Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3099 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Mastertronic
• Released on: 2008-01-18
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description

Welcome to the Ultimate Stealth Experience!

You are Garrett, a Master Thief, rarely seen but never caught. Moving silently through the shadows, you are able to sneak past any guard, pick any lock, break into the most ingeniously secured residences. Stealing from the wealthy is all in a night's work.

In this intense thriller of murderous conspiracy you must use your stealth tactics to uncover a sinister secret that lies within the city walls. Will your skills be enough to save the dying city, can you survive betrayal, assassins, and war in the labyrinth of city streets?

Customer Reviews

The best of the great Thief series - but it needs a decent computer
I have only just started to play this great game as my old Athlon 1.2GHz PC with 4x AGP 128Mb graphics card just couldn't handle the action (there aren't many in-game controls for reducing graphics requirements and the game always crashed even with the v1.1 patch applied). Now we have an Nvidia 7950 graphics card and AMD-2 5000 PC the game has finally come to life. Game play is as unique as before, you (the thief Garret) must creep around in the shadows, pick locks and pockets, stealing whatever comes your way unseen. You can knock out the odd guard etc. and drag him into the shadows (as if his body is found the alarm will sound). Everything you steal can be sold to a fence to buy more weapons or given to the secretive Keepers, guardians of the mystical glyphs, to help prevent the Age of Darkness descending. So no gung-ho charge with a BFG here, you will be overpowered and in Pavelock Prison seconds later, if you are lucky. You can fight back, but often at very high cost to your health. As with any thieving, my advice is to just leg-it if you are discovered [after all anything is legal as long as you don't get caught]. The totally convincing stealth aspect is unique to the thief series, and the recreation of a rather surreal medieval Europe (with Gothic engines and electric lights) is engrossing. It's a world steeped in dark magic, holy scripts and religious fervour. So `Beware the Tricksters flame for only the Builder's fire burns with righteousness' - The Hammerite book of lessons.

Most of the many levels take place in the city this time (there is one trip to an underworld lost kingdom). However one level really stands out as exceptional - the trip to The Cradle - a now deserted orphanage and madhouse. The game-play in this level is genuinely haunting with an all-pervading air of sadness. There are some other great levels as well, e.g. on the zombie infested ship the Abysmal Gail, in the Lost Citadel, at the Wieldstrom Museum, the Hag's Lair and in the catacombs of Fort Ironwood. Game-play is atmospheric and goes very creepy when zombies and spiders are about - although you can chill out in the shadows if no-one sees you go there or bumps into you. Throughout the game you can get the Hammerite and/or the Pagan factions onto your side by doing them favours and not stealing from them (that much). The picture quality and AI of this game is far better than the two excellent Thief predecessors - hence the graphics demands. You do get the odd glitch, but these are bypassed by saving and reloading. So a great game if your PC can cope with it, and now going for a bargain price. This game has run for me under XP and now Vista (we have 3Gb of system RAM).

The game play isn't too hard, unless you decide or are forced never to harm anyone, and you can save anytime for difficult sequences. Along with those having older PCs or on-board graphics, you should also try the excellent predecessors Thief 2: The age of metal (pretty good) and Thief: The dark project (excellent). These older games aren't as XP friendly as Thief 3: Deadly shadows though, and may take some work to get running. You should see the Thief forums at Through-The-Looking-Glass: www.ttlg.com/forums if you get problems - I never have. Thief I & II are also available very cheaply [in a repackaged Thief 1&2 double pack] from Amazon at the moment. I still re-play these three Thief games every six months or so, and I have now even got to a point where I can enter The Cradle's grounds with only a slight feeling of apprehension. I've seen one wag call these games 'First person looters', and without doubt they are my favourite action games.

Would-be-perfect gameplay somewhat inhibited by the game itself.
Thief: Deadly Shadows is a spectacular game. Sneaking around and stealing anything valuable in sight whilst avoiding and stealthilty taking down enemies is very, very fun. It is very unwise to go into the game gung-ho and try and go right out and kill every enemy, as they are stronger than you and most confrontations will result in death - thus consigning you to stick to the shadows and strike when their backs are turned.

Unfortunately, the involvement in the game becomes slightly restricted by the game itself. Glitches are many and while not a major problem, some of them can be quite distracting. Also, Garrett's (the player character) movement is rigid and it is difficult to move about effectively sometimes, especially when attempting to climb.

All in all though, a spectacular game and I sincerely hope Thief IV is made with improvements - then it will be so close to perfect.

The best of the trilogy
I've enjoyed all three Thief games but this was the best. In part because I understood the nature of gameplay in Thief 2 and applied it fully in Thief 3.

This is a game where hiding in the shadows, patiently waiting and watching, seeing who does what where really pays off. Black Jack is your friend and walking up to a character having slipped from the shadows to land a perfectly timed strike, steal thier money and vanish again becomes an art. I guarantee you'll be sat in silence, with shallow breath and tension in your body as you do it. Deadly Shadows indeed.

The Cradle will give you shivers, the Scribarium will fill you with apprehension, you'll know there's something is amiss with the Keepers and Caduca and the missions will reveal just what it is. Hunting for the Jacknall's Paw will have you laughing with the comments from the Pagans and right to the final cut scene you'll be entertained.

Great game, so great I'm back playing Thief 2. Would be playing Thief 1 but can't get it to work on Vista ;]