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"[Game] Retro Review - Thief 3 - Deadly Shadows"

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Mon 29/03/10 at 22:53
Regular
"Braaains"
Posts: 439
With the news that Thief 4 is being developed, it seems like a good time to look at the some of the other games in the series. The most recent of these, and the one I'm currently playing, is Thief 3. It's available on budget for the measly price of a fiver and is also least likely to cause retro-shock since it's graphics aren't all that bad by today's standards.

Thief 3 or Thief: Deadly Shadows to give it its proper title once again casts you as Garrett, a thief who has a tendency to get dragged into in all manner of sinister plots. Previous games have seen him dealing with a pagan cult and a group of technology obsessed zealots but this time around he gets involved in the machinations of the Keepers, the group that trained him before he decided to clear off and do his own thing.

Thief 3 isn't set in the real world - instead it takes place in some sort of strange alternate world that takes most of its cues from medieval Britain. And since you're cast as a thief, you don't foil the various heinous plots by running in waving your sword around. In fact, if you end up facing more than one foe you're pretty much doomed. Instead, you sneak around the various locations, hiding in the shadows, either avoiding guards or bopping them with your blackjack as they walk past you.

Matters are made easier by the fact there's a big glowing jewel at the bottom of the screen that shows how visible you are - the brighter it is, the more likely you are to be seen. You also have a variety of items you can buy such as water arrows that can be used to put out torches. Although since this alternative world does have electricity in places, that won't always work.

As was the case with previous Thief games, the plot doesn't really kick in until you've played the first few missions, though the beautifully drawn cutscenes do hint at something nasty lurking in the shadows. You spend the first two or three levels just stealing things from houses - usually some specific item. You can also wander around the city robbing the odd house, but you don't have all that much freedom - nothing on the scale of Grand Theft Auto.

The game is hugely atmospheric, and the voice acting is top notch. The Shalebridge Cradle level in particular is one of the scariest levels you're likely to ever encounter. And if you're played any of the previous two Thief games then Thief 3 offers more of the same. However, I can honestly say that Thief 3 is my least favourite of the series. Why? Because of the flipping X-Box.

Don't get me wrong - I have an X-Box, and it's a great console, and it's never broken down on me, which I can't say of my X-Box 360. However, when Thief 3 was released, the makers decided to put it on the X-Box. This meant finding a way of fitting the levels into the X-Box's limited memory. How did they do this? They cut the levels in half, and linked them via glowing portal. So this means that you find yourself wandering into these portals, having to wait for the game to load up the next chunk, and then carry on.

Confused? You might be, since I'm reviewing the PC version of the game here, not the X-Box version. But the same system applied to both. Even though the average PC had more memory than the X-Box, the designers didn't remove the portal system from the PC version of the game. Maybe they couldn't. But it really takes you out of the game to have to load the next part of the level.

Okay, maybe it doesn't ruin the game completely, but it's a big pain. Thief 3 is still worth playing but to have the game crippled in this way doesn't seem fair. For a fiver, it's worth picking up, especially if you want to know Garrett's story so far. Let's hope there are no similar technical mess-ups to be found in Thief 4. Thief 3: Deadly Shadows is fun, but flawed.
Mon 29/03/10 at 22:58
Regular
"How Ironic"
Posts: 4,312
Anytime I see the words 'Retro Review' down here, I think "Hannard's at it again".... Great review as usual ;)
Mon 29/03/10 at 22:53
Regular
"Braaains"
Posts: 439
With the news that Thief 4 is being developed, it seems like a good time to look at the some of the other games in the series. The most recent of these, and the one I'm currently playing, is Thief 3. It's available on budget for the measly price of a fiver and is also least likely to cause retro-shock since it's graphics aren't all that bad by today's standards.

Thief 3 or Thief: Deadly Shadows to give it its proper title once again casts you as Garrett, a thief who has a tendency to get dragged into in all manner of sinister plots. Previous games have seen him dealing with a pagan cult and a group of technology obsessed zealots but this time around he gets involved in the machinations of the Keepers, the group that trained him before he decided to clear off and do his own thing.

Thief 3 isn't set in the real world - instead it takes place in some sort of strange alternate world that takes most of its cues from medieval Britain. And since you're cast as a thief, you don't foil the various heinous plots by running in waving your sword around. In fact, if you end up facing more than one foe you're pretty much doomed. Instead, you sneak around the various locations, hiding in the shadows, either avoiding guards or bopping them with your blackjack as they walk past you.

Matters are made easier by the fact there's a big glowing jewel at the bottom of the screen that shows how visible you are - the brighter it is, the more likely you are to be seen. You also have a variety of items you can buy such as water arrows that can be used to put out torches. Although since this alternative world does have electricity in places, that won't always work.

As was the case with previous Thief games, the plot doesn't really kick in until you've played the first few missions, though the beautifully drawn cutscenes do hint at something nasty lurking in the shadows. You spend the first two or three levels just stealing things from houses - usually some specific item. You can also wander around the city robbing the odd house, but you don't have all that much freedom - nothing on the scale of Grand Theft Auto.

The game is hugely atmospheric, and the voice acting is top notch. The Shalebridge Cradle level in particular is one of the scariest levels you're likely to ever encounter. And if you're played any of the previous two Thief games then Thief 3 offers more of the same. However, I can honestly say that Thief 3 is my least favourite of the series. Why? Because of the flipping X-Box.

Don't get me wrong - I have an X-Box, and it's a great console, and it's never broken down on me, which I can't say of my X-Box 360. However, when Thief 3 was released, the makers decided to put it on the X-Box. This meant finding a way of fitting the levels into the X-Box's limited memory. How did they do this? They cut the levels in half, and linked them via glowing portal. So this means that you find yourself wandering into these portals, having to wait for the game to load up the next chunk, and then carry on.

Confused? You might be, since I'm reviewing the PC version of the game here, not the X-Box version. But the same system applied to both. Even though the average PC had more memory than the X-Box, the designers didn't remove the portal system from the PC version of the game. Maybe they couldn't. But it really takes you out of the game to have to load the next part of the level.

Okay, maybe it doesn't ruin the game completely, but it's a big pain. Thief 3 is still worth playing but to have the game crippled in this way doesn't seem fair. For a fiver, it's worth picking up, especially if you want to know Garrett's story so far. Let's hope there are no similar technical mess-ups to be found in Thief 4. Thief 3: Deadly Shadows is fun, but flawed.

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