Thief II's sound design creates such a strong sense of space that despite the blocky geometry and stark baked lighting, this really holds up in 2021. Coming from Dishonored, which was fluid & freeform, Thief initially alienated me with its focus on moment to moment movement across mere inches of floorboards, stone & carpet. Each level could be its own world and sneaking through hidden passages, between shadows over soft & hard surfaces has a beautiful rhythm.
The houses drew me in the most, especially the labyrinthine mansions with self-contained stories hidden in basements and attics, each mostly staffed by a bunch of drunk idiots. There is lore here that I couldn't follow and a vague plot I didn't care for, but the brief encounter with the robotic child was the most disquieting shit in recent memory.
Thief is a cat burglar simulator, so doesn’t really capture the sense of overwhelming doom that poverty instills in you (see Pathologic 2 for this), but Garret says his rent is late and I believe him. How often do game characters really worry about money? I usually despise loot hunting, as it sends me into anxious spirals (I flinch at glimpses of numerous pots or crates upon entering a new room in Skyrim) but the treasures here are so sparsely placed and mysterious, that I went through enormous strain to gather everything so Garret could pay his rent and spare a little for water arrows.
Fan missions are worth mentioning, as two decades worth of levels are there to download, many twisting the old tech in strange new ways. The campaign Thief 2x offers some glimpses of Hitman’s hierarchy of public & private spaces, which could have been an interesting direction for the series to take if it hadn’t become whatever bland cinematic experience Th4ef was.
The houses drew me in the most, especially the labyrinthine mansions with self-contained stories hidden in basements and attics, each mostly staffed by a bunch of drunk idiots. There is lore here that I couldn't follow and a vague plot I didn't care for, but the brief encounter with the robotic child was the most disquieting shit in recent memory.
Thief is a cat burglar simulator, so doesn’t really capture the sense of overwhelming doom that poverty instills in you (see Pathologic 2 for this), but Garret says his rent is late and I believe him. How often do game characters really worry about money? I usually despise loot hunting, as it sends me into anxious spirals (I flinch at glimpses of numerous pots or crates upon entering a new room in Skyrim) but the treasures here are so sparsely placed and mysterious, that I went through enormous strain to gather everything so Garret could pay his rent and spare a little for water arrows.
Fan missions are worth mentioning, as two decades worth of levels are there to download, many twisting the old tech in strange new ways. The campaign Thief 2x offers some glimpses of Hitman’s hierarchy of public & private spaces, which could have been an interesting direction for the series to take if it hadn’t become whatever bland cinematic experience Th4ef was.
NOWITSREYNTIME17
13 days ago