Gamers Month ver. 2 - Thief II: The Metal Age

Thief II: The Metal Age [PC] (2000)

Click for box art:

Developer: Looking Glass Studios
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Genre: first-person action

******

Stealth games were a mixed bag in 1998. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins was saddled with wonky glitches ninja magic, and Metal Gear Solid was too busy lampshading its own artificiality to focus on the "espionage" promised in its subtitle.

Fortunately, Looking Glass Studios was there to step up to the plate with a clarity of vision best exemplified by this facsimile of the original game design document:

Spoiler:

That game was Thief: The Dark Project. Unfortunately, that game also included some fantasy quest/adventure design elements that, although wonderfully atmospheric, had a questionable degree of relevance to points 1, 2, and 3 above. So let's skip forward to 2000 and the superior sequel.

Thief II: The Metal Age sacrifices richness of plot for better mechanics, and that's just fine with me. The missions are bigger and more open, with lots to explore and new AI to sneak past. Sure, the story a bit disjointed, but that's because the missions are more about giving you neat reasons to sneak around and steal stuff than they are about dragging you along with the narrative.

Don't get me wrong--the game still oozes atmosphere. But the main joy in playing is interacting with the elegant stealth mechanics. The systems can be simply explained. At any given time, the player really only has to concern himself with two questions:

1. How well-lit is the spot I'm standing in?
2. How much noise am I making?

Ain't no third-person camera tricks, neither. You get a light gem on your HUD to tell you how bright you're glowing, but other than that you have to use your eyes and ears. Feedback and cues are provided by then-advanced shadowing and audio design that's still superior to most games coming out today. Sound propagates down stairwells and around corners, and gets muffled by doors--which you can put an ear up against if you want to hear what's on the other side. Toss in some enemies that react to sight and sound, give 'em some robust pathfinding, and you've got a pretty damn intuitive game of hide-and-seek.

That would probably be enough for a game right there, but you also get a plethora of gadgets to help refine your approach. Torch too bright? Use your bow and douse that shit from 30 paces. Guard refuses to budge? Distract him with a noisemaker. Ledge too high? Shoot a rope up there, climb it, and pull yourself up. That's right, pull yourself up, because FUCK YEAR this game has mantling, which means you can actually reach up and grab ledges above your head. This game is vertical. Get up in the rafters, ninja-style, or find a way into that oh-so-inviting third-story window.

Of course, to call all of this realistic would still be a mistake. Our master thief seems to consist of a floating camera + bag of holding that manipulates the world through some kind of short-range telekinesis. Standard infiltration equipment apparently includes tap shoes, a sword, and a longbow with dozens of bulbous arrows.

But most of the time, the illusion holds. You forget. When you're hiding in a corner, holding your breath and waiting for a guard to stop searching and turn around so you can crash your blackjack into his skull, phrases like "realistic carrying capacity," "ray-traced backlighting," or "blunt head trauma" aren't exactly weighing on your mind.

I was smitten almost immediately upon playing--it was that rare "this is my dream game" feeling. The game does exactly what it says on the tin; it's refreshingly pure in its focus, stays committed to its premise, and doesn't feel the need to ruin everything with a mid-game genre shift or a bunch of annoying handholding. Also:


THE THIEF FAN COMMUNITY IS AMAZING

My instant love for Thief would be shared by a dedicated community of fans that showed their appreciation for the game by promptly breaking it. They climbed the unclimbable and collected the uncollectible, all while amusing themselves with hardcore playstyles such as "don't make a single noise and never touch the floor" mode. But, after violating every hole the AI and level geometry had to offer, they took time to return the favor: they made levels. They made a lot of levels. They're still making levels, and they're still getting better.

Although many standalone missions surpass it in various ways, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Thief 2X: Shadows of the Metal Age as one of the most ambitious fan projects I have ever seen. Largely disappointed with the third Thief incarnation (Deadly Shadows), the community took it upon itself to make an entire goddamn sequel. The engine and AI are the same, but almost everything else is custom. It's got animated mission briefings and 3D animated cutscenes. It's got new levels, new textures, new models, and new music. It's got a new main character, new voice acting, new weapons, and a new storyline. Sure, it's an "expansion pack sequel," and a lot of the assets lack the polish of a professional studio, but holy shit people! It's an entire damn game for free! Thief 2X is just ridiculously massive for a fan project--and it's not bad to play through, either. Click the T2X logo above for a trailer.

In addition to all these great add-ons, the fan community has graciously provided patches and utilities to keep the game running on modern systems, which means:


THIEF IS STILL AWESOME TODAY

It's been over a decade, and modern attempts at stealth are still being relegated to mini-games or relying on special cases and heavy scripting. Stealth mechanics often become puzzle components rather than familiar weapons in the player's arsenal.

Thief stands in stark contrast to these trends, blissfully ignorant and gimmick-free. Thanks to its solid design, Thief doesn't need to show off. It's confident enough to set up an objective and some interesting systems, provide you with the tools, and expect you to bring the talent.

Jam it back in, in the dark.