#Thief 2 too dark upgrade#
#Thief 2 too dark windows#

In-game audio cues misfire and sometimes overlap and repeat several times. Cutscenes are often jerky and poorly edited, sometimes seeming to run forward at double speed. Given Thief's aggressive story focus, it's even more surprising how mismatched and slapped together those elements feel.

The forgiveness and general combat competency that other stealth games have developed since Deadly Shadows are nowhere to be found here, and there were times where they were both sorely missed. In that regard, Thief is punishingly old-school.

Instead of playing with each level and trying different strategies, I fell into a near-constant cycle of saving and reloading, my progress slowed to a crawl. Example: Rope arrows can only be fired at a few specific points throughout the game, and other tools often feel superfluous or wasted. Gear teases the potential for experimentation and variability in approach, but is depressingly underutilized. Too many enemies, too-small corridors and too-finicky response from Garrett stifle the sense of exploration that Eidos Montreal pays lip service to early on. The result is a game that doesn't ever fully come together. In the latter half of the game, when a glimpse of that openness was dangled in front of me once again, Thief snatched it away with murderous AI and controls that didn't feel up to the challenge. The loop that began as a satisfying exercise becomes more and more frayed. For a career criminal, Garrett spends quite a bit of time doing busywork for other people that doesn't have much to do with stealing. More often, the only choice I was making was whether I'd try to go high or low, if I had any choice at all. There are occasional, refreshing sections of Thief that sit, open and waiting to be explored -В a pair of mansions in particular offer a tantalizing glimpse of what the game might have been, with multiple entry and exit points, secret passages, traps to disarm, and the kinds of activities that seem geared toward the series' strengths.Д«ut these parts set me up for disappointment when Thief slipped the leash back on. Often the only choice I was making was whether to go high or low It's never really clear what the people using the artifact intend to do with it, other than an omnipresent mostly vague sense of 'bad things.' The main 'bad thing' the artifact is responsible for is a poorly developed plot that shoves Garrett into objectives that don't revolve around stealing as much as possible. But, for whatever reason, Thief is much more interested in throwing Garrett into a dark conspiracy involving an ancient artifact that will do. It's in the city that Garrett most feels like the creature he's always been: a compulsive thief in search of the next score, big or small.

#Thief 2 too dark windows#

It's fun to navigate this space, to learn its nooks and hidden paths, to plunder its secrets and crawl in unattended windows in the search for more gold. Divided into different wards and neighborhoods, it's a collection of open spaces that build a sense of the miserable, disease-ridden place that Garrett calls home. This works best in the hub world that connects Thief's different levels and side missions.

This builds a basic and pretty satisfying loop, at least at first: Hide from guards, wait for your shot to get past them, steal anything not nailed down and knock people out only when you need to. Running and hiding is almost always the more advisable option. But in a stand-up confrontation with more than one guard -В and maybe even just one! -В you're going to get cut down. Garrett can knock people out from behind well enough, and you might be able to take out a few guards with your bow. Eidos Montreal does a great job of teaching you that you absolutely do not want to get caught. Thief provides a number of options for sticking to shadows because you're going to need them. Even focus upgrades are offered in exchange for tithes to the Queen of Beggars.

#Thief 2 too dark upgrade#

This is good, since money is everything in 'The City.' Thief allows you to upgrade Garrett in a number of ways, from the aforementioned gear to equipment upgrades, special trinkets and tokens that give you bonuses and more.

If it can help you steal things, chances are Thief wants to give it to you.