attitude.

Awesome dialogue from NPCs. "Snap, snap, puppy."

The Bad
The people/creature models seem to be made of two polygons that converge in the center of their face. They're funny looking. I don't mind, I think it's hilarious. I got lost in a few places. After playing several times, I got the hang of it and enjoyed trying to find all the loot on a level. I still haven't found all the loot on some of the levels. It's hidden well. This isn't a complaint, though. It gives the game some extra re-playability. Also, my son was watching me play this when a giant spider jumped on my head and killed me. He started hyperventilating and crying. I nearly did myself. So this isn't for kids.

The Bottom Line
It's a spooky FPS (First-Person Sneaker). You use weapons sparingly and strategically. The thinking person's 3D adventure. This game is as good now as it was then. It's timeless.

Windows · by Thohan (17) · 2003

Excellent

The Good
A quiet revolution on launch, 'Thief' plays like a cross between 'Rainbow Six' and the old playground favourite 'What's the time Mr Wolf'. As a sneaky thief, you have to steal your way through a series of absolutely enormous, atmospheric 'steam-punk' levels, avoiding guards, laying traps, and hiding in the shadows. Like almost everything by Looking Glass, 'Thief' was intelligent, well-presented, extraordinarily deep, and commercially only so-so.

The stand-out elements are the excellent, shadowy level designs, and the spooky, tense atmosphere. Your character is no good at fighting, and you have to sneak around behind people who might turn around at any minute, often in dark rooms, sometimes in haunted caverns. Imagine a really scary ghost story, crossed with the tension of bomb disposal, and you're there. The level design is highly original - the level set in a giant sarcophagous, in which you turn corners to find yourself face-to-face with large, gas-breathing dinosaurs, is an all-time classic.

It's best to hunt out the 'Gold' version (now on budget) - that added three new levels, a level editor, and some bug fixes.

The Bad
Not much is wrong with 'Thief' - even the between-level FMV sequences are excellently done. Compared to something like 'Half-Life', the graphics are relatively primative, but the engine is doing a lot more. Often the hugeness of the levels makes working your way through the game seem impossible at time, and although your character is a thief it would be nice if he was at least competent with the sword. Apart from that, buy it.

The Bottom Line
An astonishingly good 'sneak-em-up' that takes a while to grab you but, once it does, your previous life is history.

Windows · by Ashley Pomeroy (225) · 2000

[ View all 15 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Duality hribek (28) Mar 24, 2009
What can/ could You take away (add?) hribek (28) Mar 22, 2009
Garrett on steroids hribek (28) Mar 22, 2009
Garret looks like Nicholas Cage? hribek (28) Mar 13, 2009

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Thief: The Dark Project appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Basketball

Like other Looking Glass games like System Shock and System Shock 2, this game also contains a hidden basketball court. (See Tips & Tricks for details on accessing it.)

Development

Originally, Thief was to be a game called Dark Camelot where Merlin was a time-traveler but it eventually became Thief... before that it was a game involving Communist zombies!

Editor

Thief fans requested the level editor, so Looking Glass Studios released DromEd (subsequently included on the Thief (Gold) and Thief II disks), there are now hundreds of fan missions available for download.

Hammerites

"The Hammer of Light" in the game are a group of religious warrior/knights, similar to the Knights Templar during the height of their power in Europe

Inspiration

Members of the design team have said that books by Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose among others) were a big inspiration for the atmosphere and setting of the game.

Taffer

According to an interview made by the now defunct PC accelerator to project designer Steve Pearsall the word "Taffer", which many fans went to great lengths to define as some sort of long-lost "olden" word, was actually created by level designer Laura Baldwin. It was originally meant to be some sort of slang for common criminal but it evolved from that point on.

Thievery

There is a group of people working on a free Thief inspired conversion for Unreal Tournament. It can be accessed it from http://www.thieveryut.com.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 1999 (Issue #177) – Runner-up as Best Action Game of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2001 – #40 Top Game of All Time
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #45 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
    • Issue 03/2000 - Most Innovative Game in 1999
    • Issue 12/2008 - One of the "10 Coolest Levels" (For "The Sword". It uses the player's expectations against him - instead of the usual quick burglary, it sends him on a horror trip which manages to wear out Garret's earned self-confidence.)
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - #27 in the "All-Time Top 50 Games Poll" (tied with Tribes)
  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2000 - Best 3D Stealth Game in 1999
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1999 – Best Action-Adventure in 1998

Information also contributed by Jack Lightbeard, Neon Hammerite, PCGamer77, Scott Monster; WildKards and Zovni

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Additional contributors: Trixter, blade51, Zovni, Indra was here, Rantanplan, Shoddyan, sfabien, Jack Lightbeard, Havoc Crow, Ms. Tea, Kidofthecentury, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added November 1, 1999. Last modified March 27, 2024.