LADYDRAGON.COM - THIEF: THE DARK PROJECT

Swimming through the titles of first person shooters to find the one right for you has gotten harder as time progresses. With the coming of Christmas this year, things have not gotten any better. From the cheesy clones to the revolutionary new concepts, its hard to tell which from which. So far the best of the year would have to be Half Life and Heretic II. But there's another game worthy of every gamers attention. A game previously hidden in the shadows of big titles like Half Life. Emerging from the shadows, we find a game that is truly unique. A game that emphasizes the use of stealth, rather than brute force. If you were to play this game like any other FPS, you'll end up dead faster than it took you to load the level. So instead of taking out your sword and picking fights with several guards, you'll have to rely more on stealthy attacks from the shadows. Hiding behind a corner, waiting in darkness for your unsuspecting victim to round the corner, only to be knocked cold from a blow to the back of the head from your trusty blackjack. Then to to have his body carried off into the shadows where his buddies wont find him. Thief, while not being the most intense of first person shooters, is perhaps one of the most immersive games on the market. This is the type of game that will make you turn down the lights, and crank up the sound. You'll most likely need some Windex for those times when you find your nose pressed against the screen, trying to see your way through the darkness. As stated before, Thief relies on stealthy attacks, and preferably clean corpses (clean from blood). For a simple splatter of blood on the wall, or a cry from a fallen guard is enough to attract attention from other nearby guards. Usually its best to leave guards alone, and just try to slip past them, but for those times when there's no other way, you'll have several ways of taking him out. Your first and least favorable option is to use your sword, which is noisy, messy, and just plain unstealthy. Consider this weapon a last line of defense. Your second and most preferable option is to use your blackjack. Waiting in darkness for an unsuspecting victim to pass by, or, if your quiet, you can sneak up behind him and knock him cold. Your third option is to use your bow and assortment of arrows. The bow is perhaps the most versatile of all your weapons. It can be used in defense, offense and even to help you keep stealthy and unknown to your foes.	For example, if you've just slain a guard with your sword and you've splattered blood all over the floor or walls, you can wash it clean with a water arrow. Also, to remain unseen, you can use water arrows to put out open flame torch lights. I found the water arrow to be even more valuable than the standard broadhead arrow. Other arrows include the noisemaker arrow, used to distract enemies so you can slip by, and the moss arrow. The moss arrow, on impact explodes into a cloud of moss dust, which quietly blankets the floor. This is best used on loud surfaces to cut down movement noise, such as when walking on metal walkways or hard, uncarpeted floors. Since you'll be spending most of your time hidden in the shadows, you'll often have to rely of other means of detection. Hiding in the shadows works with ways... You remain unseen by enemies, but also, quite often you cant see much yourself. So you'll have to rely on sound to detect and localize your targets. Thief has some of best, most realistic sounds I've heard while playing a game. Everything you do, and every surface you walk on, has its own unique sound. Sounds are just as important as sight in Thief. If you are hidden in the shadows, but make too much noise, you might attract unwanted attention. You'll have you listen to yourself, while also listening for the footsteps, grumbles and humming of enemy guards. My only complaint with Thief is the dated graphics engine. While not being bad at all, it cant compare with that of Unreal or even Quake2. The models look kind of blocky, though the textures and animations are excellent. My only other niche with Thief is the occasional 'less than intelligent' acts of enemies. But most of the time they act surprisingly realistic.one last thing that bothered me at first was the fact that Thief is single player only..... That's right, no multiplayer.. Now, before you go an get upset, think about it. In a game like Thief, how exactly would you play multiplayer? The whole idea is to not be seen. It would defeat the entire purpose of the game. As an overview, Thief is a great game, offering new elements to the tired old genre of mindless first person shooters. Very immersive, fun, very playable and innovative in design. So whether you have to run, jump, swim or steal (don't steal unless you want a free ride in the back of a police cruser). Go out and get this game. You wont regret it.	Company Looking Glass www.lglass.com Category First Person Shooter NOTES Originality:90% Gameplay: 90% Interest: 90% Control: 92% Graphics: 88% Sound: 90% TOTAL: 90% Requirements Operating System Windows 95/98 Processor 166 MHz Pentium Memory 32 MB RAM Hard Drive 250 MB Sound Card Direct X compatible Video 3d Accelerator DEMO

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