The game could've been better, but it still retains some of the magic from the first game.
Still, the game does have its moments - as the main story, as was the case with the first game, is great. As always, you have the choice to define the destiny of the world, which has been taken to extremes this time, as the game takes place even further in the future. Be prepared for some twists and turns as the different factions are unmasked.
But the big letdown is the technical side of the game.. Fueled by the same engine used in Thief: Deadly Shadows, the game has the same problems. In my opinion several things doesn't work, and I will make a quick rundown of them:
Graphics: Considering how demanding the graphics are, the final impression are basically drab, uninspired and the highly praised global lighting feature (which brings down performance) seems somewhat disappointing. Even on a Geforce 7800GT 256MB and with a 2.5 Ghz Athlon64, the game doesn't run as it ought to (some stuttering here and there) . Later I tried it on a C2D E6420@3.2 Ghz and a Geforce 8800 Ultra, and the game ran smooth, so that will give you some idea of where the true requirements for the game are.
Well, there are shadows and light, sure, but that doesn't help much when the textures look washed out and the 3D models looks like the have roughly the same number of polygons as the first game. The bump mapping have the same washed out feeling to it and the 'bloom' feature just smear the lighting.
Controls: This is one of the first games where the consoley feel of the controls actively prevented me from enjoying the game. Suffice it to say the the inventory system os among the worst. It works, but just barely.
Loading times: There are a lot of those, and they are way too long. It takes between 10-20 sec. to load a new level (even on my high performance SATA drive and with 4GB of RAM) - and these levels are very small. This looks like a rough conversion of the xbox, but as PCs don't have the same memory constraints as the first xbox, this shouldve been improved. Perhaps the global lighting constrained the size of the levels as well, who knows.. suffice it to say, that this area also seem bugged by bad programming / poorly optimized PC conversion.
Gameplay:
Well. Heres to the good part. Some of the missions - and even the main story - does have its moments.
Unfortunately the AI is buggy; sometimes the enemies just look at the opposite direction in firefights, or has trouble navigating - especially if you throw things in their path.
Some of the NPCs has personality beyond what is usually seen in these types of games, and the conspiracy 'gloom' of the first game is still intact (fortunately). But the combat system, as well as the sneak part of the game, left something to be desired.
The story is the main reason for playing the game; but I can't shake the feeling of the claustrophic nature of the small levels makes it hard to believe that youre actually in a large city.. you'll have to swallow a lot of immersion breakers like these, if you are to find the gold at the core of this game.
Fortunately, there is a pot of gold to be found, if you perservere. The story is engaging, even if the poor programming/engine does its best to thwart your attempt to get through the game, and despite its flaws, the game does retain some of the old magic from the first game. So, look in the bargain bin, and stock up on patience, and this game will provide roughly 9 hours of conspiracy bliss for the paranoid.