Thief II: The Metal Age

The Good
First was the concept, refined from the first game. A FPS, that doesn't play like a FPS. Who hasn't thought about being the world's best cat burglar or jewel thief? Here you actually get the opportunity to try it. Don't go into a room with bows blazing because you certainly won't last long. This game was a great idea from the beginning, and Looking Glass (R.I.P.) did a great job with the idea. Hide in the shadows, sneak through windows, pick pockets, eavesdrop, kidnap, backstab and any other thiefly skill are all included in ths deep game.

Second, the levels/maps were extremely large and well done. There is always more than one way to reach your level goals, and the variety of objectives ensured that none of the levels seemed repetitive. Puzzles were challenging but never impossible.

Third is the sound. This game has excellent sound and as you would expect if you were a thief, plays an integral part of the game. It is much easier to avoid people if you just stop for a second and listen. Your ears will save your life more times than naught.

Four, The story. The story to the sequel is much tighter and believable. The between mission cutscenes were excellent, even if they were just still frame art. The story kept me enthralled the entire game, and kept me interested in continuing. It is also nice to get side stories that help flesh out the main plot within the game.

Five, the weapons. The weapons are more tools than actually weapons. I must admit, my favorite are the frog-beast eggs. You have to love throwing eggs around, having them hatching into frogs that will follow your enemies around and then explode in their face.

The Bad
As to what was wrong with the game -

First and foremost, the long loading times. It takes over a minute to load the levels. Now granted the levels are huge, but I have seen similar sized levels in other games load much faster.

Second, the graphics. Though the graphics are slightly improved from the first game, there are an awful lot of instances of clipping. I can't tell you how many times I threw a guy in a closet only to have his foot or sword sticking through the door. There was even one point where a guard was stuck in the floor.

The Bottom Line
As you read above, the game is extremely "thief oriented". This is no shooter in the strict sense. You will find yourself climbing through windows, hiding in the shadows and crawling through the rafters, just to find that additional cndlestick that you can sell on hte balc market. Oh, and you get to save the world as well.

The Good
I could go on and on about the revolutionary gameplay aspects and technical achievements the Thief series is known for, instead I would prefer to point out the improvements this game makes over its predecessor. Thief 1 is and excellent game, and Thief 2 only goes up from there.

There are better graphics, better sounds, new cool options like listening through doors, the excellent "artsy" cutscenes are back and at a bigger resolution, etc. etc. etc. However there's something that for me really puts this one in the classics category, and it's got more to do with the creative side of things. Regardless of the gameplay/ technical improvements few sequels can claim to REALLY flesh out and surpass the original universe in which they are setted, yet Thief 2 does just that.

While the original cutted down on the excellent dark "steampunk" atmosphere by delivering some dungeon crawling and swashbuckling action in an effort to don't appear too "odd" to the masses its sequel pulls no punches. Gone are the endless nights spent fighting legions of monsters and undead creatures in caverns, tombs or whatever (now they can still be found around but they are merely to add color to the game). Now the emphasis is REALLY placed on being a Thief. Practically the entire game takes place on urban locations, and what was merely an interesting backdrop on the original becomes a major element in its sequel. You'll crawl through streets and rooftops, castles and mansions instead of the tombs and forgotten cities of the first one. The result, at least for me, was that it really made me want to get into the game, to the point that I made every mission (well almost, more on that later) on the expert difficulty mode, a feat I only did every now and then on the original and that encourages you to find and explore every nook and crany in the levels (which are many many times more complex than in the original).

The storyline comes alive in a way the original never did and the allegoric aspect of the game gets the recognition it deserves....What am I talking about here? I'm talking about the strong message the game gives regarding fanatical religious beliefs (c'mon, like no one got the sledge hammer/christian cross thing). Garret is more than a thief, Garret is a completely unatached and neutral member of a world very much like ours, and though his actions can be moraly questionable, they are the vehicles from which we bear witness to a world blinded by its own faith. You see poor wretched souls lamenting over a fate brought only by their own submission; you see greedy powermongers use the desperate need to of the poor to believe in something, anything, to their advantage; you see innocent people slaughtered over nothing more than beliefs; you see soldiers marching on proudly, carrying out orders regardless of their reason or consequences, merely content on servicing their faiths; etc, etc, etc.

Don't get me wrong, Thief 2 doesn't question the validity of faith or beliefs, but it certainly shows it's consequences when they take a turn for the fanatical. Call it an atheist interpretation of the game, but it's what I think.

Now what other game you know makes you think about those things? ;)

The Bad
Minor gripes really. First of all the remote camera is useless, the view area is too small (I guess it was made with big monitors and 1024x resolutions in mind), it's got no zoom, and you can never perfectly control the way you place it. Also there's the issue of the AI, it looks so good because the game puts a big emphasis on sound detection and all that, but they have their holes. They walk by open doors like nothing's there and if they detect you, just hide yourself for a couple of minutes and then they resume their actions as if nothing happened!

Second and more important, the final mission and for that matter the entire climax of the game seems all off to me. Having spent the entire game on interesting locations, sneaking and thieving around (I did not kill a single person in this game) it was a real letdown to do a mission on a dull gray castle with nothing but robotic enemies. I know in the end the game had to find a way to "kill gonzo the bad guy" but I think it could have been handled better than that. Plus the ending sequence works very well if you consider there's supposed to be a Thief 3, but it shouldn't have left things on such an open note imho, not even The Empire Strikes Back was so unrewarding in the end.

The Bottom Line
In essence, despite some minor gripes, you simply have to have this game. There really is nothing quite like it and it's much better than the original, which is already a revolutionary masterpiece. It's the complete antithesis of Quake and Unreal, and if you like some thinking and atmosphere with your gaming then this is your holy grail.

The Good
- Overall experience is more stealth-focused, no more sudden switches of genre. - Story has been improved, lots of characters with different agendas. - Some levels are very well-designed, also being real tough cookies. - Loyal modding community with it's own share of masterpieces.

The Bad
- Lots of levels are just not finished. Some have recycled maps from previous missions. Some are just extraordinary empty. - While it's more focused, it's also lost much of the Dark Project's charm. No more tomb raids or wacky environments, no horror or creature-slicing missions. - The last level is a 2 hour long maze with lots of backtracking and crafting elements, which is a bit overwhelming.

The Bottom Line
The game is the weakest installment in series for me.

The Good
As long as people remember Looking Glass, they will remember the Thief series. The games have become synonymous with the company. The original Thief was a breath of fresh air in what was becoming a stale genre, because the emphasis was on avoiding enemies, rather than running straight into a room full of people with a rocket launcher. Thief 2 is pretty much more of the same except slightly improved.

The atmosphere and lighting are top notch despite the fact light seems to work differently in Looking Glass games than from real life. Although the game doesn't get the chance to use it's coloured lighting effects to the full because of it's historical setting, as opposed to say System Shock 2 which looked beautiful and uses the same engine; it still looks very good even now. The use of near subliminal sound, like SS2, is another Looking Glass trait. It works perfectly and adds to the atmosphere ten-fold. The zombie missions have been pretty much removed. The level design is very good in places. The voice acting is fine and occasionally hysterical: the back-&-forth conversation between the archers on the rooftops and Karras' voice alone is enough to draw a smile - It's nice to see it taken a bit tongue-in-cheek sometimes. The cutscenes are great and drawn and animated in a terrific style. The steampunk theme is carried brilliantly. It oozes class in it's presentation. The missions are pretty varied, and nothing has changed from what made the original so good in the first place.

The Bad
This was Looking Glass' swansong and, despite the quality of this game and the obvious talent that was in the company, it's easy to see why they were forced to close. I love many games that don't sell and I like many games away from the mainstream, but this game actually started to get to me after a while. It's so uncommercial it's not true. The problem lies in the fact that EVERY level is spent sneaking around, usually at night. The lack of variety in the locations, (some credit must go to LG for trying though, it's just that so much wood, stone walls and flaming torches can drive a person nuts) can really mess with your head after a while. If I see another guard with a sword I'm going to hurt someone. The urge and the need to see some daylight and have maybe one level a little bit brighter and happier and open will start to grate. It's damn frustrating completing a level that involved 2 hours of sneaky tension, usually involving you sitting in one place for 20 minutes to see if a guard is going to move or not, only to start another and not have that tension released.

Other than that, the animation is still a little rubbish. The level design, while good in places, is sometimes impossible to navigate if all you've got to find your way around are metal gates and stone walls. The game does stretch the limits of it's technological era too: cameras and robots? You sense that LG wanted to make a game set in the present day/beyond but just didn't have the technology/time.

The Bottom Line
A mixed package. Great at what it does despite being slightly ropey in some areas, but then what it does can drive you insane if you don't have a long break. Worth buying but don't expect something to rival System Shock.

The Good
Thief 2 was one of the most riveting gameplaying experiences I have ever had. The interface is setup like a first person shooter, but if you think you can hack and slash your way to victory, fuhgeddabouit.

Thief 2 works because you must take on the persona of the main character, Garrett. As a thief you must pay attention to your elements. Are you being quiet enough, moving slowly enough, staying concealed enough? There is a light monitor (a gem) that shows how visible you are. Moss arrows pad your footsteps and noisemaker ones distract guards.

Sound is incredible. Guards whistle and gripe, wood floors sound different than carpet ones, your arrow whooshes through the night. Great narration too.

Missions are varying and there are different ways to accomplish them. Settings are incredible from breaking into a prison to jumping along rooftops. I was disappointed to see this game end.

The Bad
Enemy AI is a little weak. You should be able to carry supplies over from mission to mission. I would also like to see longer missions and branching gameplay in the next one.

What's with Garrett's shoes? Would you really wear clodhoppers if you were a thief?

The last level was disappointing and the "bad guy" has a weak voice.

The Bottom Line
Thrilling fps features stealth and secrecy over face-to-face combat. A must for fans of the first person sneaker genre.

The Good
Everything. First off, the in-game color is now in full 16-bit splendor, with colored lighting improving graphical quality substantially. The 3D models for the various people you'll encounter have improved a great deal as well, due to an increase in polygons used with their models. Also, instead of the slow, gradual plot of the first game (which was excellent, mind you), the new plot, while still being gradual, moves along at faster clip, and it still is just as good, perhaps better in some ways, in comparison to the plot of Thief I.

The audio for Thief II is also much improved, as sounds (well, some of them at least) play at CD quality (44.1khz) now and better sound propagation in general is evident (you can even listen through doors if you lean up against them). As far as voice acting, it's as top-notch as in the first game of the series, with both the in-game voices and cutscene acting being excellent. Also, on a final note, the major cutscenes are extremely well produced, and still have an quality unique the Thief series.

The Bad
Now that I've beat it, I have to wait at least a year for Thief III (it's 11-July-2001 on the clock right now as I write this) to be on shelves for more thieving fun in The City. Oh, wait, I forgot about the fan missions...

Well, scratch that...not significant complaints with Thief II then.

The Bottom Line
Get Thief II as soon as possible. It's probably no more than $30US in a store right now, and it's more than worth the money you'll spend for it.

The Good
It's more of the original Thief, with some improvements.

This game presents the best atmosphere of any game. Shivers will go up and down your spine as you hear the approaching steps of a guard.

The story line is present, and while not over-powering, does add to the game.

Graphically superior to the original, and right up there with the best of any genre.

Everything you need to is in the game. The sound is unprecedented.

The Bad
On slower PCs, load times take some time. Throw this on a gigahertz-plus machine, and you'll wonder what load times people are talking about.

Sometimes fighting more undead gets old.

Some people may find controls to be a little difficult. It takes some time, but when you combine mouse and keyboard, you have unprecedented control.

The Bottom Line
The game is a FPS with no shooting (unless you count bow and arrow). The idea is to sneak around. You need to pay attention to everything from people far off who could see you, to lights and shadows, to the noises of someone walking down the hall.

Don't like that shadow being cast by that torch? Douse it with a water arrow. Want to distract that guard for a minute? Let loose a noise-maker arrow.

Just try it.

The Good
- Incredible Atmosphere - Great Sound/Soundtrack - Brilliant, Intelligent Gamedesign - Nearly Perfect designed Missions: Challenging, but not unfair - Less Undead than in the first Thief - Nice Storyline - Garrett is an incredible Character

The Bad
- Graphics are still not as good as they could be - Not a lot of new Ideas compared to Thief1

The Bottom Line
Actually not a lot of new ideas compared to Thief1, but all Ideas are even better executed in this Title! This game surely entered my all time top10 - everyone who is interested in intelligent and incredibly atmospheric Games should take a close look at this one!

The Good
Atmosphere created by the greatest sounds in game history is just GRRRRRRREAAAAAAT! I've never been as scared as playing this game ( X-com 1 comes close though). The missions vary a lot. Graphics are ok.

The Bad
It's slow on my 450 AMD k6/2. That's the main gribe. Metal beings are not very much fun, but atleast more fun than zombies of Thief 1. Sometimes the AI does stupid things but generally it's very good and human like.

The Bottom Line
Throw your morals out and enjoy the art of stealing.