Darker than Night's Shadow

Calling all stealth gamers---for those of you waiting for Splinter Cell 3, I offer you a suitable title to chew on till the SC goodness gets to our doors. The Thief series started out on the PC, and was well-received there. Thief: Deadly Shadows is the third installment in the series, so let's stealthily do some B & E (that's "breaking and entering" for all you law abiding citizens out there) and see how well the game (and the series) has made the transition to the Xbox.

For those who may have missed the first two go-rounds, the Thief series pretty much invented the First Person Sneaker when it first debuted on the PC in the form of Thief: The Dark Project, which was released in 1998. The main character is Garrett, who used to be a Keeper acolyte. The Keepers are an organization of "good guys" in the series---if indeed they can be called that---they strive for balance between the Pagans (nature worshippers) and the Hammerites (who worship a technology-oriented deity known as The Builder) in both groups' never-ceasing struggle to take control of The City. Garrett left the Keeper's order some time ago and, due to training he received at the Keeper's Compound, he found he could get by plying his skills as a thief ---but none of the goody-two-shoes Robin Hood-esque "steal from the rich, give to the poor" crap for Garrett. He lives more by the credo, "Steal from whomever and keep for himself." The gameplay of the first game was stealth-based, with light combat elements. Since Garrett preferred not to get involved in rough-housing, he was a pretty ineffective fighter. He did have some gadgets to make up for this however, and playing smartly rather than trying to bully your way through everything would always reward you with the shiny goods.

Shadowy His-Story

So, the story in The Dark Project progressed as Garrett went on to pull bigger and better jobs, for the most part under the direction of a mysterious man named Constantine, who later turns out to be an ancient god called The Trickster---the deity whom the Pagans worship. And to make the twists even…twistier, Garrett has to ally himself with his former enemies (the ones he has stolen the most from during his employ with Constantine/Trickster), the Hammerites, who also supply him with a mechanical eye to replace the one that Constantine and his high priestess Viktoria tore from his skull. Needless to say that Garrett eventually comes out on top, just as the Keeper's prophecies have foretold.

The follow-up to Thief: The Dark Project was Thief II: The Metal Age. In this installment, Garrett was once again prophesied to save the world, and once again he is as uncaring as ever. The Hammerites have ceased to be a power in the sequel, but a new group has come into power to fill the void: the Mechanists, who are led by the droning, sleepy-sounding high priest Karras (or "Droopy", as I affectionately called him---due to his voice reminding me of the cartoon character). Through a series of escalating events (amazing how those always crop up in video games!), Garrett does eventually wind up saving the world, albeit unintentionally, and the threat the Mechanists pose is neutralized, and he fulfills the prophecy. But the thing about Garrett and prophecies is: he doesn't care---he cares about profits, not prophets.

In Thief: Deadly Shadows, this continuation of the franchise on the Xbox, once again Garrett is prophesied to save the world. To continue with the series' traditions, all of the old familiar groups---the Hammerites, the Pagans, and the Keepers---are back as well and still up to their old tricks. The difference with this third installment is that now you can make allies of either (or both) the Hammerites or the Pagans, on a temporary, or permanent basis. And staying true to the non-linear aspect of the game, you don't have to ally with either group. The great thing about this game is the non-linearity. If you're a gamer who doesn't appreciate non-linear games, you can still find plenty to like here if you are a fan of stealth games. Just because the missions can be completed in a variety of ways doesn't man you'll be left wandering the streets, mansions, hallways, sewers, and ship corridors wondering where you're supposed to go next, or what your objective is.

Made In the Shade

The game starts off with a nice tutorial on how to be a master thief, and it is a part of the game's story, not just a tacked on "danger room" for Garrett to practice his skills in. You also start off in third person perspective, but you have the option to change to first person on the fly, and it goes to first person when using the bow---there's no auto lock-on feature for those of you aiming-impaired folks out there. After the tutorial the game transitions smoothly into the first level which starts you off breaking into a fortified mansion…how you go about it is your business, but you overheard a conversation while in the inn's tavern area in the tutorial that the mansion's cook will open a secret door on top of the wall surrounding the mansion if he's given a signal by the man he is expecting. The signal is to extinguish a fire in the basin of a lions head statue. How you deal with the cook should you go that route is up to you as well.

That's one of the great things about this game---the non-linearity during the missions. If you are a gamer that needs a little more "Go here and do this MY way" from a superior officer, flying fairy, the character's Super Ego, or whatever, you will still find plenty of direction , however the *manner* of how you do these tasks are left up to you. There are two other ways into the mansion I described above that I know of, so if you don't like one route, try another. If you're feeling really feisty, make a play for the front door, but, really, what kind of Master Thief uses the front door? Come on people!

So overall, the missions in general are all well-designed, as are the environments that they take place in---very big "Werd homies!" to the level designers! The bits of humor inserted into the levels, and the story are great---if you have a cynical, sarcastic and somewhat dark sense of humor, you can definitely appreciate many of the goings-on and the twists and turns the story takes. The lighting on each level is well-placed and really evokes the mood of being in the shoes of Garrett, the master thief whose cloak is the shadows he operates in. [Hopefully that's all he does under there! – ED]

Good God, the texturing needs to be addressed as well---the textures in this game all have a place, are painted "just right", and are a joy to look at. The levels are a mix of different atmospheres, sometimes even evoking different tones within the same level. I really liked the Hammerite compound level for example, where the shadows and beams of light in the courtyard just looked so beautiful I actually stayed there a while to check it out. The city levels are unique and somewhat "Vice City"-esque, if I may, because you can go around and do pretty much as you please. Depending on whether or not you rob certain houses will impact things you find later in the game (i.e. if you rob your landlord, the guard he was employing gets sacked…too bad, Bob!). There are other "moral" choices to make in the game as well, such as while robbin…er "looking for something" in a widow's house---I won't say what the choice is but, she's a widow gone crazy with grief---how long do you think her money is going to last?

My favorite levels (if I had to choose) were the prison (Oops, I got caught! It happens! You'll see what happens if you get "killed" while roaming the city streets…), the ghost ship, and the orphanage/insane asylum (boy Garrett's world is screwed up!). I like the cramped space of the ghost ship; it really gave you a sense of claustrophobia, and the feeling of a need to escape. I list the prison as a fave because you had to rely on your own sneaky abilities for a bit until you find Garrett's thieving equipment. The part of the prison I did not like was that I didn't get a chance, then and there, to kill the warden who taunted Garrett (oh well---maybe in Thief 4? Please…). And finally the orphanage/insane asylum level was also a favorite of mine because it inserted an element of survival horror into the game, which has not really been done effectively in the series before. The place just sprayed fountains of atmosphere all over the place. You will definitely feel on edge and antsy while timidly creeping within its confines. So very creepy, so very very creepy. I *loved* it!

The character models also deserve special mention as they are a joy to look at. The sheer amount of detail that lovingly went into crafting them is evident. The nobles all look regal and haughty (makes you *really* want to make them have a bad day!), the fences Garrett deal with all have a slightly "shifty" look about them, and the general citizenry can claim fame to anonymity. The undead models are all very ghoulish and sinister, and not to give anything away, but the enemies towards the end of the game will have you looking *really* closely at nearby statues---just to be cautious.

In terms of the graphics, the advanced physics and lighting are the stars of the show here---this gem of a game definitely has some great graphics going for it. The lighting effects play a big part of the game here and are not included just to be "cool". They serve as part of the gameplay (but indeed they *are* cool, and a marvel to look at, especially the moon beams), as you must skulk from shadow to shadow and create paths of darkness for Garrett to walk in so he may remain undetected. One minor problem I've noticed is that the framerate chugs a bit when going through a lighting intensive scene. Not enough to be horrible, but enough to remark upon. The cut scene cinematics are extremely gorgeous and they maintain the look and feel that has been a distinguishing mark of the series since its inception. The cut scenes have a unique look, as if they are washed out, cel-shaded 3D animations reminiscent of a painting.

Shadows of Giants

One can definitely tell that gaming god Warren Spector had much to do with the direction of this game because of the finely polished gameplay, that both retains the style of the earlier games in the Thief series, and yet takes it to a new level enough to be considered its own beast. That means the sneaking, the dynamic lighting, the gadget and weapon use, and the fact that you *will* shriek like a little child and run away from searching guards is still there, with some new additions---yet some puzzling omissions/changes as well. The new lock picking feature is at once very immersive, but somewhat off-putting at first. Once you get the hang of it, you can breeze through even the toughest locks in under 10 seconds, just like Garrett would… I also like the addition of the category of "Special Loot" that you can grab from your missions. The idea is that there are unique brooches, medallions, statues, etc. So in addition to the cornucopia of non-special loot, i.e. the candlesticks, bags of coins, plates, and other bric-a-brac, the special loot is worth a little more, which makes it a splendid challenge to try to obtain. Though the methods you use to obtain the loot are fairly straightforward (picking the lock of the chest or vault that contains the Special Loot), Garrett will often be alerted to the presence of Special Loot in a certain level by conversations he overhears, or via text he can find in books, parchments, notes, etc. that can sometimes be found laying about. Also playing on higher difficulty levels than Normal will require you to obtain more pieces of Special Loot before you can complete the level at that difficulty setting.

The addition of more uses for Garrett's stable of weapons has also been well-considered and adds to the game tremendously. Water arrows can now be used to clean up blood spots, moss arrows (if shot into the face of a human enemy) will temporarily choke enemies. Also Garrett can now purchase climbing gloves which will allow him to climb certain surfaces, thus providing new facets of gameplay to this gaming gem. There are flasks of oil which, when thrown down can cause enemies to slip and fall, or if they are shot with a fire arrow, they will create burning puddles (which can be used to block off passages to prevent an enemy's pursuit). Flash bombs "kill" ghosts/undead, and finally noisemaker arrows now blare out William Hung singing "She Bangs"---okay, I'm kidding. Just making sure you're still paying attention, Master Thief, because unfortunately now we have to talk about "the bad".

Not all is perfect in the land of gameplay for this new iteration of Thief; there are some things which are puzzling---a "new" gameplay addition to the Thief line. One of the major things is; Garrett can't swim? What gives? In the other Thief titles, he could breast stroke with the best of them, however in this outing he seems incapable of even doggy paddling? I accidentally fell in the water while at the beginning of the Widow Moira's Mansion level and promptly died. Maybe the water was filled with contact poison? Maybe they imported their water from Vice City? I understand from a game design point of view---they wanted to have places with vast tracts of water (the Docks) for the player to look at, without Garrett being able to swim away into processor-hogging nothingness, but as a fan of the original I would have liked the developers to maintain the series' continuity by having Garrett be still able to swim. Still it's a rather trivial thing, all things considered, but another, also puzzling omission was the ability to "cock back" your weapon swing like in the older Thief titles. I liked the fact that I could run around the other Thief games with my arm wound back perfectly positioned to deliver that knockout blow with the blackjack, or poised to strike with deadly force with my trusty sword. The fact that I couldn't do it in this game was somewhat jarring.

On one more negative note, the AI… The AI is---how should I say it---severely lacking in this game. I found it a little questionable that they seemed often incapable of opening doors if you slammed them in their face whilst they gave chase. At other times it seemed like the AI would blithely ignore comrades sprawled out on the floor in front of them, even as they walked right over their former companions. Rarely did any of the AI get alarmed over the pools of blood (hey---they attacked *me* first!) I left behind in my wake, so that could have used some tuning too. And making an enemy forget about you has never been easier than crouching behind some boxes. It's as if they just give up the will to give chase to you. It's unfortunate that such a big part of the game is what leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

However, the controls were just perfect for this type of game. They were very intuitive and the button placement made sense. The use of the rumbling to pick the lock was smartly done. It's very reminiscent of picking locks in Splinter Cell. Your weapons and gadgets are easy to switch to and use, so no worries there, and crouching, climbing, running, etc. are all easy to accomplish and the controls are as fluid as you could want---though sniping with the bow can be trying because it seems a little inaccurate at times.

Deadly Voice Acting, Shiny Audio

For the most part, the voice acting is right on par, if not better than most games out on the market, however a particularly heinous exception is the voice of one of Garrett's fences; Black Market Bertha. I'm assuming they asked the actress to channel Mae West, but it really winds up sounding horrendously cheesy, which is such a shame because the rest of the voice acting is, for the most part, spot on. Speaking of spot on, in the rest of the audio department, aside from the drab music score, the game is shiny. Shiny like a highly polished emerald that was just there a second ago…but now it's gone…because Garrett is there…and he stole it…is my metaphor losing its cohesion? I digress… The audio is damn good! Those with the 5.1 system to support it will definitely have their game enhanced by the way it utilizes audio to drive the stealth experience. A lot of time and effort went into the custom physics system which drives the audio---and it shows…er..um…sounds! As previously mentioned, the music is somewhat bland, and ultimately forgettable, but it's not what drives a game like this anyway.

Overall, the game holds its own with other titles out there quite nicely. The lighting and graphics are gorgeous on the Xbox---the game has some killer levels--- highly interesting and atmospheric. Add to that the rare finely-tuned gameplay, evocative atmosphere, great sound (with the exception of some of the voice acting and music), that irreverent Thief dark sense of humor, and of course your trusty bow, dagger, and blackjack. Some minor flaws and one major flaw (and, remember now that even a gem can be flawed in a way, yet still hold value) are to be found, though. The minor flaws I speak of are the voice acting and the fact that there are some elements of original Thief gameplay missing (swimming and cocking back your weapon). And of course, the one rather major flaw is the AI---yet I still feel it's worth a rental, if not outright purchase as you wait for the aforementioned Splinter Cell 3. So go out there, young Master Thieves, stalk the streets of the city, and discover for yourselves just how deadly shadows can be.