Thief: Deadly Shadows
Classic sneaker returns for game number three.
by Susie Vee

PLATFORM: XBX, PC

PUBLISHER: Eidos

DEVELOPER: Ion Storm

GENRE: Stealth Action

ESRB: Mature

One of the first “modern” games we ever really got into was Thief. The 1998 PC game was a first-person game, like Quake and Unreal, but concentrated on stealth instead of shooting. It was a revelation, and to be honest, more nerve-wracking than we could stand.

Since then, stealth games from Metal Gear Solid to Splinter Cell have become the norm, and we’re naturally inclined to hide in the shadows and stick our heads around corners, rather than running head-on into a room of monsters, guns blazing.

After several years and dozens of stealth games, could the original Thief franchise still hold up? That was the question on everyone’s mind as this ambitious project, originally called Thief III, neared release.

Surprisingly, the gameplay in Thief: Deadly Shadows is very similar to the recent Deus Ex: Invisible War, also by Ion Storm. The games share a general look and feel, including the dynamic lighting, detailed environments and quest-based missions.

Unfortunately, they also share the humdrum character designs, occasional slowdown and annoyingly common loading screens. Especially annoying are the minuscule areas of the game, requiring frequent loading sessions, as you walk into some mysterious fog and are asked “Do you want to go to X location?”

With its limited ram and the game's memory-heavy lighting effects, this is clearly a concession for Xbox gamers – but one that is also carried over into the PC version.

The biggest single change to the Thief style of gameplay is the introduction of a third-person POV mode. It’s actually very useful, especially when you’re trying to judge your cover in the shadows or behind a couch, and we found ourselves playing most of the game like that. We also dug finally being able to see Garret, our long-time protagonist.

Other game elements remain intact from the previous Thief entries. Garret relies on a variety of trick arrows to perform tasks, from water arrows that douse torches to noisemakers for distracting guards. As before, your main weapon is a humble blackjack, used for knocking out victims from behind. Garret’s no tough guy, and you’ll want to avoid head-to-head confrontations.

If you’re new to the Thief series, the game gives you a perfunctory training level, but doesn’t really go into the background of the series or Garret. But it’s still easy for a newcomer to catch on, and the ever-thickening plot is easy to ignore as you skulk around various locales for loot.

Instead of just jumping from mission to mission, you can actually wander the city between jobs, gathering information and picking pockets. Very similar to Deus Ex, except that the city police are on the lookout for you, so you can’t just walk around and enjoy the scenery. It’s one of the more distracting elements of the game, and seems like just plain busy-work to us.

But for all our quibbles, Thief is still one of the most enjoyable games of the year. It’s an updated version of an old-school classic, and doesn’t rely on copious violence or scantily clad strippers to cater to the lowest common denominator.