Hi, guys this is Ridwan, the media critic at frenzyweb360 . Now, today were going to analyze a much beloved game among pc gamers. Only truest of the true pc gamers have played this game and it’s my very difficult task to review it. So let’s get started:

THE STORY

The game centers on the master thief garret and his exploits. Much of the story is told with cutscenes before every mission. The cutscene are a mix of 2d animation and 3d character silhouettes. The cutscene are very beautiful and pretty unique. They ossue with atmosphere and they also give introduction and essential information for each level. Garret is written well. He is mostly selfish but sometimes he can be caring which is really awesome. It adds depth to his overall. Garrett does thieving because he wants to do it, this type of characterization is hardly seen in games. The ambience of thief is unlike anything. The game takes place in a medieval steampunk like setting. Overall, thief has a great story, which is excellently told.

The dialogue and voice acting

Stephen Russell is the voice actor for Garret. He brings a certain bravado to Garret’s character. He fully brings out Garret’s apathetic attitude. In my opinion nobody except Stephen Russel can pull of Garret’s role. The dialogue is good. The npc and enemies voice acting is also of great standard. None of it seems out of place. The enemy factions have their own distinct accents, especially the hammerites and the pagans. The hammerites speak in Elizabethan English and the pagans speak in a childlike intonation.

The gameplay, level design, art design and enemy a.i.

Thief is an immersive sim which focuses on stealth. For those who are not familiar with it, immersive sim is a genre of games which relies on the core principals of player choice, exploration, player decision, experimentation and non linear story telling. Now with that out of the way let’s talk about the gameplay. Thief bases it’s gameplay on the availability of light. You have light gem to monitor your visibility. You have to navigate through the shadows to remain undetected. The game also utilizes the use of sound. Different floors different sound effects when you walk over them. Some of them creates a little noise and some creates a lot of noise. Also many platforms are like alarms when you walk over them. It instantly catches the attention of nearby guards. The game also heavily employs directional sound. You hear the guards footsteps . The guards also speak with each other, they occasionally cough and whistle. It helps the player to pinpoint the location of enemies in a seamless fashion. The difficulty setting drastically affects the gameplay. Based on the difficulty you play in more objectives and restrictions are added. It also changes the overall loot required to finish a mission. This is difficulty settings done right, as it caters to player skill than to any other factor. The difficulty setting encourages the player the to explore the environment. Higher the difficulty, the more you have to traverse the environment to complete the objectives. Level design wise the game is one of the best. Levels cater to player choice, exploration, experimentation and stealth. Players can finish their goals in any order they want to. The game also uses maps but the maps don’t point out player and objective location. Some maps are very detailed they fully show the layout of the levels and some are maps are very crude, they only show the estimation of the level layout. The map doesn’t specifically point out the player location but it highlights the section of the map in which the player might be in. The player also needs to find incremental items to access certain parts of the level, this again reinforces the idea of exploration. Exploration is one of the best aspect of the game. As players don’t know the level layout fully, they are overcome with sense of mystery and curiosity. Levels may something unexpected. The levels also let the player to deal with enemies with in anyway they want to. Though, combat is not focused greatly you are not penalized for it. The game also gives you a plethora of items for both stealth and combat. The best weapon of in my opinion is the blackjack. When you are incognito the blackjack helps you to immediately knockout the enemies. You can blackjack someone from a lot angles. You can blackjack them from the front, the back, and the sides. If you are quick enough you blackjack enemies on the moment they detect you. But once the enemy detects blackjacking him will not knock him out. However when you lose track of the alerted enemy, blackjacking him from the back will cause a knockout. I’ve also noticed that while crouching if you want to attack someone with the sword or the blackjack the garret will automatically get up. I really like little touches like this it enhances the experience. Another great thing is that after the opening cutscene there is no loading screen. Levels are played from start to finish without any hindrance to the gameplay. The graphically doesn’t look that great but it has a lot of artistic flair. There is also a lot of platforming in this game, it helps to increase the depth of the stealth. The enemy a.i. is solid. I do like that generally when one enemy becomes alerted it doesn’t mean that everybody becomes alert. Enemies also run to their alert subordinates.

The sound design

The game greatly uses ambient sound effects. It hugely helps to set the tone of the game. The soundtrack is pretty unique for it’s time. Sometimes it can be creepy and sometimes it can be scary. Soundtrack brings a whole dimension to the immersiveness of the game. The music changes level wise.

The cons

Exploration in thief is a double edged sword. Though, it is one of it’s best parts it has some flaws. Most of the levels are maze like. So player tend get lost. Navigation becomes a big challenge. It hinders the overall gameplay experience. The way player gets information on mission specific items is a bit too convoluted. Sometimes players need to hear a specific conversation, read specific book etc. If you miss these things you can’t really progress forward. Moreover, as the levels are labyrinthian so players tend to get lost. I really don’t like the thieves guild level. The level reuses the same textures over and over again. Level navigation becomes confusing and tedious. The cathedral level is a masterclass in horror but it’s dragged out a bit to much in my opinion and it becomes a bit tedious. The game also has some hit direction problems. Alert enemies tend find your position often even if you stay hidden. The problem becomes more evident in the last half of the game.