There's a Cwater arrow' which is used for dousing lanterns thereby enabling you to pass by in total darkness , and a Cmoss arrow' which muffles the sound of your footsteps.
Now, at the risk of sounding like a gaggle of pedantic, sneering shitcakes, wouldn't a kind ofCwater balloon' thing make more sense than an arrow? And if you wanted to walk around silently for a moment, wouldn't you simply slip off your shoes?
Still, as long as they don't feel contrived and out of place, like they're plugging a hole in the game design, we'll let it go.
Besides, shooting arrows into an enemy's lughole is Remember fun? Thought so. Speaking of fun, the behaviour of the enemy guards is hilarious. In most respects, they're scarily true-to-life. While on duty, they behave impeccably: they stand around whistling or muttering to themselves, fidgeting and pacing around in a faintly bored manner, and generally doing little in the way of actual guarding, just like the real thing.
But occasionally their behaviour veers from the believable to the ridiculous within milliseconds, in a manner so disconcertingly schizophrenic that you start to question their sanity. Let's say you accidentally make a sound, at which point a nearby guard might shout: Who goes there? Then moments later the same guard lightens the mood somewhat by saying aloud, in the hammiest manner imaginable: Oh, 1 must be imagining things.
What is this? You half expect to turn around and see Jim Davidson, dressed as Buttons, performing a comic turn. Perhaps you might even ready your sword in anticipation, dribbling at the prospect of hacking his legs off below the knee, then stamping up and down on his arrogant little face until his eyeballs burst all over your shoes.
Pantomime or not, it's a laugh and a half when they catch you. Funnier still is the way they all speak with a bizarre approximation of the English accent, reminiscent of Dick Van Dyke's infamous star turn in Mary Poppins and equally hilarious. Mind you, Van Dyke never started cussing, the way the Thief guards start hurling insults at you once it all kicks off. Not content to be simply amusing, the guards absolute devils to hide from. Skulking around in the darkness while an unaware guard stomps by, absentmindedly mumbling to himself is a uniquely tense gaming experience that you won't find anywhere else.
All in all, it's an intriguing prospect. We can't wait to get our hands on the finished version - especially since the preview version has a weird control setup. As Thief s gameplay relies on careful, precise manoeuvring, it was oddly frustrating to discover that the preview version came with a bizarre, unchangeable control system. Here at ZONE we're fussy. We like our Y axis reversed when we're mouseketeering through a Quake-alike.
But since there was no option to do this, we spent most of our time in the world of Thief staring at our shoes, or the ceiling, or the wall, or basically just about anywhere other than where we intended to. In fact, it was a bit like that walk you do when you're tired and you've had far too much to drink, and you alternate between trying to loll your head back to rest on your shoulders, and leaning forward to vomit all over the floor.
Not the ideal state for cat burglary, basically. Unless you're a scouser, in which case you're probably: a a genuine burglar, and b perpetually drunk anyway, in which case congratulations - this is your life. Anyway, since you'll be able to fully customise the controls in the full version, until they fit you like a glove, that last bit was irrelevant.
Oh, and we apologise if you are a scouser even though you probably stole this mag to read it -assuming you can read. We were ranting. Thief: The Dark Project is out later this year, and it will probably rock bells.
Just don't go pinching our copy, okay? It's all well and good creating a game about stealth and evasion and sneaking around on tippy-toes putting other people's property in your pockets, but here at ZONE we can't help thinking that the makers of Thief have missed out on a golden opportunity.
The problem is this: Thief is set in a sort of quasi-historic fantasy environment in which 19th century technology mingles with medieval imagery - a world of chainmail and brass pipes, cobblestones and wooden beams. Fine If you like that sort of thing. But it could have been set In the suburbs of any average British city. Ihiro, say, or perhaps Nottingham or Derby. Why would that be any better?
Because the game features loads of burglary, dumbo, and, let's face it, a suburban burglary simulator would be one big fat laugh. About Anyone Or Anything, Especially Your Sodding Property, and replace the existing missions with a series of everyday yet equally nerve-racking burglaries: breaking and entering; hiding Inside cupboards; pilfering videos; accidentally smashing treasured family heirlooms; turning drawers inside out in search of petty cash; taking a crap in the centre of the carpet The list goes on and on.
Fantastic entertainment. They could even scan in the faces of the cast of The Bill and have them turning up as polygonal policemen to arrest you if you mess up. Although doing Bob Cryer's nose Justice might prove tricky.
Anyway, they should scrap the entire game and redo it like what we says, bastards, bastards, bastards. This promises to be a first-person shooter with a difference, the emphasis being on stealth and every as opposed to running around the place at the speed of gftt, mindlessly blasting everything you come across.
The introduction of this tactical element should inject a much reeded breath of fresh air into a oenre that seems to have become cosessed with 'emulating' Quake 2s every element or ripping off 02 "lock, stock and barrel", as our man Mallo would have it. Thief is the first game to use the Dark engine, which the game's designers claim is extremely versatile, enabling them to create a fluid, ever-changing environment, unlike what could be done using more conventional game engines.
Objects in the game have real physics, with flammable objects catching fire and heavy objects having real mass, enabling you to use them for blocking doors, or throwing at people if you get bored. Considering Thief is being developed by Looking Glass the people behind Ultima Underworld and System Shock, there is every reason to get incredibly excited about this game.
This isn't the easiest of jobs, you know. Contrary to popular belief, we don't just spend all our time 'playing kids' games' and getting paid for it.
Games like Thief: The Dark Project are the source of constant headaches and stress-related car fatalities, in this instance because every time I play the thing my opinion of it changes. You try writing an authoritative review under those circumstances. It's not as drastic a swing as going from good to crap in the amount of time it takes for Carol Vorderman's contract-signing pen to emerge from her pocket, but it is the kind of annoying swing that makes me hesitate between awarding a Classic or a mere Recommended.
But let's come to that in a moment Thief is the tale of Garrett, a hardbitten footpad in a semi-medieval fantasy world. A simple burglary results in you being contacted by a mysterious client who is searching for a mysterious artefact, pursued by a mysterious religious sect and protected by a mysterious group of benefactors.
The unique trick that Thief brings to the first-person action game party is that unlike most games in the genre, you're not asked to wade into room after room of bad guys, killing everything in sight. On the contrary, a thief needs to avoid being seen or heard, and that's what you have to achieve here. The NPCs have astonishing levels of realistic behaviour, and the tension created when you find yourself crouching in a darkened corner while a guard walks by muttering about his job, or when you accidentally drop a plate on to a stone floor with a loud clatter and hear someone in the room next door say "Did you hear something?
The sound adds a whole new level of realism to the game and boosts that whole 'total immersion' thing to previously unattained levels. This is an aspect of the engine that really should be heeded by the rest of the genre and utilised in the future. It's that's good. But there is a problem, the one alluded to at the start.
Thief is both excellent and annoying in equal measures. It spends the first couple of levels setting up something creative and unique to the world of first-person 3D action games, then spoils it all by resorting to the usual array of zombies, spider creatures, demons and so on that inhabit every other game set in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world. Tension is paramount during the first burglary, with sneaking, sniping and stealing in equal, addictive measures, unlike the usual gung-ho approach normally favoured by games in this over-crowded genre.
Indeed, the mission objectives on the harder difficulty levels forbid you to kill anyone. And because you're trying to find loot while avoiding confrontation, it almost feels like a role-playing game at times. The balance of all three genres action, adventure and role-playing is exceptionally well done and represented well. The biggest downside to some may be the lack of multiplayer options. Then again, a thief is known to walk alone which leaves little room for partnership in this setting.
Still, the first rate storyline as well as visual and audio effects make Thief quite an immersive gaming experience. It is a subtle yet captivating game that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Replay Value: Upon completion, you know all about the twisting plot so there isn't much to go back for.
That is unless you don't mind not being surprised. If you ask role-playing fans which is the best character class to play, very few answer the "Thief" class. As a thief, you are neither a fighter nor a mage and can neither bash nor burn your foes.
You play a thief because in a game the loot often lies behind locked doors or in locked chests which you can pick, but for god's sake no one otherwise ever wants to play the thief.
Just because a thief is useless unless the quest items are heavily guarded. Ironically, in Thief: The Dark Project, it is your skills as a thief that is going to win the day. There is no "Paladin" behind you to kill the enemies or heal your wounds. This is a game of stealth and shadows, where you must be smart and silent. Go into the house, find the loot, and leave the scene unseen! You are the thief!
When Garrett is a child, he has no family and no home, and he soon learns that he has to take what he needs to survive. One day he tries to steal from a Keeper and gets caught. Strangely, the Keeper, who is a member of a sacred medieval order, is not at all angry with Garrett stealing his purse but is rather impressed by his skill.
He recruits Garrett as an apprentice, and teaches him a better understanding of how to keep himself unseen. Garrett, who never intends to live his life as a Keeper, uses his training instead to become a better thief. As Garrett, you eventually meet a woman named Victoria, who wants you to steal a magical sword from a rich but an eccentric nobleman named Constantine.
Instead of rewarding you after a successful mission, Victoria tells you that stealing the sword is only a test, and that Constantine, from whom you have just stolen, has a much more lucrative offer for you.
He wants you to steal a valuable jewel called "The Eye" that is guarded in a cathedral in a section of the town that has been sealed off after a great magical disaster. However, you soon discover that a more sinister plot lies behind your troubles. In the end, you must keep the evil Trickster from spreading chaos over the world. As with these earlier titles, Thief: The Dark Project too shows an excellent use of state-of-the-art first person 3D perspective.
The game uses the Dark Engine that is developed in-house. With this engine, you have full control of Garrett's point of view, his movement, and his action. With that amount of data the engine has to deal in real-time, I have expected numerous graphic glitches or a very slow game. The process takes the user back to the time when Garrett became an adult and skilled criminal. In the kingdom is the crime lord Ramirez. He tried many times to recruit the protagonist to pay a percentage of his theft, but this did not lead to success.
The head of the crime gives the order to kill the hero, but he manages to fight back, after which he strikes back, hitting Ramirez's mansion. All of these actions have become visible. An anonymous and influential man instructed his representative Victoria to contact Garrett so that he could get to the rich mansion and steal Constantine's blade. He manages to steal the artifact, after which he returns to the woman and gives the sword. The hero learns that the customer was Konstantin, who decided to check the performer's thieves' qualities.
The character has a new and responsible task - to steal the magical artifact Eye, for which he will receive a huge reward.
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