Decline After just finishing Thief 3 I can say that people who claim that Thief 3 is good are delusional

[markec]

After just finishing Thief 3 I can say that people who claim that Thief 3 is good are delusional. Aside the bugs and other engine issues, the biggest problem are the small and underwhelming levels, overall being short and lacking challenge. By itself in a vacuum its a mediocre game at best.

Thief 3 is for Thief series is what Deus Ex 2 is for Deus Ex series, a failure and a disappointment.

 

[Lyric Suite]

After just finishing Thief 3 I can say that people who claim that Thief 3 is good are delusional. Aside the bugs and other engine issues, the biggest problem are the small and underwhelming levels. By itself in a vacuum its a mediocre game at best.

Thief 3 is for Thief series is what Deus Ex 2 is for Deus Ex series, a failure and a disappointment.

Thank you, i was about to post this when i saw someone call this series a "trilogy".

Like Deus Ex 2, Thief 3 is an "ok" game if your standards for the day are low enough, but compared to the originals it's not even close.

 

[Nano]

After just finishing Thief 3 I can say that people who claim that Thief 3 is good are delusional. Aside the bugs and other engine issues, the biggest problem are the small and underwhelming levels, overall being short and lacking challenge. By itself in a vacuum its a mediocre game at best.

Thief 3 is for Thief series is what Deus Ex 2 is for Deus Ex series, a failure and a disappointment.

Agreed. It's way too overrated here.

Robbing the Cradle + the old lady's mansion are still very solid levels though.

 

[JarlFrank]

Robbing the Cradle would be a good horror game on its own, but it sucks as a Thief level. It clashes with the overall vibe of the Thief world and has little connection to the overall lore beyond a tenuous connection to Gamall.

It's a generic 19th century asylum mixed with a generic 19th century orphanage, a classic setting for horror stories but what does it have to do with Thief's world? It doesn't fit.

 

[NecroLord]

Robbing the Cradle would be a good horror game on its own, but it sucks as a Thief level. It clashes with the overall vibe of the Thief world and has little connection to the overall lore beyond a tenuous connection to Gamall.

It's a generic 19th century asylum mixed with a generic 19th century orphanage, a classic setting for horror stories but what does it have to do with Thief's world? It doesn't fit.

It's awesome, but I would've liked some more catacombs similar to the Bonehoard.

 

[markec]

After just finishing Thief 3 I can say that people who claim that Thief 3 is good are delusional. Aside the bugs and other engine issues, the biggest problem are the small and underwhelming levels, overall being short and lacking challenge. By itself in a vacuum its a mediocre game at best.

Thief 3 is for Thief series is what Deus Ex 2 is for Deus Ex series, a failure and a disappointment.

Agreed. It's way too overrated here.

Robbing the Cradle + the old lady's mansion are still very solid levels though.

It seems we came at the point where people have become contrarians, they will take some shitty 20 year old game and pretend its actually a good, like it makes them feel smart or something. Its the same type of people who started recently to praise Oblivion and claim its a actually a good game.

As JarlFrank said the Asylum is a interesting level due atmosphere but as a Thief level its very lacking as most other levels in the game (the mansion one is solid). It still feels as wasted potential as its again too small, lacking challenge and you could have done far more with the lore and engine physics. You have a brand new engine and you couldnt do atleast some flying objects.

Its just that the size of levels is lacking as pretty much all of them feel as a half of a actual level.

Also as said there is a clash between lore and gameplay. My worst offender is the last level Museum that is presented trough ingame lore as unbreakable place with most sophisticated security systems that no thief ever managed to beat. Yet you dont actually see anything that will give you that impression. In Thief 2 you had things like cameras and robots that made your thieving life a pain, now its just a few energy barriers thats very easily bypassed.

 

[JarlFrank]

Its just that the size of levels is lacking as pretty much all of them feel as a half of a actual level.

This always baffles me when people say Thief 3 was good but Deus Ex 2 sucked, when both suffered from the exact same problems.

I played Invisible War a decade ago or so, and while most of the levels had touches of genius that reminded me of the best of Deus Ex, it never went below little touches. The overall level size was just too small to do anything with it. If your levels are the size of a shoebox, you simply can't reach the same heights as Thief 1 & 2 or Deus Ex 1.

Thief 3's levels are just as tiny as Deus Ex 2's. Yet people give the game a lot of slack because it had good writing and atmosphere and brought the Thief storyline to a satisfying conclusion.
Yet even atmospherically, it moved away quite a bit from the first two games. Mechanically, it's also inferior (no rope arrows, you can't swim, blackjacking is a lot more awkward, the game doesn't mechanically distinguish between knockouts and kills, movement is weird because of the third person perspective they added, etc). Sure, compared to modern games it's still decent, but it's at about the same level as Deus Ex: Invisibile War.

It's really weird how the same people who praise Thief 3 will shit on Deus Ex 2, when both games are roughly on par.

 

[Melan]

Deus Ex 2 was so bad Thief 3 comes out looking good in comparison. But that's it. There are fragments of a good game in there, but it is one of the early examples of consolised decline.

 

[Beowulf]

Robbing the Cradle was there only because studio decided that every Thief games has to have a horror level. It's a great horror level and the design is terrific, but like other people said before - it's connection to Thief world is rather poor.

Old mansion had great atmosphere, but in a stroke of design brilliance someone decided that in order to finish it on expert or whatever the highest setting is called, you had to rob the poor widow of her treasure. It goes against what has been established so far for Garret as a character, for whom cynicism is a mask underneath hides a decent fellow.

 

[Darth Roxor]

It seems we came at the point where people have become contrarians, they will take some shitty 20 year old game and pretend its actually a good

I played and liked Thief 3 at release and will continue to say that it's a good game, fuck you

It has its flaws but it also has a bunch of cool levels. The widow's manor and the cradle are two - and if anything the real recently emergent contrarianism is to say bad things about the cradle, when it's spectacular. Zumg it doesn't fit Thief. Yeah, it's certainly at odds with all those random-ass levels from The Dark Project for example AMIRITE.

Apart from that there's the clocktower, the museum, the sunken city which are all good. The ghost ship is cool but short. The first real level is also not bad. The city hubs are boring when you have to go through them repeatedly and turn into a total clusterfuck later on when enforcers and Gamall take to the streets but also have a few fun quirks and secrets that are nice to stumble upon.

And finally, Thief 3 absolutely retains the general feel and atmosphere of the Thief series. It's a Thief game that suffers from consolitis, but a Thief game nonetheless, and that still makes it a good game despite its flaws. There is no way in which Thief 3 can be called "shit".

 

[Gargaune]

It's really weird how the same people who praise Thief 3 will shit on Deus Ex 2, when both games are roughly on par.

That's because Invisible War was a much bigger step down from Deus Ex than Deadly Shadows was from The Metal Age. All of the downgrades you mentioned are true, but Thief 3 also tried to develop the formula in some ways, bringing in more aware AI that notices stuff like open doors and missing objects, faction reputations and the city hub, or the best lockpicking mechanic in videogaming. It wasn't all in the red, whereas IW was decline across the board, from mechanics to narrative to art direction. It's also worth noting that, whether you liked it or not, The Shalebridge Cradle was a milestone in horror gaming and that alone will have carried a great deal of credit in people's memory as well.

But I agree with ratface, even ignoring the Cradle, I thought it was great at the time and I remember it fondly today. Granted, I hadn't played any other Thief game then, so I can't speak to your disappointment as a fan, but I think it was the better game in general and a more solid entry in its series than IW was for Deus Ex.

 

[markec]

It seems we came at the point where people have become contrarians, they will take some shitty 20 year old game and pretend its actually a good

I played and liked Thief 3 at release and will continue to say that it's a good game, fuck you

It has its flaws but it also has a bunch of cool levels. The widow's manor and the cradle are two - and if anything the real recently emergent contrarianism is to say bad things about the cradle, when it's spectacular. Zumg it doesn't fit Thief. Yeah, it's certainly at odds with all those random-ass levels from The Dark Project for example AMIRITE.

Apart from that there's the clocktower, the museum, the sunken city which are all good. The ghost ship is cool but short. The first real level is also not bad. The city hubs are boring when you have to go through them repeatedly and turn into a total clusterfuck later on when enforcers and Gamall take to the streets but also have a few fun quirks and secrets that are nice to stumble upon.

And finally, Thief 3 absolutely retains the general feel and atmosphere of the Thief series. It's a Thief game that suffers from consolitis, but a Thief game nonetheless, and that still makes it a good game despite its flaws. There is no way in which Thief 3 can be called "shit".

It is shit compared to previous two games and a mediocre one when standing alone, I can only assume that due nostalgia and shortage of similar games do you people have this game in this high regard. Maybe if I didnt play trough first two games just as I went and play this maybe I too would think more highly of it. Sure it has some cool levels but as said the problem is that almost all of them are way too short and easy. Just like the Cradle which is a good level with great atmosphere but again too short and easy. Atmosphere and story is in spirit of the previous games yet in pretty much everything else its a massive downgrade.

If you people enjoy this game fine enjoy it, I too have mediocre games that I enjoy playing but dont pretend its a good game because it isnt. Its a dumb down, clunky game with levels that are underwhelming due their small size and lack of challenge.

 

[DemonKing]

It's a Thief game that suffers from consolitis, but a Thief game nonetheless, and that still makes it a good game despite its flaws.

This.

There were obvious limitations placed on the game due to the need to get it to run on the consoles of the day (like every level being divided by a loading screen transition half-way through) but it was still a good game. I probably preferred it to Thief 2 even at least in terms of story and atmosphere.

 

[Darth Roxor]

nostalgia

kekeroni

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Infinitron (or whomever split the thread) Why are you this retarded?

My reply in this thread is a reply to a post, that's now in another thread. It also includes references to other posts that are now in a third thread.

And this split is done from a thread that already includes me having to chastise the mods for retarded moderation.

If you can't split threads properly, don't bother at all. Put it all back.

 

[Arryosha]

It's a good game. It's just that the downgrade from the greatest game of all time is maddening.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Given the idiotic constraints Ion Storm had to work with (Xbox release, borked lighting system inhereted from DXIW), it turned out to be an extremely competent game. Though I see it as a spin-off, not as a sequel to the LGS masterpieces.

 

[JarlFrank]

It has its flaws but it also has a bunch of cool levels. The widow's manor and the cradle are two - and if anything the real recently emergent contrarianism is to say bad things about the cradle, when it's spectacular. Zumg it doesn't fit Thief. Yeah, it's certainly at odds with all those random-ass levels from The Dark Project for example AMIRITE.

I have always shat on the Cradle...

... because I don't like horror games

 

[ciox]

There are way too many issues that add up with TDS, and it's just too much for me.

For one, sound and ambiance is always mentioned as a strong point of the Thief series, and that also takes a big drop in quality and originality with TDS.



Sounds like some random Hollywood sample CD.

 

[Abu Antar]

Thief 3 is not Deus Ex 2 bad, but it does not hold a candle next to Thief 1/2, and Deus Ex.

 

[NecroLord]

It's a good game. It's just that the downgrade from the greatest game of all time is maddening.

I agree. Just like Invisible War. How the hell do you manage being a sequel to one of the greatest games ever made? Invisible War had a tall order to fulfill.
Deadly Shadows, for all its failings, is still miles ahead of Thi4f.

 

[Multidirectional]

Deadly Shadows, for all its failings, is still miles ahead of Thi4f.

Yeah but Thi4f is shit even for a modern game. Dishonored is a fucking masterpiece compared to that shit.

 

[SlamDunk]

I just finished Thief 3 for the first time as well. Used Sneaky Upgrade with "Thief 3 Gold". I'm not new to the game since I played it back when it was released but got fed up with it a few missions before the ending.

I was a huge fan of Looking Glass and the first two Thiefs. Yeah, Thief 3 is not the best one gameplay wise and I'd say that it's a good game at best, but it has the best visual style of the three, and the best soundtrack, which I've been listening to from time to time throughout the years.

I am dreaming of a new Thief game that would be true to the spirit of the three games and look similar to the visuals of Thief 3. It would use real-time path-traced lighting and audio, as well as physically-based rendering. It would also use the latest and greatest non-player character artifical intelligence and animation technology. EDIT: Oh, and no loading screens or game pausing itself... ever... for maximum immersion factor.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

My biggest problem with Thief 3 is how it controls. This is the game that gave me a real grudge against first-person body awareness. They thought they could do it no problem and still have the ability to toggle between first and third person perspectives, but it just means that the first-person view is nothing but the third-person view with the camera glued to the head of Garrett's character model. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad but it controls like absolute shit in practice. Leaning especially is made completely useless by the new perspective compared to Thief 1 and 2, which were first-person games all the way. Sneaky Upgrade doesn't fix this, either.

 

[NecroLord]

My biggest problem with Thief 3 is how it controls. This is the game that gave me a real grudge against first-person body awareness. They thought they could do it no problem and still have the ability to toggle between first and third person perspectives, but it just means that the first-person view is nothing but the third-person view with the camera glued to the head of Garrett's character model. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad but it controls like absolute shit in practice. Leaning especially is made completely useless by the new perspective compared to Thief 1 and 2, which were first-person games all the way. Sneaky Upgrade doesn't fix this, either.

Yeah, why use leaning when you can switch to 3rd person and see the whole thing?
The removal of the Rope Arrows did mildly annoy me, but there are those gloves you can purchase instead.