Thief 3 Review Thread
Well the reviews are going to come in thick and fast this week so lets collect a few in here to better get an idea. If you play it come the 25th jot down some impressions too! 
The first review for the PC version is from Gamespy (Minor Spoiler) which I must say is a little inconsistant but much much more critical than their pathetic DX:IW attempt. Seems to be an improvement.
Main points are:
Reviewer doesnt like the graphics, models or textures-bit inconsistent with the videos and previews IMO.
Story is great.
Levels are good.
Shadows work really well
AI is great.
A few technical issues
Framerate isn't great.
Load times still there.
It equals but does not surpass the previous Thief games.
4/5 a good score, but one that perhaps doesnt add up.
All in all I can't escape the feeling that they may have been positioning themselves for another fan frenzy a la DX:IW and playing politics instead of critic may backfire...again. 
We'll see when the next batch of reviews come and ultimately when we can actually PLAY THE GAME!
My preorder will be here by the end of the week, hope some of you thief fans will give us a mini-no-spoiler-review
P.S The Xbox review (low quality stuff) got 3/5 ...and ironically said that it felt like a PC game superimposed on the Xbox! The worm has turned!
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
Ack! Any idea what type of machine the reviewer was playing on? (Firewall''s blocking GameSpy so I can''t check.) I''m planning to upgrade a few things in my PC for Thief 3, but I don''t want to buy stuff that isn''t going to make much of a difference.
Other than that I''m not putting much faith in the GameSpy review.
Swing harder! Swing harder!
-- Lilarcor, Baldur's Gate 2
Xbox reviewer harped on how repetitive the game got...while the PC reviewer didnt mention it one time..
Core gameplay would be the same between the two so I''m curious to why that is..unless its simply reviewers bias towards types of gaming/style.
Main complaints are Graphics, Framerate.. which I can live with..
Small levels though...that was a killer for me with DX:IW and will be even more so with Thief..
<sigh>
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
Regarding the Gamespy complaint about graphics:
""Everything in Deadly Shadows, the streets, the walls, the windows, the tree branches, looks as if it''s been slightly compressed in a car crusher, all blocky, unnatural angles and too many straight lines""
I seem to recall reading almost the same exact comments in the reviews of the first 2 Thief games, and I loved that style of graphic/architecture. So I disregarded this criticism.
It is disappointing to see the scouting orb isn''t included in the game. Do you remember the first time you threw your mechanical eyeball in Thief 2, gained it''s perspective, then looked back at yourself? I''ll miss it.
One good thing: the difficulty slider makes guards more intelligent. Should add replay value.
Is someone here at Thieves with Jobs going to do a real review?
"But 2004 might be ancient for a teenager, with their hippin' and the hoppin' and the bippin' and the boppin', they don't know what the jazz is all about." - Gravey
I am going to be picking this one up as soon as I can get my grubbies on it. So, I could probably do a review next week. After reading the gamespy review, I think it sounds just like a thief game
. I am not too worried.
"I like to hear people talking when they're not talking to me," I said. "It's soothing to know that I don't have to listen." -- Bill Harris describing a truism.
Gamespot Have given Thief 3 8.3 Not bad but not stellar.
Review seems of a much better quality than Gamespy''s but again the comments dont seem to add up to the score, and it contradicts much of what the Gamespy review said. Talk about subjective.
We need more info! Preferably fan info!
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
A poster over at Gone Gold is just raving about it. He said he thinks it may even be better than the first two games. I''m hoping it''s as good as he says. I''m gonna wait for a while and let some more reviews roll in, but I kind of have a feeling I''ll be playing this over the coming weekend. =)
"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
Ign has given the game 8.6 and an editors choice award.
Oh yes I definatly think the big reviewers are being really cautious reviewing Thief, they were badly stung by the fan reaction to their blasé attitude in reviewing DX:IW.
Some first impressions are coming up on the fan pages now, and the news looks good.
P.S. All these reviews are playing the game on Normal difficulty which according to Ion storm cripples some of the AI''s more impressive features.
P.P.S IUp! review 8.5 I haven''t seen a single review that agrees on any one point yet. Thats Spector for you, he''s even non-linear when he''s bad.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
I don''t like the sound of that gameplay mechanic.
Edit: More..
Maybe a patch can fix this stuff?
PSN ID: Haul_N_Oats
Actually, this one kind of makes sense. Lets say you are standing around with a big sword and somebody flasbombs you, then they whack you in the shoulder. I think you would start swingin'' that sword around something mighty fierce.
However, those loading zones seem like a general pain in the ass the whole way through. I can''t understand why they had to keep them in the PC version.
"I like to hear people talking when they're not talking to me," I said. "It's soothing to know that I don't have to listen." -- Bill Harris describing a truism.
A good review: http://www.actiontrip.com/reviews/thiefdeadlyshadows.phtml - Again says the game is too easy-stupid on Normal difficulty and that it needs a patch.
Fan reaction has on the whole been positive, in fact the forums appear much quieter than usual which is usually a good thing.
There are some technical issues apparently but people have already set up a work-around thread, all in all it seems a great game which probably needs some patching to bring it up to scratch.
If you live in Europe I''ve found a great deal on http://www.play.com where you can get the game for £17.99 delivered (UK) which is fantastically cheap, around 27 Euros.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
Well, I picked up the PC version and so far it FEELS like a PC game which is great. I got through the tutorial and about half way through the first mission so far and I''m liking the controls and *gasp* switching to third person mode once in a while. So far so good! I''ll do up some real impressions once I have a few more levels under my belt.
I heard that they were keeping Elysium in the ICU not because he needed intensive care, but because they needed to be careful of his intensity. - Wordsmythe
Great Certis! I look forward to it.
I hear that there will be a Demo released in the next 48 hours, it will weigh in at around 450megs which is too rich for my 56k really.
Please Be careful with any spoilers, the Thief games are so story centric those damn reviews have already caused my eyes to flit about in defence on more than one occasion.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
Yeah, and what about for the Xbox?
I agree, considering that console version might not be as buggy as the PC.
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ | ...
Looks like Eidos just released a demo (about 440MB). Should be up at usual file mirrors pretty soonl
I can''t believe how excited I am to get this game. In between buying a house and preparing to move in to it and travelling all over the damn place for work, I didn''t even realise this was out already. I think I''m going to have to find some time this weekend to go get it.
"Anakin, as embodied by [Hayden] Christensen, is the kind of needlessly moody kid you might see getting punched out in a Dairy Queen parking lot."
"”Paul Tatara on SW:Episode II
Just set the bad boy going and leave it running (use a download manager though). I only started this morning around 00:00 and I''m already at 70% (this is at a measly 6.5k/s average). If I don''t play UT2k4 too much today I''ll probably have the demo around 22:00.
I view large downloads as an adventure. Finishing something like the HL2 E3 2004 video (665mb) is almost as much fun as actually watching it.
Swing harder! Swing harder!
-- Lilarcor, Baldur's Gate 2
Nice collection of funny quotes from the Thief III group:
http://mavra.perilith.com/~faceless/.sux/quotes.shtml
Dave K. (looking at source code): So over here, in the BlameUnsolvedMurdersOn() function--
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ | ...
I wonder if there''s a quote scroll hidden somewhere in Thief 3...
Swing harder! Swing harder!
-- Lilarcor, Baldur's Gate 2
Saw this noteworthy bug mentioned at QT3. Affecting you if you play in the highest difficulty setting, seems to be present in both versions of the game.
Apparently Someone has designed a program that lets you alter the AI in the game independent of the difficulty level. This means you can have smart guards while still having low Loot requirements. It also should fix the problem with higher difficulty levels AI resetting to Normal after loading a save game.
I''m at work and haven''t had a chance to try it yet but here''s the link:
http://www.team5150.com/~andrew/project.thiefbot/
I'm still right here
Giving blood, keeping faith
yep, apparantly a PC fix is underway, Xbox gamers are screwed though. Big thanks to EIDOS for letting me sink 50 bucks into this. As an avid Thief fan I was looking forward to playing this on expert difficulty right away from the start.
I don''t know yet what to do, since the game is opened I cannot take it back. I will at least send a letter to EIDOS thanking them for their great support for customers. Way to go
.
No hay banda!
Four Fat Chicks have posted a comprehensive Review of Thief 3 in connection to their recent Retrospective of the Thief series. Its a good''un for any fans who have yet not picked the game up.
Now that I''ve played it too for a few hours I too can add my name to the people who heartily recommend this title.
It captures about as much of the atmosphere and feeling of the previous games without actually using the Dark Engine itself.
I''m not too far into the story yet (*just got into the docks*) but it looks really promising, and the old factions and voice acting brings a fond glow of familarity to it.
Its still a REALLY atmospheric game and with the fantastic shadowing, great bumpmapping and suprisingly pretty bloom effect it is really rather good looking...pity about the textures but thats being looked at here .
My only dis-satisfaction come from my missing the intro cutscenes, which have been replaced crudely by VO/Text, the load transitions(though quite fast) and the level design... which so far has been less than the standard set in T2:MA.
All in all its my GOTY so far and surpasses the rather worried expectations I harboured for months.
NB: Don''t forget the mentioned AI bug! That tool is superb.
Update: Now that I''ve finished the game I can definatly say its a real homage to the previous two thief games. Although the story might have been less rushed at the end, I am more than satisfied with the way it ended as well as the foe you Garrett faces. A worthy game.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
I have to agree with a lot here and say that yes, this is a damn fine game, and worthy of the Thief moniker. I do have some gripes with it, such as the lack of rope arrows (the gloves are just NOT an acceptable substitute), but overall, I am really enjoying this game. The level I''m at right now, Shalebridge Cradle, has to be bar none the scariest atmosphere I have ever experienced in a game. The writing/story of this game definitely capture the feel of the older games.
Money can't buy you happiness...but it can buy you a boat big enough to sell right up next to it!-David Lee Roth
Avault has weighed in with their review; I''m tempted....
"Eat Keel, Hellbug!"
The first patch is now available hereand fixes the following:
------------------------------------
1. Difficulty Settings not working properly with the Save/Load system. This patch fixes the problem the player has with the game resetting the difficulty from Expert or Hard to Normal, or from Easy to Normal, when the game is re-loaded in-mission or if the player transitions more than once in any mission.
The patch is self extracting; simply download the patch to your desktop and unzip it using Winzip. Double-click the file Thief Deadly Shadows Patch.exe to install.
1.2 Known Issues
1. If the user has manually edited any of the configuration (.ini) files in the Thief:Deadly Shadows directory we strongly recommend that the user uninstall and reinstall the retail version of the game, and then apply the patch. Failure to do so will likely result in the patch being unable to install correctly.
2. Pre-patched saved games should be 100% compatible with version 1.1
3. If the user chooses to restart a mission after loading a save game, the user must select the appropriate level of difficulty from the Difficulty menu.
4. The game''s version number changes from v1.0 to v1.1.
--------------------
Looks like the boys from marketing have been working busy on that last point. Killer feature lads.
Weee no more resident program needed.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill
Terrific game. I really like the City/Level structure. It opens up the gameplay, feels more interactive, as opposed to just zooming from level to level.
Only complaint there is that when loading from some city zones to the next, you tend to be instantly detected. It also seems a noise is sometimes made when you load into a level from a save.
The graphics and sound are great. Good atmosphere all around. Good level design (if not a bit too small). Played in a dark room on a fast PC with good graphics card and surround sound, this is a very immersive game.
The storyline is solid, maybe a bit confusing. But that didn''t really interfere with my mindless strategy of ""stealing everything"". However, I was frustrated with the fact that you can''t put an item down quietly. Though the little item sparkles do help with this, it makes little sense that a master thief can only throw an item he doesnt want. He can''t quietly rest it on a desk.
The faction elements are cool, giving you objectives to fullfill throughout the city zones (almost has a GTA feel to it, as strange as that sounds).
Control scheme is good (although some default key mappings are bizarre; its hard to quickly find the ""i"" key in the dark to toss secondary objects, this is easily adjusted.)
The voice acting for the pagans and some hammers is a little cheap in spots, but not a big deal.
Agreed. Even though I was creeping throughout the entire level, I had a tendency to move through this as fast as i possibly could due to the ""discomfort"" level. Very cool.
The game seems fairly long and definately full. Theif3 seems in total keeping with the series.
I don''t know about replayability. For me, I think this might be a once is enough kind of game. But once was definately enough to warrant the purchase.
8/10
A note left at the scene simply read: "Pwn3d" - Hubbinsd
Great game. There are minor things that are bugging me (a bit too ""toylike"" interface and a bit too much running through the zones at the end (lots of loading) and those strange prerendered cutscenes with low poly models (they look worse than ingame models!
)) but overall its really good Thief experience. Really interesting story, good mission design, its the same old Thief. I`d love seeing mods on this base.
I`m Artsy Partsy Gun For Hire
I plan to go through it again some time next year, but supporting the Pagans.
Hopefully by then some smart alec would have built a applet for UnrealEd and the texture mods will be a bit more developed.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Churchill