Wonderful lighting effects...."olde worlde" atmosphere.....one of the best games I have played!!!
User Rating: 9.2 | Thief: Deadly Shadows XBOX
This game took me quite by surprise - in a pleasant way! I had been a fan of the first two thief games for the pc and I very much expected its latest, multi-platform version to be "dumbed down". I couldn't have been more wrong! I opted for the Xbox version because, at the time, my pc was not really up to running it any sense and I did worry how well the mouse/keyboard setup would translate to the control pad. The answer was "very well indeed"! In fact, virtually everything about this game just feels.....right! Sure, there is an increase in load times and frequency as the different areas of the city are broken up into more manageable chunks. But this is forgiveable when you see how beautiful the environments are. Wonderful lighting effects, the sprawling design and architecture of the city, all work toward creating an "olde worlde" atmosphere that has yet to be rivalled by any other game. The missions are broken up by the opportunity to go explore the city. You can rob people, kill people, break into houses and steal their wares, or just hide in the shadows and listen to the (sometimes quite bizarre) conversations between the citizens or city watch. When you want to continue with the story you will know exactly where you need to be. Sometimes it's not quite so easy to know how to get there though,as the map is not too helpful, but you can usually figure it out without too much effort! The graphics are generally good, nothing revolutionary,but any graphical imperfections are quickly forgotten once you get sucked into the whole atmosphere, which will probably be after the first (training) mission. Sound is just right for the game, it has a minimalist approach, which is great because you really don't want a lot of music playing when you are trying to gauge how much noise you are making whilst sneaking around. Gameplay is what you would expect from Thief. Garret is very nimble and can maneuver very well around the city, especially when he gains the claws which allow him to scale certain stone walls. There are some interesting areas hidden from view too so looking around carefully is important. Comparisons will obviously be drawn with Splinter Cell. On the surface they are similar titles, but play them both and you soon realise that the similarities are only superficial. Graphically Thief doesn't hold up so well with Splinter Cell, but for my money the freedom, eery atmosphere and intensity of Thief raises it far above the graphical niceties of Splinter Cell. Do yourself a favour and play it if you haven't already. Oh and I recommend playing it in 1st person mode for total immersion. In summary, one of the best games I have played!!!
