Thief™ 2: The Metal Age

2nd Best Game ever behind Half Life 2

While the entire Thief series is superb, Thief II might be the best of them all. The focus is more on thievery this time around - there's a bank heist, plenty of looting, and an absolutely epic mission named "Life of the Party" that is justly known for it's massive scope and ambition. A must-play game.

This game is a wonderful addition to the Thief universe. It really brought steampunk to all new levels of thoughtful design. The modding community has released literally hundreds of mods and missions for this game, with a good number of them rivaling even the best ones crafted by the game's original designers. Don't hesitate to get this title. A true masterpiece of taught tactical tension. Simply brilliant.

Wanna own a piece of history? Then get Thief 1 and 2, and play them in order. They may look outdated in terms of graphics, but Thief 1 and 2 revolutionized many aspects of gameplay. For starters, they introduced stereo surround sound specifically made to help you pinpoint where enemies are without seeing them. Even without surround sound, though, you will still feel the hair on your neck stand up when you're trying to avoid detection and the zombies and hammer haunts are rattling up behind your or just around the corner...especially if the haunts are searching the are where you carelessly made a noise. The interactivity in this game was on a high level for the time. Master thief Garett could do a lot of things--even swim and dive--whereas many contemporary game heroes were stuck on linear tracks that at most merely tested a player's memory and reflexes. Movement was made to be incredibly smooth, and this combined with the first-person perspective really ramps up the immersion factor--better than many games made to date. He also had plenty of different kinds of tools to help him in his infiltration of spaces, but their supplies are limited, and he has to steal to be able to afford more. Using them sparingly, and knowing when and when not to use them (especially water arrows) is a sign of a veteran Thief player. I'm not going to tell you about the enemies--they're going to have to be a surprise. While Garrett can fight most of them, he's better off sneaking around enemies or knocking them out. Beware, though--some can't be knocked out, and others can't be killed. Garrett isn't tough enough for protracted battles, especially when their friends show up to help kill him. They don't take turns fighting, either. Once you've experienced the end of both, do a web search for Through The Looking Glass (TTLG), and play some custom fan missions. You won't be disappointed! Nothing else needs to be said, except, "Join us...join us...JOIN US NOW!!!"

There has never... EVER... been a game that did stealth this well. There are levels in this game that should be studied by every budding game designer. Its also VERY challenging on occasion. I will always own this game.