Thief II, Mission #5: "Eavesdropping"

           The Mechanists are first introduced in mission #2, and their introduction to players will continue again in mission #5, “Eavesdropping.” The Keepers have tipped Garrett off to a meeting between the Mechanists’ leader, Karras, and the City’s sheriff, Gorman Truart, that will take place at a Mechanists Seminary, at midnight. The Keepers let Garrett know that overhearing this conversation is in Garrett’s best interest, as the Sheriff has been hired to kill Garrett and so Garrett should find out as much about his business as possible. For the purposes of this post, all that needs to be known is that Garrett has an excuse to visit a Mechanist Seminary.

            The Seminary has been converted from an old Hammerite Cathedral. This allows for a dichotomy in the mission between the ‘old’ story of the first Thief game and the new story of this sequel. Old Hammerite relics lie in corners while new Mechanist décor stands proudly in the forefront. Beneath the seminary is a small catacomb system, tread by Hammer-Haunts (the vicious undead beings Garret met in the Haunted Cathedral from Thief I). The graveyard is full of ghostly voices and whispers. But this, again, is in contrast with the bright electric lights of the Mechanists’, and their security robots, pounding the ground with their large mechanical feet and playing Mechanist propaganda. The new story of Thief II is one of technological progress, and this is seen in the forefront of the Seminary; the old, magic-riddled story of Thief I lies beneath the grounds in the catacombs, dead and passed by the wayside.

            Suffice it to say, the Mechanists’ introduction is well continued here from where it had been left off at the Docks. Once the mission begins players walk under and hear the slow, squeaky spin of a Mechanist gear, set up above the front entrance to the Seminary. A Mechanist robot patrols by as two Mechanist guards discuss the robots’ frightful visage. And, once inside the Mechanist seminary, the player sees the full aesthetics of the Mechanists: bright lights; large, futuristic statues; and metal floors and art deco design. The ambient sound combines a new electric guitar riff with old noises that played in the background of Thief’s cathedral mission. Even in the ambient sound, the dichotomy between the first Thief and this sequel is demonstrated.

            The design of the mission is well-balanced. There’s the Seminary up top, the catacombs beneath; the overall level size is smaller than usual, but there’s intricacy that adds depth. Then there’s the already noted dichotomy between Hammerite relics and new Mechanist stuff.

            On a first playthrough, this mission is very satisfying, because the player finally gets to meet the Mechanists in person after having heard about them in the Docks and since. It’s also the first time players get a look at the Mechanists’ eerie security robots, which will remain a staple of the game.