Thief Gold- Darker atmosphere, Garrett is a darker character, tighter (but smaller) level design, good mix of both human and monster opponents offering better gameplay variety, and overall better story. Assassins and Return to the Cathedral are standout levels, not to be missed.

Thief 2- Larger environments, controls less annoying to bind, map is actually useful, nice steampunkish atmosphere, that nice "dun dun!" sound you hear when you discover a secret, focuses more on human vs. human stealth instead of monsters. Life of the Party is arguably the best Thief level ever, and among the best levels in any game of any genre.

Both- have excellent main villains
but both- each have one level I mostly dislike: Downwind Thieves Guild in the first game, and Casing the Joint in the second. Each have some moments of brilliance, but the former is a maze too big for its own good, and the latter has some sloppy, rushed touches like floating loot.

Overall though I'd have to say 1 is the most representative of the Thief series, and if I could only pick one game to be stranded on a desert island with, it would be Thief Gold.

I like 2 a little more, as I've always preferred the more pure-thiefy human vs human stuff to the monsters. Both are great though.

I agree about the latter, especially the fact that the game forces you to complete the same level twice! That said, I still prefer The Metal Age because of more humans and less monsters.

I like both, but Thief Gold is my favourite:

Better atmosphere.

More variation in locales and enemies. The female guards in T2 smacks too much of PC.

Scarier. The haunts and zombies in T1 were scary. The robots in T2 are too cute with their voices, and too easy to trick into blowing themselves up. I feel more pity for them than dread.

T2 has the single best designed level in Life of the Party, but T1 has levels like The Sword (most memorable level ever in any game, IMO), The Haunted Cathedral (the closest I've come to wetting myself when playing a computer game), The Lost City (memories of Ultima Underworld 2) and Down in the Bonehoard (snarling zombies everywhere and the Horn of Quintus mournfully playing in the background).

I wish Looking Glass hadn't listened so much to their fans, but instead kept the undead in T2.

Thief 2 may be a more pure stealth/thieving game, but Thief 1 is a perfect mix of stealth, exploring and tomb raiding.

Not very PC when you whack them on the head with the blackjack. ;)

I find the image of Garret blackjacking all the female guards and dumping them in kitchens somewhat hilarious.

But moving on, saying that adding female guards is PC is silly in my opinion (especially since you mentioned in the same sentence that variation in enemies is good). Other than that, yeah, all good points. One of the things I like about the Thief series in fact. They're both equally great, but also different enough that one can prefer 1 over 2 and be just as valid as one who prefers 2 over 1 (or vice versa).

And, I dunno, I found Karras' voice pretty creepy.

I'm with Gazoinks on this. For me, this was one of the most interesting things about the Mechanists. They were even crazier than the Hammerites, yet more open-minded with regards to gender. I realized that there were probably many subtle things that Karras did to ensure his rise to power, including welcoming supporters that the Hammerites would have shunned.

Also, I was just as terrified of the robots the first time I ran into them as I was during my first encounter with zombies. Sure, once I learned their behaviors and how to deal with them they weren't as much of a threat anymore, but the same is true of zombies and haunts. And yes, all the robots running around speaking in Karras' voice were quite creepy, if not exactly in the same way as the undead enemies from the first game.

Anyway, I end up favoring Thief 2 myself, because I like the pure thieving, but the tomb raids in Thief 1 were pretty cool too. I really should go back and replay them both so I can get an updated comparison.

That's a tough question, OP.

I think I prefer playing Thief 2 because everything is a little bigger, a little smoother, a little more confident in its core design. (I also like the female guards, especially the one hounding Benny to drink less. It's a hilarious little exchange.)

On the other hand, no Thief 1 = no Thief 2, and I really like the storyline of the first game (and Gold's additional content). Plus, the Trickster/Viktoria cutscenes are fantastic! My favorites of the whole series.

In the interest of completeness, I also like Thief 3 in spite of its console trappings.

So I wasn't the only one who really liked those tomb raids! Good to know.

I like Thief Gold better although I havent completed thief 2 yet but Thief Gold is more immersive and has although there is more monsters thats the thing its less boring and varies more especially the level "Escape" where I made a break for the exit and was nerve wrecking. Although my opinon may change Thief Gold I hold in high regard.

I only just finished Thief Gold for the first time recently. Thief 3 was my first Thief game, and I played it on the Xbox. I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately my family didn't have a PC until later in my life so I never played Thief or Thief 2.

I am currently playing Thief 2 again, and I think I prefer Thief 2 over Thief Gold.

Gold is still a good game and has a mixed bag of gameplay for sure, but I always preferred the sneaky burglary missions over tomb raiding, and Thief 2 seems to focus on stealing from human enemies more than tomb raiding, that and Thief 2 just feels a little more refined, so in my opinion Thief 2 is superior.

Gold is still worth playing through though!

2 because of the less undead crap

Exactly the same for me!

The game mechanics were improved in The Metal Age, but I strongly disliked the story, and I just couldn't identify with Garrett anymore. I played through the game once, and was greatly disappointed.

The Dark Project on the other hand was an amazing experience. The atmosphere was incredible, and the level/mission design was way better. The Gold version additions were an icing on the cake.

I haven't played much of the original (I could only get it working without the cutscenes and probably won't play it until I eventually buy the GOG version) but I don't like the fantasy elements very much, so in that respect I'd have to say Thief 2.