Zero Punctuation: Thief: The Dark Project
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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I used to be scared shitless when going up against them... until you discover how to effectively "disable" them.Kwil said:
Burricks can be knocked out with a blackjack
Zombies can be damaged by: holy water arrows, flash bombs, fire arrows. These weapons all have splash damage so round up a bunch of zombies and take them all out with minimal resources. You can knock out zombies by bashing them with the sword until they fall. They will get up if you get too close though.
Hammer Haunts can be killed with a one strong backstab
Apparitions can be permanently removed by bashing them with a sword until they disappear.
Thief was brilliant, and I'll shank anyone who says otherwise!
Yahtzee, I salute you and your excellent taste in gaming. I enjoyed this retrospective quite a bit and can't help but wish you'd do more of them.
Yahtzee, I salute you and your excellent taste in gaming. I enjoyed this retrospective quite a bit and can't help but wish you'd do more of them.
Only the worst one, Thief III. The first two were PC titles in 1998 and 2000 and were far superior. Thief III was really hampered by the limitations of the Xbox hardware and thus had tiny levels and an engine that didn't really get the shadows right in the same way that the 'Dark Engine' did (which was build specifically for the original games). They also made some other changes for the console market that corrupted the core gameplay features which made the first two so strong.ForgottenPr0digy said:
On the plus side, Thief III has the Shalebridge Cradle level (about 60% of the way through the game) which is one of the finest examples of level design in gaming history. Worth wading throught the rest just for that.
Something else to consider is that Thief I and II are so old now that they will run on any PC still functioning. I didn't even have a graphics card when I played Thief for the first time. So I would recomend getting on a PC, doesn't matter what, and having a go at the originals.
For those pining wistfully over the lovely 'Cradle' mission from Thief 3, you'll enjoy this if you've never read it before: A comprehensive review of that level, and that level alone, from Thief 3 as well as interviews with the levels creator and thorough commentary on the missions plot and story, all by one of my favorite game journalists out there.
http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf
Enjoy!
http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf
Enjoy!
Thief was such a very good game.
Great voice acting, and actually, all around great sound. Since it was such an integral part to the sneaking, it was well done. I got to where I would physically cringe when walking on tile in game. Noise became the enemy as much as light did, but not quite as much as the zombies did.
Difficulty that mainly changed what you needed to do, rather than just more monster HP and damage. More loot required, and less killing. Expert difficulty == no killing.
Ability to climb up to just about anything you could jump to...rope arrows to climb to lots of other places; so many ways you could explore every level. Only in a very few places did the game become linear.
Wonderfully unique endgame.
So many good ideas all in one game.
Great review of a great game.
Great voice acting, and actually, all around great sound. Since it was such an integral part to the sneaking, it was well done. I got to where I would physically cringe when walking on tile in game. Noise became the enemy as much as light did, but not quite as much as the zombies did.
Difficulty that mainly changed what you needed to do, rather than just more monster HP and damage. More loot required, and less killing. Expert difficulty == no killing.
Ability to climb up to just about anything you could jump to...rope arrows to climb to lots of other places; so many ways you could explore every level. Only in a very few places did the game become linear.
Wonderfully unique endgame.
So many good ideas all in one game.
Great review of a great game.
I enjoyed Thief: Deadly Shadows and I'll definitely go back and check out the earlier games. But I think he's got it wrong this time... Metal Gear Solid was released the same year as The Dark Project- 1998- and MGS was a sequel! To claim that Thief invented the stealth genre is balderdash, even to have done it first in 3d. They would have least have been worked on at the same time. I get the impression he never owned a PS1 from his reviews - and he certainly never played MGS, which was great fun. I suppose it's part of his "I don't like Japanese games" bias so he never even bothered to look.
Unless you've had your head up your ass for the last 2 years or at leat watched the COD4 review, then you'll notice Yahtzee doesn't give a flying fuck about what's popular. He reviews what he wants, sometimes games that he likes no matter how old (probably for a good dose of nostalgia) . He owns ZP and doesn't care if you want his opinion or not.crimped said:
The Thief series definitely is one of my favourite series of games - I even quite liked the third, in spite of its issues. I understand why it had to do things differently and I think they had a good idea with it, they were just a little too limited, and could've executed some of their ideas a whole lot better. (Let's face it.. on the PC, the pre-rendered cutscenes many times uses a model of Garrett that is of a LOWER QUALITY than the one you actually have in-game!)
Then again, Deadly Shadows had the Cradle, which forgives a whole lot as no game has ever sent so many shivers down my spine as that singular level. It was utterly terrifying, and designed with such genious that it raises the question of why the rest of Thief 3 isn't up to match.
The first two games however were definitely special, and their fanbase can be quite protective of them with good reason. All the miscelaneous notes and books you can find across them to read added alot to the world you were in, and it was an empowering feeling to undertake Ramirez' mansion on Expert in Thief: Dark Project and not only fulfil the normal, hard and expert objectives but also dump an unconcious Ramirez in a house half across the district before vanishing into the night unseen and unheard and softly laughing to yourself imagining what HIS morning will be like.
And then we get to the Haunts, which are the singular most terrifying enemy I've ever met in any game and whose graveyard-like breathing, rattle of heavy chains and talks of flames and joining can still send shivers down my spine. Ironically, the only Haunts I've actually not been scared of was the two ones I came across in Thief 3 (only ever seen two of them there) that had the misfortune of appearing just after the Cradle was over, at which point I had just fought an entire house of sheer terror and wasn't all that fazed by the presence of two skull-faced men and their ill intends towards my physical and mental health.
Edit: removed a boo-boo caused by too early mornings which made me look like my brain had died.
Then again, Deadly Shadows had the Cradle, which forgives a whole lot as no game has ever sent so many shivers down my spine as that singular level. It was utterly terrifying, and designed with such genious that it raises the question of why the rest of Thief 3 isn't up to match.
The first two games however were definitely special, and their fanbase can be quite protective of them with good reason. All the miscelaneous notes and books you can find across them to read added alot to the world you were in, and it was an empowering feeling to undertake Ramirez' mansion on Expert in Thief: Dark Project and not only fulfil the normal, hard and expert objectives but also dump an unconcious Ramirez in a house half across the district before vanishing into the night unseen and unheard and softly laughing to yourself imagining what HIS morning will be like.
And then we get to the Haunts, which are the singular most terrifying enemy I've ever met in any game and whose graveyard-like breathing, rattle of heavy chains and talks of flames and joining can still send shivers down my spine. Ironically, the only Haunts I've actually not been scared of was the two ones I came across in Thief 3 (only ever seen two of them there) that had the misfortune of appearing just after the Cradle was over, at which point I had just fought an entire house of sheer terror and wasn't all that fazed by the presence of two skull-faced men and their ill intends towards my physical and mental health.
Edit: removed a boo-boo caused by too early mornings which made me look like my brain had died.
But you COULD bonce the burricks! It was just more difficult
Thief 2 is still installed on my laptop - not a stealth-game yet has taken its place as king (not even its own sequel - Thief 2 got the mix just right)
However, Thief and Thief 2 do get points for being among the only games to actually influence my RL behaviour - when I first started Thief I became acutely aware of the noise I made, and started making conscious efforts to reduce it. To this day, I move practically silently at anything slower than a brisk jog.
Thief 2 is still installed on my laptop - not a stealth-game yet has taken its place as king (not even its own sequel - Thief 2 got the mix just right)
However, Thief and Thief 2 do get points for being among the only games to actually influence my RL behaviour - when I first started Thief I became acutely aware of the noise I made, and started making conscious efforts to reduce it. To this day, I move practically silently at anything slower than a brisk jog.
That's my problem. I don't think this one even counts as a review.Tattaglia said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again.MercurySteam said:
Rule #1 of internet celebrity: Never listen to your fans.
As I mentioned before, the same thing happened to me. That was a SERIOUSLY immersive game.BlueMage said: