Thief: Deadly Shadows

"Surprising..."

I had my doubts on Thief 3, especially after crying from Deus Ex 2. (note: the crying was not of joy...) Needless to say, DX2 made me lose nearly all my confidence in Warren Spector. When I read he wanted to do the same approach on Thief... my heart nearly stopped. But still, hoping for a bit of good olf Thievery style of gaming, I got it anyway. I was surprised. Aside the crappy engine from Deus Ex 2, the game is astounding.
Light is rendered real time, which gives awesome shadows. Guards now actually notice missing loot, and investigate. In the City levels, guards do not see you as the only enemy. Once I mugged a person and left his body in a corner. Too bad a guard walked past. Too bad for the random bystander that the guard "thought" HE was the culprit. Lucky for me since I didn't have to do any killing for the bystanders jewelry. Life is hard on the streets suckers. :p
Sounds are also more important. Now you can also accidentally topple something, by bumping into it. Guards hear this and will investigate. Same for putting out torches. Do it too much and Guards will go looking. (for a humerous effect, if they carry torches, put it out. "WHAT THE TAFF!" theehee) So watch your step, be sure to watch if you douse torches, etc. guards are now very alert.
I did not like the replacement of the sword with the dagger. Sure, a dagger is more "Thief-ish", but after seeing Garret with a sword in Dark Project and Metal age, it doesn't feel right. Removal of the Rope Arrow sucks as well, but the addition of the climbing gloves (which are very awesome) is a welcome return.

The game itself is split in 2 types of gameplay.
One consists of the actual missions. Loot a castle for a gem, etc. Good old Thief style of play. Everything hates you as normal.
The other part is the City. Normal people aren't bothered by you (although you can mug them for their money and jewelry), although guards do. You can ally yourself with the Hammerites or the Pagans. Or both. Or neither. The more you kill or K.O., the more guards are around. If you "die" by a guard, you will get put in prison and you need to escape (cool aspect) During City plays you will also get a chance to sell your loot to a fence and buy items from shops.

Onto scores.

Engine: 5/10
Honestly, this is the worst part. It is stable. With that, I said everything there is to say. Mouse moves *SLOW*. No way to increase sensitivity (patch?) Sometimes the ragdols move weird (Deus Ex 2 had the exact same problem, being on the same engine) No crashes though, but the engine is a real resource hog.

Graphics: 9/10
Awesome. Faces frown, real time rendered shadows, effects from arrows, very nice. Nothing to bash on this.

Sound & Music: 9.5/10
Great... people talk, drunks mumble with "thick tongues", undead sound creepy, etc. Really sets the mood.

Gameplay: 8/10
Although a bit "choppy" (and I have a powerhouse PC with my P4 3.06 Ghtz, Radeon 9800 Pro, 1 GB RAM) it feels and plays like good old Thief. Dagger replacing the sword and climbing gloves replacing Rope arrows DO take the score down a point though.

Multiplayer: 0/10
There is none. But the Thief serie never had multiplayer to begin with.

Overall *NOT AN AVERAGE*: 8/10

Good game. Definitely more worthy of its predecessors names, as opposed as Invisible War.

Buy or Rent:
Buy if you like Thief. If this is your "introduction" rent it first.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/04