Thief: Deadly Shadows review

Being a guard is a tough lot in the harsh domain of computer gaming land. They patrol the same old route, day in day out, working for some megalomaniac terrorist group/religious cult/evil genius, just waiting for some highly trained individual to sneak up on them and pop their clogs. The staff turnover rate must be astronomical. Gone are the days when they fought face to face with their opponent. Now it’s all “Hmm, what’s that?” WHACK, goodnight.

Shhh… this is a stealth game

Such a change is due to the remarkable rise of the stealth game in recent years. We’ve had bald assassins, American covert ops and some guy with a penchant for fighting large robots and eating snakes. Now every self-respecting action adventure game has to have a stealth element to it or face being mocked as a lumbering primate of a bygone age.

This contemporary trend in sneakery can be traced back to the original Thief, rightly perceived as the daddy of the 3D stealth game. An innovative take on first person action, at a time when violence was the only solution to a problem, Thief allowed you to use real guile, cunning and elegance to progress - well at least until you got caught and did what any real man would do; run like the wind in the opposite direction to your foes and cower in a dark corner until they went away.

The third way

Despite the introduction of an optional third person perspective, Thief: Deadly Shadows, the third game in the series, retains the gaming mechanics that made the original games so unique. Both views function very well and you can switch between them seamlessly as you play through the game. I found myself using both depending on the situation, although not necessarily always for practical reasons; viewing Garrett, your on-screen alter-ego, pressed against a darkened wall as a guard walks by is both tense and extremely cinematic.

Deadly Shadows has also been gifted with a sumptuous new graphic engine that brings each environment to life. The lighting is utterly gorgeous, making every room look like it’s been lit like a scene from a film noir; darkness interrupted by flickering torches, flaming fireplaces and buzzing bulbs. Watching from a darkened recess as the well animated characters go about their business - chatting, patrolling, stretching, cleaning, searching – is a thrilling experience, especially in the knowledge that one false move could give you away.

‘Where’s my purse?’

The action once again takes place in the gothic-industrial mishmash that is The City. Divided into five sections, The City acts as a central hub to the missions proper. It also offers scope for your own excursions: overheard conversations, open windows and turned backs all offer opportunity for financial gain. You can pickpocket or even mug citizens walking the streets or, if you’re feeling especially nefarious, murder them in cold blood and make away with their valuables. However you’ll have to keep an eye out for the ever present city watch who patrol the streets, as well as the two city factions, the Hammerites and the Pagans, whose attitude towards you change depending on whether you chose to complete small tasks for them or get caught filling your pockets with their treasures.

There are some problems with this more open ended design. It soon becomes repetitive having to constantly dodge your various enemies when you just want to get on with the next mission, visit your fence or buy some supplies from one of the local shops. The game also too often sends you from one end of the city to the other, making you endure multiple loading screens and turning the city watch into a test of patience rather than a challenge. Nevertheless The City is a well realised and coherent entity, making the player feel part of a larger picture and the designers have a few tricks up their sleeves to keep things interesting - telepathic assassins anyone?

Let’s go to work

The missions themselves don’t disappoint. Taking place in varied and graphically arresting locations, the bulk of your time will be spent undertaking them. Each one is wonderfully designed - big enough to offer multiple routes and solutions, whilst not overwhelming the player, they each feel like real places despite the fantasy setting. You’ll explore a private mansion, a genuinely frightening haunted asylum, descend a giant clock tower and delve into a subterranean lair. Each is part of a suitably dark and apocalyptic plot, aided by some wonderfully atmospheric cut scenes, which kept me engrossed throughout the game

Although you can’t run through a mission all bows blazing - taking on two or three foes is suicide - you are given a great deal of freedom in how you approach each level. Strike from afar with a bow, knock your prey out silently with a blow from your blackjack, or perhaps avoid them completely, if you can. It’s possible, albeit tough, to play throughout the game without killing anybody (although maybe not everything – be prepared for some non-human opposition), leaving a trail of concussed bodies in your wake. You are aided by a versatile toolkit, most of which will be familiar to Thief veterans, such as water arrows to put out torches and moss arrows for silent approaches. Climbing gloves have replaced the rope arrow, and allow Garret to clamber walls to find alternative ways to progress.

Out of the shadows

The AI characters reacts intelligently towards your actions, checking noises and doused torches, tracking you down or calling for back up, if they spot you or a body. They’re also fallible enough to doubt themselves, allowing you to recover from slight errors. At the harder difficulties the AI becomes more inquisitive and persistent, but never unfair. If you get caught it’s because you’ve been careless. Should that happen, you still have items to fall back on; flash bombs, gas grenades and an oil flask that hilariously sends any pursuers flying onto their backs. You can normally recover from mistakes without being forced to reload a save, at the cost of some heath and equipment.

On the whole then Thief: Deadly Shadows is a taut, atmospheric and engrossing experience. The only real gripe is that The City sections become long-winded, lacking as they do the focus of the story missions and as a result make the game feel a little bloated. It’s also not a game for the impatient; anticipation, observation and good-timing are the attributes required if you want to make any progress. But if you allow yourself to become fully immersed in this shadowy little world, you will find Deadly Shadows to be both rich and rewarding. Just spare a little thought for that guard, as you ready your dagger behind him.