Thief II in Review

-Thief II, in review

Below I include quotes from the Gamespot and IGN reviews of Thief II: The Metal Age. The segments I selected are the parts that echo moreso the points I’ve made in this project.

-from the Gamespot review, by Ron Dulin

"In the game's best mission, Life of the Party, you must sneak across the rooftops of a city, break into a high-security building, gather information and loot, and then sneak back across the city again. The mission is filled with funny moments, and you'll overhear all manner of conversations during the course of the heist, such as two sets of guards shouting insults across the rooftops about one another's employers. Looking Glass has done a remarkable job of making the city seem alive, as almost every mission contains conversations to eavesdrop on and people going about their business who are unaware of your presence. The only element that slightly weakens the otherwise excellent ambiance is the occasionally poor voice acting."

[…]

"There are very few moments in Thief II where there's a single correct path to take, and the beauty of the mission design is that it's left to your ingenuity to use the tools provided to overcome the obstacles in your path. Do you shoot out the torches and sneak down a hallway? Or should you use a rope arrow to hoist yourself up to the rafters and ambush the guards from above? It's a testament to the quality of the design that when you complete a mission in Thief II, you'll actually feel as if you've accomplished something and not just executed a series of predetermined tasks."

-from the IGN review, by Vincent Lopez

"For instance, the game opens with a mission involving clearing a path in a mansion to a woman so that her lover can sneak through the guards and get her out, a task which not only involves finding the woman, but insuring that all guards on the route are out of commission or safely out of view. What route is the best? That's up to you. I diverted from the designated path completely and found myself in some interesting areas I would have otherwise never ventured into. Another mission has you sneaking through the city streets avoiding the guards in order to get a special item from your house, a process that shows just how much wider the gameplay has gotten in the sequel. Not only are there a myriad of routes available to you, from city streets to the underground tunnels of the canals, but there are entire areas that will bring you gold and information that aren't needed to complete the game. Secrets abound in every mission, and rather than just providing a joke or two, the special notes or items that you find really add a depth to the storyline, especially when you keep track of all the connections between the characters involved."

[…]

"The sound once again shines in Thief II, from the dark but ambient score to the myriad of sound effects and voices that you'll hear in the game. It's really one of the first times in a game that your ears are equally as important as your eyes, and the Looking Glass team has emphasized that in the sequel."