Like
Thief: The Dark Project, Thief II: The Metal Age uses the mechanics of a
first-person shooter to make a game that's more about inaction than action. You
won't find yourself running through hallways shooting everything that moves.
Instead, you'll find yourself hiding in alcoves, listening intently for the
slightest indication that you've been detected. The sneaking premise of Thief
was only one of its best features; the game's excellent story and generally good
mission design helped to make it one of 1998's best games. And in some ways,
Thief II is even better. The mission design is more consistent, and some of the
missions are among the best in any action game to date. But the story is a bit
disappointing compared with the complex plot of Thief, and the game itself lacks
the surprises of the original. Yet if Thief II has a real shortcoming, it's that
the game is too similar to Thief.
But that similarity isn't necessarily a problem, considering how good Thief was.
It's clear that Thief II was put together with the intent of getting the game
done as quickly as possible. That's not to say the game was rushed or is
incomplete, but only that it reuses a number of Thief's elements. For instance,
certain parts of the game's structure are almost entirely the same, from the
mission-briefing screens to the "mission complete" and "mission
failed" movies. But the quality of Thief II's mission design more than
compensates for this recycling.
A few of the missions borrow heavily from Thief, and a few are predictable.
There are some moments in Thief II when you'll see potential twists in the
mission from the very beginning if you're familiar with Thief. But otherwise,
the mission design is superb: The designers have gone to great lengths to
emphasize the thieving element of gameplay, so you'll spend less time searching
through monster-infested caverns and more time in high-security buildings.
You'll rob banks, burglarize storage warehouses, infiltrate secured mansions
filled with secret passages, and even sneak around high-society parties. Thief
II's 16 missions are longer and more involving than the first game's, and the
locations are often enormous, but unfortunately, the accompanying loading times
are longer as a result.
In the game's best mission, Life of the Party, you must sneak across the
rooftops of a city, break into a high-security building, gather information and
loot, and then sneak back across the city again. The mission is filled with
funny moments, and you'll overhear all manner of conversations during the course
of the heist, such as two sets of guards shouting insults across the rooftops
about one another's employers. Looking Glass has done a remarkable job of making
the city seem alive, as almost every mission contains conversations to eavesdrop
on and people going about their business who are unaware of your presence. The
only element that slightly weakens the otherwise excellent ambiance is the
occasionally poor voice acting.
The highly detailed missions are likely what make
Thief II's story seem weak in comparison with the original's. In the first
Thief, the missions served the story. But the opposite is true of the sequel.
The hero Garrett is once more called upon to put an end to a great evil, and he
once again seems reluctant to do so. With the exception of the epilogue, Garrett
does little but remain his roguish, wisecracking self the entire time. Garrett's
an interesting character, and it's a shame that Thief II doesn't do more to
develop him. Despite Garrett's desire to be an independent rogue, his seemingly
self-serving actions usually end up working for the greater good. Thief II's
epilogue, which seems disappointingly abrupt in comparison with Thief's
excellent ending, at least hints at an interesting development for Garrett in
the next game.
As in Thief, the sequel takes place in a city occupied by mysterious guilds. The
original told of the pagans' attempt to overthrow the Order of the Hammer, a
group that worships industry and its deity, the Builder. In Thief II, the Order
of the Hammer has been reduced to but a few loyal followers. The Mechanists have
risen in its place, and they're a more fanatical order that also worships the
Builder but believes that machines are his tools rather than man's industry. The
Mechanists' rise to power was referred to in the epilogue of Thief, when one of
the Keepers told the hero Garrett to "beware the dawn of the metal
age."
Thief II's story is surprisingly linear. Thief was filled with twists, but Thief
II's story seems more like a James Bond plot: The villain simply has a plan,
albeit a very strange plan, to take over the world. It's unfortunate that the
game has a different focus than the original, which introduced a fascinating
world but didn't fully explain it. Thief II should have provided more
information on its world, its society, and its history.
Thief II does succeed in taking a great premise and making a good game of it.
You get to use a number of interesting thieving tools in environments in which
they're all useful. There are very few moments in Thief II where there's a
single correct path to take, and the beauty of the mission design is that it's
left to your ingenuity to use the tools provided to overcome the obstacles in
your path. Do you shoot out the torches and sneak down a hallway? Or should you
use a rope arrow to hoist yourself up to the rafters and ambush the guards from
above? It's a testament to the quality of the design that when you complete a
mission in Thief II, you'll actually feel as if you've accomplished something
and not just executed a series of predetermined tasks.
The completely new elements of Thief II are
primarily some new enemies and a few new tools. The new enemies mostly consist
of the "Builder's children," which are robotic servants of the
Mechanists. There's also a terrifying new monster, which is strangely underused
in the game. Garrett's new tools aren't that useful, but they do come in handy
on occasion. He now has vine arrows, which are a slight variation on the
original game's rope arrows; a scouting orb that lets him see in heavily guarded
areas; and a mechanical eye (which replaces the eye he lost in the original)
that can zoom in on areas.
The fact that there's not much new in Thief II is a minor complaint. At first,
Thief II may seem too much like Thief, but on closer inspection it's a better
game. It may lack its predecessor's excellent story, and the graphics engine may
be slightly dated, but no such concerns will seem relevant when you're sneaking
around in Thief II's excellent environments.
System Requirements:
Pentium II 266Mhz or equivalent, 48MB RAM, Win95/98, 4X CD-ROM, 3d
Accelerator, DirectX 7
Recommended:
Pentium II 300Mhz, 64MB RAM, 2MB SVGA Video Card, 3d Graphics Accelerator
Summary:
The one-eyed burglar with the cynical outlook is back for a bit more robbing!
Score:
9.5/10
Courtesy: GameSpot
|
