Thief is kinda brilliant, and really one of a kind. Given I just played it for the first time, I was truly surprised at how good this was. I was actually expecting a lot of 1990s jank but there wasn't much. It's rare to recommend old games without any caveats but this is one is truly a masterpiece.

I had already heard so much good things about it, how much it influenced the immersive sim genre and stealth games in general. But now that I've played it, I actually think that it did it better than most of the games it influenced.

In more recent games, stealth is often given as an option to the player. You are rewarded with bonus XP for your "sacrifice" of playing the game stealthily. Some games actually give you a different ending as incentive for not killing NPCs, like in Dishonored. In all these games, you're actually a killing machine, and when you choose a stealth approach you're actually protecting the enemies from your true powers, instead of protecting yourself from the enemies. It's great for people who don't want to play in that style, but really hampers the potential of a true stealth focused game like Thief.

In Thief, you are not a killing machine that happens to be merciful and chooses to spare your enemies by avoiding them in the shadows. You are hiding to survive. Your enemies are smart (to a certain extent) and will track you down if you're sloppy. You have to use all your resources to beat them. Combat is your last resort.

The stealth system works with the expected cone of vision of your enemies that's ubiquitous in any stealth game, but most importantly, there's lighting mechanic as well. You have a "light gem" in your UI that tells you how visible you are in the darkness. That means that you can be directly in front of someone, if it's pitch black they won't notice you. But keep your sword sheathed, because it will reflect light and make you more visible! How cool is that? Also, to control your environment you're able to blow out torches or light them up with your special arrows. These are just a few examples of the clever mechanics you'll have at your disposal.

Sound also plays a huge role, different surfaces will be louder than others. You can easily run on tapestry without anyone hearing you, but the slowest creep on a tile floor will be heard if you're near someone. As another example: If you lean on a door, you'll be able to hear what's going on in the next room, like what the guards are saying, you can even gauge how big the room is by how the sound is travelling. All these systems are coupled with very impressive and creative level design, even for '90s FPS high standards.

This is a hard game. Difficulty settings don't scale enemies' HP or damage. It actually just adds or removes objectives of a mission. Playing on normal (there's no easy difficulty), will grant you the least objectives and you won't need to explore the level as much as in higher difficulties. I found this a very interesting approach that gives the game a lot of replayability potential.

The story and world-building are also surprisingly unique. There's a lot of genre blending going on and some unexpected horror elements. It seems to take place in a very low fantasy steampunk style setting, more medieval europe than Victorian England though. There are knights and electricity at the same time and for some reason it doesn't end up looking jarring. Maybe because it's not so over the top with the technology like in some "magitek" settings.

Also, the writing is great. From the guards Monty Python-esque dialogue to the more serious tone of the cut scenes, it's really well done. Moreover, most of the world-building is conveyed through environmental storytelling instead of exposition.

I really don't have many negative things to say about this title. Some levels are better than others for sure, and there are some frustrating parts where you will get stuck looking for some hidden room or object (the level "Undercover" was the worst offender for me), but none of its issues really detract from such a great experience.

Compatibility wise, the steam version is kinda broken, cut scenes won't load, sound quality will be limited and resolution is scaled badly. The good news is that modders upgraded the game's Dark engine to run on modern hardware and also fixed a lot of bugs. Just google TFix and install the latest patch to make it run properly. I recommend the lite version of the patch for a more authentic experience, since it doesn't include any mods or updated visuals. Also, remember to turn on OpenAL hardware audio in the game options for EAX support and 3D audio.

(This review was first written on Steam -- 22 August, 2023)

After trying a few different times and always giving up on the Thieves Guild, I finally beat this game. So much of it is very immersive and has more good levels than not, but the bad levels are really bad. Some people dislike the supernatural stuff but at least those levels were immersive enough to not be bad like Thieves, Mage's Tower, or Lost City. Most of the ending levels aren't good though (Escape in particular), but they're not as bad as those 3. I only skipped skipped one level, but skip the levels you hate and you'll have a lot better of a time. Sound design unmatched and I often found myself sitting still and taking it all in.

I played Thief Gold up to its 8th mission, The Haunted Cathedral. I did not rate it because it was a bad playthrough, but here are my thoughts:

1. Thieves' Guild sucks ASS, it was my worst experience in Thief Gold. When I get back to it, I will probably do The Dark Project instead, and maybe come back for the Gold missions later.
2. Missions like The Haunted Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard were odd, certainly not what you expect from a legendary stealth game, but I've grown very fond of them. This game's atmosphere is overwhelmingly dark; these missions best capture that.
3. I am really bad at this game. When I played Hitman 2 (2018), I found myself getting frustrated when I fucked up the stealth too much and had to reload, and it was even worse here, because this game is way harder. Screwing up the stealth forced me to do combat, which is not Thief's strength, and also messed with my immersion. Maybe that's on me, but hey, that's why I'm not giving a rating.

I feel like I can love this game, because I so clearly found things to love, but I owe it another, more earnest try. I got more into Hitman 2 recently, so hey, maybe I'm not as bad at video games now, lol.
(feel free to comment)

Not playing this game was a mark of great shame for me. I mean, shame is overly dramatic because we're just taling about video games here but I really did want to finish this game for many years. I love stealth games and often complain how there aren't that many good options for the genre these days so not having played the cornerstone of the genre that is Thief was something I had to rectify. I had started it many times but usually gave up in the second level once the zombies showed up. I always suspoected that Thief 2 would be the game I would enjoy much more (which as of writing this, I have yet to play) but I didn't want to touch the sequel until I got through Thief Gold. I was very determined to get through it this time.

Having finally finished it, I can now say that the game is good. The inspiration for future stealth games is clearly evident and there's a lot of fun mechanics that makes sneaking through these levels satisfying. I'm not totally in love with it though because I didn't enjoy the more supernatural levels. Sneaking past zombies and monsters just didn't interest me that much and I feel it takes up the majority of the game. The good levels are absolute bangers though. Song of the Caverns (opera house level) was my favourite. The level design is wonderful with interesting secret routes. Assassins is also great which starts as a tailing mission leading you to breaking into a house. Undercover was also fun allowing you to infiltrate in a temple with a disguise. I like the prison section of Break from Cragsleft Prison although it is marred by a boring section at the beginning and zombies. Of the supernatural levels, I actually did quite enjoy the Down in the Bonehoard level where you descend into a tomb. The Sword where you infiltrate a crazy manor does seem like the fan favourite but I didn't like it that much despite admiring the design. I've seen people say that it requires more than one playthrough to appreciate so that may be the problem. The main thing I was impressed by with all the levels is that they all managed to feel like real spaces. Even when they were fantastical and weird, the buildings still looked to serve their purpose and you could see where people worked, slept and ate.

I'm glad to have finally gotten through this game and it wasn't the struggle I was sort of always expecting it to be. Sure, there were a number of levels I did not like but the levels I did like really have left an impression on me. I'm excited to move onto Thief 2.

It does a couple of things better than just about any game. The first of which is that it's one of the most embodied first person games I've ever played. This is to say that as a player, one feels keenly aware of one's own physical presence. How visible and audible the player is is almost the entire game, and the level design and balance of mechanics make it so that tiptoeing in and out of shadows is naturally dramatic and of consequence. Moreover, the game has a pretty decent movement system; leaping and climbing are actually really enjoyable, and it makes the more exploration-based levels work.

The other thing I like is a little in spite of itself. We can't pretend that Thief isn't set in a generic world, and that its larger story isn't similarly generic and that its major beats don't really land. But its concept and perspective---its choice of lead character and the spaces it puts them in, maintain interest and provide each level with its own arc. Something as simple as having the objectives change mid-mission based on environmental discovery goes a long way in legitimizing and immersing the player within its scenario.

It's a game where individual chunks of it are exquisite, but the quality of the levels, which I'll add feel very separate from one another, is inconsistent. There is glue holding it all together and that glue is very visible. Sometimes it's visible in its narrative presentation and other times it emerges as mission design that feels contrived (the switches in Undercover, the ghost fetch quest in the otherwise terrific Return to the Cathedral). Thief is an imperfect game with a wonderously imaginative central premise and mechanical execution. I'm looking forward to playing the sequel.

Also a theoretical extra half star for The Dark Project over Gold. Two of the additional levels are the worst in the game and just add bloat.