Difficulty:

Very Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

THIEF 2: The Metal Age.


For the criminal in all of us Thief 2: The Metal Age has arrived. Going all the way back to 1998 many will remember the original as a breath of fresh air into the FPS genre. Combing stealth-based action, tremendous level design, a plot with a real character and tension, Thief: The Dark Project was gold. It practically invented the stealth genre! No longer was FPS just an abbreviation for First Person Shooter but First Person Sneaker! We've seen many games take on the stealth genre. From Metal Gear Solid to Commandos, many have tried to copy the formula but few, if any, have succeeded in capturing both the intensity and innovation of the Thief series.


This very impressive sequel retains all the best aspects of the original into fifteen huge missions; each one carefully constructed and designed to keep players engrossed for countless hours. For the second time you're in control of Garrett, the world's greatest thief. He's broke again; unable to pay his rent and live the quiet life. After the disastrous events of the original the city is quite a different place. The Pagans are being hunted down and the Hammerites are absent, replaced by a breakaway group known as the Mechanists. Surprise, surprise, they're not all they're cracked up to be. Within a few missions Garrett is drawn back into the world of corruption and prophecies that he desperately tried to leave behind. As a Keeper would put it: "The Metal Age is upon us…"


If something isn't broke, don't fix it. This seems to be Looking Glass Studios mentality with this game and rightly so. Yet there are still several notable changes, beginning with the removal of the horror elements of The Dark Project. Zombies are few and far between and the giant spiders are absent. Playing on the 'Hard' difficulty setting I only had to make contact with those pesky Haunts once. That was enough. Many found it impossible to be stealthy around these abominations so thankfully there are no more! The next big improvement is the size of the levels. I'll get back to this later on though.


Finally the third enhancement is the new opponents you soon face, Mechanist security. Not only is this a great replacement for the undead but it also turns out to be a very cool and integral part of the story as well. These cameras and robots now populate the majority of levels making all the would-be thieves more wary than ever. Apart from these obvious changes much of the formula is intact.


Each chapter begins with an introduction, which is narrated by Garrett. He outlines where the job will take place, what he has to steal and sometimes what he'll be up against. These are always priceless to watch, not just for the hints, but also for the incredible images that each one presents. Animated cut scenes, while infrequent, are also exciting and suitably creepy. The faces of the characters in these are hidden by the shadows and the darkness adds an eerie flavour to the mix. After viewing a cut scene you'll then be given a list of the objectives and you can choose the difficulty. The choice of the difficulty setting can seriously affect how you play the game. The higher settings are more demanding, denying players to kill or adding an extra objective. I highly recommend playing on either the 'Hard' or 'Expert' difficulty. On these two settings most levels will take numerous hours to finish and you'll find yourself desperately looking for that last valuable artefact or the final bit of loot to get to the next stage. Seeing as the amount of loot you steal in each mission reflects how much equipment you can buy it is good incentive for players to steal as much as possible. Anyone who has played the first Thief will know that the equipment you purchase before the mission can often be the key to your success.


All of the old items return in good form: lock picks, black jack, sword, flash bombs, mines, and arrows of various kinds: Gas, fire, water, rope, moss, noisemaker. They're all here. A small quibble though: while there isn't a great need for it, it would have been nice to include holy water for the one or two instances involving the undead. There are a number of new tools this time round including: invisibility and slow-fall potions, vine arrows and a remote camera. The camera is perhaps the most useful. By throwing it down a hallway it sends images of the area to Garrett's mechanical eye. His eye also has a zoom feature, making it perfect for scouting. Once you've finished selecting your inventory, you'll be dropped into the levels and must proceed to objectives with minimal contact from the guards.

Although there is no rule that says players can't fight their way through each level it is certainly not recommended, as the AI is extremely effective at both fighting and uncovering your position. They react to sound and inspect areas if something seems amiss. Guards will recognise and comment when a torch has been extinguished and they always have a bad habit of moving closer and closer towards you as you hide in the shadows. They're even smart enough to make a run for it if they've been wounded. While some may find it annoying that there is no tutorial to easy rookies into the game, during installation there are useful tips for those who haven't played before. The first level is fairly easygoing too and should serve well to let newcomers break into the game. Still with the combination of intelligent A.I., huge levels and multiple objectives, this might be too tough for some.


Strategists will have a far better time than those who prefer action. The deliberate pacing of each level not only makes players think about their actions but also heightens the suspense. Will you take a risk in dispatching the guards? Or perhaps you'd prefer to extinguish that lantern and sneak past by sticking to the shadows? Will you shoot a rope arrow into the rafters above, climb up and go into the next room? Or will you go through the door and knock out the guards and disable the patrolling robots?


Each level is perfectly structured permitting you to make these kinds of decisions. Combine this with some outstanding attention to detail and players will feel as though they have just stepped into a real castle or mansion. Spiralling staircases, secret passages, crypts…it all fits into place. As I mentioned the levels are more open. A better way to put this is that your objectives are linear but your exploration is certainly not. For example, the second stage is located at the docks. I know I have to replace a shipping label and steal a certain amount of loot but I'm free to snoop around the surrounding buildings in the area. This form of freedom makes things more realistic in that you're not just following one long corridor to an objective. The mission size seems far more consistent than The Dark Project. The last few levels in that game were quite short. Maybe they were intentionally brief to give a feeling of momentum and panic but for me it didn't really work. The Metal Age however is an epic adventure and the size of each stage only confirms this.

The only drawback to this is that it is easy to get lost, although this is compensated somewhat by the poorly drawn maps, which now have colour coding to indicate where you've been and where you are. From a technical point of view the game is simply masterful. The Dark Engine has not only been tweaked to produce improved character models and weather affects but the number of sound channels has also been increased. Sound was a key feature in the original and has been given the same treatment here. Each level is hauntingly atmospheric and made utterly memorable by the incidental sound effects. Whether your eavesdropping for guards on one side of a door or your outside listening to an all too calm breeze, the sound is always first rate. Movements are perfectly echoed and the voice acting is tremendous. Weapons are also well accomplished too, from the swishing motion of your sword to the sound of your arrows being released into the air; you'll never be dissatisfied.

The Metal Age is compelling from start to finish. For once we have a main character that is actually interesting and has a great deal of personality. The voice acting plays a large part in achieving this. Garrett is a very humanistic character compared to most of the brain-dead stars seen in games. This guy is nothing more than a poor thief trying to survive in a very dangerous world. Maybe somehow he'll find redemption in the final chapter. Can't wait to see how it's all going to pan out in Thief: Deadly Shadows. The story and main character are just that enthralling. The setting is also worthy of mention as it will be interesting to see how the city has evolved in the third game with the return of the Hammerites. This is what all sequels need to aim for: continuation of the protagonist as well as an evolving setting. It's hard to fault Thief 2: The Metal Age. For its cool story, terrific level design and technical achievements it raises the benchmark for the stealth genre even higher. If you haven't bought it, do so now, this is unmissable entertainment.

For:

+ Superb story.

+ Excellent level design + Challenging.

+ Sound and visuals.

Against:

- Too tricky for some.

Verdict:

Undeniably one of the best games to be release for the PC; Thief 2: The Metal Age is the game of the year.