I'm a big fan of the Thief series, and most of the Looking Glass legacy. So I was a bit hesitant about this latest entry, especially considering it isn't really being done by the same company. Many of the same people, yes, but a different corporation overseeing things. These things make a difference.
So last week I settled in to try out Thief 3. And I figured I'd give it at least a few missions before I made any kind of quality call on it. After finishing a good 3-4 missions, plus some exploration of the "city" which serves as a hub for most of the missions so far, I think I feel comfortable making a few comments.
So first off, since I tend to come across as overly negative when I review things, and the fact is I often fail to mention the things that I enjoy in games, I will first list those things they did right. In some cases VERY right.
I should also mention right off the bat that despite the venom I will eventually spew farther down the page, I am enjoying the game as a whole. If you don't feel like reading my thoughts to come, just know this...
This is a PC game, translated to the X-Box, and then translated back to the PC. That should sum up the feel of the game. The core gameplay is classic Thief in feel, but you will need to get past a whole lot of console inspired interface crap and a severe amount of hand-holding at nearly every turn thanks to Eidos influence. An overriding theme of this game is that it is simply much easier than it's predecessors. There's no real reason not to play this game of Expert, unless you just don't want the extra gold. Not that gold is as usefull as it used to be...
Is it worth it, yes. I'm glad I bought it, I just hope once the editor is released, the incredibly dedicated Thief community will hack the living hell out of this game and pare off the garbage marring it's delectable core.
The good stuff
1. It's pretty. Seriously, compared to the blocky feel of the previous games this game is downright luxurious in it's use of details and texture. Some of the signature architectural staples of previous games seem to be absent, at least as far as I've seen, but the new designs are largely welcome and helpful in the "immersion factor".
2. Garret no longer wears high-polish tap shoes when skulking. One of the only really arguable flaws in the first 2 games was the fact that EVERY step of the protagonists, no matter how slow and careful, was accompanied by an audible CLICK-CLACK. Old-school thieves will find the change quite welcome.
3. Garret now carries a dagger instead of a longsword. Again, this was a major no-brainer that was a long time being corrected. It made some sense given a particular plot point in the first game, but seriously the whole sword thing was a bit hard to swallow, no pun intended.
4. They kept the same voices. I can't tell you how important this was, and I'm eternally grateful that they managed this feat. It means a lot to us fans to hear Garret's familiar voice, and the burly guards voices still evoke the same humor as always.
5. The story is tighter and so far quite enjoyable, and the cutscenes have returned to the quality of the first game. The second game featured really hit-or-miss cutscene quality. In the end this is probably the most important thing to have gotten right for the fans. And so far it looks as if they've done so.
6. The loot is much more specific and varied now. It's really nice to be able to see how many purses you've clipped, and which paintings you just cut down. The addition of specific, rare bonus loot items is a great touch. Too bad you can't really keep any of it on display.
This all being said, there were a few things they tried to do, but didn't quite work out.
The Bad
1. Inventory carrying over from mission to mission. It was an interesting idea, and one a lot of people asked for, but ultimately there's no reason for it. In four missions I've only had to use one item, a water arrow, and even then I realized immediately afterwards that it wasn't necessary. There's a cap on each item to prevent you from building a godlike stockpile, but given the abundance of items scattered throughout the missions it seems just wasteful. Especially since any supplies you pick up over your limit are immediately wasted! I really feel that they should have just let him drop the item afterwards, or better yet use his signature "uh-uh" when you try to grab things you're already overloaded on. I have more gold than god at this point, and only a pair of gloves to look forward to in the way of serious future purchases. The "practice" locks you can adorn your apartment with are a waste really, lockpicking is ridiculously simple once you get the hang of it. Again, it would have been nice to be able to decorate your lair with your ill-gotten goods, especially since you now get to keep track of them via the inventory screen, but in the end they're all just more money.
2. While the shadow generation abilities of this game are fantastic, they're not used nearly enough. Mind you, I'm still relatively early in the game, so I suspect I'll see more of the torch carrying guards from the second mission. They're about the only truly challenging thing I've seen so far. And they are cool, owing to the fact that they are a threat. The ability to snuff out candles is also dissapointingly ill-implemented. Half the time the candles either cannot be snuffed, or will simply stop emitting light, leaving a non-functional flame and halo behind for no reason. No need for a patch my ass.
3. The A.I. is anything but improved. It used to be, if you got caught you were pretty much dead. Running could usually get you away, but the guards were pretty substantial threats. Now they're simply pussies. And that's no exaggeration, they really are almost a complete non-issue. Especially in the city streets, which are arranged in such a way that each map consists of a central building and a street ringing it that you can simply run through in a circle till the guards lose sight of you. The wall press ability is a bit of overkill in the avoidance game as well, it's a quick way to lose them on a corner. And as far as the whole noticing things being moved, people going missing from their posts, objects being stolen, and a dozen other things they were supposed to react to realistically, let's just say they don't. More often than not it amounts to "It's gone!" and they keep walking. The going for help is a nice touch, but it's plagued by one of the major flaws in the game...
4. Pathfinding sucks. I've evaded many a guard just due to the fact he couldn't maneuver past a box/body/well/lamppost/ etc... It's comical but not particularly fun for the game when it happens more times than not. Even you are not immune to the nature of the system, many times I've had my way blocked by a chair in a doorway in a chase that I otherwise would have won. And the tunnel map I'm currently in features walls which stick to your feet for no good reason.
5. 3rd person. I know there's a lot of people out there who clamored for this, and had it been properly implemented as advertised it could have worked out just fine. Unfortunately anyone who tells you that the addition of 3rd person won't affect your 1st person experience is seriously mistaken. Since your movement is directly tied to the movement of your models body in either perspective you often find yourself moving in strange and cumbersome ways. It can be extremely annoying when trying to maneuver on beams and ledges, probably more so to some than others, but I personally hate it. It's just plain clumsy.
6. Leaning around corners in first person is a joke now. You're often actually less visible by stepping slightly out past the corner than by poking your head out, and you can duck back much faster. Out of all the clunky animation problems which plague the game, this one is by far the most aggravating. Granted the traditional Thief leaning was always a bit unrealistic, but this renders it useless. And 3rd person has no reason to bother with it since the camera swings plenty wide.
7.Movement in general is simply less agile than in previous games. Mantling has indeed been improved, but could still use a bit more work. Garret has a particularly hard time crawling through windows, something which should have been a major issue but isn't due to the lack so far of any true rooftop access at all. Many missions in the first two games featured ways to get onto rooftops, as it is the "thieves highway" after all, but this game seems to be lacking any such action. The apparent reason is the engine they've used for this game, which is capable of quite a few things, but is found lacking in one major area...
8. ...the havok engine apparently cannot handle maps of any respectable size. The "city" is pathetically small. In fact all the missions I've seen so far are shockingly tiny, even more so if you don't count the separate "zones" of each together. It's difficult to explain the degree without pictures, so take a look here. This is the city as it appeared in Thief 2. The subdivisions of the individual city sections I've run around in so far have all been approximately the size of the graveyard at the top. If the other 3 sections of the city which I have not yet unlocked continue to be the same size as what I've seen so far it is unlikely that even combined they will even equal this amount of street. And even if they do, it will mean it took a game with 4 more years of technology behind it 10 maps to equal ONE Thief 2 map. With none of the trailing npcs, long desperate chases, or winding intricacy that one continuous map provided. And the same has gone for most of the mission maps as well. I cannot properly express my feelings on entering a loading zone on a cathedral mission only to emerge on the other side and find what amounted to 3 medium sized rooms. Thus bringing the total area of that mission to roughly 30-40% the size of the cathedral mission from the first game. Or any mission really.
9. One last thing, and I'll shut up. The glossy sheen they've put on your character model is one of my highest hopes for removal by a mod. Is it pretty, yeah, kinda. Does it make sense? Hell no! None of the other models use it, so you're the only character in the game who gets an outline when you're in shadow to MAKE YOU MORE VISIBLE! Worst idea ever in a stealth game. Back when Thief 2 came out there was a particular Fan-mission which did something no other fan or officially made mission had ever done before. It put you up against other thieves, all of which turned almost completely transparent in shadow. I cannot express the thrill of dodging arrows flying out of pools of shadow, or the tension of waiting for a wisp of movement from across the room. I've seen enough screenshots to know that something along those lines is reportedly waiting later down the road in this game, but i'll bet they're not wearing satin.
Oh, and I like the loot glint. It's hand-holding, yes, but it isn't that bad an idea, and it usually works.
I'm really looking forward to finishing this game, and seeing if any of these things change or get compensated for later on. I suspect some will, and a few others will be fixed in the inevitable patch. I've actually only listed about half my problems with the game, but I already sound like an ungrateful ass. I really am glad to see this game in any form, and by and large it does satisfy.
And for the record, the only reason I was able to break myself away from it this weekend to do the comic was due to a possible glitch. If anyone can tell me a solution to the whole Water-Moss-Blood puzzle I'd be rather gratefull. The first two went fine, but for some reason no amount of blood is triggering that bastard.
I seem to remember them saying you could play through the game without having to kill anyone, in fact that was one of the long-standing trademarks of a skilled player. My favorite mode of play has always been looting the place blind, but not even blackjacking anyone you didn't absolutely have to.
I am become shadow, bitch.
