Thief: Deadly Shadows is the third game in the Thief series and a major departure from the first two in both appearance and gameplay. Of particular note is the optional third-person camera view and ability to explore the City between missions.
The game was released for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox on May 25, 2004 in North America, and on June 11 in Europe. Development for both platforms started simultaneously.
Like its predecessors, Thief: Deadly Shadows has received almost universally positive reviews, winning IGN’s “Editor’s Choice” award and “Game of the Month” award for May 2004.
Navigation
I. Gameplay
II. Story
III. Development
IV. Notable Changes
V. Reception
VI. Mobile Game
VII. Walkthrough
Gameplay
Thief: Deadly Shadows is a first-person and third-person stealth game, with similar gameplay to the previous entries. The player takes the role of Garrett, a master thief who aims to steal his way through the City, using stealth, subterfuge, and weapons in order to complete objectives. The player can steal from or mug innocents and can avoid, attack, or knock out guards.
Loot and other items may be acquired by ‘touching’ it when close enough. Locked rooms and chests can be broken into after completing a lock-picking mini-game. And although the AI was originally intended to detect shadows cast by the player, the idea was eventually discarded.
Mission Levels
Mission levels are typically traversed by sneaking through the shadows, since walking or running can alert nearby guards who will then search around for an intruder.
Upon discovering the player, guards will give chase and try to hunt Garrett down. In order to remain silent, the player must actively monitor the noise they create and use the environment to their advantage.
The player can also view a hand-drawn map of their immediate surroundings. The player’s location is not always indicated on the map and must be deduced from nearby landmarks. The game has a fairly open-ended structure, allowing the player to approach every objective in different ways.
City Levels
After each mission, the player reappears in the closest district within the City which may then be freely explored. New areas are unlocked as the player progresses through missions.
Within the City, Garrett can sell stolen goods on the black market to fences for gold which can be used at shops to purchase weapons, equipment, and supplies. In contrast to the first two games, gold, loot, and equipment remain in the player’s inventory making it possible to hoard them for later use.
While exploring the City, the player can break into homes for additional loot, spy on and steal from the townspeople, and complete side quests. And lastly, allying with the two major factions will motivate its members to fight alongside the player against the City Watch.
Controls
Both the PC and Xbox versions of the game relied on conventional and reconfigurable first-person controls. The first mission is an interactive tutorial that guides the player through a typical robbery. The player may save progress at any point and must do so manually from time to time since the game never autosaves.
The Xbox version has considerably more tactile controls since it uses a game controller instead of a keyboard. Within the lock-picking minigame, a rumble effect can be felt based on the relation between the lock picks and tumblers. Moving the left analog stick gently makes Garrett creep, while moving it forcefully makes him run.
Story
The game begins when Garrett steals a rare opal from a nobleman’s castle. After fencing it he is contacted by Keeper Artemus who offers him access to their Prophecies if he brings them two relics: the Builder’s Chalice kept by the Hammerites and the Jacknall’s Paw guarded by the Pagans.
Garrett then steals an ancient book known as the Compendium of Reproach and a second artifact called the Kurshok Crown. The Keepers read the Compendium’s prophecy which mentions that an ‘evil one’ will be revealed when time ‘ceases to exist’.
Suspecting that this might refer to the City’s clocktower, Garrett proceeds to sabotage the clockworks and causes it to collapse. After the dust settles Interpreter Caduca is found murdered and First Keeper Orland is quick to blame Garrett and fix a trial where he is found guilty.
Garrett escapes, however, causing Orland to send the Enforcers after him. Garrett manages to elude them and is then contacted by a group of sympathetic Keepers who mention that the clocktower’s rubble formed an arrow pointing towards the Keeper Library.
With Orland planning to promote Translator Gamall to replace Caduca and believing his betrayal is foretold in Keeper prophecy, Garrett journeys to their library seeking confirmation. There he encounters a mysterious old woman who uses glyph magic to try and kill him, but he escapes yet again.
Garrett then visits Inspector Drept seeking answers who identifies the old woman as the Hag, a monstrous entity that murdered his childhood friend. Drept advises Garrett to search the abandoned Shalebridge Cradle where they grew up. Once inside Garrett finds a spirit named Lauryl who resembles Translator Gamall.
She asks Garrett to help her leave the Cradle and after being freed leads Garrett to her tomb in Fort Ironwood which is covered in glyphs. Once Garrett removes them with Lauryl’s blood, Gamall’s monstrous true form is revealed and she attacks the Keepers, steals the Chalice and Paw, and flees.
After locating her lair in Auldale, Garrett retrieves the two relics and discovers that all five of them (Chalice, Paw, Crown, Heart, and Eye) must be placed in specific locations around the City to activate the fabled Final Glyph and nullify all glyph magic before Gamall can destroy it.
To get the Eye and Heart, Garrett steals them from the Wieldstrom Museum and then meets up with Artemus and Orland. However, Artemus is quickly revealed to be Gamall in disguise and kills Orland.
After fleeing from her Garrett places the artifacts and activates the Final Glyph causing all glyph magic to fade away while Gamall becomes a powerless old woman. In the closing scene, Garrett catches a young girl attempting to pickpocket him and repeats the words spoken to him by Artemus at the beginning of the series.
Development
After Looking Glass Studios went out of business in 2000 many of its former employees moved to Ion Storm. Once there they began developing the long-anticipated third part of the series, Deadly Shadows. The same voice actor, Stephen Russell, was selected for the lead character Garrett.
Unlike the original two titles though, Deadly Shadows was developed simultaneously for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox. The game is powered by a heavily-modified and tweaked version of Unreal Engine 2.
As a result of the new engine the game’s more realistic graphics and visual effects, along with motion-captured character animation, improved significantly on the earlier Thief games.
New to this entry in the series, players also have the option to play in either first-person or third-person and can switch back and forth at any time. The third-person viewpoint makes the game easier to play, since nearby foes are more easily visible. Alternatively, the narrowed first-person perspective makes for a more challenging and immersive experience.
It was the last game produced by Ion Storm before its demise in 2005.
Notable Changes
Some of the more prominent features and design aspects of the previous Thief installments were either significantly modified or removed entirely. Rope Arrows are replaced by Climbing Gloves which alter the player’s ability to traverse vertical obstacles and navigate levels. Garrett can no longer swim, turning most water into an impassable barrier.
The Blackjack is also no longer able to knock out anyone who is alerted and is only effective when striking an enemy from behind. This circumvents the popular Flash Bomb and Blackjack attack that was a staple maneuver in previous Thief games.
Holy Water can no longer be used to imbue Water Arrows with the power to harm the Undead and is instead thrown to the ground like an Oil Flask. While this significantly reduces Garrett’s ability to destroy them, it is not a major obstacle since the Undead aren’t as common this time.
Garrett’s mechanical eye now provides a night vision ability and Scouting Orbs are no longer available, perhaps indicating that the now disbanded Mechanist order were the only people who could manufacture them.
Another major difference is the presence of the misty barriers that divide the City and Missions into separate maps that have to be loaded as Garrett passes from one to another. The reason for this is largely attributed to the performance limitations of the Xbox.
The most noticeable consequence of this is that most areas are significantly smaller than those of the first two Thief games. Furthermore the resulting choke-points limit the number of possible routes and strategies that can be employed to complete a given task.
The City itself also has a different aesthetic, as the City’s streets and offices feature very little of the steam-powered and electronic machinery common to the Metal Age. Such mechanisms, however, are still seen in Hammerite facilities and the Shalebridge Cradle.
Reception
Like its predecessors, Thief: Deadly Shadows has received almost universally positive reviews, garnering a GameSpot rating of 8.3. The PC version has reached an average score of 8.6 on IGN. The game also won IGN’s “Editor’s Choice” award and “Game of the Month” award for May 2004.
Most reviewers praised its solid gameplay in addition to its refined lighting, graphics, and level design, as well as the visuals, music, and voice acting.
Mobile Game
In addition to the full release, a mobile game was also coded by Steve Longhurst and published by IOMO in 2005. It featured two episodes in which Garrett could sneak and steal his way through a small side story.
Gameplay can be seen on YouTube and both episodes are playable on PC or Android phones using a Java emulator called J2ME. For a more detailed breakdown of the game, head over to the Thief wiki.
Walkthrough
For a text walkthrough head over to Gamespy or download the strategy guide. For a guided video playthrough check out this playlist.