The Thief Series

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The Best Thief Installment

  • Total voters
    53
I-chi

I-chi

Keep It Together
kiwifarms.net
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Aug 22, 2014
I came extremely late to this show due to having only just a year ago actually built a computer capable of running the games, and with a patent love for Hitman, Dishonored, and other such games that, in a way, owe what they are mechanically and, sometimes, thematically to the bar Thief set for the stealth genre of today. I have yet to be unimpressed by what I've experienced, but it's a damn shame the reboot, from what I hear, is a pitiful experience in comparison to its predecessors.

So Kiwis, tell me about your experiences, thoughts, issues with the games, favorite moments, etc. ;)
 
Corypheus said:
The 2014 Thief isn't as bad as people tend to say, but maybe that's just me.
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It really doesn't seem that bad to me, just that as a Thief game as people remembered them, the general complaints were that it suffers from too much constraint whereas there was a certain degree of simplification to the older games. That and you could generally get a better experience just by playing Dishonored. Given the chance I would still like to try it someday.
 
KidKitty said:
That and you could generally get a better experience just by playing Dishonored. Given the chance I would still like to try it someday.
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I wouldn't quite say that. IIRC, kill too many people in Dishonored and it affects your ending. Thief 2014 didn't have anything like that that I remember. Thief also encouraged you to sneak around and avoid combat, where as Dishonored, while also kind of encouraging you to stealth around enemies, gave you the skills to tackle them head on.

Maybe it's just me, but I've kind of noticed that people who hated 2014 Thief and screamed about how it butchered the entire series and that it was just utter garbage also seemed to have no problem with Ninja Theory's DMC remake, despite several complaints levied against the newer Thief title also could be applied to the new DMC.
 
I didn't mind the 2014 reboot but I think it lacked the sinister charm of the two originals. Deadly shadows could have been good but the ever present technical issues and non-existant plot turned me off a bit.
 
Coldgrip said:
Maybe it's just me, but I've kind of noticed that people who hated 2014 Thief and screamed about how it butchered the entire series and that it was just utter garbage also seemed to have no problem with Ninja Theory's DMC remake, despite several complaints levied against the newer Thief title also could be applied to the new DMC.
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...But that game was terrible. I mean there's functionally no redeeming quality to it whatsoever; it's a nice action game, but that's about it. It does too much to fuck with and mock the original canon that the joke falls flat on its face before it's even told, and literally can't decide whether it wants to be some serious commentary on a sleeping and apathetic society or a grunge fanfiction chock full of cheap shock appeal and edge. The only thing I heard as far as Thief, besides mechanical complaints, was that, apparently, they removed the supernatural elements to it, I guess? I mean from a fluff standpoint. Which when you think about it...

Makes a lot of sense because Garret activated the Final Glyph and, therefore, eradicated all active Glyphs throughout the City. So the fact that this is, not necessarily a reboot, but an actual continuation works.

I don't believe it butchered the series from what I've seen of it, it's the same case as many other successor titles and long term continuities today: fans will hype themselves into hating it because in some ways, it just won't compare.
 
I really like this video on the major differences between Thief the Dark Project and Thief 2014. However a lot of what he says can be attributed to modern gaming as a whole.

KidKitty said:
The only thing I heard as far as Thief, besides mechanical complaints, was that, apparently, they removed the supernatural elements to it, I guess? I mean from a fluff standpoint. Which when you think about it...
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The storyline and stylistic design is also terrible.

Bare in mind the original two games had a definitively steampunk design that had a more mature and simple story premise that gradually opened up into a more defined plot. The main character is a selfish likeable Thief. He starts the game without a defined goal besides routine robberies but little by little each mission opens up into a more defined plot. So much of the story is not told through cutscenes but with gameplay.

By contrast Thief 2014 told a very scripted and generic story with characters you don't really care about who mostly just give excuses for gameplay.

In terms of stylistic design the original Thief can be traced to old films like 2000 leagues under the sea. Wheras the developers stated in interviews for 2014 that they were only influenced by very superficial elements of the original games and were more inspired by films like 2009's Sherlock Holmes.
 
Watcher said:
I really like this video on the major differences between Thief the Dark Project and Thief 2014. However a lot of what he says can be attributed to modern gaming as a whole.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MZUQinN_9tM

The storyline and stylistic design is also terrible.

Bare in mind the original two games had a definitively steampunk design that had a more mature and simple story premise that gradually opened up into a more defined plot. The main character is a selfish likeable Thief. He starts the game without a defined goal besides routine robberies but little by little each mission opens up into a more defined plot. So much of the story is not told through cutscenes but with gameplay.

By contrast Thief 2014 told a very scripted and generic story with characters you don't really care about who mostly just give excuses for gameplay.

In terms of stylistic design the original Thief can be traced to old films like 2000 leagues under the sea. Wheras the developers stated in interviews for 2014 that they were only influenced by very superficial elements of the original games and were more inspired by films like 2009's Sherlock Holmes.
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Actually looking into it further, I concede what you say is truth; I think one of the best ways to say it would be that it reduced Garret to little more than an archetype, which sort of makes the game fall apart. Even if it's a 'successor' to his legacy and not actually him , that doesn't really justify him going all Batman in this game, when most of his character involved the reluctance to allow ANYTHING, especially the Keeper's prophecies, direct his course of action; particularly not a fellow thief who got into trouble for his (or her) own slip up (if you can remember why he went through all the trouble of getting to Cutty in T1). You liked him because, in many ways, he's NOT a hero; and actually kind of makes a chuckle out of the notion that he's anything but a greedy and selfish; granted he abides to keep the work of the assassins to them, he is not above thug work either if he can get a nice trinket out of the deal.

Forgive the sperging, I guess it's me putting into words what aspect of that game, had I played it, would put me off.
 
I got into Thief 1 and 2 around a year or so ago and found them both to be very enjoyable games.

In terms of story, I think 1 is probably the one I prefer overall. But Droopy the Dog was a pretty interesting villain in 2.

Gameplay wise, I have to give it to 2. The levels were generally larger and more complex. And I love how they integrated the Mechanist Creations into the gameplay.

They were both a little rough around the edges, but they were both pioneers in the 3D stealth genre, so I still have some respect for them.
 
scorptatious said:
I got into Thief 1 and 2 around a year or so ago and found them both to be very enjoyable games.

In terms of story, I think 1 is probably the one I prefer overall. But Droopy the Dog was a pretty interesting villain in 2.

Gameplay wise, I have to give it to 2. The levels were generally larger and more complex. And I love how they integrated the Mechanist Creations into the gameplay.

They were both a little rough around the edges, but they were both pioneers in the 3D stealth genre, so I still have some respect for them.
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Bare in mind the original Thief didn't start out as a stealth game. It was originally a swordfighting game called Dark Camelot.

They retooled it as a stealth game pretty late into development. Apparently the stealth in the game didn't work until a few weeks before the game launched. The different objectives depending on difficulty was one of the last things they added. A lot of the development on Thief in particular was spent on the sound system for the game. Which paid off tremendously.

A lot of levels were then retooled for Thief. Like Down in the Bonehoard, Into the Maw of Chaos, Lost City and others. Some were merged into others. Interestingly enough the Gold Edition of Thief was mostly a lot of cut Dark Camelot levels. Like Mages Tower was in the original design document to Dark Camelot.
 
They did it again.


It is finally here! After 7-ish years of development, The Black Parade is finally released. So, what awaits you in this campaign?

- 10 huge, open-ended and meticulously crafted missions with varied themes packed with content.
- A brand new protagonist thrown into a dark, intricately woven story of crime and conspiracies.
- 4 new tools happily supplied by the undermarket, at a price.
- Many tweaks to the AI to make the game a bit more challenging but still fair.
- A brand new "banter" system where AIs greet each other during their rounds and nightly life.
- 28 voiced characters totaling roughly 1,800 new lines of dialogue.
- 30 minutes of gorgeous hand-drawn briefings and cutscenes.
- Brand new AI motions making the denizens of The City look more alive.
- Full English subtitles.

In The Black Parade you play the character of Hume, a hardened criminal who was sent into exile as a punishment for his crimes. The year is 833, you are now back in The City, a sprawling metropolis of soot-caked brick, greasy fumes and noisy machinery, with many a sinister conspiracy whispered behind closed doors. Lost and without a penny to your name, you are back to your life of thievery and must find your old associate Dahlquist. Shadows and silence are your allies. Light is your enemy. Stealth and cunning are your tools. And the riches of others are yours for the taking.

The Black Parade aims at being a love letter to Thief: The Dark Project, and we hope we succeeded! It is recommended to have played through Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age at least once beforehand, since these missions are overall tougher than the base game.

The Black Parade also comes with a few tweaks to the classic Thief gameplay formula:

- Hume is not a Keeper and thus never received Garrett’s training: AIs will now notice you if they bump into you or vice versa, sometimes even in a perfect shadow. Be careful!
- Hume can move banners aside instead of having to slash them.
- Hume has additional footstep sounds for chains and pipes; these are metal sounds that aren’t as noisy as regular metal (about as noisy as stone/wood).
- Water arrows can now be used to expand moss patches.
- Servants will re-light extinguished torches on higher difficulty levels.
- Servants may clean moss on the floor if they notice it on higher difficulty levels.
- Zombies now smash wooden doors open instead of simply opening them.
- Electric lanterns carried by guards can be turned off.
- A few guards in the campaign are outfitted with heavy armor and helms so they cannot be knocked out using the Blackjack.
- Hume can pick up small creature corpses such as spiders or sweels.

DOWNLOAD (912 MB)
MIRROR

!!!IMPORTANT NOTES!!!
The Black Parade requires NewDark 1.26 or above! Make sure you use the latest version of TFix/TFix Lite before playing!
The Black Parade should be launched with FMSel, NewDarkLoader or AngelLoader. It is not recommended to launch this campaign with DarkLoader or GarrettLoader. Note that mods such as Thief Gold HD Mod, NecroAge or Enhancement Pack are not compatible with this campaign. Remember that this is a campaign for THIEF GOLD, not Thief 2!

Known issues:
- Due to the complexity of the missions, there can be cases where some NPCs might get stuck walking against walls. There is unfortunately not much that can be done about this.
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Happy 25th anniversary to Thief: The Dark Project, and have fun taffers!
 
I have a soft spot for this series.

Thief: The Dark Project/Thief Gold was my first real introduction to stealth based games. Didn’t start with Metal Gear or Rainbow 6 or whatever. Way back in the tail end of the 90s the AI seemed absolutely mind-blowing to teenage me. I liked the horror elements in the first game, despite feeling it did take away a little from the nature of a first person stealth game, but I had a load of fun with this one.

Everyone even slightly familiar with the series knows The Metal Age is the best in the series. Took everything good about the first game and multiplied it by 100. This is one of those “games everyone must play at least once before they die” for me. It’s a true classic.

Thief 3 took a step backwards from The Metal Age but was still a solid entry. Shalebridge Cradle is infamous as being one of the creepiest levels in a early-mid 2000s game ever. Solid 7/10 game.

Never played the 2014 Thief. Heard nothing but terrible things about it and I didn’t want to tarnish my fond memories of the games with a soulless reboot. I did buy it recently on GOG for like $2 out of morbid curiosity so I may just give in and try it soon.
 
The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
The Black Parade is ModDB's 2023 Mod of the Year.
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Well deserved. It's a great love letter to the series.

Jason Wynn said:
I did buy it recently on GOG for like $2 out of morbid curiosity so I may just give in and try it soon.
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Get it refunded if you can, taffer. It's a bad Dishonored wannabe that shares nothing in common with the Thief series except the name. The story makes no sense, the characters are very poorly written, the sound design is taffin' bad for a Thief game.

I remember there is a troon brothel owner because SHOCKING, the thief-taker general is a pedophile who casually kills his own men and keeps getting owned by nuGarrett in silly ways, your thief apprentice is an edgy, whiny assassin you hate but must rescue because nuGarrett cares about her for reasons.

You get the Bioshock revolution thing that shows the revolutionaries are even worse than the previous regime, it's really deep, do you get the message?!, in case you don't the game will slap you in the face with it. And I vaguely recall there being no footstep sounds? Your footsteps no longer alert guards or something? Oh and nobody says the word "taffer".

Taff this game.
 
Jason Wynn said:
Everyone even slightly familiar with the series knows The Metal Age is the best in the series. Took everything good about the first game and multiplied it by 100. This is one of those “games everyone must play at least once before they die” for me. It’s a true classic.
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The engines are identical after fan patching and some folx even prefer TDP. But TMA has much less undead focus and some stand-out missions. First City Bank and Trust and Life of the Party come to mind. TDP's The Sword is a must-play for being so weird.

Fan missions on the other hand... I think there are about 1,000 of them now.

Watcher said:
Bare in mind the original Thief didn't start out as a stealth game. It was originally a swordfighting game called Dark Camelot.
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Seeing that trailer again reminds me of the T2 FM King's Story, based on Neuschwanstein Castle.

 
This thread showing up presents me a good opportunity to ask a question. How the fuck do I get into Thief in any capacity? Gold has been rotting in my Steam library for many years now.
By all lines of logic, it should be something I click with easily. I love adjacent games like System Shock or Deus Ex, but anytime I boot up Thief, I lose the will to play it really quick, and get lost trying to navigate the first level somehow.
 
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