Thief™ 2: The Metal Age

Thief 2 is what you can expect from the proper sequel. It retains all the fundamental features of the original while expands… somewhat. It’s complicated bag. The main positive here is that Thief 2 still is collection of sandbox levels that provide both challenges and ways and means to overcome them. It's still the net of interconnected game systems - you can stack crates, hide in shadows etc. As it was with the 1st game, each level is a small playground of playing with guards, whose number and variety is expanded with the introduction of Mechanists (derived from Hammerites, religious power in City) and their guard robots, turrets and cameras. You can’t simply KO those mechanical enemies and must find new ways of overcoming them. The levels become seemingly bigger and more complex than those of the original. Basically, there are more secrets, secret passages, interconnections that were before. Some levels – rooftop city level Life of the Party, huge multileveled Bank mission, big mansion with complicated architecture in Masks, and Sabotage in Soulforge (final level – pure mechanical gauntlet which can and will challenge your sneaking skills) – are standouts in entire series. Thief 2 went through troubled production when it’s creators, Looking Glass suffered from financial problems and was in process of closing down when the game was released. It sadly shows in the game. The main issue is that some levels are repeating (you explore the same city district two times in two missions as well as certain big multileveled mansion near the end of game). While new enemies are interesting at first, you quickly may find the easy and cheap way of disabling some of them. Despite those shortcomings, it still very good sequel to Thief: The Dark Project and perhaps the peak of Thief series – at least in eyes of other people while I myself slightly prefer the original game. In any case, this is game worth of your time if you enjoy stealth games and systemic games.

The first two Thief games are about as good as you could hope stealth games, or any other games for that matter, could be; Thief II refined the gameplay, story, and level design of the first, which without a doubt puts Thief II in my top 10 favorite PC games of all time. You young kids out there might scoff at the graphics and game engine, and I understand; it is old, and hasn't aged as gracefully as some other games of its time. Keep an open mind though, if you can accept that the development team did the best they could with the graphics considering the hardware limitations of the time, you will discover a sprawling world that you can truly get lost within. Garrett is actually a charming and likeable protagonist which should be commended since countless games both past and present feature severely underwritten characters, stories, and dialogue (except for most graphical adventure games as well as occasional highlights here and there in other genres.) The fact that these aforementioned aspects are so thoroughly and tastefully developed in the game is what keeps me coming back to it as much as the gameplay. Take my advise, try to avoid killing guards/adversarial NPCs in this game altogether whenever possible. Murdering everyone in sight is par for the course in most first person games, but in Thief games the real fun and the intended experience comes from stealthily sneaking past guards and potential threats in the shadows (watch that visibility gem!), finding all of the secrets tucked away in nooks and crannies within the environments, and pilfering as much loot as you can find in the process. Both of the original Thief games offer experiences which I feel everyone who is passionate about playing video games should go out of their way to play. The games have such a broad appeal, and if you can get past the dated graphics and engine, you'll be treated to utterly unique gameplay experiences as well as loads of fun. Thief II is, in my opinion, the most "pure" experience of the series, and definitely one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had with a video game.

Thief 2 improved upon the original in nearly every way. The game features better lighting effects, more cool gadgets for Garrett to use, and a wider variety of scenarios, environments and challenges in each level. The story takes some surprising turns and fleshes out even more of the universe and development for the protagonist, something essential for a sequel to do. Given how expertly this game was made, it's a real shame it would essentially be Looking Glass' last release before their bankruptcy. About the only real downsides I can think of is that some of the levels can be surprisingly difficult to the unprepared, and perhaps due to community feedback there's one level with a forced "ghosting" requirement, and thus I highly recommend liberal use of the quicksave feature.

Just a few days ago i got Thief gold (and even forced myself to write a review for a first time) and now - here it is. Bam! Thief 2 It's true: it lacks the spirit of novelty, touch of uniqueness that thief 1 had, but hey, you can't walk into the same river twice. It doesn't mean that it's bad or "not so good". It's just another adventures of Garret given in epic chilly form. And by "just" i mean a hell of a good game. Graphics is slightly better, equipment slightly changed - but these are differences you don't really notice (especially when compared to newer productions). And you know what? It doesn't matter at all! - It's Good Old Garret in his full glory. Epic, dark, grim stealth game. Legendary Looking Glass Studio became legendary for a reason you know... For those who played the first part - well, you already know what to do, no need to tell you. For those who didn't play the first part - get it, Play it, Fall in love with it, And then buy this one. It's worth your time and absolutely worth your money. ... Buy it, buy it, buy it now...

Story: Once again, we step into the noisy boots of the thief Garrett, as an everyday job escalates into a major turn of events that threathen The City. Garrett, whether he likes it or not, gets involved into a conspiracy between the Keeper, the Mechanists and the Pagans. Garrett is a great character (for a thief) and the story is simple and entertaining to follow through the game's beautifully created cutscenes and by eavesdropping conversations and reading documents that give an immersive sense of scale to the world. Gameplay: Little related to the core gameplay has changed since the first game. This is a stealth game, so you have to constantly be aware of your level of visibility and the amount of sound you produce while moving. And that's what this game, compared to contemporary "stealth" games, does best: knowing exactly if you're hidden or not and giving a consistent alert process when an enemy discovers you (that means, if you knock out or kill the one who discovered you fast, then there will be no alert). Combat is an option, yes, but a single enemy is challenging enough, so keep your Rambo impulses at bay. As for the gadgets, you have various types of arrows (water to turn off certain sources of light, rope to climb to certain surfaces), flash bombs, mines, invisibility potions... they all give a nice variety to the stealth and exploration. And exploration is the key for the huge levels that have an impecable design. There are often lots of buildings to loot, secrets to discover and a couple of open-ended missions. That being said, there are a couple of levels that will test your patience more than they should (you'll learn to hate the name 'Cavador') and some of the missions, even though their objectives and enemy and object placing varies with the difficulty level you chose, feel linear. Graphics/Audio: Though the levels are huge and many of the textures look nice, the characters are flat and poorly animated. The audio is excellent and eerie. Nuff' said.