Thief 3: Deadly Shadows

The final product couldn't have been further from the truth.

I was incredibly disappointed to find that all of the appealing features of the original games have been dumbed down for the likes of the Xbox kiddies. Yes that's right folks, instead of rope arrows you now have "climbing gloves". Which means you can climb pretty much any surface to escape guards, that is unless they use arrows. This is annoying because as soon as you see a threat, you can simply climb a wall and watch the guard taunt you with three .wav files of "taffer" insults until he forgets you're there. A new addition to the game - guards can and will, rarely, climb or ascend ladders - though it doesn't matter anyway. One because there are pretty much no ladders - hell, there aren't even many stairs in the game, because that would mean the Xbox would have to load a level bigger than a front room. Two, they take so long getting off a ladder you can stab them with the dagger before they even find their feet.

Yes you heard me correctly, of the game I've played, there are virtually no floors in the mansions with the exception of the training mission. Remember the huge, four-floored mansions in Thief 2? You'll be lucky to get two floors in Deadly Shadows. Remember the huge amount of secrets and hidden bits in the levels? There are practically none, a lot like the recent debacle of the Deus Ex sequel. That's gaming evolution for you. If there are huge buildings to venture through, these are accompanied by lovely two to three minute loading times, which make you forget you're even in the same building. Even the outside sections have loading times, and it sent me insane.

One of the earlier "levels" consists almost entirely of zombies which are so low and lumbering you can just speed past them. Stealthy. At least this mission didn't have the atmosphere of a public toilet like the first two did.

I really haven't played this game for that long, but I felt I had to write a review of it, and am finding it increasingly hard to try to like this game. Looks like Ion Storm killed the Thief series at this moment, and it shall be interesting to see what other people think.

Good
Training mission excellent
FMV's are in the style of the old games
Graphics look quite nice

Bad
Looks like Splinter Cell (third-person view is default)
Every mission is a mansion/castle
Loot received message takes up half the damn screen
Needs Windows XP to run


Lacking   May 19, 2004
 12 out of 49 found this review helpful

Sadly the game isn't a patch on the original Thief games! Graphics are awful. If you own Deus Ex 2 you'll know what I mean. Eidos really screwed up and I refuse to purchase another product from them again.

The game runs poorly, much like Deus Ex 2 which is known for technical problems. Even a friend with a AMD 3200+ couldn't get the damn thing to run higher than a rate of 20fps :(

The game crashes on my system all the time, I have XP Pro and more than enough RAM (1GB) to run this game. Considering Far Cry ran like a dream on this system and it looks much better than this tells you enough.

The gameplay is slow and boring, and the LOADING TIMES completely ruin the game. A third of the way through the level, a loading time ruins the immersion and makes you feel like you're in another mission. I hope a patch will fix this, but Deus Ex 2 was also ruined in this way and had no fixes to rectify this problem.

Thief 3 gets the thumbs down from me.


OMG   May 17, 2004
 22 out of 28 found this review helpful

This game is amazing - just got done playing it at E3. I was worried about the PC version, but now I see there was nothing to worry about. The hires textures were AMAZING and it is one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen. Ion Storm learned their lesson with Invisible War, and only a blithering idiot would think this is has been dumbed down for Xbox fans. The game is great too- almost forgot about that! The AIs seem super smart - scary-super smart. I've never felt so much tension just hiding against a wall while an NPC goes by - wonderful game!


What a shame   May 12, 2004
 8 out of 79 found this review helpful

Reviewer: Hardee from England
Thief Deadly Shadows has been in production for four years. As a fan of the original Thief games, I have been looking forward to this for a very long time. The Internet community were amazed at the stylish graphics and the apparent "old style" voices and characteristics.

The final product couldn't have been further from the truth.

I downloaded let's say an "early" version of the game. I seriously doubt the next month until release is going to change anything gameplay wise. I was incredibly disappointed to find that all of the appealing features of the original games have been dumbed down for the likes of the Xbox kiddies. Yes that's right folks, instead of rope arrows you now have "climbing gloves". Which means you can climb pretty much any surface to escape guards, that is unless they use arrows. This is annoying because as soon as you see a threat, you can simply climb a wall and watch the guard taunt you with three .wav files of "taffer" insults until he forgets you're there. A new addition to the game - guards can and will, rarely, climb or ascend ladders - though it doesn't matter anyway. One because there are pretty much no ladders - hell, there aren't even many stairs in the game, because that would mean the Xbox would have to load a level bigger than a front room. Two, they take so long getting off a ladder you can stab them with the dagger before they even find their feet.

Yes you heard me correctly, of the game I've played, there are virtually no floors in the mansions with the exception of the training mission. Remember the huge, four-floored mansions in Thief 2? You'll be lucky to get two floors in Deadly Shadows. Remember the huge amount of secrets and hidden bits in the levels? There are practically none, a lot like the recent debacle of the Deus Ex sequel. That's gaming evolution for you. If there are huge buildings to venture through, these are accompanied by lovely two to three minute loading times, which make you forget you're even in the same building. Even the outside sections have loading times, and it sent me insane.

One of the earlier "levels" consists almost entirely of zombies which are so low and lumbering you can just speed past them. Stealthy. At least this mission didn't have the atmosphere of a public toilet like the first two did.

I really haven't played this game for that long, but I felt I had to write a review of it, and am finding it increasingly hard to try to like this game. Looks like Ion Storm killed the Thief series at this moment, and it shall be interesting to see what other people think.

Good
Training mission excellent
FMV's are in the style of the old games
Graphics look quite nice

Bad
Looks like Splinter Cell (third-person view is default)
Every mission is a mansion/castle
Loot received message takes up half the damn screen
Needs Windows XP to run