Check out our video review:
Thief is a series I jumped into well after it was established. In fact, I had no idea it existed until I discovered The Dark Mod while looking for Doom 3 mods and this was back when the mod required Doom 3 to play. At the time, the only stealth games I was into was Manhunt and Hitman. Of course I knew of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell but stealth was a genre I didn’t really explore. That changed after I played through Thief and Thief II and they became two of my favorite games in the genre. Developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive, Thief: The Dark Project was released for PC in December, 1998. An expanded edition titled Thief Gold which included some changes and new content was released in 1999 and that’s the version I played for this review. I did consult the game’s PCGamingWiki page before playing and installed TFix which includes fixes and some new features.
Set in a metropolis called “The City”, the story primarily centers on a thief named Garrett who is hired to steal a powerful artifact known as The Eye. What I think really drives the plot here is the mysteriousness surrounding everything and the atmospheric and immersive presentation. Furthermore, the game does a great job at developing Garrett as a cynical character and his reluctance to get involved in any heroics. Stephen Russell provides the voice for Garrett and, in my opinion, does a fantastic job at conveying the character’s personality.
Garrett’s ignorance to what’s really going on around him throughout much of the plot ends up working out really well because he’s basically a perfect vessel for the player. He’s just a thief who wants to be left alone but ends up getting involved in some deep shit. You know just as much as he does and as things are revealed to him, they’re revealed to the player. His monologues in between missions mostly further his character and personality, helping immerse the player into his mindset and the world. What really makes the game atmospheric is the setting itself. The City appears to be set in a Middle Ages-style world of dark fantasy mixed with steampunk making for a very unique experience.
Thief is primarily a stealth game but I would say it also includes elements of adventure, action and horror. The action is where the game occasionally falls apart. It’s often better to evade than engage, the combat, itself, is only okay, and if I was up against more than one foe at a time, I found it better to simply load my last quicksave. Furthermore, most of Garrett’s tools are non-lethal. It’s very obvious the game was designed around stealth so from a gameplay perspective, the missions that attempt to force or encourage combat can be irritating and clunky. From what I understand, the sword fighting is a holdover from an earlier concept called Dark Camelot that eventually transformed into Thief. Dark Camelot focused more on sword fighting and combat but apparently it wasn’t really good enough to carry it and eventually Thief was born.
When it comes to anything related to the stealth elements, Thief is almost perfect. There’s a lot of attention paid to the details and as a result, Thief is a very immersive experience. Light, shadow, and sound are the three most important things to understand. You want to remain in the shadows, out of the light, to not be seen. You want to move on quiet surfaces otherwise enemies will hear you coming. You’ll also want to listen for dangers like the footsteps of guards or their hums and whistles as they patrol areas. You can even hear guards conversing which will often give you hints on what you need to do or where you need to go.
The stealth is what really makes Thief a rewarding and satisfying game. Not the combat. When you successfully sneak past a group of guards or steal thousands worth of loot or successfully figure out how to get to your objective. Exploration is all part of the game, too. Each mission puts you in a rather large level and basically tells you “have at it”. You can reference a map and most of time, it only tells you the area that you’re in, not your exact location, so you basically have to figure out how progress and find what you’re looking for. Along the way, you’ll come across items that can be acquired like tools you can use and loot which can be sold for a profit. The money you earn can be spent to buy equipment in between missions.
Most of the levels in the game are large and Garrett doesn’t move fast so getting from one end of a level to another can be quite the trek. Furthermore, it’s often better to walk most of the time since that makes less noise than running. Garrett can engage enemies with a sword and block and swing it to strike but I found it better to sneak up on foes from behind and either kill them or knock them out with the blackjack. When human enemies are down, you can hide their bodies in the shadows so they’re out of view and don’t alert other enemies to your presence. That said, enemies that hear you or detect you will become suspicious and investigate or outright come after you if they spot you and in some cases, set off alarms.
The AI is pretty solid. Not perfect but solid. They can be exploited and they don’t always act super smart but every enemy does actually feel dangerous. Engaging almost any enemy in combat is a serious thing because they can kill you quickly if you’re not careful. This is why it’s better to evade and sneak up on them and knock them out or kill them. Staying hidden and quiet is all part of the challenge and the difficulty you select will determine how many objectives you have to complete per mission. The higher the difficulty, the more objectives which often make things more challenging. You may have to steal more loot, more specific items, and in some cases you’ll be required not to kill anyone.
Garrett can utilize a good variety of tools to evade, engage, misdirect, and get around. His weapons include swords, a blackjack, and bow which can fire numerous arrow types. I think the two most useful are the Water and Moss arrows. Water arrows can put out fires, helping you stay hidden and Moss arrows create quiet surfaces. Rope arrows also come in pretty handy when you don’t want to take the long route to a destination. Then there’s the more fun arrows like Fire and Gas which can prove to be useful when you want to drop foes quickly. Garrett can also utilize other items like flashbombs to disorient foes, mines, lockpicks, and potions including health potions, breath potions to replenish breathing time when underwater, and speed potions to temporarily increase his movement speed.
I think a real highlight of Thief is the amount of freedom you’re given. You’re given little guidance so you have to figure out how to get where you need to go and the levels often provide multiple ways to reach destinations. That’s the best part. The levels are basically large non-linear maps. I think it was very impressive for its time and even today. Do you want to sneak around the back or move through the front door? Do you want to take the stairs or use a Rope arrow to reach a higher elevation? Do you want to steal the key from a guard or pick the lock? It’s these kinds of things that make Thief work extremely well as a stealth game. There is no handholding and you’re never told exactly how to reach your goals. It’s all up to you. It’s often wise to scout areas and consult the map to plan out your approach. The actual thieving is the most satisfying part of the game. Ripping off the wealthy, finding the various valuables hidden throughout the levels and seeing your profit increase as you progress.
Much like the first-person games that precede Thief, the levels aren’t just large but can also be confusing, especially to first-time players. You will have to find specific items to progress and solve puzzles and that could mean backtracking or running around in circles for a while until you figure it out. It can become frustrating because some things are really well hidden so you’ll need to explore every nook and cranny. There are some puzzles that don’t have obvious or easy solutions. For example, in the mission Undercover, the first time I played this I had no idea I had to flip multiple switches within a time limit. For the most part, finding the solutions to puzzles is satisfying. You should pay attention to everything because the game can give you hints. Eavesdropping on conversations and reading the various notes, scrolls, and journal entries can be a big help.
As the game has gotten older, I feel some levels are a little too big and “intricate” (for lack of a better word) for their own good. It’s not uncommon to traverse around similar looking rooms and corridors and some levels are maze-like so they can be confusing. If you miss a key item that could mean you’ll have to trek back a long distance and possibly through a maze of paths just to find what you need and then come back. Missions like The Mage Towers and The Lost City are good examples. For the most part they’re fun and have their moments but when you actually realize just how big they are and then reach a point where you’re unsure of where to go and/or what you’re missing, that could just lead to frustration or Google to look up a guide.
The worst part of Thief is easily the more supernatural elements, specifically missions that contain the undead like zombies, apparitions, and Hammer Haunts and monsters like Burricks, various beasts, Craymen, and spiders. These enemies appear more towards the end of the game and the last several missions are terrible because of it. For one thing enemies like Zombies can’t just be killed by normal means. You can knock them out but they can get back up and come after you. Even though you can sneak around, these levels seem to be more combat-focused and as mentioned earlier the combat isn’t great and it can be easy to get overwhelmed and attacked by numerous monsters and the result is simply not fun. Interestingly enough, even some of the developers who worked on Thief and Thief II have admitted the undead and monster missions didn’t work as well as the more stealth-focused missions.
You’ll navigate through a lot of buildings and areas with multiple floors. There’s a good mix of open and vertical spaces. Exploring is a lot of fun and can lead you to secrets which is often rewarding. You’ll sneak around city streets, mansions, ruins, underground caverns, a temple, and even an opera house. There’s a good variety of environments and most levels do feel unique. One minute, you’re in a mansion stealing valuable items from the shadows and the next thing you know, you’re navigating through underground tunnels and caverns, slaying monsters and fire elementals.
There’s no doubt that Thief is a game that looks dated but I think what really holds up well are the aesthetics and audio design. The architecture of the various buildings around the city remain beautiful to this day and there’s a good amount of detail pumped into the environments. But that’s not to say everything has aged well. Some rooms and areas do look a little bland nowadays, character animations appear stiff, and when viewed up close, character models look like weird low-poly puppets. I think the audio is what really stands out the most here, even for its time. Everything sounds crisp and clear, from footsteps to dialogue exchanged between NPCs. From the clangs of swords to the splash of water arrows. The audio does a phenomenal job at conveying information like what’s around you and distance. It’s also necessary because the game is played in first-person, and it’s a stealth game, so you have to rely on sound to know going on around you. On the technical side, I did not encounter any issues.
For it’s time, Thief was unlike anything that came before it. It was released during a time when the term “first-person” was associated with shooting and fast-paced action. Thief moves in the opposite direction. It’s a slow-paced game primarily centering on evasion. It was a stealth game before “stealth” was really a big thing. There were some stealth games that pre-date Thief like Metal Gear Solid for example, but nothing like what was on display here and even today, the technology here remains impressive. Primarily the audio design. How important it is to the gameplay and how it propagates. You don’t have a special power or ability that lets you see through walls or highlight enemies in the vicinity. You have to rely on sound to know what’s around the corner and what possible dangers are nearby. You must tread carefully and try to be as quiet as possible.
I think Thief is one of the best stealth games ever made and even though I prefer the sequel, this is where it all started and there was nothing really like it before. Even today, I can’t really think of any games that are just like this, minus The Dark Mod of course – now a free standalone game that began as a total conversion mod for Doom 3. It’s basically a tribute to the classic Thief games and I would highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already.
Thief is a classic that remains enjoyable to this day. The mechanics are simple to understand and work well and as a result, the game is extremely fun and rewarding. Stay hidden, stay quiet, and steal shit. Sure, some things can be exploited and not everything about it has aged well. The combat has never been incredible and I do think the game leans a little too far into the supernatural. Not so much in terms of how it relates to the story but how it relates to the gameplay. The undead and monsters can become irritating obstacles and the fun starts to decline towards the end. Ripping people off is when the game really shines. When you’re robbing and stealing, not when you’re engaging the forces of evil. Despite that, Thief is still a fun time and one of the most atmospheric games I’ve ever played.
I would absolutely recommend Thief: The Dark Project to anyone. This is one of those “must play” games. If you’re a fan of the stealth genre, you should definitely be acquainted with Thief. It broke new ground for its time and introduced players to a dark and mysterious world full of valuable loot to be stolen. It’s also worth mentioning that Thief and its sequel are kept alive by fans who have not only developed fixes but also mods including visual enhancements and new maps among other things. Thief is a stealth classic and one of the best games in the genre. Definitely check it out.