Various backlog projects.
Got back to the older Looking Glass games of Thief: The Dark Project, Thief 2: The Metal Age and Thief: Deadly Shadows.
The visuals are a bit blocky and boxy but the design and especially the sound work and attention to detail has held up really well, fan patches also help with compatibility.
First game has its charms with the more twisted levels and exploratory sense though the actual thieving takes a hit later in the game and there's more fantastical creates and sprawling levels with less helpful maps but it has its high points too.
Thief 2 really shows some improvements with greatly enhanced level design, less fantastical critters but still some recurring favorites and a new more technological development with its own new additions.
The AI has some rough spots and a few exploits are only handled first in the third game but the ability for guards to look up and down and the numerous interactions stand out when you aren't flash bombing and blackjacking everything, or almost, there's a few entertaining exceptions. More complex mission objectives as well especially on the higher difficulty levels.
Karras probably has some mixed receptions but the thorough ego and narcissism really shines through even if you have to actually listen to him, a whole lot. Which, well it has its drawbacks the very first time you hear it.
Big step up as well from Constantine - sir appearing halfway through the game, and even then fairly briefly, but still memorably. - and Victoria, in the first game.
Deadly Shadows to try and round this up adds some nice details like AI enhancements including the ability to notice opened doors and missing items but suffers from the cut up levels especially coming from how the first two games could have both large open maps which continued with indoor exploration without breaking up the level, Ramizer mansion in the first game and of course the rooftops continuing into the mechanist building in the second.
Then there was an attempt at a fourth game but it focuses more on titties than thieving, missing the point of the previous games by a massive degree. ~
Furry titties of Thi4f
Yep, E = 4, which I believe was a real title for the game early on.
(But someone eventually caught it being stupid.)
 Spoiler: |
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Paintings in the style of these are the very first thing you see in the game, alongside a lengthy mandatory tutorial segment and Garret being hypocritical about killing, when Erren does it, while he himself can just waste guards with no qualms what so ever.
Also later in the game there's a really bad callback to the original games.
EDIT: Well I tried, still trailed off into a big rant at the end there.
Last edited by JBeckman on Thu, 20th Mar 2025 22:59; edited 1 time in total
