My first encounter with the Thief series was this game, Thief II: The Metal Age. We got it for free with a sound card we had ordered and it quickly became my favorite. Since then, I made sure it was always installed on subsequent home computers until it just wouldn't run, even in compatibility mode. At that point, I just lived on the memories of the thrills I got from playing the same best levels over and over, like the bank level. The game influenced my view and perception of all other games I encountered since. I've beaten it quite a few times, but I just can't get enough. It wasn't until recently, when I was feeding my interest in everything Thief that I found this site. I've played my Thief 3 game a lot, but never with the satisfaction I had when I played Thief 2. Unfortunately, there is so much good about the Thief series, I could spend all day typing this review. Having only played a few levels of Thief 1 (which I've also just bought), there's little I can say for its merits, but I know from fan reviews & the behind-the-scenes film for T2 that it made some needed improvements and the levels are much better. I have yet to encounter a stealth-focused game that is as good as this. Thief invented a genre of games that has yet to be matched. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this game to everyone, even if you don't consider yourself a gamer. The graphics aren't great, but I don't believe a good game is really about graphics anyway. In the past I've expressed this in the following way: Though the 8-bit graphics of Warcraft I stink by comparison to Blizzard's newest games, there was something about the gameplay that just made it magical, something that got lost in its sequels. This magic also resides in T2. If you don't have it, get it. Ten bucks is a steal for the adventure that awaits you!
