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It does take a while to get going which once again won't surprise veterans of the series however once it does the story is superb. Controls are easy to get used to adopting a very familiar first person setup which kindly adapts to the 3rd person perspective.
Technically it also excels, superb textures and a really rich/vibrant back drop are aided with the helps of the Havoc/Ragdol physics engine which once again rears its beautiful bum cheeks. The actual look of the game has a high WOW factor and until you start to dig deep you won't find the niggles that a lot of the reviews complained about.
A couple of things could be improved upon, for example there are no throwing animations, nor are there any cinematic stealth kills which would have been a welcome addition to the series; on the whole it sticks to the 'old skool' system using a more advanced game engine.
In terms of performance it runs very smoothly on top settings, even with high AA and AF settings. As mentioned above it really does look the business and so far with version 1.0 (aside from the massive oversight with the AI difficulty setting) I am yet to come across any game crashes of faults that would need to be patched.
So far an excellent game which makes up for the massive disappointment that was Deus Ex: Invisible War!
Oh well, now I can go buy it at last!
> Just a note to say they have patched it and everything is how it
> should have been on launch. Small patch which mainly corrects the
> saving issue.
Dang, came too late, I completed it. Great game though, a tad easier than the previous Thief's and the levels where slightly smaller as well, but great all the same. Oh, and the Shalebridge Cradle level has to be one of the finest levels I've played in a game all year. A great use of sound to create of the most unsettling levels I've ever played.
> Just a note to say they have patched it and everything is how it
> should have been on launch. Small patch which mainly corrects the
> saving issue.
Cheers for the headsup on that. It's a fantastic game, although a little too linear and claustrophobic (xbox development, boooooo) at times. Still, a marvelous game and a worthy third installment. I just hope there is a fourth.
The plot is full of suprises later in the game.
The one thing I am disappointed in though is the smaller scale of the levels. They are still big, but they've split up into different sections separated by vortex like clouds of mist. The new city also suffers from this, far from the GTA type cityscape I was expecting it doesn't feel much like a city. But saying that, I do enjoy prowling the city streets mugging toffs who waltz around fully kitted with expensive jewellery. If the City Watch kills you, rather than having to restart from the last saved position, you actually get thrown into Pavelock prison from which you have to escape. Nice Touch.
So far so good, I'm really enjoying the game though not the save bug on the Hammerrite Cathedral level, which drops me to the desktop and erases my saved game. Hopefully a patch will also fix this.
Cause if you're not playing on Expert than you're not playing Thief, and the bug doesn't allow you to play on Expert. So I'm waiting until the patch is released before buying.