This is what I consider one of the best Thief games, excluding the soon to be released Thief IV. I have played them all many times, but TDS remains my favorite despite it's shortcomings. Yes, there are load times between levels, but there is long load times on the other games in this series. Just not between levels. I didn't find the load time between levels to be that distracting anyway. It was more important to me that the game levels be wickedly fun! There is so much more to love in TDS then in the earlier games as far as humor, graphics, and sheer fun! Don't get me wrong, I love all the Thief games individually, but once you've had the shit scared out of you in "The Cradle", you will never be the same. Free roaming is the best thing that ever happened to the series also. I guess the only downside for me was having to play it on an Xbox, but hell, it wasn't all that bad. I highly recommend this game if you only have time to try one out of the series. Don't get caught up in the fan boy arguments about how this game wasn't up to the level of the earlier games. Try it yourself, and you'll probably find as I did, that it's much better in some respects!
