Near masterpiece in every way and a masterclass in stealth.

Everything that T1 did wrong is corrected wholesale here, and that game already laid a solid foundation. Does everything a sequel should do and expands on everything.

Some people may still think T1 is the better game with it's setting variety/concepts, and I can respect that. But for me, T2 has the most consistent level quality throughout and never fails to get me sucked in. The only frustration comes at the very end (casing the joint wasn't needed).

Even the story, while lesser then T1 (due to LGS making the levels first and designing the levels around it unlike T1) still manages to get me sucked in. Thief's atmosphere in general is second to none, and makes for the ultimate relaxing nighttime game if you ask me. Turn off the lights and maybe light a candle in the corner of your room, and you can't help but get immersed in the role of Garrett, helped even more by Stephen Russel's incredible performance throughout the whole series.

On top of this, I can't go without at least mentioning the modding/FM scene for this game. I've only scratched the surface with it with stuff like T2X but there's so much content out there that there's always something to play.

If T1 turned you off, don't be afraid to go straight to T2. It's that looting/exploring stealth gameplay from 1 but just amplified and better in every way. Hell, you can totally play this in general without playing T1 or just looking up a short summary. I'd encourage it period if you love stealth games. There's a reason why even 20+ years later, nothing else comes close for a lot of people.

What i hate is people calling this game tryhard or wannabe edgy. Is it so hard to believe some people are just cool? Am I supposed to hate my awesome life like everyone else? No. I think i'm awesome, i think awesome things are awesome, and im not joking at all. pisses me off. The game is so cool All the guns feel awesome, i love it very much. It has a lot of personality and you can feel zane's real personality slipping in every corner. also learned this is a spinoff of a game called hypnospace outlaw and ill definitely play that too after this. I love the s blade as well as the glass shotgun, which is a very unique way of getting the player to focus on the environment and not just run through it all.

The Citadel's gunplay is okay, in that the weapons shoot and do damage and that's fun, but there are a lot of tacked on mechanics that don't fit with each other. Lean-aiming, low player health, and very particular timing and penalties around reloading indicate that The Citadel is played slow and tactically. Open levels, high move speeds, and roof-to-roof mobile combat suggest running and gunning. These mechanics don't support each other, and they don't overlap enough to warrant a "pick how you play" approach to the game. I found myself leaning into tactical play simply because such a play style has more mechanical punishments to juggle.

The Citadel's environment and prop art is acceptably bland; not good but with enough consistency to still create a readable artistic picture. The sound design doesn't do as well The music does fit the game, sometimes, but the remaining audio elements lack a purpose other than to check the box of being there, with one exception:

The Citadel's got a lot of moe murder, and it's unnervingly brutal. At first I thought that was the point: the painful, dissonant anguish of a world in such inhuman/posthuman peril. But the player is so empowered in their brutality that I feel like I'm supposed to enjoy it? It's very creepy, and not in an enjoyable way.