Thief: Deadly Shadows

Sam rather enjoys lurking in the shadows of an evening...

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Thief: Deadly Shadows is the third instalment of the highly rated Thief series. Giving the player control of a master in the crooked arts, Thief, along with Metal Gear Solid, really turned gamers on to the idea of stealth gameplay. Rather than making each foe on a level a big target in need of killing the focus shifted onto sneaking past guards, rather than pushing a big button to open a door you had to pick the lock, or find some other way to circumvent the security. This deeper level of immersion into the game world was loved by players and critics alike, and without Thief it is safe to say that games like Deus Ex and Splinter Cell would either have never appeared or would have been unrecognisably altered.

According to the Keepers a dark age is approaching. These former tutors of Garret call on him in their hour of need. No wonder, as our hero's name features prominently in the prophecies. Following a trail of clues given to him by the Keepers, Garret must use all his skills and abilities to slip past guards and liberate the objects that are so desperately required. During the course of his thieving Garret acquires items that his master would have preferred remain hidden, items that point to an even darker secret that the Keepers are protecting.

Thief: DS will mark the first time that Garret has made his way over to consoles, with his appearance on the PC mirrored on the Xbox. The biggest change that this has brought about is the inclusion of a third-person mode. PC gamers fret not as the first-person mode is still the default view, and as the camera will be locked on to Garret, the scope for some unfair use of the camera to spy around corners should be kept to a minimum. After the furore of the Deus Ex sequel many gamers are worried about how T: DS will turn out. While it has been confirmed that changes have been made to the gameplay to better accommodate the console player it appears that Ion Storm have listened to the concern of PC gamers. So while the control methods have been tweaked the overall depth of the game has been increased rather than diminished. The physics engine has been tweaked to make it a lot more realistic in comparison to DE: IW. Fortunately, the move to console hasn't deprived Garret of one of his most useful abilities, a save anywhere function, and the keys will be fully configurable for the fussy keyboard drivers amongst you. Garret will also have some dynamic moves to thrill the player with, and he will be able to take guards out nice and stealthy, although what he does with the body could have implications later on in the mission if another guard spots his unfortunate colleague's toes sticking out from behind some curtains.

One of the most exciting new features is the introduction of the City. In between missions Garret will be free to roam around the City. He can visit the various shops to add to his inventory of thieving tools, he can rob the various buildings that make up his neighbourhood and he has his own apartment complex to call home. Here he can practice his fighting moves in his training room, and the various apartments in the complex will provide the opportunity to hone his thieving skills. Garret can also interact with various NPCs in the City, but he must be vigilant at all times as he may wander into an area where his name is known and not loved. The whole City concept should help flesh out the believability and immersion of the game, and will add some pseudo-RPG elements that could bring a lot to the overall depth of the game. If you want you can skip most of the City zone, but to do so would mean missing out on a lot of goodies and secret treasure areas.

Garret's inventory will have the potential to cripple the poor guy with its weight. Most of the old favourites are making a comeback with some items picking up some cool new capabilities. For instance, the water arrows can be used to clean away incriminating bloodstains in addition to their old flame-dousing function. Garret will have a small arsenal at his disposal with fire, gas, moss, noise and the water arrows complimenting his dagger and blackjack. He can deploy explosive mines and flash bombs to disorientate guards, and use his climbing gloves to scale most walls and his lockpicks to gain access to all but the most arcanely locked room. The actual mechanics behind lock-picking have undergone a make-over, and while details are scarce it is reported to involve more skill than in the past, hopefully preventing it from descending into a tedious repetitive task. Making their way through Thief: DS the player will get to do all sorts of thieving fun, from stealing items, evasion, sabotage, breaking and entering, assassinations and ambushes. One of the best things about the Thief games is the variety of gameplay elements, and Thief: DS should comfortably build on this heritage and use today's technology to take things to the next level.

While it uses a modified Unreal engine the designers have concentrated on the lighting and shadow systems above everything else. As there will be a light gem to let the player know how much protection they are getting from the dark, the actual process of successfully hiding will be a more involved process than in the past. It has been said that just standing in a dark shadow will no longer provide complete protection which hints at a more active, dynamic level of stealth. What is known is that sounds will feature heavily in raising a guard's awareness, so make sure that you don't go running around on stone slabs too much. The AI of the NPCs has been given a thorough going over as well. The AI's level of awareness can be influenced by a myriad of different triggers. Steal a prominent object or leave a door open and a patrolling guard will notice. Let a bit of elbow carelessly slip into the light and it will get spotted. There will be many different types of guard, and within each group there will be subsets of differing personalities. So one guard of a merchant's house may prefer to pass off an unusual noise as an animal another may go to near full-alert at the slightest provocation and go off in search of the origin of the sound. The guards will talk amongst themselves, imparting useful information about the target as well as the moods of the individuals themselves. There will be hundreds of lines of spoken dialogue matched up to facial lip-synching, and some of the voice actors from previous Thief titles will be stepping up to the mic once more.

One of the aims of the designers is to allow players to fully ghost the game which means that the players with the very best thieving skill should be able to get to the end of the game without having to once resort to physical violence. The difficulty levels of the game will also influence the kinds of objectives that a player is given on missions which should greatly improve the replayabilty of the game. Garret's mechanical eye will still be in place for this game, and once again he will encounter the supernatural world in the form of the undead and other unmentionables.

Thief: Deadly Shadows is shaping up to be a very engrossing title. Hopefully it will avoid the pitfalls to which Deus Ex: Invisible War succumbed to by trying to placate both the console and PC gamer. Slated for release later on this year, this particular gamer is one of many who cannot wait to put on some dark clothes, slip a blackjack into his waistband, and enter the life of Garret, professional thief.

By Sam Gibson