Ever since the Black Parade released to marvelous acclaim hitting Moddb’s mod of the year for 2023. I couldn’t help but ask myself “Is Thief good?” In an effort to see if the game holds up, I decided to start with the first installment before I inevitably reach the mod down the road. And I must say after 28 hours on expert difficulty. Thief Gold(Thief 1/T1) by Looking Glass Studio. Is a dark, thrilling, and fulfilling experience in reigniting all the checkmarks I like and love in the stealth realm. And I am glad to be back in the genre once again. From my days in Metal Gear, Syphon Filter & Old Assassin’s Creed.
Originally called Thief: The Dark Project. The gold edition adds three new missions to deepen the plot and five new enemies. Edited original missions with a slew of bug fixes. So this feels like a definitive edition. Although I did have to use several mods I’ll detail later on to bring the game up to modern standards.
The premise is simple and you control a single character Garret who is a master thief. With no special powers whatsoever. His days from being a homeless orphan were discarded long ago since he joined a secret order. Years later he leaves and decides to make it on his own. Delving into the path of thievery without remorse to fulfill his greed for money. He is ambitious, selfish, cynical, and an untraditional protagonist. All qualities I don’t like at all for a main character and yet by the time the end credits are rolling, I am very tempted to head right into the sequel to see what’s next in store for him.
Worldbuilding is subtle, dark, and strangely yet fittingly humorous at times. A mix of middle ages, dark fantasy, and on the cusp of an industrial revolution. With lore dropping from scrolls and conversations between guards during their breaks. Offering vital gossip on the citizenry, complaints of co-workers, and my personal favorite lore stories and convenient tips/hints that may connect to the main cast. A method to reach a previously unassailable location. Secrets will be revealed unintentionally and a good eavesdropper should without hesitation use it to their advantage to maximum effect. G-man will also monologue amongst himself and will at times drop interesting commentary during work. Usually comments like being dumbfounded or witty responses to abrupt changes in objectives. A nice change of pace from the otherwise silence permeating while you lurk in the shadows. Parchment readings and books offer insightful lessons and teachings from the factions of Hammerites and the Pagans. Both believe in their gods in a way bordering unhealthy zealotry and are at odds with one another. The supernatural elements took me by surprise many times. Spells, incantations, and rituals are fitting. Inducing a mystical wonder beyond the medieval. Zombies, ghosts, and malformed supernatural creatures are here to stay. Oh, and bugs like mutated spiders I didn’t think were a threat had me running away once I caught sight of them. Seriously, how can they jump so high and shoot acid!? Machinery such as factories, smelting tools, and items with a steady supply of lava provide their citizenry with new forms of artificial light instead of the traditional natural fire to illuminate surroundings. Creating an interesting level design throughout, a blend of medieval housing full of conventional bricks, wooden planks, and pavement with the power of adopting steel into the surroundings.
Quite ingenious for a stealth-based gameplay approach back in the old days. Erase approaches such as shooting from afar with guns or tasing anyone to oblivion. The game operates on a mission structure. Before a mission starts you are given a briefing of the events prior, a chance to buy equipment using gold earned from a prior mission, and a handy, but vague map. Embarking on a new place in the City at various times. Always looking forward to a new place to see the sightsand steal whatever I can of course. Sometimes your goals will change during an operation. Good o’l no plan survives contact with the enemy is important to keep in mind. Therefore, caution is advised when conducting skullduggery. But hey Garrett has immensely useful tools to help. No stamina gauge when swinging weapons. Innate ability knocking a bow and arrows. The blackjack is easily the #1 most useful weapon. Capable of one-shotting nearly every enemy into blissful unconsciousness. They never get back up despite hours passing by too! You can move them into shadowed areas preventing patrols from encountering them and thus initiating an alarm at a whole base. Arrows dipped in fire, water, gas, and rope are likewise vital in completing a task. Blasting creatures with fire is like launching a missile capable of damaging multiple enemies. Water aids in dousing torches causing the light in room/s to darken and therefore allowing one mistah G to conduct his activities in better stealth mode than dressing up like an orange ninja from a shinobi world. Gas is powerful. No not fart ones, these kinds if launched correctly can take out groups of enemies into dreamland. Vital when being chased by a horde of angry guards…
Additionally, the rope arrow single-handedly changed my whole experience. Making me think outside the box. Reminds me of using the GLOO gun from Prey and applying the weapon to reach places I wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to exploit regular means. The cable, by comparison, allows one to hit any wooden surface dropping a decent length of string. Becoming instantly available for climbing. As a result, you can traverse higher elevations. Furthermore, one can retrieve their shaft if applicable to re-use once again making the tool highly versatile in nearly any sticky situation he’s subjected to. Trust me you’ll need it when you're at a rock and hard place with nearby zombies closing in on your position with nowhere to run except upon checking your surroundings a wooden beam is above. Maybe a handy tool would surely be useful now.
Level design in every assignment is intricate, maze-like, and deep. Displaying an awesome sleight of hand in the dev’s works to craft initially simple environments then suddenly catching me off-guard by transforming into a large several corridors and passageways leading a lost one into a room full of secrets. It is deep and chock full of hidden areas that can be unlocked from levers, switches, and cleverly tucked away corners. Intrinsically linked in the environment. Delivering a cool verticality and thorough ‘puzzle-like’ solving when applicable. The start of any new venture won’t be the same to some extent in the end portion upon completing all your objectives. You will see sprawling organized streets and then hit unfamiliar ruined suburbs and towns. Dive underwater and emerge in desolate gray caves emerging into a facility of machinery mixed with stone masonry. Similar, but different to how dungeons are made from a certain Zelda series. Full of traps, few floors, and twisting passages that can be confusing to any newcomer unused to the design. One of my favorites is encountering an awesome Pixar-like ‘room’ essentially allowing me to venture inside and somehow escape replicating a [T$%] Story-like design. Someone at Looking Glass has good taste being inspired by the 1995 film huh. And to think this was an optional target I could’ve missed. I. Am. Amazed. Sure the rest of the content isn’t filled to the brim with cool sets like those, but to a degree, they offer a unique hodgepodge of interesting locales to wonder and gawk at least. As a newcomer coming into the series I did not expect at all to admire the sheer size of these levels. Some are more subtle in ways before a certain fire nation attacked delving into the mysticism of earth, wind, and water extending the dev’s creativity to their utmost limit. The elements become more profound and are used intricately as I delve deeper into the endgame. Changing the propensity of manmade structures into natural habitats. Surfaces of the earth and elevating platforms in one section demonstrate the move from traditional simple human paths to complex passageways. Can be confusing at times, but hey remember! You have a handy compass and a map too! So all is not lost. A master thief enjoys establishing their path forward through balanced platforming and embracing the wonders of being lost in the thrill of discovery.
Hell the power to jump provides excellent mobility in areas and the level design pays off in spades demonstrating to great effect. For example, Imagine facing a fort with no possible entryway. Ok well, let me go around to see for any wooden roofs or beams. Voila, there is! Shooting a rope arrow then. I climb and then acrobat onto the rampart. But wait, the door is locked inside! Hmm. The new plan is to head to another rooftop and get inside from there. I climb to the nearest rampart point then give myself a boost and ledge grab my way onto my destination. Successfully entering with no one aware. The ledge grab is super satisfying to enact every time. Although I quickly save before I launch myself just in case I fail. Yet holding the jump button is easy to maneuver and painless to execute.
Almost delving into the point of frustration at times, yet never truly becoming mad to the nth degree I wanted to throw my controller. Perhaps due to the save at anytime system in place making retries quick and painless. It is a relief to operate an easy system to retry failed attempts since most levels are so large. Not an open world at all. Garrett conducts most of his missions at different new locations within the metropolis, which we can explore without a time limit. And there’s always something new to look forward to. I ventured into a manor to steal a scepter. Dived into the pits below to enter hidden caverns and reach a prison facility. Sought treasure in abandoned ruins, boldly stole a precious item between two thieves' guilds, and enacted revenge on a rich dude who tried to assassinate me. Seriously the gall of that guy.
Sound design is brilliant, harsh, intense, and fair. And this is weird. Usually, I praise the heck out of the soundtrack, and while it is good. In Thief I found it more enjoyable to analyze how the gameplay and level design work in tandem with the soundscape. Each step you take and every breath you make is calculated. Go on the steel floor versus carpet and rugs and you can see the clear difference upon nearby patrols. Rugs and carpets muffle your steps while treading on steel produces loud noises capable of making any close enemy's senses go on alert. Any action like swinging your sword, launching an arrow, or even bringing out blackjack to play whack a guard heightens an enemy's awareness. G-dude will exhale after an action and it's gotten to a point where I hold my breath whenever I have a close encounter. Exhaling once the coast is clear. Sights and sounds are interconnected. If you’re in a very dark area, chances are you become neigh invisible compared to a brightly lit room. Staying in the shadows like a sneaky fella pays off. And thankfully, you can stay in a crouched position than a normal pose to conduct your sneaky endeavors. Harsh, but I kid you not I repeatedly felt it was balanced throughout at no point during my time did I feel it was brutally unfair at all times. Rather the usage of noise in this instance facilitates between easy to hard and complex as you dive deeper into the latter stages. As if the devs are saying “Hey, we are increasing the difficulty gradually, no steep cliffs or curveballs.” And I like it. Keeps things fresh and exciting to uncover new hurdles. Supernatural entities like zombies and spirits have this ghastly voice. I found myself with chills crawling up my back. And goodness the regular harmless citizen will shout for help to call attention to your current position. Tension is alive. Stress remains an ever-constant companion when pursued, and patience is needed every day for every hour.
Lastly, I also want to praise the main objectives of missions and AI. The latter for being smart and dumb. Patrols once memorize their route and what their limit is. Abusing their ai becomes rinse and repeat and oh so satisfying. Never waking up after becoming unconscious. Some enemies of different classifications will vary in their sight and danger capability. I.E. Seeing farther and more acutely aware of their surroundings than the usual shmuck of a guard with base intelligence. Think of them as elite guards who have an intruder radar built in updated to version 2.0 than the base version. Hearing better on how loud footsteps are near along with acute 20/20 vision if close in line in sight. This is fascinating and as I progressed deeper into the game, proved once again the devs are challenging me to be better. Goals likewise increase in complexity. You have standard, hard, and expert. Differs from traditional modifiers of upping the enemy's health I usually see in other games. Their parameters increase meaning more tasks to do. A 'normal' setting would indicate one or two retrieve an item and escape. 'Hard' adds a couple more like finding another item in conjunction with the main goal. Expert unleashes a full page of tasks to do. From not killing anyone, finding multiple items, checking with a friend of yours, and attaining a set amount of money all while completing the main quest and escaping to boot. Here are several examples of differences in difficulty. Insane. Furthermore, as I continued with 'expert' on all missions, they largely increased my time in a level due to how large they can be. I usually spent an hour or two depending on the size. Only occurred on max settings. If you try the standard option you can breeze through levels much faster. The addition of higher parameters causes an interesting shift to occur for the player. Thus I had to explore as much as possible, find hidden secrets, embrace the longer plans, being meticulous to survive and not incur any of the killings. The game is much easier killing anyone you come across. But a master thief should never kill. Only retrieve what was ordered and then get out without a fuss.
Time for my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. Just some points from the game I think could be improved, tweaked for the better, and concerns I had. Didn’t affect my overall experience in a major manner.
First, same old, same old textures - Once I saw gray walls, gray bricks, stone pavement, same dirt in more than half of the missions, and frequent density in the latter stages it all became blurred together. Brought up with the maze-like corridors. I felt myself seeing the familiar paths without end. You don’t have a minimap either except a paper map that will vaguely pinpoint where you are. Therefore I had major deja vu. “Haven’t I been here before?” Thankfully, this isn’t egregious and the level variety for what it’s worth elevates everything else. Making it not so noticeable to see constantly. Makes me wonder if the sequel shakes things up a bit with colorful terrain when appropriate. I’m not asking for a rainbow from the color spectrum, merely suggesting slightly distinct patterns.
Second, Some objectives can be a bit vague to find. Like Mission 3. To retrieve the soul of the mystic required me to check everywhere and refer to my papyrus notes for hints and clues. Further, targets or items are not given exact instructions sometimes. Up to you to piece things together. Granted I personally like the non-approach to hand-holding, but some of these goals can be a real head scratcher. If you don’t come across hints and clues, eavesdropping a guard or finding a key to unlock another passageway or door is often the right path forward. Gentle reminder to explore thoroughly. Or use a guide when needed.
Third, May need a tool like a fire, water, or rope arrow to progress. While not required for every assignment. The wire is invaluable and shouldn't be utilized every so often at every opportunity. Elementals to a lesser degree, but still keep them in stock. Most of your inventory is consumables. And while you can find new ammo during a heist, it is best to at least save a decent amount. For situations when you require them. Sucks to use up all of your stock for minor loot grabbed when they may be needed for a critical venture.
Fourth, Wish some missions had health potions available close by. They’re pretty scarce in a job. Some later missions they in my opinion feel needed to help progress rather than me forcing a quicksave and quickload. Saving my health. Enemies can swarm you if you’re not careful and having more health is better than being one-shot. G-guy isn’t some deadliest warrior. So don’t think you can expertly assassinate any bloke. Keep in mind, I played on expert which usually required no bloodshed. Lowering settings offers no restrictions to eliminating anyone.
Fifth, Controls can take some getting used to. I tried keyboard and mouse and found the initial impression cumbersome so I switched to a controller setup and found it far better. Only had to input a couple more keybinds manually and I was fit as a fiddle tosteal! Borrow items. I suggest changing them if you feel weird handling your main character.
Sixth, due to the title being more than two decades old I highly recommend some of these mods I installed to grant an enhanced vanilla experience. Most you can find via a respective PC gaming wiki article. I did use a faithful texture pack. Not the popular one. Feel they change the original textures too much. I’ll leave the choice of what pack to choose up to you. I prefer Enhancement Pack 2.0 alpha.
Mods:
Unofficial patch for Thief 1/Gold - “improves compatibility with new pcs significantly, fixes graphic issues, adds support for widescreen resolutions and much more.”
Texture pack - “Replace all the old, low-quality objects and textures from Thief 1 and 2 with versions that have higher polygon counts and texture resolutions, while keeping as close to the originals as possible.” - This is the hardest mod to install. For some reason, the directions given resulted in half of the textures being improperly replaced. Displaying half high quality and half low quality. Inside you need to edit an ini file to put in the correct mod_path. Here is what I had that finally got everything to work. Hope it works for everyone else. If not, your mileage might vary.
mod_path usermods+mods\packfix+mods\candles+mods\EP\Thief1+NecroAge\Thief1+NecroAge+EP2\Thief1+EP2+mods+mods\t2skies+mods\EP+FMdml
Take a screenshot before the mod is installed and after to see if everything worked out. The rest of the mods I didn't have any trouble inputting.
Subtitles - Self-explanatory. In-game there is no option for subs. With this mod, you can read the spoken dialogue instead of straining your ears.
Sound Enhancement Pack - Makes all sound enhanced and not muddled. Providing clearer audio in both speech and sfx.
60 FPS Video Pack - Original videos are in a low resolution. With the video pack, all the videos are replaced with higher framerate and resolution.
Aside from minor tinkering to get the game up to speed and my barely noticeable mixed feelings. Thief shines when unconventional level design meets strong simple foundations in the gameplay to accentuate and enhance both categories. At its worst players(maybe newbies) may have difficulty in grasping the maze-like paths to reaching their objectives along with vague to almost obscure hints to their solutions(not always, uncommon I think). More so on increasing levels of difficulty than normal I feel. The central narrative I expected to be boring. And in turn I was mentally preparing myself for underwhelming. So to my delight, I was extremely glad to be wrong and found myself beset with a decent narrative and ultimately a likable protagonist.
Finally reaching the end of my trail I found Thief Gold impressed me to a degree I can’t stop thinking constantly about the missions inside. I adore it so much I had to hold off on playing the rest of the series so I won’t get burned out if I continue to run-non-stop at every entry. Filled with lengthy missions depending on difficulty and fair gameplay mechanics to tackle in whatever and however manner you so choose. A freedom in gameplay philosophy I love! And honestly its given me more thought to level design in general and the approach of AI to objectives. I encourage anyone to give it a shot. Especially those who love Stealth or dipping their toes into the genre. For those curious about this old title, it still holds up quite well. Especially if you installed mods to bring it up to modern standards. And hey here’s one tidbit I found fascinating. Turns out Ken Levine worked on Thief along with Warren Spector. These guys would ultimately father some well-known titles down the road. Pretty insightful stuff. I bet we're in for Shocking Examples down the road.
8.5/10
References & Additional Material:
Thief Black Parade Mod
Different Examples of Difficulty
Thief 1 Credits
Mods - Thief PC gaming wiki - Thief 1/Gold Unofficial patch - Sound Enhancement Pack - 60 FPS Video Pack - Texture pack
Subtitles
Edited: 4-3-24 - Small correction on Blackjack use. From human to nearly every enemy. Thanks to @blackcat for the correction! After the small edit. 99% of review still intact.
Originally called Thief: The Dark Project. The gold edition adds three new missions to deepen the plot and five new enemies. Edited original missions with a slew of bug fixes. So this feels like a definitive edition. Although I did have to use several mods I’ll detail later on to bring the game up to modern standards.
The premise is simple and you control a single character Garret who is a master thief. With no special powers whatsoever. His days from being a homeless orphan were discarded long ago since he joined a secret order. Years later he leaves and decides to make it on his own. Delving into the path of thievery without remorse to fulfill his greed for money. He is ambitious, selfish, cynical, and an untraditional protagonist. All qualities I don’t like at all for a main character and yet by the time the end credits are rolling, I am very tempted to head right into the sequel to see what’s next in store for him.
Worldbuilding is subtle, dark, and strangely yet fittingly humorous at times. A mix of middle ages, dark fantasy, and on the cusp of an industrial revolution. With lore dropping from scrolls and conversations between guards during their breaks. Offering vital gossip on the citizenry, complaints of co-workers, and my personal favorite lore stories and convenient tips/hints that may connect to the main cast. A method to reach a previously unassailable location. Secrets will be revealed unintentionally and a good eavesdropper should without hesitation use it to their advantage to maximum effect. G-man will also monologue amongst himself and will at times drop interesting commentary during work. Usually comments like being dumbfounded or witty responses to abrupt changes in objectives. A nice change of pace from the otherwise silence permeating while you lurk in the shadows. Parchment readings and books offer insightful lessons and teachings from the factions of Hammerites and the Pagans. Both believe in their gods in a way bordering unhealthy zealotry and are at odds with one another. The supernatural elements took me by surprise many times. Spells, incantations, and rituals are fitting. Inducing a mystical wonder beyond the medieval. Zombies, ghosts, and malformed supernatural creatures are here to stay. Oh, and bugs like mutated spiders I didn’t think were a threat had me running away once I caught sight of them. Seriously, how can they jump so high and shoot acid!? Machinery such as factories, smelting tools, and items with a steady supply of lava provide their citizenry with new forms of artificial light instead of the traditional natural fire to illuminate surroundings. Creating an interesting level design throughout, a blend of medieval housing full of conventional bricks, wooden planks, and pavement with the power of adopting steel into the surroundings.
Quite ingenious for a stealth-based gameplay approach back in the old days. Erase approaches such as shooting from afar with guns or tasing anyone to oblivion. The game operates on a mission structure. Before a mission starts you are given a briefing of the events prior, a chance to buy equipment using gold earned from a prior mission, and a handy, but vague map. Embarking on a new place in the City at various times. Always looking forward to a new place to see the sights
Additionally, the rope arrow single-handedly changed my whole experience. Making me think outside the box. Reminds me of using the GLOO gun from Prey and applying the weapon to reach places I wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to exploit regular means. The cable, by comparison, allows one to hit any wooden surface dropping a decent length of string. Becoming instantly available for climbing. As a result, you can traverse higher elevations. Furthermore, one can retrieve their shaft if applicable to re-use once again making the tool highly versatile in nearly any sticky situation he’s subjected to. Trust me you’ll need it when you're at a rock and hard place with nearby zombies closing in on your position with nowhere to run except upon checking your surroundings a wooden beam is above. Maybe a handy tool would surely be useful now.
Level design in every assignment is intricate, maze-like, and deep. Displaying an awesome sleight of hand in the dev’s works to craft initially simple environments then suddenly catching me off-guard by transforming into a large several corridors and passageways leading a lost one into a room full of secrets. It is deep and chock full of hidden areas that can be unlocked from levers, switches, and cleverly tucked away corners. Intrinsically linked in the environment. Delivering a cool verticality and thorough ‘puzzle-like’ solving when applicable. The start of any new venture won’t be the same to some extent in the end portion upon completing all your objectives. You will see sprawling organized streets and then hit unfamiliar ruined suburbs and towns. Dive underwater and emerge in desolate gray caves emerging into a facility of machinery mixed with stone masonry. Similar, but different to how dungeons are made from a certain Zelda series. Full of traps, few floors, and twisting passages that can be confusing to any newcomer unused to the design. One of my favorites is encountering an awesome Pixar-like ‘room’ essentially allowing me to venture inside and somehow escape replicating a [T$%] Story-like design. Someone at Looking Glass has good taste being inspired by the 1995 film huh. And to think this was an optional target I could’ve missed. I. Am. Amazed. Sure the rest of the content isn’t filled to the brim with cool sets like those, but to a degree, they offer a unique hodgepodge of interesting locales to wonder and gawk at least. As a newcomer coming into the series I did not expect at all to admire the sheer size of these levels. Some are more subtle in ways before a certain fire nation attacked delving into the mysticism of earth, wind, and water extending the dev’s creativity to their utmost limit. The elements become more profound and are used intricately as I delve deeper into the endgame. Changing the propensity of manmade structures into natural habitats. Surfaces of the earth and elevating platforms in one section demonstrate the move from traditional simple human paths to complex passageways. Can be confusing at times, but hey remember! You have a handy compass and a map too! So all is not lost. A master thief enjoys establishing their path forward through balanced platforming and embracing the wonders of being lost in the thrill of discovery.
Hell the power to jump provides excellent mobility in areas and the level design pays off in spades demonstrating to great effect. For example, Imagine facing a fort with no possible entryway. Ok well, let me go around to see for any wooden roofs or beams. Voila, there is! Shooting a rope arrow then. I climb and then acrobat onto the rampart. But wait, the door is locked inside! Hmm. The new plan is to head to another rooftop and get inside from there. I climb to the nearest rampart point then give myself a boost and ledge grab my way onto my destination. Successfully entering with no one aware. The ledge grab is super satisfying to enact every time. Although I quickly save before I launch myself just in case I fail. Yet holding the jump button is easy to maneuver and painless to execute.
Almost delving into the point of frustration at times, yet never truly becoming mad to the nth degree I wanted to throw my controller. Perhaps due to the save at anytime system in place making retries quick and painless. It is a relief to operate an easy system to retry failed attempts since most levels are so large. Not an open world at all. Garrett conducts most of his missions at different new locations within the metropolis, which we can explore without a time limit. And there’s always something new to look forward to. I ventured into a manor to steal a scepter. Dived into the pits below to enter hidden caverns and reach a prison facility. Sought treasure in abandoned ruins, boldly stole a precious item between two thieves' guilds, and enacted revenge on a rich dude who tried to assassinate me. Seriously the gall of that guy.
Sound design is brilliant, harsh, intense, and fair. And this is weird. Usually, I praise the heck out of the soundtrack, and while it is good. In Thief I found it more enjoyable to analyze how the gameplay and level design work in tandem with the soundscape. Each step you take and every breath you make is calculated. Go on the steel floor versus carpet and rugs and you can see the clear difference upon nearby patrols. Rugs and carpets muffle your steps while treading on steel produces loud noises capable of making any close enemy's senses go on alert. Any action like swinging your sword, launching an arrow, or even bringing out blackjack to play whack a guard heightens an enemy's awareness. G-dude will exhale after an action and it's gotten to a point where I hold my breath whenever I have a close encounter. Exhaling once the coast is clear. Sights and sounds are interconnected. If you’re in a very dark area, chances are you become neigh invisible compared to a brightly lit room. Staying in the shadows like a sneaky fella pays off. And thankfully, you can stay in a crouched position than a normal pose to conduct your sneaky endeavors. Harsh, but I kid you not I repeatedly felt it was balanced throughout at no point during my time did I feel it was brutally unfair at all times. Rather the usage of noise in this instance facilitates between easy to hard and complex as you dive deeper into the latter stages. As if the devs are saying “Hey, we are increasing the difficulty gradually, no steep cliffs or curveballs.” And I like it. Keeps things fresh and exciting to uncover new hurdles. Supernatural entities like zombies and spirits have this ghastly voice. I found myself with chills crawling up my back. And goodness the regular harmless citizen will shout for help to call attention to your current position. Tension is alive. Stress remains an ever-constant companion when pursued, and patience is needed every day for every hour.
Lastly, I also want to praise the main objectives of missions and AI. The latter for being smart and dumb. Patrols once memorize their route and what their limit is. Abusing their ai becomes rinse and repeat and oh so satisfying. Never waking up after becoming unconscious. Some enemies of different classifications will vary in their sight and danger capability. I.E. Seeing farther and more acutely aware of their surroundings than the usual shmuck of a guard with base intelligence. Think of them as elite guards who have an intruder radar built in updated to version 2.0 than the base version. Hearing better on how loud footsteps are near along with acute 20/20 vision if close in line in sight. This is fascinating and as I progressed deeper into the game, proved once again the devs are challenging me to be better. Goals likewise increase in complexity. You have standard, hard, and expert. Differs from traditional modifiers of upping the enemy's health I usually see in other games. Their parameters increase meaning more tasks to do. A 'normal' setting would indicate one or two retrieve an item and escape. 'Hard' adds a couple more like finding another item in conjunction with the main goal. Expert unleashes a full page of tasks to do. From not killing anyone, finding multiple items, checking with a friend of yours, and attaining a set amount of money all while completing the main quest and escaping to boot. Here are several examples of differences in difficulty. Insane. Furthermore, as I continued with 'expert' on all missions, they largely increased my time in a level due to how large they can be. I usually spent an hour or two depending on the size. Only occurred on max settings. If you try the standard option you can breeze through levels much faster. The addition of higher parameters causes an interesting shift to occur for the player. Thus I had to explore as much as possible, find hidden secrets, embrace the longer plans, being meticulous to survive and not incur any of the killings. The game is much easier killing anyone you come across. But a master thief should never kill. Only retrieve what was ordered and then get out without a fuss.
Time for my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. Just some points from the game I think could be improved, tweaked for the better, and concerns I had. Didn’t affect my overall experience in a major manner.
First, same old, same old textures - Once I saw gray walls, gray bricks, stone pavement, same dirt in more than half of the missions, and frequent density in the latter stages it all became blurred together. Brought up with the maze-like corridors. I felt myself seeing the familiar paths without end. You don’t have a minimap either except a paper map that will vaguely pinpoint where you are. Therefore I had major deja vu. “Haven’t I been here before?” Thankfully, this isn’t egregious and the level variety for what it’s worth elevates everything else. Making it not so noticeable to see constantly. Makes me wonder if the sequel shakes things up a bit with colorful terrain when appropriate. I’m not asking for a rainbow from the color spectrum, merely suggesting slightly distinct patterns.
Second, Some objectives can be a bit vague to find. Like Mission 3. To retrieve the soul of the mystic required me to check everywhere and refer to my papyrus notes for hints and clues. Further, targets or items are not given exact instructions sometimes. Up to you to piece things together. Granted I personally like the non-approach to hand-holding, but some of these goals can be a real head scratcher. If you don’t come across hints and clues, eavesdropping a guard or finding a key to unlock another passageway or door is often the right path forward. Gentle reminder to explore thoroughly. Or use a guide when needed.
Third, May need a tool like a fire, water, or rope arrow to progress. While not required for every assignment. The wire is invaluable and shouldn't be utilized every so often at every opportunity. Elementals to a lesser degree, but still keep them in stock. Most of your inventory is consumables. And while you can find new ammo during a heist, it is best to at least save a decent amount. For situations when you require them. Sucks to use up all of your stock for minor loot grabbed when they may be needed for a critical venture.
Fourth, Wish some missions had health potions available close by. They’re pretty scarce in a job. Some later missions they in my opinion feel needed to help progress rather than me forcing a quicksave and quickload. Saving my health. Enemies can swarm you if you’re not careful and having more health is better than being one-shot. G-guy isn’t some deadliest warrior. So don’t think you can expertly assassinate any bloke. Keep in mind, I played on expert which usually required no bloodshed. Lowering settings offers no restrictions to eliminating anyone.
Fifth, Controls can take some getting used to. I tried keyboard and mouse and found the initial impression cumbersome so I switched to a controller setup and found it far better. Only had to input a couple more keybinds manually and I was fit as a fiddle to
Sixth, due to the title being more than two decades old I highly recommend some of these mods I installed to grant an enhanced vanilla experience. Most you can find via a respective PC gaming wiki article. I did use a faithful texture pack. Not the popular one. Feel they change the original textures too much. I’ll leave the choice of what pack to choose up to you. I prefer Enhancement Pack 2.0 alpha.
Mods:
Unofficial patch for Thief 1/Gold - “improves compatibility with new pcs significantly, fixes graphic issues, adds support for widescreen resolutions and much more.”
Texture pack - “Replace all the old, low-quality objects and textures from Thief 1 and 2 with versions that have higher polygon counts and texture resolutions, while keeping as close to the originals as possible.” - This is the hardest mod to install. For some reason, the directions given resulted in half of the textures being improperly replaced. Displaying half high quality and half low quality. Inside you need to edit an ini file to put in the correct mod_path. Here is what I had that finally got everything to work. Hope it works for everyone else. If not, your mileage might vary.
mod_path usermods+mods\packfix+mods\candles+mods\EP\Thief1+NecroAge\Thief1+NecroAge+EP2\Thief1+EP2+mods+mods\t2skies+mods\EP+FMdml
Take a screenshot before the mod is installed and after to see if everything worked out. The rest of the mods I didn't have any trouble inputting.
Subtitles - Self-explanatory. In-game there is no option for subs. With this mod, you can read the spoken dialogue instead of straining your ears.
Sound Enhancement Pack - Makes all sound enhanced and not muddled. Providing clearer audio in both speech and sfx.
60 FPS Video Pack - Original videos are in a low resolution. With the video pack, all the videos are replaced with higher framerate and resolution.
Aside from minor tinkering to get the game up to speed and my barely noticeable mixed feelings. Thief shines when unconventional level design meets strong simple foundations in the gameplay to accentuate and enhance both categories. At its worst players(maybe newbies) may have difficulty in grasping the maze-like paths to reaching their objectives along with vague to almost obscure hints to their solutions(not always, uncommon I think). More so on increasing levels of difficulty than normal I feel. The central narrative I expected to be boring. And in turn I was mentally preparing myself for underwhelming. So to my delight, I was extremely glad to be wrong and found myself beset with a decent narrative and ultimately a likable protagonist.
Finally reaching the end of my trail I found Thief Gold impressed me to a degree I can’t stop thinking constantly about the missions inside. I adore it so much I had to hold off on playing the rest of the series so I won’t get burned out if I continue to run-non-stop at every entry. Filled with lengthy missions depending on difficulty and fair gameplay mechanics to tackle in whatever and however manner you so choose. A freedom in gameplay philosophy I love! And honestly its given me more thought to level design in general and the approach of AI to objectives. I encourage anyone to give it a shot. Especially those who love Stealth or dipping their toes into the genre. For those curious about this old title, it still holds up quite well. Especially if you installed mods to bring it up to modern standards. And hey here’s one tidbit I found fascinating. Turns out Ken Levine worked on Thief along with Warren Spector. These guys would ultimately father some well-known titles down the road. Pretty insightful stuff. I bet we're in for Shocking Examples down the road.
8.5/10
References & Additional Material:
Thief Black Parade Mod
Different Examples of Difficulty
Thief 1 Credits
Mods - Thief PC gaming wiki - Thief 1/Gold Unofficial patch - Sound Enhancement Pack - 60 FPS Video Pack - Texture pack
Subtitles
Edited: 4-3-24 - Small correction on Blackjack use. From human to nearly every enemy. Thanks to @blackcat for the correction! After the small edit. 99% of review still intact.
Fakir çalmasını beceremediği için fakirdir.
genuinely when youre sneaking around levels, stealing loot, going full ghost so guards dont even suspect you, using your wits to determine where you need to go and what the best way to get there would be, this game is masterful, a triumph for stealth games of the era. there are things about the stealth that could be improved, but as is, the stealth is great.
but then half the game just decides it wants levels to be in some crappy mazes with zombies and shit making you run in circles trying to find some bullshit and it just ruins the experience. there are points where i thought about just quitting the game entirely.
i pray thief 2 and 3 dont have any of the zombie caverns this game had
but then half the game just decides it wants levels to be in some crappy mazes with zombies and shit making you run in circles trying to find some bullshit and it just ruins the experience. there are points where i thought about just quitting the game entirely.
i pray thief 2 and 3 dont have any of the zombie caverns this game had
thief me deixa tão frustrada, cara.
as missões que te colocam numa cidade e te pedem pra se infiltrar numa mansão com uma lista de itens para serem roubados são quando thief realmente brilha. é indescriptível a sensação causada por transitar despercebida entre múltiplos guardas, ficar paralisada de medo em uma sombra enquanto alguém passa do seu lado e milagrosamente não te percebe, circular desesperadamente pela sua lista de itens atrás de uma chave ou uma lockpick pra abrir uma porta, encontrar as passagens secretas que mostram como o dono desse lugar é tão paranoico quanto ele é rico. essa sensação fica mais intensa quando depois de tudo, você consegue sair do lugar sem ter alertado ou nem menos nocauteado ninguém, com os bolsos cheios de dinheiro. esse é um immersive sim com um stealth tão refinado que raramente é igualado por jogos fora dessa série.
...mas aí de repente thief decide virar um dungeon crawler 3D com zumbis????? onde você não tem necessidade alguma de ser sorrateira e fica dependendo ou da sua habilidade em se esquivar de monstros ou de um sistema de combate especificamente nerfado pra te incentivar a ser sorrateira?
eu queria muito entender a mentalidade da Looking Glass em juntar essas duas coisas nesse jogo, mas infelizmente elas destoam em ambos tom e qualidade. tentei ao máximo dar chances ao jogo como um todo, mas percebi que estava ficando sem vontade nenhuma de jogar ele por esse motivo, então usei Ctrl+Alt+Shift+End para pular as fases que não majoritariamente envolvem stealth e que não permitem aproximações criativas aos objetivos. o que francamente parte meu coração. eu adoro o que thief parece ser, e honestamente tenho inveja de quem consegue apreciar melhor as sequências mais lineares do jogo. acredita em mim, eu queria muito ser você nesse momento.
as partes que me empolgam não são igualadas por quase nada, e por conta disso, as partes que me incomodam me deixam muito frustradas. não ajuda o fato de que as fases ruins são tão longas também.
engraçado que costumo preferir os primeiros jogos das séries criadas pela Looking Glass em comparação às suas sequências, que geralmente são mais apreciadas pelo público. porém nesse caso acredito que vou gostar mais de thief 2 quando eu chegar lá.
as missões que te colocam numa cidade e te pedem pra se infiltrar numa mansão com uma lista de itens para serem roubados são quando thief realmente brilha. é indescriptível a sensação causada por transitar despercebida entre múltiplos guardas, ficar paralisada de medo em uma sombra enquanto alguém passa do seu lado e milagrosamente não te percebe, circular desesperadamente pela sua lista de itens atrás de uma chave ou uma lockpick pra abrir uma porta, encontrar as passagens secretas que mostram como o dono desse lugar é tão paranoico quanto ele é rico. essa sensação fica mais intensa quando depois de tudo, você consegue sair do lugar sem ter alertado ou nem menos nocauteado ninguém, com os bolsos cheios de dinheiro. esse é um immersive sim com um stealth tão refinado que raramente é igualado por jogos fora dessa série.
...mas aí de repente thief decide virar um dungeon crawler 3D com zumbis????? onde você não tem necessidade alguma de ser sorrateira e fica dependendo ou da sua habilidade em se esquivar de monstros ou de um sistema de combate especificamente nerfado pra te incentivar a ser sorrateira?
eu queria muito entender a mentalidade da Looking Glass em juntar essas duas coisas nesse jogo, mas infelizmente elas destoam em ambos tom e qualidade. tentei ao máximo dar chances ao jogo como um todo, mas percebi que estava ficando sem vontade nenhuma de jogar ele por esse motivo, então usei Ctrl+Alt+Shift+End para pular as fases que não majoritariamente envolvem stealth e que não permitem aproximações criativas aos objetivos. o que francamente parte meu coração. eu adoro o que thief parece ser, e honestamente tenho inveja de quem consegue apreciar melhor as sequências mais lineares do jogo. acredita em mim, eu queria muito ser você nesse momento.
as partes que me empolgam não são igualadas por quase nada, e por conta disso, as partes que me incomodam me deixam muito frustradas. não ajuda o fato de que as fases ruins são tão longas também.
engraçado que costumo preferir os primeiros jogos das séries criadas pela Looking Glass em comparação às suas sequências, que geralmente são mais apreciadas pelo público. porém nesse caso acredito que vou gostar mais de thief 2 quando eu chegar lá.
Absolutely fantastic stealth game whose influence can be very clearly seen in more recent games. Sound design is the star here. This is probably the only stealth game I’ve ever played where sound is the primary signal of enemy location. Due to the excellent sound design this works surprisingly well and is really fun to take advantage of. Extinguishing a candle and then listening to enemy footsteps in the dark so you can plan exactly when to pop out with your blackjack is incredibly immersive and satisfying. This game really makes you feel like you’re in Garret's shoes.
My biggest critique is regarding the presence of levels that don’t really lend themselves to a pure stealth experience, which is where this game excels. There are quite a few instances where the game either forces you to break stealth and run from / fight enemies or fills a level with enemies that can’t be effectively avoided using stealth. The resulting gameplay can still be fun and challenging due to Garret being relatively weak in combat, Theif's fluid and satisfying movement, and the abundance of places to hide and shake off pursuing enemies, but it’s not nearly as enjoyable as the pure stealth segments. These segments end up feeling more like you're playing a survival horror game or a Tomb Raider style action adventure game with immersive sim elements as opposed to a stealth game. (A quick note on this, Thief can be surprisingly scary during some of these segments. The noise that undead enemies make when they're nearby creates a powerful sense of unease. Hearing a Hammer Haunt close by but not knowing exactly where it is can be frankly terrifying. These are some of the most powerful enemies in the game being both lightning fast and able to kill Garrett in only a couple hits, and their sound and visual design definitely reflects that - it's great. So while Thief is at its best when it's a pure stealth game, it's able to pull off the other genres it leans into surprisingly well.)
Gold adds a few levels on top of the ones from Thief’s original release. These are all fairly large levels, but they’re surprisingly intuitive to navigate and offer multiple avenues for players to approach their goals. These levels can drag on a bit due to their size - taking me around an hour a piece, but they’re thankfully all pure stealth levels. The thieves guild level in gold is a bit infamous from what I've seen, but I actually enjoyed this level - mostly due to the open ended map design and the player needing to look / listen for clues to figure out where to go in this sprawling maze. The Mage's Towers level was the one that really started to drag on for me. The central keep area is great - it's very open ended and fun to explore - but the towers quickly became a slog due to their incredibly linear design and emphasis on platforming, which are two things that don't compliment Thief's mechanics or controls very well.
Overall this is an excellent stealth game and truly a must play for fans of the genre. Thief's sound and light based approach along with its open ended levels and unique visual aesthetic creates an experience that you really can't get anywhere else. While Thief does have its flaws and definitely has some levels I don’t like, the majority of the game is excellent. I’m looking forward to doing a replay at some point on a higher difficulty so I can experience the additional quest objectives present on hard and expert.
My biggest critique is regarding the presence of levels that don’t really lend themselves to a pure stealth experience, which is where this game excels. There are quite a few instances where the game either forces you to break stealth and run from / fight enemies or fills a level with enemies that can’t be effectively avoided using stealth. The resulting gameplay can still be fun and challenging due to Garret being relatively weak in combat, Theif's fluid and satisfying movement, and the abundance of places to hide and shake off pursuing enemies, but it’s not nearly as enjoyable as the pure stealth segments. These segments end up feeling more like you're playing a survival horror game or a Tomb Raider style action adventure game with immersive sim elements as opposed to a stealth game. (A quick note on this, Thief can be surprisingly scary during some of these segments. The noise that undead enemies make when they're nearby creates a powerful sense of unease. Hearing a Hammer Haunt close by but not knowing exactly where it is can be frankly terrifying. These are some of the most powerful enemies in the game being both lightning fast and able to kill Garrett in only a couple hits, and their sound and visual design definitely reflects that - it's great. So while Thief is at its best when it's a pure stealth game, it's able to pull off the other genres it leans into surprisingly well.)
Gold adds a few levels on top of the ones from Thief’s original release. These are all fairly large levels, but they’re surprisingly intuitive to navigate and offer multiple avenues for players to approach their goals. These levels can drag on a bit due to their size - taking me around an hour a piece, but they’re thankfully all pure stealth levels. The thieves guild level in gold is a bit infamous from what I've seen, but I actually enjoyed this level - mostly due to the open ended map design and the player needing to look / listen for clues to figure out where to go in this sprawling maze. The Mage's Towers level was the one that really started to drag on for me. The central keep area is great - it's very open ended and fun to explore - but the towers quickly became a slog due to their incredibly linear design and emphasis on platforming, which are two things that don't compliment Thief's mechanics or controls very well.
Overall this is an excellent stealth game and truly a must play for fans of the genre. Thief's sound and light based approach along with its open ended levels and unique visual aesthetic creates an experience that you really can't get anywhere else. While Thief does have its flaws and definitely has some levels I don’t like, the majority of the game is excellent. I’m looking forward to doing a replay at some point on a higher difficulty so I can experience the additional quest objectives present on hard and expert.
Aesthetically perfect, mechanically solid, occasionally janky as hell - it's a 90s classic, all right. The world of Thief is such a fascinating one, with its unique balance of pagan occultism and nascent industrialization being in constant conflict, sometimes even in the scope of a single level.
Old ways are eroding in the face of societal advancement, and the powers that be are willing to go to extreme lengths to balance the scales in their favor - enter Garrett, a charismatic and talented thief at the top of his game. At first, he's simply the best of the best, pulling heists on the City's wealthy to mostly pay his debts and not much else. Suddenly, he's offered a job so good it could let him retire for good if he does it right, with the mysterious patron promising riches beyond his wildest dreams. Little does he know that his efforts are aiding in the completion of the titular 'Dark Project' - a plan so diabolical that even selfish old Garrett feels obliged to help put a stop to it.
While the story isn't anything fresh, the levels themselves are often mini-plots of their own, and the highlights are so bright they stand tall even today in the annals of stealth games. Lord Bafford's Manor, The Sword, Song of the Caverns, Return to the Cathedral - the best ones are treats I could return to anytime, they're so good.
The bad levels, on the other hand, regularly kill the momentum and take so much time they manage to kill entire playthroughs. For my money, the worst ones are the Lost City and the Mage's Tower, the latter being so bad as to kill my playthrough of the game for nearly a year. Nothing so bad as to be insurmountable, but there's nothing more painful than starting a level thinking it'll be 30 minutes at most and realizing it'll actually be 2 hours because of the terrible layouts and frustrating objectives.
That said, I loved this so much I'd gladly start another playthrough this Halloween for the top-tier spooky vibes and shadowy aesthetics. Definitely near the peak of stealth games I've played and a new favorite for sure. Now, on to Thief 2!
Old ways are eroding in the face of societal advancement, and the powers that be are willing to go to extreme lengths to balance the scales in their favor - enter Garrett, a charismatic and talented thief at the top of his game. At first, he's simply the best of the best, pulling heists on the City's wealthy to mostly pay his debts and not much else. Suddenly, he's offered a job so good it could let him retire for good if he does it right, with the mysterious patron promising riches beyond his wildest dreams. Little does he know that his efforts are aiding in the completion of the titular 'Dark Project' - a plan so diabolical that even selfish old Garrett feels obliged to help put a stop to it.
While the story isn't anything fresh, the levels themselves are often mini-plots of their own, and the highlights are so bright they stand tall even today in the annals of stealth games. Lord Bafford's Manor, The Sword, Song of the Caverns, Return to the Cathedral - the best ones are treats I could return to anytime, they're so good.
The bad levels, on the other hand, regularly kill the momentum and take so much time they manage to kill entire playthroughs. For my money, the worst ones are the Lost City and the Mage's Tower, the latter being so bad as to kill my playthrough of the game for nearly a year. Nothing so bad as to be insurmountable, but there's nothing more painful than starting a level thinking it'll be 30 minutes at most and realizing it'll actually be 2 hours because of the terrible layouts and frustrating objectives.
That said, I loved this so much I'd gladly start another playthrough this Halloween for the top-tier spooky vibes and shadowy aesthetics. Definitely near the peak of stealth games I've played and a new favorite for sure. Now, on to Thief 2!
People'll kill me for this I'm sure but lemme make it clear: I don't think Thief 1 is a bad game at all, far from it. The mechanics and gameplay ideas are stellar and the atmosphere, like its sequel, still holds up all these years later.
But it has what I honestly believe is some of the most inconsistent level quality I've seen in a game.
For every good level, there are at least 6 others that are either just plain bad or yet another "zombie/paranormal-creature filled" level (which aren't inherently bad either! Deadly Shadows did them pretty well!).
And that's my biggest issue. When people will tell you to outright SKIP specific levels because of how bad or confusing they are, that's NOT a good thing.
There are great levels in here, don't get me wrong. Bafford's manor, Assassins, Mage Towers, Song of the Caverns, and Undercover are all really good. But the rest range from either tolerable to downright painful. Thieves Guild is already NOTORIOUSLY bad amongst the community, but Escape has to be one of the worst levels I've played in any game.
Some people call this "the real Thief" like 2 doesn't count, and I'm sorry, I can't agree with that. If you prefer 1 over 2, by all means, I'm cool with that, but for me... nah. This is a one-time play and nothing else. If you really liked 2 I would say give it a shot, or at the very least use console commands to play the good levels. Happy I finally tried it, but otherwise, god what a slog.
But it has what I honestly believe is some of the most inconsistent level quality I've seen in a game.
For every good level, there are at least 6 others that are either just plain bad or yet another "zombie/paranormal-creature filled" level (which aren't inherently bad either! Deadly Shadows did them pretty well!).
And that's my biggest issue. When people will tell you to outright SKIP specific levels because of how bad or confusing they are, that's NOT a good thing.
There are great levels in here, don't get me wrong. Bafford's manor, Assassins, Mage Towers, Song of the Caverns, and Undercover are all really good. But the rest range from either tolerable to downright painful. Thieves Guild is already NOTORIOUSLY bad amongst the community, but Escape has to be one of the worst levels I've played in any game.
Some people call this "the real Thief" like 2 doesn't count, and I'm sorry, I can't agree with that. If you prefer 1 over 2, by all means, I'm cool with that, but for me... nah. This is a one-time play and nothing else. If you really liked 2 I would say give it a shot, or at the very least use console commands to play the good levels. Happy I finally tried it, but otherwise, god what a slog.
Goated, not finished but mods are incredible
"O melhor jogo de stealth de todos!"
Enquanto isso o melhor jogo de stealth: Matando uns zumbis com uns golpe de espada que deixariam Zezinho Pitoco parecendo o Alexandre O Grande da espadada.
Brincadeiras da parte, acho esse um dos jogos mais superestimados que eu já vi na minha vida, é quase nível Homem Aranha Sem Volta para Casa, exceto que ao menos as qualidades são daqui mesmo e não foram roubadas do Sam Raimi e do Marc Webb (ou nesse caso do Warren Spector né, e depois ainda têm a pachorra de falar que ULTRAKILL e Pizza Tower são superestimados.
Está bem mas falando sério agora, a gameplay por si só é muito boa, possivelmente uma das melhores de qualquer jogo de stealth (pelo menos a gameplay BASE no PAPEL, coloque muita ênfase nesse gameplay BASE no PAPEL), o sistema de stealth em si provavelmente é o melhor que eu já vi em um jogo até hoje, usando TOTALMENTE do audiovisual para mostrar o quão escondido você está dos inimigos, e as fases (pelo menos as que são de stealth e não um boçal igual boa parte das fases são como falarei logo logo) usam muito bem desse sistema, apesar de as vezes poder ser um pouco frustrante, ainda mais no Expert onde os inimigos te matam em pouquíssimos golpes, mas nada disso tiraria a satisfação de se esconder num lugar escuro e nenhum guarda te ver no escuro, isso ou sair roubando tudo o que vê pela frente e sair com dinheiro suficiente e torrar tudo em instantes, nesse(s) quesito o stealth é (quase) impecável, e muito bom também o arsenal que reforça muito bem como o Garrett é apenas um bandido de rua e não um assassino de elite ou um espião cheio de melhorias tecnológicas igual o Corvo ou JC Denton em Dishonored e Deus Ex respectivamente, não me entenda errado, você pode até derrotar um guarda ou dois com sucesso na espadada, porém com mais guardas você está ferrado, fora que no Expert em algumas vezes você é punido por matar guardas, então poucos itens são focados em matar, e quando são, tipo a flecha de fogo ou a mina explosiva, geralmente são usados para matar ZUMBIS E OUTRAS CRIATURAS SOBRENATURAIS (você vai entender o por quê de estar tudo maiúsculo logo logo), e alguns itens do arsenal são divertidos pra cacete de se usar tipo a flecha de gás e a flecha de corda, e esse último é facilmente o meu item favorito do arsenal dele, podendo até mesmo atravessar áreas que normalmente seriam complicados ou até impossíveis de se atravessar muito mais fáceis ou acessíveis, e é claro não posso esquecer das gazuas mais legais de se usar que já vi em qualquer jogo que joguei até hoje, ah e também tem um dos sistemas de dificuldade de jogo mais interessantes que já vi em um jogo, onde normalmente só aumentaria o dano e a vida dos inimigos, aqui aumenta a quantidade de objetivos, assim como a quantidade de dinheiro necessária para terminar a fase (e se a fase não tiver nem isso e nem o objetivo de fugir do local, ele adiciona essas duas), e ainda tem algumas bem interessantes tipo resgatar alguém importante da Cragscleft Prison além do Cutty (nesse caso Basso). Enfim, eu falei tudo isso e agora você me pergunta o por quê de eu ter dado uma nota tão baixa para esse jogo aqui, enfim, eu falei do quão boa a gameplay principal do jogo é, mas eu não falei das fases, a seleção de fases aqui é uma das coisas mais sem noção que eu já vi em qualquer jogo de stealth aqui, esse jogo tem genuinamente algumas das PIORES FASES QUE EU JÁ VI EM QUALQUER JOGO EXISTENTE NA SOCIEDADE IMBECIL DE QUASE 8 BILHÕES DE PESSOAS NO MUNDO, dá vontade de querer mandar esse povo que deixou essas fases num jogo de stealth pra cadeia (e de praxe manda o RK Play junto kkkkk), pra não ser injusto aqui algumas fases são realmente muito, mas MUITO BOAS, tipo Lord Bafford's Manor (um pouco fácil demais mas uma ótima introdução para o jogo), Assassins e The Sword (uma fase tão boa que tem até uma parte dessa fase no Dusk, ah e falando em Dusk isso é foreshadowing para o que está por vir), mas também tem algumas das piores fases de qualquer jogo existente, tipo Lost City e Return of The Cathedral, duas fases TÃO MAS TÃO RUINS QUE QUASE DÃO ATAQUE CARDÍACO, e essas duas fases são uma bagunça, extremamente confusos de explorar e PIOR, cheio de inimigos sobrenaturais onde é quase impossível fazer stealth sem ser pego, tanto que não tem quase nenhum lugar para ficar escondido no Return to The Cathedral, SIM, a melhor parte do jogo não está presente nessa fase, você é obrigado a sair no soco com uns guardas ZUMBIS (ou seja, não morrem com ESPADADA) que atacam mais rápido que o The Flash e que falando nisso, nem adianta usar flash bomb neles, só correr até um elevador, mas outras fases também não ficam muito atrás não tipo Bonehoard e Thieves Guild (essa última é uma fase de stealth horrível com um dos layout de mapa mais confusos que já vi, é inacreditável como conseguiram cagar uma fase de STEALTH que veio um ano depois do lançamento do jogo original, no caso Gold é um relançamento com 3 fases novas, essa, Mage Towers e Song of The Caverns), e o pior é que esse povo que fala que esse jogo é o melhor jogo de stealth de todos deve usar LSD e cocaína porque muitas fases nem SEQUER são de stealth e ao invés disso você mata uns zumbi tosco lá que só morrem com água benta e bomba, algumas fases nem vergonha de terem feito eles um perigo tiveram já que tu pode andar do lado deles e não tomar dano, e são tantas que quando vem UMA fase de stealth tu sente um alívio de que passou aquela tosqueira, e falando nisso o ritmo do jogo é péssimo, as vezes tu tá numa fase de stealth e a próxima é fase tosca de matar zumbi, as vezes DUAS EM SEQUÊNCIA, e o pior é que algumas fases ficam deploráveis em dificuldades mais altas tipo Haunted Cathedral, Thieves Guild e as duas fases que citei antes (Lost City e Return to The Cathedral), recomendo jogar só no Normal, ou se tiver mais no momento jogar no Hard, pelo amor de deus não faça que nem o povo recomenda fazer e jogar no Expert, você vai querer (CENSURADO) de tanta raiva, ao menos no Normal você não tem uma quantidade tão absurda de objetivos. Mas em suma só para não ficar mais revoltado, o jogo tem uma gameplay incrível arrastada pelas fases terríveis do jogo, e as fases terríveis desmotivam quase completamente de continuar o resto do jogo, se não fosse pelas fases horríveis e só tivesse as fases de stealth (tira também a Thieves Guild, ninguém merece jogar isso também), seria facilmente um 9.5 ou até um 10, mas as fases horríveis dão vontade de dropar o jogo de tão ruins e são muito mais abundantes se comparado as melhores fases.
A história por si só pode não ser incrível, mas o worldbuilding é muito bom, ainda mais dos Hammerites, e sem contar duas coisas, primeiro que o Garrett é um protagonista muito legal, ele age cínico e egocêntrico pra caralho e eu adoro isso, já que ele age como se ele fosse o melhor de todos, só que como falei antes na gameplay um guarda derrota ele facilmente, e segundamente as cutscenes são bem daora, uma pena que elas não apareceram em momento nenhum na gameplay.
Mas é claro que não posso terminar a review sem citar os visuais e a trilha sonora, primeiro os visuais que sim, visualmente os modelos 3D dos NPCs são datados pra cacete, mas eu adoro a mistura de Steampunk com fantasia medieval, ainda mais com os Hammerites que são tipo a Brotherhood of Steel do Fallout só que 50/50 medieval e steampunk, quanto a trilha sonora não tem muita música, mas as músicas são legais, porém o que carrega de verdade é o sound design, o sound design é sensacional, as vezes deixa o jogo mais assustador do que muito jogo de terror aí, até mais que System Shock 2 (que ironicamente também usa a Dark Engine), e o jeito que ele é usado na gameplay também é muito foda, tudo isso culmina em um jogo altamente atmosférico.
Enfim, sinto muito se soei como um psicopata nessa review, mas pra mim esse jogo é complicado de falar sobre, porque ao mesmo tempo que ele tem uma ótima gameplay, as fases quebram muito a gameplay principal, pra mim só não dou nota mais baixa por causa disso e dos visuais e sound design do jogo, e sinceramente esse povo superestima esse jogo para um caralho como se fosse o melhor jogo de todos, sendo que muitas fases nem são de stealth, e o que encontrei foi um dos jogos mais indecisos que não sabe se decidir entre nada, ele não sabe decidir se vai ser um jogo de stealth ou um dungeon crawler a la Ultima Underworld (depois um tempo pesquisando eu descobri que antes o jogo era para ser um dungeon crawler como Ultima Underworld mesmo, só que de última hora fizeram dele um jogo de stealth, o que explica o tanto de fases de matar zumbi, mas não justifica o level design horrível do jogo), eu acho que o pessoal julga o jogo mais pela nostalgia e por apenas seus conceitos do que pelo produto inteiro em si, é tipo o povo que fala que digamos, Maid Dragon é horrível só por causa do Ecchi ou o povo que fala que PvZ2 é horrível só por causa das microtransações (não que esse povo esteja necessariamente errado ou alguma coisa, longe disso), e depois de desistir do jogo por causa do quão ruim a Return to The Cathedral era (e também ouvi falar que as três fases finais são horríveis de qualquer forma então né), só recomendo jogar isso se for para jogar o resto da trilogia ou por curiosidade, eu odiei boa parte do meu tempo com esse jogo, mas não consigo negar que o que ele faz bem ele faz bem pra cacete, então por isso...
6.5/10 (Admito que peguei pesado demais com esse jogo antes, ah e eu vi a intro e ela é foda demais.)
Enquanto isso o melhor jogo de stealth: Matando uns zumbis com uns golpe de espada que deixariam Zezinho Pitoco parecendo o Alexandre O Grande da espadada.
Brincadeiras da parte, acho esse um dos jogos mais superestimados que eu já vi na minha vida, é quase nível Homem Aranha Sem Volta para Casa, exceto que ao menos as qualidades são daqui mesmo e não foram roubadas do Sam Raimi e do Marc Webb (ou nesse caso do Warren Spector né, e depois ainda têm a pachorra de falar que ULTRAKILL e Pizza Tower são superestimados.
Está bem mas falando sério agora, a gameplay por si só é muito boa, possivelmente uma das melhores de qualquer jogo de stealth (pelo menos a gameplay BASE no PAPEL, coloque muita ênfase nesse gameplay BASE no PAPEL), o sistema de stealth em si provavelmente é o melhor que eu já vi em um jogo até hoje, usando TOTALMENTE do audiovisual para mostrar o quão escondido você está dos inimigos, e as fases (pelo menos as que são de stealth e não um boçal igual boa parte das fases são como falarei logo logo) usam muito bem desse sistema, apesar de as vezes poder ser um pouco frustrante, ainda mais no Expert onde os inimigos te matam em pouquíssimos golpes, mas nada disso tiraria a satisfação de se esconder num lugar escuro e nenhum guarda te ver no escuro, isso ou sair roubando tudo o que vê pela frente e sair com dinheiro suficiente e torrar tudo em instantes, nesse(s) quesito o stealth é (quase) impecável, e muito bom também o arsenal que reforça muito bem como o Garrett é apenas um bandido de rua e não um assassino de elite ou um espião cheio de melhorias tecnológicas igual o Corvo ou JC Denton em Dishonored e Deus Ex respectivamente, não me entenda errado, você pode até derrotar um guarda ou dois com sucesso na espadada, porém com mais guardas você está ferrado, fora que no Expert em algumas vezes você é punido por matar guardas, então poucos itens são focados em matar, e quando são, tipo a flecha de fogo ou a mina explosiva, geralmente são usados para matar ZUMBIS E OUTRAS CRIATURAS SOBRENATURAIS (você vai entender o por quê de estar tudo maiúsculo logo logo), e alguns itens do arsenal são divertidos pra cacete de se usar tipo a flecha de gás e a flecha de corda, e esse último é facilmente o meu item favorito do arsenal dele, podendo até mesmo atravessar áreas que normalmente seriam complicados ou até impossíveis de se atravessar muito mais fáceis ou acessíveis, e é claro não posso esquecer das gazuas mais legais de se usar que já vi em qualquer jogo que joguei até hoje, ah e também tem um dos sistemas de dificuldade de jogo mais interessantes que já vi em um jogo, onde normalmente só aumentaria o dano e a vida dos inimigos, aqui aumenta a quantidade de objetivos, assim como a quantidade de dinheiro necessária para terminar a fase (e se a fase não tiver nem isso e nem o objetivo de fugir do local, ele adiciona essas duas), e ainda tem algumas bem interessantes tipo resgatar alguém importante da Cragscleft Prison além do Cutty (nesse caso Basso). Enfim, eu falei tudo isso e agora você me pergunta o por quê de eu ter dado uma nota tão baixa para esse jogo aqui, enfim, eu falei do quão boa a gameplay principal do jogo é, mas eu não falei das fases, a seleção de fases aqui é uma das coisas mais sem noção que eu já vi em qualquer jogo de stealth aqui, esse jogo tem genuinamente algumas das PIORES FASES QUE EU JÁ VI EM QUALQUER JOGO EXISTENTE NA SOCIEDADE IMBECIL DE QUASE 8 BILHÕES DE PESSOAS NO MUNDO, dá vontade de querer mandar esse povo que deixou essas fases num jogo de stealth pra cadeia (e de praxe manda o RK Play junto kkkkk), pra não ser injusto aqui algumas fases são realmente muito, mas MUITO BOAS, tipo Lord Bafford's Manor (um pouco fácil demais mas uma ótima introdução para o jogo), Assassins e The Sword (uma fase tão boa que tem até uma parte dessa fase no Dusk, ah e falando em Dusk isso é foreshadowing para o que está por vir), mas também tem algumas das piores fases de qualquer jogo existente, tipo Lost City e Return of The Cathedral, duas fases TÃO MAS TÃO RUINS QUE QUASE DÃO ATAQUE CARDÍACO, e essas duas fases são uma bagunça, extremamente confusos de explorar e PIOR, cheio de inimigos sobrenaturais onde é quase impossível fazer stealth sem ser pego, tanto que não tem quase nenhum lugar para ficar escondido no Return to The Cathedral, SIM, a melhor parte do jogo não está presente nessa fase, você é obrigado a sair no soco com uns guardas ZUMBIS (ou seja, não morrem com ESPADADA) que atacam mais rápido que o The Flash e que falando nisso, nem adianta usar flash bomb neles, só correr até um elevador, mas outras fases também não ficam muito atrás não tipo Bonehoard e Thieves Guild (essa última é uma fase de stealth horrível com um dos layout de mapa mais confusos que já vi, é inacreditável como conseguiram cagar uma fase de STEALTH que veio um ano depois do lançamento do jogo original, no caso Gold é um relançamento com 3 fases novas, essa, Mage Towers e Song of The Caverns), e o pior é que esse povo que fala que esse jogo é o melhor jogo de stealth de todos deve usar LSD e cocaína porque muitas fases nem SEQUER são de stealth e ao invés disso você mata uns zumbi tosco lá que só morrem com água benta e bomba, algumas fases nem vergonha de terem feito eles um perigo tiveram já que tu pode andar do lado deles e não tomar dano, e são tantas que quando vem UMA fase de stealth tu sente um alívio de que passou aquela tosqueira, e falando nisso o ritmo do jogo é péssimo, as vezes tu tá numa fase de stealth e a próxima é fase tosca de matar zumbi, as vezes DUAS EM SEQUÊNCIA, e o pior é que algumas fases ficam deploráveis em dificuldades mais altas tipo Haunted Cathedral, Thieves Guild e as duas fases que citei antes (Lost City e Return to The Cathedral), recomendo jogar só no Normal, ou se tiver mais no momento jogar no Hard, pelo amor de deus não faça que nem o povo recomenda fazer e jogar no Expert, você vai querer (CENSURADO) de tanta raiva, ao menos no Normal você não tem uma quantidade tão absurda de objetivos. Mas em suma só para não ficar mais revoltado, o jogo tem uma gameplay incrível arrastada pelas fases terríveis do jogo, e as fases terríveis desmotivam quase completamente de continuar o resto do jogo, se não fosse pelas fases horríveis e só tivesse as fases de stealth (tira também a Thieves Guild, ninguém merece jogar isso também), seria facilmente um 9.5 ou até um 10, mas as fases horríveis dão vontade de dropar o jogo de tão ruins e são muito mais abundantes se comparado as melhores fases.
A história por si só pode não ser incrível, mas o worldbuilding é muito bom, ainda mais dos Hammerites, e sem contar duas coisas, primeiro que o Garrett é um protagonista muito legal, ele age cínico e egocêntrico pra caralho e eu adoro isso, já que ele age como se ele fosse o melhor de todos, só que como falei antes na gameplay um guarda derrota ele facilmente, e segundamente as cutscenes são bem daora, uma pena que elas não apareceram em momento nenhum na gameplay.
Mas é claro que não posso terminar a review sem citar os visuais e a trilha sonora, primeiro os visuais que sim, visualmente os modelos 3D dos NPCs são datados pra cacete, mas eu adoro a mistura de Steampunk com fantasia medieval, ainda mais com os Hammerites que são tipo a Brotherhood of Steel do Fallout só que 50/50 medieval e steampunk, quanto a trilha sonora não tem muita música, mas as músicas são legais, porém o que carrega de verdade é o sound design, o sound design é sensacional, as vezes deixa o jogo mais assustador do que muito jogo de terror aí, até mais que System Shock 2 (que ironicamente também usa a Dark Engine), e o jeito que ele é usado na gameplay também é muito foda, tudo isso culmina em um jogo altamente atmosférico.
Enfim, sinto muito se soei como um psicopata nessa review, mas pra mim esse jogo é complicado de falar sobre, porque ao mesmo tempo que ele tem uma ótima gameplay, as fases quebram muito a gameplay principal, pra mim só não dou nota mais baixa por causa disso e dos visuais e sound design do jogo, e sinceramente esse povo superestima esse jogo para um caralho como se fosse o melhor jogo de todos, sendo que muitas fases nem são de stealth, e o que encontrei foi um dos jogos mais indecisos que não sabe se decidir entre nada, ele não sabe decidir se vai ser um jogo de stealth ou um dungeon crawler a la Ultima Underworld (depois um tempo pesquisando eu descobri que antes o jogo era para ser um dungeon crawler como Ultima Underworld mesmo, só que de última hora fizeram dele um jogo de stealth, o que explica o tanto de fases de matar zumbi, mas não justifica o level design horrível do jogo), eu acho que o pessoal julga o jogo mais pela nostalgia e por apenas seus conceitos do que pelo produto inteiro em si, é tipo o povo que fala que digamos, Maid Dragon é horrível só por causa do Ecchi ou o povo que fala que PvZ2 é horrível só por causa das microtransações (não que esse povo esteja necessariamente errado ou alguma coisa, longe disso), e depois de desistir do jogo por causa do quão ruim a Return to The Cathedral era (e também ouvi falar que as três fases finais são horríveis de qualquer forma então né), só recomendo jogar isso se for para jogar o resto da trilogia ou por curiosidade, eu odiei boa parte do meu tempo com esse jogo, mas não consigo negar que o que ele faz bem ele faz bem pra cacete, então por isso...
6.5/10 (Admito que peguei pesado demais com esse jogo antes, ah e eu vi a intro e ela é foda demais.)
I love Thief and what it did considering how old it is, its level design, the way it uses verticality, offers multiple ways to enter and exit the places you're supposed to steal from, all of this was so ingenious for a game this old, truly ahead of its time.
On the other hand, I find myself not being able to recommend it due to how poorly its controls aged and this is truly a shame.
If you want a stealth game with an amazing atmosphere and don't mind old fps jank, I definitely recommend it but otherwise you should play something else.
On the other hand, I find myself not being able to recommend it due to how poorly its controls aged and this is truly a shame.
If you want a stealth game with an amazing atmosphere and don't mind old fps jank, I definitely recommend it but otherwise you should play something else.
Slightly expanded version of Thief: The Dark Project with three whole new story missions and one blooper reel mission. Still contains the entire game, and Song of the Caverns along with the Blooper Reel are fun additions. Song of the Caverns is probably one of my favourite Thief levels, to be honest, so inventive and atmospheric and definitely an inspired choice to set a Thief level in [REDACTED]. Mages' Tower is pretty good although it does become inevitably linear towards the end, and Thieves' Guild is uh... sort of map where it seemed way better in concept but in execution just becomes needlessly convoluted. CTRL+Alt+SHIFT+END is your friend if you don't want to play certain missions.
Also uh, the Blooper Reel. This can be accessed by opening up the USER.CFG file as a text document and adding "starting_mission 16" onto it, then start a new game. Is pretty interesting, sort of is a showcase of various bugs that happened during development and people messing around with the game engine etc. Has the feel of a shitpost Doom WAD.
Also uh, the Blooper Reel. This can be accessed by opening up the USER.CFG file as a text document and adding "starting_mission 16" onto it, then start a new game. Is pretty interesting, sort of is a showcase of various bugs that happened during development and people messing around with the game engine etc. Has the feel of a shitpost Doom WAD.
Thief is a really interesting game, and it's safe to say that without it, the entire stealth genre would look incredibly different than it does now. Really, the biggest problem this game faces is when it was made, it is not nice to look at, and not in a particularly charming way: assets are constantly reused and in many levels it's hard to tell if you're going in circles because of the same textures being used on very similar hallway layouts. There are also definitely some stages that are just inferior to others, whether it be limiting player agency or just general traversal of a location. However, when this game shines, it really is one of the best 3d stealth games ever made; and it shines a lot more often than it doesn't.
I played this game for a short burst during October at the behest of a friend who wanted me to stream something a little spooky. I booted up the first level, expecting myself to be smarter than this old, classic video game, and then found myself getting my salad tossed 4 different ways before I even managed to get inside the building. I'm competitive, I'm spiteful and I love a game that hates me. This is it. When I return to it, I expect it'll climb to 5 stars.
Thief Gold/The Dark Project is the beginning of my favorite game trilogy ever. It's rough around the edges but overall offers some very unique gameplay elements. This is one of the many times Looking Glass Studios changed the game for the immersive sim genre.
Thief 1, while having some rough levels and janky movement, is among my favorite games of all time. Every time I replay it, I find myself enjoying some of the more iffy levels and feeling more into its gameplay and the way it operates.
I definitely think out of the original trilogy, though, it's easily last place for me personally. But it's still very good and I suggest trying it if you're interested in more slowburn imsims. Easily one of the best stealth games of all time on top of that.
Thief 1, while having some rough levels and janky movement, is among my favorite games of all time. Every time I replay it, I find myself enjoying some of the more iffy levels and feeling more into its gameplay and the way it operates.
I definitely think out of the original trilogy, though, it's easily last place for me personally. But it's still very good and I suggest trying it if you're interested in more slowburn imsims. Easily one of the best stealth games of all time on top of that.
Cant get enough of this game Replayed nearly 5 times
Great immersive gameplay
Great Stealth. Story is just right to keep the gameplay and maps engaging
Great immersive gameplay
Great Stealth. Story is just right to keep the gameplay and maps engaging
*2 hours before finishing the game*
man the only way I'd give this below 4.5 is if the last couple of missions are suddenly really shit and focused on the 1-button combat system instead of actually thieving *looks directly into camera*
man the only way I'd give this below 4.5 is if the last couple of missions are suddenly really shit and focused on the 1-button combat system instead of actually thieving *looks directly into camera*
Looking Glass nailed their first attempt at a stealth game, almost entirely defining what this genre is suppose to be. Such a inspired setting of a steampunk, medieviel film noir world. Steven Russels iconic voice is just the cherry on top. And I know everyone complains about the dungeon crawling mission, Thieves Guild etc but I actually like them alot. What can suck my nuts is Return to the Cathedral and Escape. Two bad levels back to back that make me almost quit the game on every replay.
Despite essentially codifying much of the genre, Thief stands head and shoulders over most of the stealth genre even today, in my opinion. Every single mechanic, from the light gem that shows your current visibility to the difficulties giving you more objectives and restrictions rather than arbitrarily cranking up some stats, is so well thought-out and meshes so well with the open, layered level design that it's honestly impressive this isn't a sequel to some much more poorly aged first game.
Some people might take issue with the less stealth-focused levels and while I agree that they're the worst half of the game, I still think there's a lot to love about them. Also, the worldbuilding and atmosphere are extremely good, as is Garrett's character.
That said the Thieves' Guild sucks on anything higher than Normal, honestly just use the level skip cheat code if you want, or play it on the lowest difficulty.
Some people might take issue with the less stealth-focused levels and while I agree that they're the worst half of the game, I still think there's a lot to love about them. Also, the worldbuilding and atmosphere are extremely good, as is Garrett's character.
That said the Thieves' Guild sucks on anything higher than Normal, honestly just use the level skip cheat code if you want, or play it on the lowest difficulty.
What if it was called Thief the 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 Project and Garrett sucked Hammerites toes
I love this game, but it's a love that will gradually build over time. My biggest problem with this game comes from a first playthrough experience. The maps are huge and extremely well designed but many are a major challenge to solve that derive not from skill or intuition but of obtuse trial and error. You better be looking EVERYWHERE you can conceivably go and make sure to thoroughly hover over walls, cause you may need to find a wall safe with a destination that has zero elaboration within the mission. If it does, you better also make sure to retain the information from every unassuming tome you come across cause it may allude to where it lies while still being cryptic.
Sometimes things aren't that difficult to find or solve and the distinction that's made from those experiences is what separates a cohesive and amazing stealth experience and one of frustration and backtracking in massive labyrinthian stages. The halting of progress is a massive pain, but I won't deny it's one that makes for a unique aesthetic experience. You're not a highly paid spy provided with compensation and assistance by your employers. You're a thief and you have to make do with what you get your hands on. I just think the translation of the idea to the gameplay doesn't always work.
Which brings me to why I love this game despite that. Replaying the game, knowing what to do will be a whole new experience. The open stages that provide nonlinear approach to progress, all the various tools and obscure sequence breaking methods create a game that's so ridiculously rich it's mind blowing this came out when it did. The fact that there's a fanmade mode where people beat stages without attacking or even being HEARD is a testament to how brilliant this game can be. You can also suck like me and be discovered frequently past the first few stages and end up being forced to kill most enemies. Catching a glimpse of how expertly you can play this game really gives me hope to eventually reach that level someday though. I feel like the more combat I get into, the more I'm being held up by cryptic progression the less I'm getting out of the game. If you're seriously good at this game it seems so fucking addictingly good and I hope someday I can reach that level.
Sometimes things aren't that difficult to find or solve and the distinction that's made from those experiences is what separates a cohesive and amazing stealth experience and one of frustration and backtracking in massive labyrinthian stages. The halting of progress is a massive pain, but I won't deny it's one that makes for a unique aesthetic experience. You're not a highly paid spy provided with compensation and assistance by your employers. You're a thief and you have to make do with what you get your hands on. I just think the translation of the idea to the gameplay doesn't always work.
Which brings me to why I love this game despite that. Replaying the game, knowing what to do will be a whole new experience. The open stages that provide nonlinear approach to progress, all the various tools and obscure sequence breaking methods create a game that's so ridiculously rich it's mind blowing this came out when it did. The fact that there's a fanmade mode where people beat stages without attacking or even being HEARD is a testament to how brilliant this game can be. You can also suck like me and be discovered frequently past the first few stages and end up being forced to kill most enemies. Catching a glimpse of how expertly you can play this game really gives me hope to eventually reach that level someday though. I feel like the more combat I get into, the more I'm being held up by cryptic progression the less I'm getting out of the game. If you're seriously good at this game it seems so fucking addictingly good and I hope someday I can reach that level.
The main thing that people should understand when going into Thief 1 is that not only is this game the first true 3d stealth game ever made, but it's also the first time an RPG developer made a game with an emphasis on movement. And all of this games strengths and weaknesses come from that
Long.
This doubles as a review for the original release and the gold release, except for when I mention exclusive missions. This review is story-spoiler free.
If you're interested in playing the game, it often goes on sale for less than a dollar on steam. I heavily recommend using TFix, installing OpenAL to restore surround sound, and changing the controls to your liking, I prefer loading the Unreal preset and tweaking. Play on Hard or Expert for the best balance in difficulty. Last thing to note is that, while excess wealth carries over to the next mission, it cannot be hoarded throughout the game. After buying for the mission, any gold you don't spend is gone.
Thief Gold is a brilliant stealth game, one that is decades ahead of its time, and a product of its time in the best ways possible. The game features sprawling levels with high levels of interactivity, and a gameplay loop in which many of your actions can have consequences that will affect how the entire mission plays out.
In Thief, you assume the role of Garrett, a petty thief who, while meticulous, is ordinary as a white sheep in terms of capability and in status. The start of the game illustrates that you are someone who simply steals from largely dimwitted lords and royalty to pay for his rent, as opposed to some grand scheme. This is further emphasized in the game, as your combat skills compared to most, if not all enemies you face, are subpar; you have to use the shadows and the environment to your advantage. This factor is probably one of my favorite aspects of Thief, a game that forces you to play on its own terms, but also gives you a variety of options to tackle your objective. You cannot, or at least should not, simply kill the guards with your sword and bow, because you are at a disadvantage at any time when doing so. You have a whole arsenal of tools to use that, while requiring a condition to be effective, is the greatest way to develop an advantage when addressing any situation you find yourself in.
As the story ramps up, one other major element that Garrett has is, as stated prior, his meticulous nature when approaching his missions. Despite this, he is not perfect or clairvoyant. Early missions will grant you a detailed map, hand drawn by the player character, or other diagrams scavenged prior to departure, but later missions can have drawings that are misleading, objectives that are inaccurate, so on and so forth, and it is up to the player to extrapolate information along the way, or to get a mental image of what you're dealing with. There are no map markers, or location markers, or anything of the sort. I love how the team developing Thief forces engagement from the player, requiring attention and planning, as opposed to handing you the directions as if you stopped by a tour guide. The game does help alleviate any frustration by allowing you to buy tips prior to a mission, and you can also find notes that can tell you where to find something important in the mission, but otherwise it's up to you to get the job done optimally.
Interactivity is arguably the strongest suit of the game, and that is best shown by the amount of tools you have by default. Your best friend is the Blackjack, which can instantly incapacitate any guard, as long as they are unaware of you, or flashbanged by consumable flash bombs. A bow and arrow can take down a target from a distance, but you can have a wide variety of arrows that can do multiple things, such as a water arrow to douse a torch, giving you more darkness, moss arrows to soften your footsteps, and noisemakers that can alert a group of guards. You don't technically have to use all of these things, but the options being all there creates a highly interactive sandbox in every mission for your exploitation, both in game mechanics and the spoils stolen from greedy lords.
Thief Gold adds 3 missions, placed in between missions from the original release of the game. The latter two are good missions, but the first Gold mission (6th in game) is pretty bad. Speaking of bad missions, the later missions in the game can be of middling quality for many players, there is no shame in skipping them using a cheat code if you ever feel that a mission is a slog. My only other complaint about the game is that the Normal difficulty often cuts out major parts of missions that I feel make them more enjoyable as a whole, which is why I recommend the Hard difficulty even for the first time.
I give Thief Gold (and Thief II) a hard recommendation for just about anyone who enjoys stealth games, or immersive sims. I feel that the game is simply monumental within that niche, and I don't think I could run out of words of praise within my lifetime.
This doubles as a review for the original release and the gold release, except for when I mention exclusive missions. This review is story-spoiler free.
If you're interested in playing the game, it often goes on sale for less than a dollar on steam. I heavily recommend using TFix, installing OpenAL to restore surround sound, and changing the controls to your liking, I prefer loading the Unreal preset and tweaking. Play on Hard or Expert for the best balance in difficulty. Last thing to note is that, while excess wealth carries over to the next mission, it cannot be hoarded throughout the game. After buying for the mission, any gold you don't spend is gone.
Thief Gold is a brilliant stealth game, one that is decades ahead of its time, and a product of its time in the best ways possible. The game features sprawling levels with high levels of interactivity, and a gameplay loop in which many of your actions can have consequences that will affect how the entire mission plays out.
In Thief, you assume the role of Garrett, a petty thief who, while meticulous, is ordinary as a white sheep in terms of capability and in status. The start of the game illustrates that you are someone who simply steals from largely dimwitted lords and royalty to pay for his rent, as opposed to some grand scheme. This is further emphasized in the game, as your combat skills compared to most, if not all enemies you face, are subpar; you have to use the shadows and the environment to your advantage. This factor is probably one of my favorite aspects of Thief, a game that forces you to play on its own terms, but also gives you a variety of options to tackle your objective. You cannot, or at least should not, simply kill the guards with your sword and bow, because you are at a disadvantage at any time when doing so. You have a whole arsenal of tools to use that, while requiring a condition to be effective, is the greatest way to develop an advantage when addressing any situation you find yourself in.
As the story ramps up, one other major element that Garrett has is, as stated prior, his meticulous nature when approaching his missions. Despite this, he is not perfect or clairvoyant. Early missions will grant you a detailed map, hand drawn by the player character, or other diagrams scavenged prior to departure, but later missions can have drawings that are misleading, objectives that are inaccurate, so on and so forth, and it is up to the player to extrapolate information along the way, or to get a mental image of what you're dealing with. There are no map markers, or location markers, or anything of the sort. I love how the team developing Thief forces engagement from the player, requiring attention and planning, as opposed to handing you the directions as if you stopped by a tour guide. The game does help alleviate any frustration by allowing you to buy tips prior to a mission, and you can also find notes that can tell you where to find something important in the mission, but otherwise it's up to you to get the job done optimally.
Interactivity is arguably the strongest suit of the game, and that is best shown by the amount of tools you have by default. Your best friend is the Blackjack, which can instantly incapacitate any guard, as long as they are unaware of you, or flashbanged by consumable flash bombs. A bow and arrow can take down a target from a distance, but you can have a wide variety of arrows that can do multiple things, such as a water arrow to douse a torch, giving you more darkness, moss arrows to soften your footsteps, and noisemakers that can alert a group of guards. You don't technically have to use all of these things, but the options being all there creates a highly interactive sandbox in every mission for your exploitation, both in game mechanics and the spoils stolen from greedy lords.
Thief Gold adds 3 missions, placed in between missions from the original release of the game. The latter two are good missions, but the first Gold mission (6th in game) is pretty bad. Speaking of bad missions, the later missions in the game can be of middling quality for many players, there is no shame in skipping them using a cheat code if you ever feel that a mission is a slog. My only other complaint about the game is that the Normal difficulty often cuts out major parts of missions that I feel make them more enjoyable as a whole, which is why I recommend the Hard difficulty even for the first time.
I give Thief Gold (and Thief II) a hard recommendation for just about anyone who enjoys stealth games, or immersive sims. I feel that the game is simply monumental within that niche, and I don't think I could run out of words of praise within my lifetime.
I was playing this game for a while after installing Tfix because the game WOULD NOT work. The game had a completely black screen when starting the tutorial or any chapter and Tfix solved the issue. That worked for a while and I was having a fine but frustrating time with the gameplay, but then after a few days I came back to it and it just doesn't work when I load a save anymore. I'm abandoning this game. Hopefully the second game actually works. So glad I got this for like $1.
this game is worth playing just for the voice acting lmao
garrets voice actor is really good and i like him alot but the guards and bystanders kill me LOL
when guards sleep they make looney tunes snoring sound effects its "gold"
tbh its a fun and very detailed game for its time but does drag in the last 3 or so levels. its such a old game time has not been kind in the controls department tho
garrets voice actor is really good and i like him alot but the guards and bystanders kill me LOL
when guards sleep they make looney tunes snoring sound effects its "gold"
tbh its a fun and very detailed game for its time but does drag in the last 3 or so levels. its such a old game time has not been kind in the controls department tho
«If I ever beat this game in my life, I'll rewrite this review, and now I'll let it be as it is at the moment»
...And now I'm here.
So, the gameplay core of Thief is amazing. It provides you with a big arsenal, which you may use as you wish. It's fun and catchy, and it does its own job greatly. I like the gameplay and everything related to it.
But when it comes to the levels... I just don't get it. Why is the most part of them suck? Why do some levels feel like the game designer decided to splash out their anger on the players? What have I done to deserve that?Thief levels here are like finding diamonds in a pile of dirt, and I do hope the situation with it is much better in the sequel.
Every other aspect of the game is cool, though. Despite Thief sometimes made me want to kill myself, in general, I enjoyed it, and it was an exciting adventure, which I'd lovely like to continue in Thief II.
Oh, forgot to mention how great this game in terms of modding. I mean, just look at Black Parade.
...And now I'm here.
So, the gameplay core of Thief is amazing. It provides you with a big arsenal, which you may use as you wish. It's fun and catchy, and it does its own job greatly. I like the gameplay and everything related to it.
But when it comes to the levels... I just don't get it. Why is the most part of them suck? Why do some levels feel like the game designer decided to splash out their anger on the players? What have I done to deserve that?Thief levels here are like finding diamonds in a pile of dirt, and I do hope the situation with it is much better in the sequel.
Every other aspect of the game is cool, though. Despite Thief sometimes made me want to kill myself, in general, I enjoyed it, and it was an exciting adventure, which I'd lovely like to continue in Thief II.
Oh, forgot to mention how great this game in terms of modding. I mean, just look at Black Parade.
Whenever I play this and get spotted, I hear Benny Hill music playing.
This review contains spoilers
Mage Towers is tedious, but i'd take it any day over the last 3 missions. Escape especially dear god. What in the hell were they cooking?
Other than that though, great game. Genuinely ahead of it's time and a lot of fun.
Other than that though, great game. Genuinely ahead of it's time and a lot of fun.
This review contains spoilers
Ctrl Alt Shift End, you taffer!
i am playing this game as "homework" for the oncoming wave of Thief-likes coming from the indie scene (particularly Blood West and Gloomwood, but i do intend to also attempt the recently released Filcher as well).
it's incredible what this game achieved in 1998, and a lot of the concepts feel modern even today.
that said, 15-20% of this game is just flat out bad, and it's hard to overlook that stuff when considering the game as a whole. the quality of the missions is pretty inconsistent, all of the combat is weak, but for me it was how esoteric some of the missions were that broke my spirit the most.
still, i don't regret my 30hrs with the game. it provides me with some cool perspective with which to revisit the Dishonored for like the 10th time. but Thief was fun not just as a piece of history, but in its own right too - despite my frustrations, this game had really high peaks that are worth experiencing.
it's incredible what this game achieved in 1998, and a lot of the concepts feel modern even today.
that said, 15-20% of this game is just flat out bad, and it's hard to overlook that stuff when considering the game as a whole. the quality of the missions is pretty inconsistent, all of the combat is weak, but for me it was how esoteric some of the missions were that broke my spirit the most.
still, i don't regret my 30hrs with the game. it provides me with some cool perspective with which to revisit the Dishonored for like the 10th time. but Thief was fun not just as a piece of history, but in its own right too - despite my frustrations, this game had really high peaks that are worth experiencing.
opening DromEd on the cusp of a acetaminophen overdose and having tons of fun