This sounded even better with the Creative EAX sound extensions. I remember playing it with a 4.1 surround sound setup.. and I'll never forget it. It was amazing.
Thief is probably the best game I've ever played. It's more than a game really, it's an "experience". I agree that the Gold version is best, however one thing I liked better in the original version is that there are no human enemies in the Lost City level. It just felt more right for there to be no humans there.
Just an fyi. You can also shoot the water arrows at the moss to make it grow so you can save on some moss arrows, as well as shoot blood spots and pools on the ground so enemies don't see them. amazing video like always!!
Actually the supernatural levels are some of my favourites. They force you to be even more stealthy than usual, because dispatching the creatures on those levels is so damn hard. If you want to dispatch them, they offer some great alternative ways. You can use flash bombs against undead (2 flash bombs will kill most of them), and you kinda have to discover this by accident. The Bonehoard mission has a certain projectile trap that allows you to lure zombies to it and watch them get burst to pieces as they mindlessly try to enter the door. These levels are also much more creative and varied than the usual "rob the manor" missions you find earlier on (with the exception of Constantine's Sword mission)
Apart from the great stealth action, Thief is also a great horror game. The undead in Thief scared the shit out of me as a kid. I'm pretty sure I was not the only one. Took me quite a few attempts to overcome my fear, but once I did, other horror games didn't raise my pulse one bit :)
Actually, out of all the undead, the ones really scared me was the Hammer Haunts, and hammer priest ghost. Especially when haunts chases u because they can run faster while chanting the join us now phrases. For zombies, it actually not too bad except you want to get rid of them all and running out of holy water arrows and painstaking drowning them instead, lol
Yep the Hammer Haunts were terrifying since they were so fast and powerful. Flash Bombs would kill a group of them in no time though, so if you could get all their attention and when they rush to your spot just throw down a flash bomb, they were done for.
The "crude and inprecise" map was made that way on purpose!! There's no minimap telling you exactly where to go, you have to actually think and figure things out
This is exactly why games were better back then. No Garmin minimaps with radar compasses pointing you everwhere you'd have to go. You actually have to look around and find things out by yourself...
I loved going through Thief 2 on Expert mode. That shit got crazy near the end. Karas wasn't exactly threatening considering he sounded like Droopy Dog with a god complex. I loved the first 2, the third game was ... "passable". I have hopes for Eidos Montreal's take on this series, but will understand if it isn't up to par.
CR Meyer I think that that's what was threatening about him. He sounded too unreal and creepy. I do wonder though how different the game would feel if he sounded more like a menacing Brit.
Considering that most of the actors at the time were probably office workers, and had no experience voice acting, he'd probably sound quite normal. xD I just can't help thinking of him as a wormy little sociopath who wants to "take revenge on all those who mocked him in life." It makes me giggle a little.
Orzene Tyranni Karas' voice was given by Stephen Russel (who gave the voice to Garret, Benny the guard and some others). It was great and creepy. Listening on him and that sheriff ploting behind doors (forgot which mission was it) was awesome.
I know what your saying about the sword combat... but, I always preferred the challenge of avoiding all combat. It's the only game I've played where it felt like the 'best' way to play was to not engage in combat.
I get a kick out of the game's fencing though, it's pretty in-depth, so long as you don't abuse stepping in and out of range with the overhead swing. Shame, most games of the era couldn't handle the old backpedal and charge.
Check out OtherSide Entertainment. They're made up of alumni from Looking Glass. They are actually making a game right now! Kickstarter's over, but you can still donate. The game they're currently making is Underworld Ascendant, a sort of successor to their Ultima Underworld series! They've also teased that they're doing System Shock 3! My hope is that if they get enough support and coverage, they can go ahead with these projects and possibly convince Square Enix to give them the IP to work with. Instead of, you know... that B-Team from Montreal...Ugh.
I recently completed the very disappointing 2014 game and I'll never play another 'Thief' from Eidos Montreal. I will follow up on what the LGS alums are working on though.
Awsome, awsome game. The 'less talk, more ambience and spooky music' aspect of the game s in the 90s is sorely missed. Also, look at that gui. A game purely made for pc and no console port in mind. How wonderful.
Gallacc King yes. pc AAA exclusives are very unique. i mean Crysis was the last one and that was legendary. console exclusives are usually more focused on being cinematic while pc exclusives like to focus on pushing gameplay and tech. idk pc AAA high budget exclusives arent even around anymore which is sad 😢
BS Handle Created Thief didn’t support A3D 2.0. It was only A3D 1.0, which was as barebones as EAX 1.0, except without reverb. In modern times the A3D support is completely worthless as OpenAL Soft (and DSOAL) can add a better HRTF solution than A3D, and also utilize EAX.
One of the greatest games of all time in my opinion. Immersive environments, intriguing story, quick-witted AI, and strenuous levels. This is what AAA developers SHOULD be doing.
Tis Thief (the hammerites and their ghosts) whence mine affinity for old english cometh. Twas Thief that which bestowed it upon my younger self. Thou hast fallen astray from the path of the Master Builder should thinkest thou videogames teach thee naught.
@@skaruts Elizabethan English*. Old English is what Beowulf is written in. As in, "Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon." The Hammerites also use extremely bad Elizabethan English, just so you know.
SonofSethoitae, indeed. I'm aware of that. Actual Old English is a totally different language in itself. But since many people colloquially refer to old modern-english (shakespearean mostly) as _"ancient-english"_ or _"old english"_ I tend to just go along with it. On a related funny note, as far as I understand it, people often tend to think of Thee and Thou as though they're formal pronouns when in reality it's the Ye and You that are the formal ones. :)
I mean, technically "Thee/Thou" and "Ye/You" are the same word. When the printing press came about, they used "Y" in place of the letter "Þ" to save money, because they look similar if you really squint at it. Edit: whoops, I remembered wrongly. "Ye" is from a different root than "Thee", although the part about them replacing the letter Þ was true, in cases like "Ye Olde Shoppe".
I actually liked the Undead stuff. Down in the Bonehoard and the Haunted Cathedral are two of the best levels. I also prefer the game to Thief 2, this one was just dripping in atmosphere. I will take the undead over robots any day. Thief 2 was amazing though don't get me wrong but I preferred the original back in the day.
+dageezerboi Yeah me too. People dislike undead maps in this game because it makes the game too scary; they don't have enough juice in their balls. Thief 2 shamed itself for not including zombie maps. It was very disappointing but playable.
A true masterpiece. This game is the definition of art. And there is a lot of us thief fans who actually think T1 is by far the better of the 2 original games. For me the supernatural attribute what sets is apart from thief 2 and to its advantage. I mean look at a mission like "The Sword" and think about you just defeated satan. T2 was a lame-ass boring "steal this, steal that" game compared to its predecessor. I dont say i hate T2, I love every bit of it. Even T2X, and a lot of fan-made missions. Its just that T1 raised the bar up so far for me, its impossible to top that. And the reboot? Its not even worth seeing in my opinion.
Oh God yes, I almost forgot about T2X. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't tried it. It's nearly as good as the first two games, and about as long as well.
good review, but some of the criticism of confusing level design was while playing that infamous manor, it was supposed to be confusing, it was an absolute stroke of genius i thought to start with the "normal" mission from constantine and then suddenly the manner is like getting weirder and weirder, i am also one of the these people who thinks the zombie levels provide contrast to thief 2, they then reflect one another the first is before the mechanists and the world is very much full of supernatural stuff :) in the second game you revisit areas that where TERRIFYING, and they are built over and mechanised i cannot really describe the effect this game had as a pair with the two games, it was just stunning, the highlight of the gaming decade for me
Actually, my criticism of confusing levels are largely aimed at places like the thieves guild, the various underground passageways, and the various crypts, not the manors. But yeah, the zombie levels do provide some contrast to Thief 2 and make Thief Gold feel more like its own experience, so there's that!
Lazy Game Reviews hey glad you also enjoy the game, i have found you have reminded me of some excellent games of the past. I guess I find the first Thief game like the first album from a prog rock band, you just simply won't get an unbiased opinion from me about this game, screw objectivity this is thief so everything it does or did is holy :P
GepardenK i understand what you mean but like you say there to being confused and challenged it is kinda fun to, i love the way the manor level plays out. i must try theif gold funnily enough that's some oldschool thief i haven't played
The problem with the Thieves Guild mission is that it was added in Thief Gold and not part of TDP. IMO, all the levels added by Gold felt kind of bolted on and less polished than the base game had been. And in the case of the Lost City mission, Thief Gold actually made the mission materially worse. For this reason, I don't agree with the general recommendation that Thief Gold is "better".
I'm cautiously optimistic about the new Thief. I'm not holding out hope, but I think they learned from Deas Ex that sticking at least a little bit to the core franchise elements is a good thing.
Indeed. In "THI4F" we can only jump at specified locations, the rope arrows only attach at specified, plot-related locations, and we can only mantle up at specified locations where there's a grate. There's literally no fun in exploring anymore, when the entire City has been made childproof. These three things are clear and important step backs from the previous games. Strike three you're out, THI4F. What a joke of a game that was.
*Someone:* _"Hey did you play the 4th game in the Thief series?"_ *Me:* _"What 4th game? There's just 3 of them."_ *Someone:* _"They made a 4th one in 2014!"_ *Me:* _"No they didn't."_
Dude , to even say that game is worthy of playing is just offensive . It literally went backwards in terms of game mechanics , it took the freedom from the player and held tour hand like a little baby
One of my favourite series! I can't really agree with you that the combat is more fun in doom though, in my book both sword- and bow fight are done very well in Thief, and you being in the position of disadvantage is intended, since you are meant to be a thief, not a war tank. This is a first person sneaker, not first person shooter after all. Combat should be the last resort normally, unless you really want to go that way. Same goes for undead, you can sneak around them perfectly.
I actually prefer the original Thief to Thief 2. Yeah, the undead are overused but I enjoy the varied locations, I think the bad guy is more interesting, and finally, Thief 2 just gives me a feeling of being unfinished.
Newer is not always better and I know some people might have a problem with graphics but I don't . This game was far ahead of its time and it's awesome and it holds up just as well today as it did back then. Granted 98 wasn't that long ago.
I used to start playing Thief about ten pm and play it until the sun came up, all the time sitting in a completely dark room. SO MUCH FUN! It is definitely my favorite game of all time. I'll never understand, however, why eveybody hates on the supernatural stuff in it. When Thief II came out, I wsa sorely disappointed with it's lack of weird critters and bizarre twisted environments. I'm honestly not even sure I ever finished that game. I know I never finished the third game. To me they just didn't stack up to the original. I would gleefully sit alone in only the light of the screen, completely still in-game, and watch and wait for the perfect time to launch an arrow or bludgeon an unwary guard. And I would sneak around so slowly in levels like the haunted cathedral, scared out of my wits, trying to never catch the attention of those things, whatever they were. I don't remember. But damn! The audio design in that game was stellar! It truly was the source of all of my dread while playing. It was perfect. Anyway, I'm glad to see someone enjoying this game so long after it's release. It's well worth it.
i played the whole original trilogy and i have to agree with you, some levels (at least in the first two games) are ENDLESS! i had to use the "skip level" key combo on the catacombs when i realized i walked in circles for TWO HOURS! but nonetheless, they are great games and i loved to complete them without killing anyone to the point of restarting from a quick save multiple times just to knock out a bunch of guards :D
I downloaded this game off steam, but what I didn't know is that it was missing the cutscenes so I downloaded Thief Fix to patch the game up. Now I can play the game with it's patch. The only reason I downloaded this and Thief II is because I bought Thief: Deadly Shadows on Xbox.
Oh wow, when you showed the instructions manual I felt like I could just smell it, and then you smelled it! Glad to see I'm not the only one with this fetish.
I do this with books all the time. Always have. There's nothing quite like the smell of a well bound book. But then I love the smell of leather, too. Mmmmm.... Tandy.
Once I had tradition: to beat Thief 2 every month. Game is that good. But first Thief is a bit too complicated. For example mission in haunted Hammerite temple. So many objectives. By the way fans-made Shadows of the Metal Age is also great.
Even though I am not a fan of Thief series. This is the thing I respect those games the most for. I mean they were yeeeeears ahead of their times (well atleast 1st and 2nd) gameplay wise. So without looking at dated graphics the "insides" themselves put most of the new games to shame.
I love the undead parts, or the supernatural in it. It's not overexplained, the first time you for instance hear the ghost which speaks backwards was a really strange experience. The haunts are also one of the best enemies in any game ever. Be sure to enable EAX if you can, especially with a Creative card is it enhances the experience tremendously, just one of those things that I wish was still around.
I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Ken Levine was either one of the art designers or lead artist for this game before founding Irrational.
Ken levine is actually a magical being that comes to good little game designers who wish upon a star for him to sprinkle some awesomeness on their game
I'm a big fan of the thief games, got more into thief gold than the others, I always try to be serious on being the star of the game, I'm being the thief him self. I always jump at surprises and it as it was real, LOVE IT!
I played it over and over for years at expert level. Loved it. I especially liked the stealth aspect because I could set my own pace and come out of the shadows at will. FPS's are typically a run in, kill everything that moves at a caffeine induced rage pace that would scare the Trickster into a sobbing little girl. This was a refreshing change. Doom and Quake were fun for a while, but Thief: The Dark Project was a much more relaxing environment where you felt more in control. Eventually I would try subduing every soul in the buildings and stacking them up in the vestibules just to see if I could. That was fun. Searching every room on every floor, whacking the unsuspecting and dragging them to the front one by one. Good times... Goood times.
Bravo! :) 2:57 "The most important part of the gameplay revolves around paying attention to your own body, keeping constantly self-aware." Perhaps the best description of what makes the Thief series so special. 6:45 "Never leaving first person takes immersion to the max." So true!
THIS IS the father of all stealth games,this is the game that started the genre,no offense to MGS but it's not a real stealth game,Thief was the first game that used shadows as camouflage
There were indeed plenty of dogshit games in 90s, but there were no stand-out genres and hence games would have more freedom to experiment with game mechanics. Nearly all my favorite game series have drifted away into completely different territory from the originals: Tomb Raider is now a 3rd person shooter rather than a slow burning platformer, Thief became casual, Silent Hill did away with all puzzles ( which were one of the most memorable aspects of the originals ) in favor of more combat, most shooters are not balanced ( artificial difficulty ) and have the incredibly annoying weapon limits/slow speed/regen health ( thanks Halo! ) mechanics. There are awesome games out there today as well, but if I took a timeline then the concentration of my favorite games would be approx 2-3 times higher in late 90s and early 00s than today. Thief, System Shock 2, Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, Half Life, Duke Nukem 3d, Quake, Serious Sam, Abe's Odyssey, Max Payne 1 & 2, just some of favorites from the 96-03. My favorites from 2010-2017 would be Bloodborne, Witcher, Hotline Miami. This isn't nostalgia either, I only got around to playing stuff like Thief, SS2 and Quake quite recently.
One of the best titles ever made, surpassed only by its own sequel and still the curve by which all other stealth games are graded. Fantastic gameplay, atmosphere, voice acting, world-building... Thief has more than most games even try to accomplish.
Awesome, been looking forward to seeing you review Thief for a while. Love your channel, you're always reviewing all the games I used to play in the 80's and 90's on PC. For better or worse it's great watching you revisit them, always feel a strong sense of nostalgia watching your videos.
LGR, can you please please please please review System Shock 2?? I mean, come on, the game is one of the best ever made! You even teased it in the background of this video!
The dark foreboding atmosphere mixed with the supernatural creeps lurking around in a first-person perspective would scare the crap out of me. That mixed with the fact that I'm about as stealthy as a freight train means that I don't think Thief is a game for me, LOL!
Great review, I always thought the Thief series was highly underrated, it's great to see a classic finally getting it's overdue attention. Thief 2 is one of my all time favourite games.
Have you had a chance to play The Dark Mod? It started out as a mod for DooM 3 and it was inspired by Thief. As of version 2.0, it's gone standalone and it's free.
Its 2020 and after being in lockdown for what feels like forever I found myself wandering back to some of my old game titles. And all I can say is wow. I had forgotten just how engaging this game is. Especially with some of the fan mods installed which improve graphics etc. Loved every minute of it and feel sad that there has never been a modern continuation of the story. And yes I know there was a reboot but it was just the same.
This game introduced me to PC gaming in general. Still my favorite game to this day. The atmosphere is just amazing for a game this old, they really did an impressive job with the tech they had.
Holy shit, I just noticed that when Garrett swings the melee weapons, the animation is almost (if not actually) identical to when Soldier G65434-2 from System Shock 2 swings the Wrench! And when the guards swing their swords, the animation is the same as when the Hybrids swing their lead pipes! I know both games run on the Dark engine, but that's still cool to see!
all those arrows to help you out is a pretty cool concept. Especially those water arrows and ... moss arrows? So you dont make sound while walking. Lol I mean cmonnnnn that's cool.
Hey LGR, your video inspired me to buy this game and play it. I just finished it and it was really good. Maybe I'll buy the second game during the Steam sale. Cheers.
I absolutley adore this game, I remeber playing this first time on my dads pc when i was around 14 years old, and ever since then i love sneaking around video games with my trusty bow and arrow and looting the place. Which is why i love doing it in Nowadays in Skyrim, nothing better than a woodelf thief in the thieves guild. Also cool video LGR!
A great review of a very great game! I remember reading some of the first tests in computer game magazines back then... later i bought this game within a game-compilation box and was not disappointed. They did an amazing work on the audio system, that you really can tell where the enemy is coming from. After Half-Life the best game from 1998.
One of my new favorite games! I always feel satisfied after pulling off all kinds of heists without the guards even noticing. Sometimes I do like to load a save just to challenge someone to a sword fight, or get guards to chase me :D
I can remember the first time I heard of Thief. It was an article in a German games magazine (I think it was PC Games, but I'm not sure). It wasn't even about Thief specifically, the article consisted of very short previews of various upcoming games. But that small snipped alone managed to hook me. A game where you have to sneak, staying out of sight, trying to be silent. I thought the creators have to be geniuses just to come up with that. When it came out (as "Dark Project: Der Meisterdieb") here, my father borrowed it from a friend, together with Caesar 3 and King's Quest 8. However, since he pretty much stopped playing FPS games after Duke Nukem 3D, he didn't get the hang of the mouse look, so he barely played it (he did manage it later, as he could play Deus Ex just fine). I didn't actually play it myself until a few years later when I got my own PC. First the demo from a magazine CD and then the full version, which I got for 20 DM (I feel nostalgic just by typing these two letters). However... I completely sucked at it. I managed it fine at first, but soon got to a part where I just couldn't get further. The same happened later with Thief 2. Only many, many years later, I replayed them and, to my surprise, found them easier than expected. I still wonder why I had so much trouble with them, back then... However, I have to admit that I'm not very fond of the first game. It's mostly the missions with the zombies and monsters and that stuff. I always hated them and that hasn't ever changed. It wouldn't be so bad if the game weren't so full of them in the later parts. But like that, I pretty much abandoned the game. Thief 2 is a massive improvement over it and I even like Deadly Shadows more. Of course, I still have to respect Thief because it's the original, the one that pretty much co-invented the stealth genre (although Thief, MGS and Tenchu weren't actually the first stealth games, as Castle Wolfenstein and the original Metal Gear games came out before). In any case, Thief, especially the second game, is still unsurpassed. It has the best stealth mechanics in existence, I'm even tempted to say that they are perfect (not that I actually think that this is the case). It's not just a stealth game. It's THE stealth game. And I'm not saying that just because it's the first I ever saw. Of course, it's not just the stealth itself. It's also the rather free missions, where you can take multiple paths to your goals and Garret's mobility. The manteling, simple as it may be, is nearly as genius as the concept of the game itself. But for some reason, I'm really terrified of the spiders of the first two games. That's strange because I wasn't so afraid from them as a kid, even though I was pretty arachnophobic back then (and not so much nowadays). On another note, I always feel a certain envy when I see these trapezoid boxes, as we never had them in Germany (as I once mentioned on Twitter).
Thief: The Dark Project is essentially an interactive thesis on how sound design is equally as important as gameplay and graphics
Hear hear. No pun intended...
That infantile cooing sound made by the insect-beasts as they walk around makes me extremely uncomfortable.
And it's a damn good one.
First truly scary game I ever played I think. Incredible sound design. And it still holds up.
This sounded even better with the Creative EAX sound extensions. I remember playing it with a 4.1 surround sound setup.. and I'll never forget it. It was amazing.
Thief is probably the best game I've ever played. It's more than a game really, it's an "experience". I agree that the Gold version is best, however one thing I liked better in the original version is that there are no human enemies in the Lost City level. It just felt more right for there to be no humans there.
Just an fyi. You can also shoot the water arrows at the moss to make it grow so you can save on some moss arrows, as well as shoot blood spots and pools on the ground so enemies don't see them. amazing video like always!!
While I know about the water arrow to clean up the blood stain, I didn't know u can do that to moss patches. Good tip
I tested it and it does nothing
Other thing I just discovered. You can left-click on the map to write notes and right-click to delete them.
The moss watering mechanic works only in Deadly Shadows, the third game btw.
Okay NOW I am more likely to be able to finish the game after the prison
R.I.P. Looking Glass Studios
#Ihateyoueidos lol
They live within us all
he died?
how did a reboot which was made 2 and a half decades later be so much worse
Actually the supernatural levels are some of my favourites. They force you to be even more stealthy than usual, because dispatching the creatures on those levels is so damn hard. If you want to dispatch them, they offer some great alternative ways. You can use flash bombs against undead (2 flash bombs will kill most of them), and you kinda have to discover this by accident. The Bonehoard mission has a certain projectile trap that allows you to lure zombies to it and watch them get burst to pieces as they mindlessly try to enter the door. These levels are also much more creative and varied than the usual "rob the manor" missions you find earlier on (with the exception of Constantine's Sword mission)
The Hammer Haunts and ghosts in this game are pants-wetting scary too. Their creepy reverb voices can make your heart race.
Apart from the great stealth action, Thief is also a great horror game. The undead in Thief scared the shit out of me as a kid. I'm pretty sure I was not the only one. Took me quite a few attempts to overcome my fear, but once I did, other horror games didn't raise my pulse one bit :)
Actually, out of all the undead, the ones really scared me was the Hammer Haunts, and hammer priest ghost. Especially when haunts chases u because they can run faster while chanting the join us now phrases.
For zombies, it actually not too bad except you want to get rid of them all and running out of holy water arrows and painstaking drowning them instead, lol
Yep the Hammer Haunts were terrifying since they were so fast and powerful. Flash Bombs would kill a group of them in no time though, so if you could get all their attention and when they rush to your spot just throw down a flash bomb, they were done for.
No you're not the only one. I was terrified as well! Thief is just so immersive.
The "crude and inprecise" map was made that way on purpose!! There's no minimap telling you exactly where to go, you have to actually think and figure things out
This is exactly why games were better back then. No Garmin minimaps with radar compasses pointing you everwhere you'd have to go. You actually have to look around and find things out by yourself...
@@CakePrincessCelestia ugh, stop with the elitist boomer drivel
@@olivercharles2930ugh, stop with the zoomer learning disability
Thief was and is an absolute classic!
is*
@jeannephilipp no this is fine.
This sentence was and is retarded!
@@JumalaPlays moi jorma mutä kuuluu
@@JumalaPlays Maksa velkas
The Metal Age was so good..it even inspired fan made campaigns! Less supernatural, more steampunky and human. I loved it.
+1 soooooo goooood.
I loved going through Thief 2 on Expert mode. That shit got crazy near the end. Karas wasn't exactly threatening considering he sounded like Droopy Dog with a god complex. I loved the first 2, the third game was ... "passable".
I have hopes for Eidos Montreal's take on this series, but will understand if it isn't up to par.
CR Meyer I think that that's what was threatening about him. He sounded too unreal and creepy. I do wonder though how different the game would feel if he sounded more like a menacing Brit.
Considering that most of the actors at the time were probably office workers, and had no experience voice acting, he'd probably sound quite normal. xD I just can't help thinking of him as a wormy little sociopath who wants to "take revenge on all those who mocked him in life." It makes me giggle a little.
Orzene Tyranni Karas' voice was given by Stephen Russel (who gave the voice to Garret, Benny the guard and some others). It was great and creepy. Listening on him and that sheriff ploting behind doors (forgot which mission was it) was awesome.
I know what your saying about the sword combat... but, I always preferred the challenge of avoiding all combat. It's the only game I've played where it felt like the 'best' way to play was to not engage in combat.
+Adam MGTOW UK Yes yes YES! This!^ 100%
Styx Master of Shadows was also really good at this. It's not as good as Thief, but it's still a great stealth game.
this and Metal Gear Solid 3
I get a kick out of the game's fencing though, it's pretty in-depth, so long as you don't abuse stepping in and out of range with the overhead swing. Shame, most games of the era couldn't handle the old backpedal and charge.
imagine making a retarded Pol meme your profile pic
The old team needs to get back together and make a spiritual succesor to Thief 1 & 2. I'd support the hell out of it if they made a kickstarter.
Check out OtherSide Entertainment. They're made up of alumni from Looking Glass. They are actually making a game right now! Kickstarter's over, but you can still donate. The game they're currently making is Underworld Ascendant, a sort of successor to their Ultima Underworld series! They've also teased that they're doing System Shock 3! My hope is that if they get enough support and coverage, they can go ahead with these projects and possibly convince Square Enix to give them the IP to work with. Instead of, you know... that B-Team from Montreal...Ugh.
Otherside Entertainment has already been mentioned.
As long as you don't mind a high-quality freeware Thief homage, try The Dark Mod.
Dishonored?
Dishonored is a spiritual successor.
I recently completed the very disappointing 2014 game and I'll never play another 'Thief' from Eidos Montreal. I will follow up on what the LGS alums are working on though.
Awsome, awsome game. The 'less talk, more ambience and spooky music' aspect of the game s in the 90s is sorely missed. Also, look at that gui. A game purely made for pc and no console port in mind. How wonderful.
coz its such a huge contrast to console exclusives right?
Gallacc King yes. pc AAA exclusives are very unique. i mean Crysis was the last one and that was legendary. console exclusives are usually more focused on being cinematic while pc exclusives like to focus on pushing gameplay and tech. idk pc AAA high budget exclusives arent even around anymore which is sad 😢
Thief was also one of the first games to support Creative's EAX sound extensions, and it was bundled with many Sound Blaster cards.
A new sequel is in the pipeline
BS Handle Created Thief didn’t support A3D 2.0. It was only A3D 1.0, which was as barebones as EAX 1.0, except without reverb. In modern times the A3D support is completely worthless as OpenAL Soft (and DSOAL) can add a better HRTF solution than A3D, and also utilize EAX.
One of the greatest games of all time in my opinion.
Immersive environments, intriguing story, quick-witted AI, and strenuous levels.
This is what AAA developers SHOULD be doing.
the sound effects in this are absolutely spectacular. so much immersion
NIGGAS just like Half Life ;)
@@jozinek876 I'm guessing you mean before Valve completely gimped the audio by removing EAX?
@@TheSuperQuail what d'you mean?
@@TheSuperQuail last time I played HL was pretty recent, and the sound effects and ambience were perfect.
Thief was the game that taught me the word "mantle". Who says games can't be educational?
Imbeciles.
Tis Thief (the hammerites and their ghosts) whence mine affinity for old english cometh. Twas Thief that which bestowed it upon my younger self. Thou hast fallen astray from the path of the Master Builder should thinkest thou videogames teach thee naught.
@@skaruts Elizabethan English*. Old English is what Beowulf is written in. As in, "Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon."
The Hammerites also use extremely bad Elizabethan English, just so you know.
SonofSethoitae, indeed. I'm aware of that. Actual Old English is a totally different language in itself. But since many people colloquially refer to old modern-english (shakespearean mostly) as _"ancient-english"_ or _"old english"_ I tend to just go along with it.
On a related funny note, as far as I understand it, people often tend to think of Thee and Thou as though they're formal pronouns when in reality it's the Ye and You that are the formal ones. :)
I mean, technically "Thee/Thou" and "Ye/You" are the same word. When the printing press came about, they used "Y" in place of the letter "Þ" to save money, because they look similar if you really squint at it.
Edit: whoops, I remembered wrongly. "Ye" is from a different root than "Thee", although the part about them replacing the letter Þ was true, in cases like "Ye Olde Shoppe".
One of my absolute favorite games of all time.
But I always wondered why Garret had shoes that would had made Fred Astaire envious.
Just picked up Thief Gold and Thief 2 on steam for 1.74 each. I think I finally understand the draw of PC gaming. Such amazing deals. Wonderful!
Same! This sale was amazing!
I'm glad to hear more people get to find and enjoy Thief. It truly is a good series!
I'm so glad new people are discovering these games! There's a reason some PC gamers are elitist.
Yep, so many awesome deals. Sites like humble bundle make it even more awesome!
I got for .87 cents, gold and metal age too.
This, and metal age, Rank in my all-time favorite games, EVER. and not many games with graphics get that.
A masterpiece, one of my all time favorite along with Thief 2: The Metal Age.
Great to see a review of it.
A modern version of this game with Ray Tracing would be immense!
I actually liked the Undead stuff. Down in the Bonehoard and the Haunted Cathedral are two of the best levels. I also prefer the game to Thief 2, this one was just dripping in atmosphere. I will take the undead over robots any day. Thief 2 was amazing though don't get me wrong but I preferred the original back in the day.
+dageezerboi Yeah me too. People dislike undead maps in this game because it makes the game too scary; they don't have enough juice in their balls. Thief 2 shamed itself for not including zombie maps. It was very disappointing but playable.
+ShinnyMidgetl it had a supernatural part...
+ShinnyMidgetl It must be strange, being the only person who's ever thought like that.
+dageezerboi Same here. Thief 1 is the best in the series for me. I'll never forget Bonehoard and Cathedral. Coolest Thief levels ever created.
ditto, i also thought Thief 2 levels were too large
The prequel to one of my favourite games of all time: Thief II (known in Germany as "Dark Project II: The Metal Age"
A true masterpiece. This game is the definition of art.
And there is a lot of us thief fans who actually think T1 is by far the better of the 2 original games. For me the supernatural attribute what sets is apart from thief 2 and to its advantage. I mean look at a mission like "The Sword" and think about you just defeated satan. T2 was a lame-ass boring "steal this, steal that" game compared to its predecessor. I dont say i hate T2, I love every bit of it. Even T2X, and a lot of fan-made missions. Its just that T1 raised the bar up so far for me, its impossible to top that.
And the reboot? Its not even worth seeing in my opinion.
Oh God yes, I almost forgot about T2X. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't tried it. It's nearly as good as the first two games, and about as long as well.
good review, but some of the criticism of confusing level design was while playing that infamous manor, it was supposed to be confusing, it was an absolute stroke of genius i thought to start with the "normal" mission from constantine and then suddenly the manner is like getting weirder and weirder,
i am also one of the these people who thinks the zombie levels provide contrast to thief 2, they then reflect one another the first is before the mechanists and the world is very much full of supernatural stuff :) in the second game you revisit areas that where TERRIFYING, and they are built over and mechanised
i cannot really describe the effect this game had as a pair with the two games, it was just stunning, the highlight of the gaming decade for me
Actually, my criticism of confusing levels are largely aimed at places like the thieves guild, the various underground passageways, and the various crypts, not the manors. But yeah, the zombie levels do provide some contrast to Thief 2 and make Thief Gold feel more like its own experience, so there's that!
Lazy Game Reviews hey glad you also enjoy the game, i have found you have reminded me of some excellent games of the past. I guess I find the first Thief game like the first album from a prog rock band, you just simply won't get an unbiased opinion from me about this game, screw objectivity this is thief so everything it does or did is holy :P
GepardenK i understand what you mean but like you say there to being confused and challenged it is kinda fun to, i love the way the manor level plays out. i must try theif gold funnily enough that's some oldschool thief i haven't played
Thieves' guild was the worst level in Gold. By a mile. I ended up slaughtering everyone in that level from the frustration.
The problem with the Thieves Guild mission is that it was added in Thief Gold and not part of TDP. IMO, all the levels added by Gold felt kind of bolted on and less polished than the base game had been. And in the case of the Lost City mission, Thief Gold actually made the mission materially worse. For this reason, I don't agree with the general recommendation that Thief Gold is "better".
I still can't get over the changes they made to Garret. It's disappointing to see what they've done to him in the reboot.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the new Thief. I'm not holding out hope, but I think they learned from Deas Ex that sticking at least a little bit to the core franchise elements is a good thing.
Holy shit. I already forgot about that "new" Thief game... Just goes to show how memorable that was. lol
Indeed.
In "THI4F" we can only jump at specified locations, the rope arrows only attach at specified, plot-related locations, and we can only mantle up at specified locations where there's a grate.
There's literally no fun in exploring anymore, when the entire City has been made childproof.
These three things are clear and important step backs from the previous games.
Strike three you're out, THI4F. What a joke of a game that was.
*Someone:* _"Hey did you play the 4th game in the Thief series?"_
*Me:* _"What 4th game? There's just 3 of them."_
*Someone:* _"They made a 4th one in 2014!"_
*Me:* _"No they didn't."_
Dude , to even say that game is worthy of playing is just offensive . It literally went backwards in terms of game mechanics , it took the freedom from the player and held tour hand like a little baby
@@skaruts Made my day. And you could literally replace Thief with Gothic there and still have a point.
One of my favourite series!
I can't really agree with you that the combat is more fun in doom though, in my book both sword- and bow fight are done very well in Thief, and you being in the position of disadvantage is intended, since you are meant to be a thief, not a war tank. This is a first person sneaker, not first person shooter after all. Combat should be the last resort normally, unless you really want to go that way. Same goes for undead, you can sneak around them perfectly.
I actually prefer the original Thief to Thief 2. Yeah, the undead are overused but I enjoy the varied locations, I think the bad guy is more interesting, and finally, Thief 2 just gives me a feeling of being unfinished.
Man this game used to creep me out like no other. The atmosphere from the get go is spot on. Love the review man!
This game is stealth done right
I'm still playing this now - just saying - it's that freakin awesome
Newer is not always better and I know some people might have a problem with graphics but I don't . This game was far ahead of its time and it's awesome and it holds up just as well today as it did back then. Granted 98 wasn't that long ago.
I just bought the Trilogy for under 2 $ in a store, it's a bundle from 2013.
These days I get so many of your older videos in my recommendations list and I'm loving them!
I used to start playing Thief about ten pm and play it until the sun came up, all the time sitting in a completely dark room. SO MUCH FUN!
It is definitely my favorite game of all time.
I'll never understand, however, why eveybody hates on the supernatural stuff in it. When Thief II came out, I wsa sorely disappointed with it's lack of weird critters and bizarre twisted environments. I'm honestly not even sure I ever finished that game. I know I never finished the third game. To me they just didn't stack up to the original.
I would gleefully sit alone in only the light of the screen, completely still in-game, and watch and wait for the perfect time to launch an arrow or bludgeon an unwary guard. And I would sneak around so slowly in levels like the haunted cathedral, scared out of my wits, trying to never catch the attention of those things, whatever they were. I don't remember. But damn! The audio design in that game was stellar! It truly was the source of all of my dread while playing. It was perfect.
Anyway, I'm glad to see someone enjoying this game so long after it's release. It's well worth it.
I would do the same play late at night. But I would smoke some good weed before and play with headphones on with eax enabled.
Same as me. Always loved that box, but never been able to play this game. And now, here I am, seeing you unboxing and playing... I love your work.
i played the whole original trilogy and i have to agree with you, some levels (at least in the first two games) are ENDLESS! i had to use the "skip level" key combo on the catacombs when i realized i walked in circles for TWO HOURS! but nonetheless, they are great games and i loved to complete them without killing anyone to the point of restarting from a quick save multiple times just to knock out a bunch of guards :D
I was waiting for this review to popup on your channel.
The waiting was worth it.
Thank you, LGR.
And greetings from Argentina. :)
Another argentinian watching LGR reviews? Awesome!
elrolinga77 Yep! :D
Also, I was just listening to DBZ intro song... you have the Kame logo as your avatar... damn coincidences.
elrolinga77
Somos unos cuantos :P
***** la verdad que si..
Man, I love this channel. My childhood. I remember playing this game on my first PC Pentium 1.
That scene where Garett lost his eye really scared me when i was younger.
I downloaded this game off steam, but what I didn't know is that it was missing the cutscenes so I downloaded Thief Fix to patch the game up. Now I can play the game with it's patch. The only reason I downloaded this and Thief II is because I bought Thief: Deadly Shadows on Xbox.
Oh wow, when you showed the instructions manual I felt like I could just smell it, and then you smelled it! Glad to see I'm not the only one with this fetish.
tFighterPilot congrats you aren't the only human with a functioning olfactory system.
tFighterPilot my brother has it too.....
I do this with books all the time. Always have. There's nothing quite like the smell of a well bound book. But then I love the smell of leather, too. Mmmmm.... Tandy.
Books and freshly unsealed game cartridges smell really good, I always thought it was just me lol.
I can clearly imagine/remember that great scent lol. New YuGiOh cards had the same deal goin on
Once I had tradition: to beat Thief 2 every month. Game is that good.
But first Thief is a bit too complicated. For example mission in haunted Hammerite temple. So many objectives.
By the way fans-made Shadows of the Metal Age is also great.
This game looks like fun, even in 2014.
Even though I am not a fan of Thief series. This is the thing I respect those games the most for. I mean they were yeeeeears ahead of their times (well atleast 1st and 2nd) gameplay wise. So without looking at dated graphics the "insides" themselves put most of the new games to shame.
Hello 2014, 2024 here. The game still looks fun!
This is the best game I have ever played in my 42 years of gaming. No media, be it movie or game, has as much atmosphere as the original Thief for me.
I love the undead parts, or the supernatural in it. It's not overexplained, the first time you for instance hear the ghost which speaks backwards was a really strange experience. The haunts are also one of the best enemies in any game ever.
Be sure to enable EAX if you can, especially with a Creative card is it enhances the experience tremendously, just one of those things that I wish was still around.
I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Ken Levine was either one of the art designers or lead artist for this game before founding Irrational.
I think he wrote and designed Garret. Could be wrong though but I recall hearing it somewhere. :)
Your guys are close to the truth.Ken Levine was in fact the main writer for first two thief games.
Ken levine is actually a magical being that comes to good little game designers who wish upon a star for him to sprinkle some awesomeness on their game
on the Haunted Cathedral: use flash bombs... makes life easier.
Yeah, try to lure bunch npc to an area and just flash mob them...lol
I remember getting this game bundled with a Creative sound card. I was blown away by EAX at the time. To this day, this game is one of my favorites.
Played this one for the first time last year and I freaking loved it. Need to get around to playing Thief 2 and Deadly Shadows as well.
Awesome. Better than most games today and this game came out in 1998!
One of the most immersive games I have EVER played!
The sound design with all the reverb is still one of the best...
I'm a big fan of the thief games, got more into thief gold than the others, I always try to be serious on being the star of the game, I'm being the thief him self.
I always jump at surprises and it as it was real, LOVE IT!
I played it over and over for years at expert level. Loved it. I especially liked the stealth aspect because I could set my own pace and come out of the shadows at will. FPS's are typically a run in, kill everything that moves at a caffeine induced rage pace that would scare the Trickster into a sobbing little girl. This was a refreshing change. Doom and Quake were fun for a while, but Thief: The Dark Project was a much more relaxing environment where you felt more in control. Eventually I would try subduing every soul in the buildings and stacking them up in the vestibules just to see if I could. That was fun. Searching every room on every floor, whacking the unsuspecting and dragging them to the front one by one. Good times... Goood times.
Absolutely loved this as a kid, recently finished another playthrough on expert and it was just as fun as ever. Still very atmospheric.
This is probably my favorite game of all time. Thanks for the review!
this game was soo far ahead of its time.. and just plain awesome
Bravo! :)
2:57 "The most important part of the gameplay revolves around paying attention to your own body, keeping constantly self-aware." Perhaps the best description of what makes the Thief series so special.
6:45 "Never leaving first person takes immersion to the max." So true!
THIS IS the father of all stealth games,this is the game that started the genre,no offense to MGS but it's not a real stealth game,Thief was the first game that used shadows as camouflage
Masterpiece !
+Powerglove42 he said no offense to MGS. you're welcome
Thief stomps MGS into the ground. There, I said it.
There were indeed plenty of dogshit games in 90s, but there were no stand-out genres and hence games would have more freedom to experiment with game mechanics. Nearly all my favorite game series have drifted away into completely different territory from the originals: Tomb Raider is now a 3rd person shooter rather than a slow burning platformer, Thief became casual, Silent Hill did away with all puzzles ( which were one of the most memorable aspects of the originals ) in favor of more combat, most shooters are not balanced ( artificial difficulty ) and have the incredibly annoying weapon limits/slow speed/regen health ( thanks Halo! ) mechanics.
There are awesome games out there today as well, but if I took a timeline then the concentration of my favorite games would be approx 2-3 times higher in late 90s and early 00s than today. Thief, System Shock 2, Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, Half Life, Duke Nukem 3d, Quake, Serious Sam, Abe's Odyssey, Max Payne 1 & 2, just some of favorites from the 96-03. My favorites from 2010-2017 would be Bloodborne, Witcher, Hotline Miami. This isn't nostalgia either, I only got around to playing stuff like Thief, SS2 and Quake quite recently.
It's definitely a father of MODERN stealth genre. And it used not just shadow, but sound too.
Thief series is brilliant piece of art Form. Truly one of the best PC Game series of all time
This game was (is) absolutely fantastic. I remember playing it in a dark room with speakers cranked up.
One of the best titles ever made, surpassed only by its own sequel and still the curve by which all other stealth games are graded. Fantastic gameplay, atmosphere, voice acting, world-building... Thief has more than most games even try to accomplish.
As a longtime Taffer, have you ever played The Dark Mod?
Awesome, been looking forward to seeing you review Thief for a while. Love your channel, you're always reviewing all the games I used to play in the 80's and 90's on PC. For better or worse it's great watching you revisit them, always feel a strong sense of nostalgia watching your videos.
LGR, can you please please please please review System Shock 2?? I mean, come on, the game is one of the best ever made! You even teased it in the background of this video!
I will in time.
shame you didn't made a review for thief 2. It would be awesome if you do a Looking Glass Studios retrospective covering all their games!
+Lazy Game Reviews I second the ss2
because this one was very classy!!
I think I've finally decided that this is my favorite game of all time. Amazing, a timeless classic.
Mmm. I love the smell of fonts in the morning.
The dark foreboding atmosphere mixed with the supernatural creeps lurking around in a first-person perspective would scare the crap out of me. That mixed with the fact that I'm about as stealthy as a freight train means that I don't think Thief is a game for me, LOL!
They took away all that cool stuff in Thief 2014 :I
Those damm spiders...always jumping on my head!
Not a fan of spiders. Hate those green/red screechy bastards. They ain't little either.
Great review, I always thought the Thief series was highly underrated, it's great to see a classic finally getting it's overdue attention. Thief 2 is one of my all time favourite games.
Have you had a chance to play The Dark Mod? It started out as a mod for DooM 3 and it was inspired by Thief. As of version 2.0, it's gone standalone and it's free.
Its 2020 and after being in lockdown for what feels like forever I found myself wandering back to some of my old game titles. And all I can say is wow. I had forgotten just how engaging this game is. Especially with some of the fan mods installed which improve graphics etc. Loved every minute of it and feel sad that there has never been a modern continuation of the story. And yes I know there was a reboot but it was just the same.
I remember this being the creepiest game I played as a kid, Resident Evil included. The memories...
This game introduced me to PC gaming in general. Still my favorite game to this day. The atmosphere is just amazing for a game this old, they really did an impressive job with the tech they had.
Holy shit, I just noticed that when Garrett swings the melee weapons, the animation is almost (if not actually) identical to when Soldier G65434-2 from System Shock 2 swings the Wrench!
And when the guards swing their swords, the animation is the same as when the Hybrids swing their lead pipes!
I know both games run on the Dark engine, but that's still cool to see!
Thief 1 and 2 still to this day my favorite. Still have my boxes. I loved the art they had on them.
all those arrows to help you out is a pretty cool concept. Especially those water arrows and ... moss arrows? So you dont make sound while walking. Lol I mean cmonnnnn that's cool.
Ah, seeing that trapezoid box takes me back to a vanished time, the beginning of my gaming years!
this game, the first that started it all, turns exactly 20 years old this November 30th, let that sink in
Oh yess! I was secretly hoping you will make review of Thief before new one comes out!
This game still holds up well today. Replayed it last year and I got hooked again. I'm looking forward to the reboot, it looks promising.
Great review! This guy's game reviews are the only I've ever been able to sit through from beginning to end. Also I loved this game.
Thanks, glad you're enjoying!
Hey LGR, your video inspired me to buy this game and play it. I just finished it and it was really good. Maybe I'll buy the second game during the Steam sale. Cheers.
If you're having trouble navigating around use your map and your compass, I eventually put compass on tab to bring it up often to keep myself guided
The best game ever made. Period.
my brother found an original copy in a local goodwill 6 years ago. we both loved this game.
I absolutley adore this game, I remeber playing this first time on my dads pc when i was around 14 years old, and ever since then i love sneaking around video games with my trusty bow and arrow and looting the place. Which is why i love doing it in Nowadays in Skyrim, nothing better than a woodelf thief in the thieves guild. Also cool video LGR!
I love all the flashbacks I have when you showing things and games of the 90s :D
the ambience in this game is still king to this day...
A great review of a very great game! I remember reading some of the first tests in computer game magazines back then... later i bought this game within a game-compilation box and was not disappointed. They did an amazing work on the audio system, that you really can tell where the enemy is coming from. After Half-Life the best game from 1998.
One of my new favorite games! I always feel satisfied after pulling off all kinds of heists without the guards even noticing. Sometimes I do like to load a save just to challenge someone to a sword fight, or get guards to chase me :D
Brother, the Builder led me to thee
twas your last warning-
my hammer awaits thee! haha!
Keep on going man live the dream.
"...and anything that had that shape had me intrigued back then and still does today" - "Omikron: The Nomad Soul" review please!
I actually loved the story of the pagans and the trickster. A kind of celtic feel alongside the steampunk.
Great review man. This is probably my favorite stealth series and the second game is in my top ten.
I can remember the first time I heard of Thief. It was an article in a German games magazine (I think it was PC Games, but I'm not sure). It wasn't even about Thief specifically, the article consisted of very short previews of various upcoming games. But that small snipped alone managed to hook me. A game where you have to sneak, staying out of sight, trying to be silent. I thought the creators have to be geniuses just to come up with that.
When it came out (as "Dark Project: Der Meisterdieb") here, my father borrowed it from a friend, together with Caesar 3 and King's Quest 8. However, since he pretty much stopped playing FPS games after Duke Nukem 3D, he didn't get the hang of the mouse look, so he barely played it (he did manage it later, as he could play Deus Ex just fine). I didn't actually play it myself until a few years later when I got my own PC. First the demo from a magazine CD and then the full version, which I got for 20 DM (I feel nostalgic just by typing these two letters). However... I completely sucked at it. I managed it fine at first, but soon got to a part where I just couldn't get further. The same happened later with Thief 2. Only many, many years later, I replayed them and, to my surprise, found them easier than expected. I still wonder why I had so much trouble with them, back then...
However, I have to admit that I'm not very fond of the first game. It's mostly the missions with the zombies and monsters and that stuff. I always hated them and that hasn't ever changed. It wouldn't be so bad if the game weren't so full of them in the later parts. But like that, I pretty much abandoned the game. Thief 2 is a massive improvement over it and I even like Deadly Shadows more. Of course, I still have to respect Thief because it's the original, the one that pretty much co-invented the stealth genre (although Thief, MGS and Tenchu weren't actually the first stealth games, as Castle Wolfenstein and the original Metal Gear games came out before).
In any case, Thief, especially the second game, is still unsurpassed. It has the best stealth mechanics in existence, I'm even tempted to say that they are perfect (not that I actually think that this is the case). It's not just a stealth game. It's THE stealth game. And I'm not saying that just because it's the first I ever saw. Of course, it's not just the stealth itself. It's also the rather free missions, where you can take multiple paths to your goals and Garret's mobility. The manteling, simple as it may be, is nearly as genius as the concept of the game itself.
But for some reason, I'm really terrified of the spiders of the first two games. That's strange because I wasn't so afraid from them as a kid, even though I was pretty arachnophobic back then (and not so much nowadays).
On another note, I always feel a certain envy when I see these trapezoid boxes, as we never had them in Germany (as I once mentioned on Twitter).
I miss Looking Glass Studios :(
I have this game and the sequel, and while I really like this, the Metal Age is a masterpiece. Great video!
Good game, good review to go with it. Liked the "smells like fonts" part. hahaha, these videos never get old.