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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

I just got around to posting up all the clips and streams I did of this and I really enjoyed it. The patch I found online to update it's visuals made this a lot more fun, especially as the old scaling for it is far smaller than more modern monitors.

My First Stream

We begin by learning about Garret's history and how he gained his legendarily stealthy skills. As a homeless child he saw a man that no one else appeared to notice and attempted to pinch his pocket, but the man caught him and stated how impressed that he was that this boy could see a seeker, especially one who is trying to remain unseen. He didn't know what this meant and begged to be let go, but was offered a chance to gain better skills by working with the keepers. They gave him board, educated him and gave him the teachings needed for one to avoid detection by hiding in the shadows and using weapons to distract and deceive.

Starting out, you are a lone thief who is using his skills to not only pay for a roof over his head, but to live comfortably. Sadly, thievery is never looked up as honest work and the holy order of the Hammerites cause a constant pain in your side. Not only that, but you are not the only thief in the city with both tyrannical lords, two-faced guilds and monstrous creatures getting in your way!

Unknown to Garret though, the keepers knew this would happen and continue to observe him as he goes on a journey that will soon make him a secret Savior of mankind.

The above are spoiler-free bits of the story I can give. This is an amazing game with a really fun system with the stealth. Even though I usually dislike this genre, however the saving system in this game along with the story had me hooked. Plus I have quite the klepto behaviour in games like any RPG where you can collect all kinds of items. Regardless of if they're weapons, items or completely miscellaneous stuff that you will never have a use for! So this game was surprisingly addicting, especially as not all treasure is out in the open and often hiding in plain-sight, behind a secret wall, in a chest or hanging from someone's waist.

I also enjoyed the system in regards to what material you walk across that might alert people to your presence or that you're attempting to sneak up on them, making you think carefully about how you should approach a certain situation to try and make a silent knockout with your blackjack.

The many tools and gadgets all have some great use as you unlock them. Lockpicks is obvious, but I also like how you change between the two different shapes, adding a more interesting and realistic puzzle element to lockpicking the Bethesda's sorry excuse. The water crystal arrows put out fires to make the area darker, allowing you to sneak more easily, moss covers the ground with a moss that makes your footprints silent, fire arrows cause a lot of damage, fly straight, but also illuminate where you are. Beyond that I'll leave it up to you to discover the many varied items and their uses. This game was more than worth it and I'm looking forward to when we enter "The Metal Age" in Thief 2!

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.

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.