In the third instalment of the Thief series, master-thief Garrett is contacted by Keeper Artemus with a mission to steal two valuable artefacts. At the same time, Garrett learns about a prophecy: the coming of a Dark Age. He embarks upon a journey to unravel a mystery that threatens the existence of the order of Keepers. Is it possible that there is a traitor in their midst? The stealth and thievery game, Thief: Deadly Shadows comes with a number of improvements over two previous parts. Released in 2004, it left behind the aging Dark Engine, using a heavily modified Unreal engine instead. Realistic lighting effects have been implemented: each character and object now casts its own shadow. A third person's view has been made available in addition to the standard first person perspective. The stealth system that made Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age famous is still in place. You have to stick to the shadows and avoid making noise, as guards will react to anything suspicious. It is also the first game of the series that introduced free roaming. The City, divided into several unlockable districts, is yours to explore. You can interact with the city's inhabitants: pickpocket, steal, or even mug them for loot.
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Thief: Deadly Shadows is a bit of an acquired taste, especially for those who haven't played the older Thief games. It's all about staying in the shadows, sneaking around guards, and nicking loot. The atmosphere is super tense, and the level design can be brilliant. But the AI is janky, the story's a little messy, and those loading times...oof. If you crave a true stealth experience and can handle some older design quirks, there's some real fun to be had in the darkness.
This game has four stages, like the four seasons of the year:
1. This is an inferior sequel
2. Shalebridge Cradle
3. Recovering from Shalebridge Cradle
4. This is an inferior sequel
1. This is an inferior sequel
2. Shalebridge Cradle
3. Recovering from Shalebridge Cradle
4. This is an inferior sequel
My first Thief game and one of the games that made me fall in love with the stealth genre.
Also features one of the best horror levels in a non horror game.
Also features one of the best horror levels in a non horror game.
It's...good...
Well, the positives are pretty numerous. Out of the whole trilogy this one is by far the most approachable for a newcomer due to it's more simplified level design and loot hub areas which allow for hoarding resources. I think the city areas were a good idea and give a little bit of variety to the expected gameplay structure.
Quite a few of the levels are very solid and can hold up compared to the best of Thief 1/2. It helps that since Deadly Shadows had a relatively normal development cycle it doesn't suffer from the poor decisions of many of Thief 2's worst missions. If you play this you are in for a relatively consistent experience.
The core gameplay is about as solid as the first two without any significant regressions aside from the loss of rope/vine arrows, but the replacements and choices in level design prevent a sense of the gameplay loop being 'dumbed down' thankfully. Quite a few changes I actually wish were present in the first two games in fact, such as an actual inventory screen, a visible menu for selecting gear, loot glint to make important items clearer, and being able to see Garrett's actual feet and body when traversing. In a good way this reminds me of the tactility of Jurassic Park Trespasser's movement, where you actually feel the weight of how Garrett's actions would realistically be.
Additionally, the story is as excellent as the prior two games and does quite a lot to expand the setting while at the same time wrapping up the trilogy in a fairly nice bow. Garrett remains the best written protagonist in all of video games.
Now for the various...well, let's say quibbles since nitpicks slants too negative in connotation. First, while the amount of cutscenes are fine quite a few were done with in-game graphics which look significantly worse then the stylized, abstract cutscenes that are much more standard for the series. Similarly, the graphics are a step up from the first two games on a fidelity level but lack a certain bit of character present in those ones, possibly due to the lighting slanting more purple then straight black for accessibility reasons. I don't think the game looks bad, but for me the first two games look pretty timeless from an art direction standpoint so it's hard to really top that.
The game can also be quite buggy unpatched with some jank with controls and odd UI choices, although the extent this affects the experience is heavily exaggerated. I've beaten this game both patched and unpatched and can safely say both are perfectly fine.
Overall this is a solid game that I would recommend to people, it's just for me it is lacking in a fairly undefinable sense of specificity the first two games had, which isn't the fairest thing to hold against it but it is how I genuinely feel. If you haven't played a Thief game and feel a bit intimidated by the first two, then start here.
Well, the positives are pretty numerous. Out of the whole trilogy this one is by far the most approachable for a newcomer due to it's more simplified level design and loot hub areas which allow for hoarding resources. I think the city areas were a good idea and give a little bit of variety to the expected gameplay structure.
Quite a few of the levels are very solid and can hold up compared to the best of Thief 1/2. It helps that since Deadly Shadows had a relatively normal development cycle it doesn't suffer from the poor decisions of many of Thief 2's worst missions. If you play this you are in for a relatively consistent experience.
The core gameplay is about as solid as the first two without any significant regressions aside from the loss of rope/vine arrows, but the replacements and choices in level design prevent a sense of the gameplay loop being 'dumbed down' thankfully. Quite a few changes I actually wish were present in the first two games in fact, such as an actual inventory screen, a visible menu for selecting gear, loot glint to make important items clearer, and being able to see Garrett's actual feet and body when traversing. In a good way this reminds me of the tactility of Jurassic Park Trespasser's movement, where you actually feel the weight of how Garrett's actions would realistically be.
Additionally, the story is as excellent as the prior two games and does quite a lot to expand the setting while at the same time wrapping up the trilogy in a fairly nice bow. Garrett remains the best written protagonist in all of video games.
Now for the various...well, let's say quibbles since nitpicks slants too negative in connotation. First, while the amount of cutscenes are fine quite a few were done with in-game graphics which look significantly worse then the stylized, abstract cutscenes that are much more standard for the series. Similarly, the graphics are a step up from the first two games on a fidelity level but lack a certain bit of character present in those ones, possibly due to the lighting slanting more purple then straight black for accessibility reasons. I don't think the game looks bad, but for me the first two games look pretty timeless from an art direction standpoint so it's hard to really top that.
The game can also be quite buggy unpatched with some jank with controls and odd UI choices, although the extent this affects the experience is heavily exaggerated. I've beaten this game both patched and unpatched and can safely say both are perfectly fine.
Overall this is a solid game that I would recommend to people, it's just for me it is lacking in a fairly undefinable sense of specificity the first two games had, which isn't the fairest thing to hold against it but it is how I genuinely feel. If you haven't played a Thief game and feel a bit intimidated by the first two, then start here.
It's an okay stealth game that's worth playing once. But the issues go a lot deeper than just smaller levels and no rope arrows.
The worst design decision in this game was not committing to either first person or third person. The game tries to have both and it results in wonky sluggish movement because Garrett now has a physical body. The infamous floating Garrett bug was extremely irritating.
Most of the levels are fine but unfortunately nothing compares to the first two games. Even the famed Cradle wasn't quite as shocking as I expected it to be. It certainly had a potent vibe, but I expected to be more scared by what is apparently one of the scariest levels of all time. But maybe it really was back in 2004. I found some of the levels in Thief 1 scarier personally. In my opinion the seaside manor is the best level in this game.
Exploring the city between missions was a cool idea but this game had too many limitations to flesh it out properly. It became a tedious trek after the first time.
The story wasn't as good as the first two games and I already struggle to remember some of it, while I can recall the first two games' stories perfectly despite playing Deadly Shadows more recently than them. I was happy to get a definitive conclusion to Garrett's story though.
The worst design decision in this game was not committing to either first person or third person. The game tries to have both and it results in wonky sluggish movement because Garrett now has a physical body. The infamous floating Garrett bug was extremely irritating.
Most of the levels are fine but unfortunately nothing compares to the first two games. Even the famed Cradle wasn't quite as shocking as I expected it to be. It certainly had a potent vibe, but I expected to be more scared by what is apparently one of the scariest levels of all time. But maybe it really was back in 2004. I found some of the levels in Thief 1 scarier personally. In my opinion the seaside manor is the best level in this game.
Exploring the city between missions was a cool idea but this game had too many limitations to flesh it out properly. It became a tedious trek after the first time.
The story wasn't as good as the first two games and I already struggle to remember some of it, while I can recall the first two games' stories perfectly despite playing Deadly Shadows more recently than them. I was happy to get a definitive conclusion to Garrett's story though.
Kinda disappointed that there was no rope Arrow to be seen
ANYWHERE!!!
ANYWHERE!!!