Thief: Deadly Shadows was great fun back in the day, but it is near unplayable on modern machines without a patch. The first two chapters are generally navigable, and were quite entertaining. Causing havoc in the streets of the City is hilarious. The ambiance, music, and overall 'feel' are uniquely Thief. But the inability to pick locks and climb ladders means the game cannot be completed. Two early missions, St. Edgar's Eve and Into the Pagan Sanctuary, require these mechanics to complete. It's nothing but frustrating trying endlessly to pick locks while Garrett freezes in place each time I click a door or chest. Because of this grievous flaw, only the first hour or two are playable. Also, the game tends to mess up my screen resolution, the menu cursor is buggy, and alt-tabbing does not work at all. While it's true that the original PC release of this game similarly buggy due to it being a poorly-optimized port, it was at least possible to play all the way through. Unless Thief: Deadly Shadows gets an official fix, I simply can't recommend purchasing it. I think patches are available *somewhere* on the Internet but, frankly, I don't feel that I should have to repair a game I paid money for.
