Thief: Deadly Shadows

I wanted to like Thief III, I really did. But nothing really kept me there except the story, which I could just look up a video on.

To put it simply, Thief III is tedious without mods, too many technical issues bugs, and limitations due to the xbox port. And even with mods, it just doesn't have much to offer sadly.
The game is just so much restrictive than the previous games, and I almost quit since even with mods, your garett bugs out in a glitched state if the game fails to mantle, which happened just about... 187 times.

The city hub to explore feels like a wasted potential, it's like DE:Invisible war. Due to pushing graphics and Xbox, they had to cut the level sizes. Which detracts a lot from the game, there a few side quests in the city, but most are very easy and boring fetch quests, really you just walk to a canal and take a purse from it, nothing else in the way. And sneaking past the citywatch every time you enter and reenter a district is... just annoying, it's not too hard but makes exploring more of a chore than it already is. There isn't much to discover in the city either, the game often tells you how little there is. In audale, which is described as a rich district with many risky but rich places to break into, you can find a tunnel that leads to a museum, but oops, that's actually a main quest for later, so here's an invisible wall to remind you that the city is just a walking simulator.

So what about missions, there are some that are alright. But most of them just don't hit. Clocktower and Keeper compound had massive potential for fun big places with and be very unique, but instead they are all very repetetive and boring.
This game likes to create new enemies (lizardmen, giant rants in sunked citadel, green monsters in the pagan caves, giant stone golen in the witch den) and have them appear once and never again. Comparing to undead and robots from Thief 1/2 these barely offer anything to spice up the same repeating sneaking past the same guards, it gets boring. Enemies with torches we're also a cool idea, but they appear in 3 levels... out of 10 and the city which you must spent so much time on.

I want to cut this game some sluck, it's obviously trying. And I did enjoy a lot of things about it, the cradle obviously, the faction system may have very cheap and easy ways to increase reputation, but it's something.
Zombies are better made than in original, instead of having to kite them to a corner to kill them and never go past them or they wake up, you can still do that, or use a better supply of holy water or use fire arrows when they're downed. Which are now more viable due to not being so resource expensive. Or uhh... I guess finding maps for levels elsewhere is cool, though the maps don't show your position unlike other games so they're not very usefull.

Overall it could have been a good game, but with all the technical issues, unexplored ideas, botched ideas, you're not missing out on much by only looking up the lore and not playing it

Leaving a positive review because I am appalled at the number of people not knowing how to download a very simple mod to get the game working on modern Windows + hardware etc. I still prefer Thief 1 +2. I can understand criticisms of the maps being way more cramped (albeit still good) than Thief 1 + 2 but Thief 3 is fine both as a game in its own right and for the series. If anything my main problem is related to Unreal Engine 2 + Havok engine weirdness but thankfully the game was designed around not doing the most annoying things and occasional pixel hunts that are funny (if playing on the hardest difficulty) because some tips will say something like "go to Top Floor for X loot" but the TOP FLOOR ends up being... below the second floor??? (this weirdness was only matched by Thief 1's maps, like when Garrett annotates "The Sword" map with "Outside?"). It's a great game with a slightly corny angle on the Keeper faction. I love the lighting and shadows, incredibly cozy, some of the best delivered voice lines. Soundtrack slightly took a step back. Enemy AI behaviour is also undoubtedly more dynamic.

This game does have a learning curve. But it is not hard to get through *wink wink* *snicker* Anyway, Thief: Deadly Shadows is a game that focuses extremely heavily on stealth. If you are not so inclined, it is entirely possible one might fail every mission. Patience and a watchful eye are key with this particular title. There will be items that will be missed by those that do not investigate every corner cast in shadow, or search every barrel in the storehouse.

Items stolen by players in Thief: Deadly Shadows can be sold to a fence. Multiple fences exist within the walls of the city. But players will find only one available per district. With no weight restrictions to speak of, a player can steal to their heart's content. Depending on the situation, one may have to pick a lock to acquire the object of their desire. Fear not, however, as these lock are a temporary stop. They aren't hard to pick, just time consuming.

Thief: Deadly Shadows is not hard once a player gets the hang of things. I'd venture to say the most difficult part is remembering where the fence is in each district. While adventuring through the city, be mindful of the light and keep to the shadow. It's certainly a dated game and it is a product of its time. The controls are wonky as hell, but don't let that stop you from enjoying a console classic from the OG Xbox.

This is quake without guns. Its all about stealth and to be smart to use your resources. The graphics is very atmosperic. Shadows and speak from guards makes you jumpy. Only wish that the mission goals would pop up in real time when something is changed during play time...

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think l am a ninja!

With the sneaky update patch it still is a great game.
Plus: Great atmosphere, story. Lots of stuff to do and discover.

Minus: Somewhat janky controls, some crashes during gameplay

Facing the same problem as many others, in the tutorial trying to open the door and it is not working... I played this games when it was released 20 years ago and thought, wow nice, under 1€, lets play it again but after 15min in the tutorial I got stuck... Anyone else faced this issue and fixed it?

Don't bother, there's no official patch to get it working, and there's no workaround with running compatibility troubleshooter, unless you are running it in an old OS.

Great Taffer game! :D "It is not an easy thing to see a Keeper, especially one who does not wish to be seen."

great with mods and custom missions

experiment with the systems and the game is hella fun (in a different way to the 1st 2)
unlocking a cell and baiting a guard inside only to trap a zombie with him or throwing bricks as a form of distraction; leading a guard to slip on an oil flask straight into a furnace is some of the best fun you can have and I will not forget this game for a long time

I cant get passed the training part because i cant get the lock pick I am so frustrated with it

With the right patches

The Thief franchise is often underestimated, with Thief: Deadly Shadows standing out as the finest installment in the series. I recommend experiencing all the games, as they each offer enjoyable gameplay. However, if you plan to play this title, it's essential to research how to ensure it runs smoothly on your computer. Many of these games, which are over two decades old, may encounter compatibility issues with modern systems.

In this game, you assume the role of Garrett, the master thief. Elusive and never apprehended, Garrett is unparalleled in his craft. He can evade any guard, unlock any door, and infiltrate the most securely protected homes. Operating in the dark and treacherous City, he steals from the affluent to enrich himself, navigating a world rife with crime and corruption, where the wealthy exploit the less fortunate, and magic and machinery exist in a delicate balance. Garrett is a weary and cynical character, embodying the essence of the original Thief trilogy.

This installment distinguishes itself from its predecessors primarily through the use of a more advanced engine, which enhances lighting and shadow effects. Visually, it surpasses earlier titles, but as always, where there is light, shadows follow. The gameplay is generally satisfactory, though I occasionally experienced issues with "floating," which occurs when jumping frequently causes physics glitches. While these can be resolved in-game, they remain a minor annoyance. Additionally, I noticed a few areas where the level designers seemed inexperienced with the new engine, resulting in missing textures or glitchy geometry. However, most players are likely to overlook these imperfections.

From a gameplay perspective, it is evident that this game was designed with consoles in mind, reflecting the classic console era of the 2000s. While it remains playable with a keyboard and mouse, those accustomed to the earlier titles may need some time to adjust. On the positive side, mechanics such as sneaking and stealthily approaching enemies have been improved. A significant change from previous games is the semi-open world design, which offers a bit more freedom of exploration.

packed with errors. unplayable. can´t touch this, can´t touch that, can´t open this, can´t do that. i got stuck for half an hour on tutorial trying to open a door and as i continued it was obious that evenctually i´d get an unopenable , door, an inmovibl object.

Thief Series are the best!!! 1 and 2 are my favourite of course! All time classics! 3 and 4 are not great but I wanted to have entire collection. Purchasing them from STEAM seemed a good idea, but 3 has a lot of bugs... 1-2 are not with HD textures... and I had to customise them... these 20 y.o. games yet nobody did the needful to make them playable. This particular episode "deadly shadows" stucks, crashes and even have bugs that Garret is not able to move properly... you have to save/load each time to debug... I don't mind paying for the games, but when I do pay I expect the team to remove some of the bugs and make my experience better!

I CANT PICKLOCK THE DOOR ON THE FRIST MISSION

I just finished the game and here's my review of Thief: Deadly Shadows. I'll rant about this game without cursing. This game was awful for me to play. Since the game mechanics in their original state have a mind of their own whether or not they want to work. There are game mechanics you need to use to beat levels in this game. The number of hours I played in this game showed how much I struggled to play it. I hate the fact when you start a mission the game doesn't even restore all your health which is cheap right there. The game doesn't show where you are directly in the minimap which is stupid since the old Theif games while I had trouble with we're able to show where you are directly in the map. I know it's a stealth game, but I liked this one. If you're going to play this game patch the game since it will make the experience much better compared to mine. I give this game a 7 out of 10 because of the version I played on. I'm never playing this game ever again.

The pinnacle of the original classic Thief trilogy.
This game differs from its predecessors. Mainly because it uses a newer engine which enables better light's and shadows.
Compared to the older games this games looks way nicer but as always, where's light, there's also shadow.
The gameplay feels alright but I often encountered problems with "floating" which happens to trigger when I jump too often and when the ingame physics glitches out. It can be fixed ingame but it's an annoyance still. Also in some locations you can see that the level creators still were "new" to this engine. I found 3 locations where textures were missing or the level geometry left a glitchy void.
But I think most people won't even notice those, so they're neglectable.

Gameplay wise one notices that this game was created with consoles in mind, it oozes the classic 2000's console era. It's still well playable with KB/M but if you're used to the older games it takes you some time to get used to. Other things like sneaking and crawling up behind foes works better, though.
One major difference compared to the older games, is the semi-open world (well, more like a hub-design).
While being nice to have a little more freedom, it'll grow old on you really fast. Also the small "sidequests" that you can do in the city are merely a small "bonus". I wouldn't have minded if they stuck to the old formula where you just play one mission after another but okay, it didn't really bother me.

Storywise I'd say the game delivered. Sure, it's not top-notch but it includes stuff from the older games and this is really cool.

Well well...
one last thing... this game is really old and I'd suggest playing it with fan patches (look for Sneaky upgrade).
It'll smoothen out the whole experience and gives the player lots of options to tweak stuff like AI.

It's time for Thief 5 ^^

The gameplay of Deadly Shadows doesn't really ever reach the heights of the first two games, but it's still a fun time and worth playing as a Thief fan. To start with the flaws, the movement is pretty janky as everyone says. It's kinda buggy too, particularly with jumping and climbing up ledges. You get used to it fairly quickly, but it's really jarring coming off of the buttery smooth controls of Thief 1 and 2. I think the game would probably be better off without third person too. It's kinda cool to see Garrett, but it just doesn't add much to the experience and also cheapens leaning around corners when you can just switch camera. As for other gameplay aspects, you can feel that Deadly Shadows was held back by being released on Xbox because of how every area has to be split up into zones. Even added together, the zones are just not that big. It's most disappointing with the City streets, which are really small. The game feels a bit easier than the first two as a result, compounded by never really being at risk of running out of money and ammo since those persist between missions due to City exploration.
However, getting past the numerous flaws that came with being made by a different studio on a new engine for both PC and Xbox, I still found Deadly Shadows a pretty fun and memorable experience. I don't think the gameplay ever reaches the same deep thrills as The Dark Project or The Metal Age, but it still has that same Thief feeling. It's always fun to sneak around guards and get as many valuables as possible. The tools are all still fun to use too. I love the new use of moss arrows in particular if you shoot someone with them. Atmosphere is still fantastic, aided by the higher fidelity visuals and sound. There's the one everybody talks about for good reason, but my favorite has to be Moira's Overlook Mansion. It's just brimming with atmosphere and emotion and has a great soundtrack. Every mission has a distinct feel that sets it apart and sticks with you.
The story is great too. I think it's a little rocky which makes me still prefer Thief 2's, but the story of Deadly Shadows is pretty intriguing and exciting all around once it really kicks off. Learning more about the Keepers after learning so much about the Pagans and Hammers is fun, and there's a lot of interesting mysteries and new lore throughout the game. It all culminates in a really satisfying end to the trilogy and Garrett's character arc. I really love the final note, and while it's open enough to allow a Thief 4 to happen, I'm perfectly satisfied with the series ending there.
Overall, while Deadly Shadows might be easily the weakest and most flawed of the trilogy, I still found it incredibly memorable and a great end to Thief trilogy. Good game.

welcome back kevin macleod

This game takes me waaay back. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and this game gives me an overdose.

BEST ..Felling Nostlagic

Meh.

This is supposed to be Thief 3, but was made by a new studio and made it's debut originally on the XBox. Unfortunately, as much as I love Thief 1 & 2 on the dark engine, this Thief is at least slightly worse in almost every way compared to the originals (minus the updated graphics). I still love the game, but I just don't come back to it like I do Thief 1 & 2, it may be that I'm just unshakably faithful to the Thief series that I'm not THAT harsh on it. That said, the controls, story and game-play are just OKAY. The camera is particularly bad though, as it is both 1st AND 3rd person, and the controls and environment were made for neither. (Get the Sneaky Upgrade, it'll help.) Everything else is still pretty good, especially The Cradle mission, peak Thief. If you get this game on sale, it's still a steal or a deal (pun intended).

I really tried to love this game, but it was impossible, at least for me.

Characters often get stuck in walls and doors because the spaces are too narrow. The settings are very simple and repetitive as are colors and textures. Many of the game's limitations are due to the console's hardware limitations, but the overall result is disappointing. I mean, this game was released just a few months before Half-Life 2, so that's no excuse for such a poor implementation.

The unofficial patch called The Sneaky Update limits these issues, but not entirely.

EPIC! A nostalgic game I grew up watching my Dad play, the narrative is incredible. Can't say enough how much I love this game.

This isn't a horrid game, it's just not for me. This is worth it if you wanna hit up all Thief games to completion but don't get repulsed by the engine like I have.
Coming off of Thief 1 and 2, I'll pass on this one -- I've already completed an Ion Storm xbox jankification via Invisible War, and although this is less of a butchering than that, I still just could not get into it. If it were a few years earlier I probably would've just sucked it up and completed it anyway. I do understand that LGS went under, and a lot of employees were relocated to texas to help make this game. The engine feels like liquid ass coming off of TFix 1-2. Yes, the sneaky upgrade does help a lot with this game, and you can numerically tailor some aspects about it. There's a timeline where I could've finished this game, but I really don't think I would've enjoyed most of it besides just finding out what happens next -- which I have read what happens anyway. It did seem like it had a cooler story than usual.

It's unfortunate that I couldn't get T2x working for me, but thankfully I still have The Black Parade for more classic thief. Have not heard good things about the reboot, but I'll at least give it a try like I did for this game.

Well I finally got around to finishing this game after years and years and years, it crashes a lot, the open source patch for the game helps a TON, you should absolutely play this if you like games like dishonoured or any games with sneaky elements, the game is very much a product of its time but this gives it a certain sense of charm and atmosphere, I feel ive done the game some justice by finally playing through to the end! Good story, murky atmosphere and just a good fun game really!
Not much in the way of help guides so some stuff i really had to figure out on my own which was a good challenge!
(the patch is essential, there are still random crashes but much less so with the unofficial patch so be sure to hit F10 a lot to auto save!)

My Favorite All Time Genre Stealth Games

8/10

Reviewing every game I've played in my Steam Library. Game 27

I hated this game upon release but over time I've managed to grow my appreciation for it.

I loved Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age this changed a bunch of well loved mechanics from the prior games and it just took me years to get over my over hyped expectations for this game.

Ultimately my own hype made this a disappointment for me, the city was small and the levels were split into loading zones and they changed Garrett's weapons and items (mainly the removal of the sword).

Now I can see how it was visually and technically a great game (for its time), obviously its extremely dated and some mods are needed to get widescreen and better graphics, the story finally hooked me for a while and I've enjoyed the game.

There are lots of different ways to traverse the levels and the objectives and level design (although not really open like the first two games) was still well put together.

There is also a really fun play-style called 'ghosting' (not the "official" type of ghosting where you literally touch nothing, no doors, lights etc) where you rapidly move around the levels with NPC's just barely getting a glimpse of you.

They become alerted/suspicious and probably would swear they saw something, but by the time they come to investigate you're long gone and have only left a door open, stuff missing and the lights out.

I've not finished it yet and perhaps I will find the inspiration to complete it one day.

Reccomended

P.S I have many hours more outside steam.

If you do not have nostalgia for this game, you will not like it.

i blackjacking innocent townsfolk 👍 gg 👍

Thief 1 and 2 are amazing games, really underrated too so going into Deadly Shadows i was positive, though left underwhelmed.

It's a pretty underwhelming and incredibly janky experience, it's filled with unresponsive controls, strange hitboxs, getting stuck on objects, for some reason it has third person which makes the controls/camera janky, the levels have loading zones which really disconnects the immersive experience, tutorial is really hand holding which doesn't fit the style of the Thief series etc the engine just feels unpolished and unfinished.

Sneaky Upgrade Mod makes the game playable which i appreciate, sadly i don't feel it's enough to save the game but i do feel the creator deserves all the credit for making the game atleast playable as without it then it's an even worse experience.

Broken without further work, I.E downloading patches. Controllers "work" in that you can use the sticks, nothing else, again you must go download patches.

So...No i don't recommend this at all.

Does steam even bother to check if games work before they host them? Can i post a broken game for sale and then hide behind steam when the lynch mob comes?

The developers responsible for creating and approving the movement system should never be allowed to as much as look at a video game again. It's the most embarassing movement system I have ever seen anywhere. QWOP and Getting Over It are at least intentionally trying to be a pain in the ass.

I was feeling nostalgic for the Thief games and have been slowly replaying the whole trilogy.

I actually really enjoyed Thief Gold and Thief 2 when I replayed them. I could see the flaws and jank in a product that was really showing it's age, but I could also see the creativity and passion and fun.

Deadly Shadows on the other hand is not only janky as heck, but also honestly pretty buggy and awful, with really stiff controls and at least, in my instance, a lot of physics and clipping glitches. It was so terrible as to be nearly unplayable. Can not recommend.

boring

Guys I have worked out a way around the lock picking bug, all you have to do is press the "print screen" button, along with the "e" button or whatever button you use to interact. This seems to work on a lot of old games for some reason, but it's the "print screen" button as well as the interact button to get the lock picking wheel to appear.

Worth a play, but honestly worse than 1 and 2 in pretty much every way. The hub world and town guard makes me want to blow my brains out, can't believe nobody has made a mod to remove town guard from the game.

My fav thief game

peak

Not nearly as good as the first 2 games but still an extremely enjoyable experience.
"Sneaky Upgrade" fan made patch is practically a requirement though but it's simple to install.

Unbelievably janky.
But not the good, enjoyable kind of janky.

Not very enjoyable, even with the Sneaky upgrade.

What a way to kill a series. Add horrible controls, movement TIED to animation, remove mechanics, dumb down kept ones, worse maps, worse difficulty, janky physics, and for what? for a few extra polygons? This is like demo version of the previous games with better graphics which is a shame because it still has the vibes of a Thief game.

The first two are much better (yes, even in 2024 stop crying about the pre-historic graphics you baby), but this is unfortunately probably the last true thief game we will get. The reboot in 2016 was an abomination that should've been taken behind the chemical sheds and disposed of. Do yourself a favor and play the first two on GOG with the Tfix patches (just google required thief Gold / 2 mods) and install. After those try the Black Parade Mod and experience some of the best immersive sim levels I've ever seen in a video game and in a lot of ways blows the original levels out of the water. They are extremley large tho so you deff do want to start with the 2 original games first, or at least the first one before jumping in. Then try this game. You really don't want to enter here imo. Still it's a great stealth game, just not a great thief game.

Playing Thief: Deadly Shadows after the first two games brought a mix of fresh and familiar elements. The developers managed to preserve the core spirit, with its dark atmosphere, eerie soundscapes, and suspenseful vibe, all amplified by the new engine. The graphics update was refreshing, even if the engine came with some occasional glitches.

However, this third installment marked the first shift toward artificially increasing difficulty—a departure from the natural challenge found in the earlier games. Unlike the first two titles, which avoided making NPCs overly sensitive and detection mechanics unnecessarily punishing, Deadly Shadows amps up these elements in ways that feel contrived. Where previous games focused on skillful stealth and expanding mission objectives to challenge players, this installment introduces obstacles that can feel less rewarding.

The addition of factions and relationship-building mechanics also felt unnecessary and somewhat out of place. Garrett has always been a lone wolf with a personal code, forming alliances only when situationally advantageous. By pushing these faction elements, the game strays from his established, independent character and muddies the lone-wolf persona that made him such an iconic figure.

The attempt to broaden the game’s world by letting players explore the streets was innovative for its time, but in 2024, this feature doesn’t hold up as well. The open-world feel can get repetitive, detracting from the focused tension that made the earlier games unforgettable.

Despite these missteps, Deadly Shadows stands out favorably in 2024’s gaming landscape, which is rife with shallow characters and formulaic narratives aimed at a non-existent “modern” audience. In comparison, Thief: Deadly Shadows is refreshing, with a rich, dark fantasy world that respects the player’s intelligence and tries to stay true to the source. Even with its flaws, it offers a much-needed escape from today’s homogenized, watered-down offerings and remains a worthy installment in the Thief series.

I wanted to try this game, but got stuck on tutorial because lockpicking is bugged and nothing happens. As I was trying to get a solution on the internet, I got fed up and couldn't bother to try anymore. If they don't bother to make the port playable, why should I bother doing it myself? This is not even worth a dollar.

I remember when I first tried it right after release, when I saw the highlighted footsteps as part of a tutorial on the map, the world fell for me. I was a bitter little monster about it and I hated it so I uninstalled. Then years passed (a decade I think) and I tried it again, and realized how stupid I was back then. It's a really good continuation of the Thief series, and the last one too. Enjoyed playing it and would reccomend it to anyone who plays stealth games and isn't after the latest graphics and mechanics. GG