Thief: Deadly Shadows

Ion Storm

2004

This game has already been reviewed out the ass, so if you saw the game in the store and wanted to know more about it go somewhere else. Better yet go out play the first two Thief’s (they ROCK! btw) and then read this review. Because this is going to be a review for those of you, like myself, who know that Thief: Deadly Shadows is really Thief 3, and also like myself, were worried that this game was going to suck.

First I should say that I played all the way through on the PC version. I did not the touch the Xbox version, although I have heard they are pretty much the same game, with the PC version being slightly better. If you want me to play the Xbox version, please feel free to donate $250 through the Paypal link on the main page.

When I first heard Thief DS was coming out I was very concerned this was going to be another half-assed sequel meant to milk the franchise for all it was worth. There were a few, rather large, warning signs. Which I have made into this list below for you:

1. The developer on the first two games, Looking Glass Studios, went bankrupt, and even though a lot of the old LGS people now work for Ion Storm, but it is still a different company, and they have not yet lived up to the caliber of near gaming perfection that is Looking Glass.

2. Thief DS was made so that it could be played on the Xbox, which was a disaster for Deus Ex 2. (Also made by Ion Storm).

3. Finally the director, high up, person, man, said that he thought Garrett (the main character, remember him?) was too weak in the first two games and wanted to beef him up. Now for those of you who chose to ignore my first paragraph, the whole point of Thief is that you are one lightly armored guy breaking into people’s houses. Your goal is to steal as much as you can find, not to kill everyone. If you try to kill everyone head-on you will fail and fail quickly, as the instructions for Thief 1 say, “You are not a tank”. Thus you must use stealth and diversion to win. My concern, which I have seen in other games, is that with a tough, heavily equipped, main character you do not need stealth, and would quickly revert to just shooting everyone. Thus Thief DS would loose all that makes the Thief series unique.

I heard from friends that my worries were unfounded, so I decided to try it myself and I am glad to report that my worries are indeed largely unfounded. This is good game. This is a true Thief game. It has the same look, feel, and sound of the first two. They even use the same style animation for most of the cut scenes. They also got Stephen Russell, the original voice of Garrett back for this game. I let out a sigh of relief when I heard that; no one else could have done Garrett justice (little thieving pun there). As for the plot, it starts right off where Thief 2 left off all those years ago with the same quality and twists as you would expect.

Now to answer my previous concerns in detail with another list:

1. Ion Storm made sure to have enough from the previous Thief’s in Thief DS so you get the nostalgia, but not too much that you need to play the first two to know what is going on. The parts were you are supported to reminisce are also blended into the plot very well throughout the game, so that it was not overly obvious or bunched together.

2. This game does have areas of suck due to the Xbox, but they are not horrible. Levels are divided into small sections, meaning more loading times. The game also seems a little shorter than the other two.

3. Finally, when you play the missions on the ‘difficult’ setting, (and let’s face it that is how Thief is meant to be played) I found Garrett sufficiently frail.

Now, to what I didn’t like about the game. This is I Hate this Game after all.

The level-by-level game layout of old is gone, replaced with a free-play overworld “City” complete with shops to buy supplies and fences to sell stolen goods. You now have to walk through the City to get to and from missions. While that sounds good on the back of the box, it was not developed as much as it could have. The overworld promised free play with multiple sub-missions. In reality there was usually one house with three rooms you could rob per City section. And the next day all the stuff you took would magically reappear. Due to the Xbox limits The City was not as big or complex as I would have liked. Yea I know I said it didn’t matter in number 2, but I wanted more off-mission mansion robbing then was there. Like a full mission that would not forward the plot.

The sub-missions themselves turned out to be simple tasks to win favor with either the Hammers or the Pagans. There are some interesting sub-missions, but most were “go kill bugs” or “go shoot arrows into magic bricks”. Once you got allied status with both factions you never think about them again. Yea you could anger one of the factions, by attacking them of stealing from them but there is really no profit in it, they simply do not have any good stuff to steal.

You also keep all of your equipment after you completed a mission. That combined with the large amount of cash you get after a mission (especially on the difficult setting) meant there is no shortage of ammo. Toward the end I found myself gas arrowing everyone, which is cheap move that the older Thief’s prevented by keeping supply down. I am guessing this the ‘beefing up’ of Garrett, and I think it took some of the challenge from the game.

Something that is noteworthy, and not is the usual bad way, is the new third-person mode. It was useful for jump puzzles, but I still preferred the first-person mode. In third person I could see where Garrett was going, but in first person I WAS Garrett. The fact that Garrett’s arms and feet could be seen in first person also made me feel more in the game. Of course wearing my cloak while playing finished the fantasy, but you probably did not want to know that.

And of course there were the little things. Like the “Rag Doll” physics, which were more rag than doll. Most of the time when I blackjacked someone they would do this backwards ‘U’, where the back or their head would touch their heels. Not very realistic, but then being rigidly stiff bodies in the first two Thiefs were not realistic either.

You also could not blackjack someone sitting at ALL. You can back-stab them fine, but not blackjack them. Which is a pain when you take the time to sneak up quietly behind a guy only to have his death scream alert the rest of the guards.

They also got rid of the rope arrow, and replaced it with climbing gloves. While I did find the gloves useful, there was many a time I looked up at the wooden boards above me and wished I had a rope arrow.

So over all there are a few disappointments, but if you like the original Thief games you will like this game as well. I would be interested to see the sales figures of the Xbox version vs. the PC version. It still confuses me why they keep insisting on focusing on the Xbox. Both Thief and Dues Ex made their fame on the PC, yet they keep disappointing that audience so they can attract Xbox owners. Mind you I am a lover of all games, PC or console, and I don’t see any reason why the game should not be one both systems, but I just don’t see the logic. What does the Xbox have that a PC does not? Why not start with the PC version and then cut it down for the Xbox? It might be more work, but it would be a much better game.

What liked: Sneaking, stealing, and hitting people upside the head as everyone’s favorite Anti-hero, Garrett

What disliked: The lobotomy it got so it could fit into the Xbox.

What to expect:Everything you liked about the first two Thiefs (except rope arrows) with a much needed upgrade in graphics.

What not to expect: Going from one side of a level to another without hitting a load screen(or two, or three), or a massive city to explore and plunder.

What's so different from this and other games of it's genre: “You are not a Tank”. This is a first person shooter that makes you use another part of your head. You think about ways to get around enemies, instead of how to best kill them.

Ratings on:

Control: 7 – Keyboard configurable, so you can set it up the way you like, but I subtracted for the sitting down / black jack thing and Garrett still has problems with ladders. Dropping bodies and other objects was also more of a pain them in previous Thief games.

Graphics: 9 – Thief DS uses the same game engine that Deus Ex2 uses. If your system and handle it, it is very pretty. The dynamic lighting is also very good, but then it would have to be.

Sound: 9 – Again this is a Thief game, so of course the sound is good, how else could you tell when a guard’s reached the carpet??

Style: 9 – But I would give a 10 to the first Thief. Even though there are similar games, Thief DS is unique in the stealth genre. In fact I would argue Thief: The Dark Project started it.

1 Hour: My man Garrett off to the fence with his stole opal. This game looks just like the Thief I remember, only better.

1 Week: Wow I actually get to see inside the Keepers headquarters!

2 Weeks: Shalebridge Cradle (shiver)

3 Weeks: The end was not bad, if a bit easy. With maybe a little possibility for a Thief 4?

#1 reason why I can’t hate this game: Corpse Piles! This is when you take all the people you knock out or kill in a mansion and throw them into one giant pile. My friends and I often wonder what would the people say when they all woke up in the morning. You know, once he screaming stopped.

“We are soo fired.”

“Not again!”

“Man your hand is cold, AHH!”

“You are all Taffing morons!”

By Lord Banthor – “because going by (Banthor) just wouldn’t do”