Thief Gold Review | High IQ Stealth for Sneaky Boyz
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2024
- With EIDOS leaving the cold, unfeeling grasp of Square Enix, I figured it was a good time to make a review/analysis for Thief: The Dark Project. Please enjoy this look back at one of the all-time greats!
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00:00 - Introduction
2:40 - Premise/Narrative Style
9:28 - Presentation
12:50 - Gameplay
26:41 - Level By Level: Bafford's Manor
28:30 - Level By Level: Break from Cragscleft Prison
32:00 - Level By Level: Down in the Bonehoard
34:33 - Level By Level: Assassins
36:35 - Level By Level: Thieve's Guild
38:37 - Level By Level: The Sword
41:30 - Level By Level: The Haunted Cathedral
43:58 - Level By Level: The Mage Towers
47:13 - Level By Level: The Lost City
49:38 - Level By Level: Song of the Caverns
52:02 - Level By Level: Undercover
54:24 - Level By Level: Return to the Cathedral
57:35 - Level By Level: Escape
58:55 - Level By Level: Strange Bedfellows
1:01:28 - Level By Level: The Maw of Chaos
1:02:44 - Conclusion
IF I COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND STOP MYSELF FROM BEING OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE EMBRACER ACQUISITION THING I WOULD, OKAY?!
I am not up to datę. What happened now?
@@hurykles99 Embracer bought many thing, later on decided to can everyone worth talent and are now gonna squat on IPs like hoard bugs and do nothing with them.
@@hurykles99 They shut down Piranha Bytes along with a bunch of other studios
Aged like milk 😂
Damn, wish I'd decided to rewatch this video a few days ago so I could be like "SO HOW'D THAT EMBRACER THING WORK OUT FOR US?"
rip to people who like games
That's the problem we get with most games. One studio makes a masterpiece, another studio buys the rights to it, then ruins the entire game's future trying to reboot it with no idea why it originally worked.
M$ getting into video games with the XBOX started all that shit, EA helped.
Sounds like Bethesda with Fallout IP
That's the stock market to you, it can only devour but never creat
Most of these publishers think they can just name any old shit thief and pull in the cash.
@@PlasticCogLiquid oh palease - A) spelling MS that leads to mostly no one caring about what you say & B) dear anti-MS zealot, MS doing Xbox then or now is not 99% of that stuff happening - and thats easily proven just from wikipedia
In the intro to Constantine's mansion, Garrett's line "I guess if you're rich enough you can build any sort of mad-house to live in." is one of my favorite lines in a videogame. I still think of it when I see the latest example of the rich wasting their money on some shenanigan.
Gloomwood found a good way to make the light gem more immersive. Basically the protagonist's ring will glow when you're visible (and you can see the doctor's hand almost all the time on the screen)
THAT is awesome. Really looking forward to Gloomwood, one of the few games I'll break my "no early access" rule for.
God that "LOOK WHO CAME OUT OF THEIR DUNGEON!" joke made me unreasonably angry for a split second. Too relatable
When they want you to socialize and talk with them about things but you don't care about the things they like to do and you have enough self awareness to know they aren't interested in your Skies of Arcadia play through.
Bro the anxiety attack I just had when he said that literally made me cry because I thought I was back home and a teen again. I'd literally turn around and lock myself in the room when my mom said stuff like that.
For real though. Say this to your kids, and you don't deserve to be a parent. As an adult, I've came close to slapping someone for saying that to my niece and nephew who lost both parents and now stay with us.
It's such a shitty thing to say, and it's just casual mental abuse.
Best responses I've heard though:
"Look who needs to fuck off", "Look at how trash your parenting is.", "Yeah and I'd rather be in the dungeon than out here with you peasants."
Stay hydrated, "dungeon" kings and queens, you deserve better.
@@flashbackfrank8781 There is truth to what you're saying, but it should also be said to not be a NEET. Y'all do need to touch grass once in a while.
@@dudewheresmycar4203 says the homestuck fan
I've been recommended your channel yesterday, and I have to say I love your work. Between the production value, the thought out format and just your general energy and memery, your content is just a treat. Looking forward to more
Really appreciate that, got lots of fun stuff planned so I hope you enjoy 😁
No matter how many times I play Thief or try a newer stealth game, I'm always reminded of something fucking wild Thief did either before anyone else did, or that no one else has even attempted yet.
Learning about its door eavesdropping mechanic made my eyes light up.
Same with learning that the blood from a fight can be washed away by a water arrow
I also want to add that this video is fantastic! You've got a great writing, editing and overall presentation style down pat! Giving a sub because you deserve way more!
I swear, this channel came out of nowhere. Amazing content, just BAM! Shows up. Thanks for blessing us with your reviews and thoughts. I'm continually excited for your next videos.
I just found it yesterday myself, and yep, I agree. And as a longtime Thief fan, I'm amazed that I somehow missed this video all this time. I thought I had seen them all. And this may just be the best one.
Oh man... the praise of embracer group and positive future of thief did not age well.
The original Thief is my favorite game ever and was a complete blind buy back in fall 1998. I can still remember that first evening, playing it in the dark, getting to grips with its gameplay, enveloped in its atmosphere. It's one of those experiences I wish I could relive for the first time again. I subscribed to your channel after watching your 3DO RPG video and was ecstatic to see that you had a retrospective of the original Thief, and I absolutely loved this video as well. Great, great work! Really funny and informative!
Agreed. Back in 1998, I had read some reviews before I bought it, so I had an idea what it was about, but as I was primarily an action-FPS guy at the time, I bought it with some trepidation. Got it home and was up until 4:00am playing it, totally unaware that I needed to wake up for work in two hours. Thief got its hooks into me deep from the first time playing it, and it remains the most intense gaming experience I've ever had. I was nodding my head the entire running time of this video, nodding sagely at every observation, and going, "Yep...yep."
I never played the first game but I had the second game. Could never get into the second game so I never bothered to try the first game. I think part of the reason why I couldn't get into the second game was because I also had Deus Ex (They came with the purchase of a sound card) and that took all my attention. I feel like I should go back and give the first game a try and the second another chance.
2:21 *ohhhhh buddy I got bad news for you*
Just found this channel and I gotta say, for being this small, you're nailing it out of the park, like someone who has tens of thousands of subs and a couple of years on yt. Keep em coming, the formula is great.
Really appreciate that, I've learned from watching the best. Hope you enjoy future content!
I still play Thief to this day. No other stealth game tops it. And the soundtrack never gets tired.
fantastic i love these channels that deserves hundreds of thousands subscribers but haven't got picked up by the algorithm yet keep your head in the game you are doing the moves
I also always interpreted the Trickster's death differently. I thought the device was rigged to react aggressively with Pagan magic, such that the Trickster's own power was what killed him. You and nobody else has the power to defeat him, but you can outsmart him to use his power to undo himself.
👍 Agreed, it wasn't "explosives."
I thought it was the fact he was using a fake caused the ritual itself to kickback on him.
@@georgethompson1460 Pretty much, I don't remember the specifics but I'm very sure it's implied that the ritual backfires because of the fake, not because it's a bomb or magical device or anything.
I've been a Thief fan from day one. You did it justice. Well done Sir!
Jesus back in Highschool we played the hell out of this game. We even made a love action version of the game which was like Capture the Flag but only one team defended and if you got spotted or caught it devolved into real life hand to hand combat lol
would love to see more looking glass videos, they're one of the most influential studios that go largely unrecognized
Would love to do some more Thief/System Shock stuff! Thankfully Looking Glass has finally started getting the recognition they deserve, but I agree that they are all in all unsung heroes of PC gaming.
Sadly it was always a niche genre, and piracy was rife back then.
Still, with Thief 2 at the #1 spot, Eidos shutdown Looking Glass studios.
Agree it hasn't been equalled.
For some lvl's, a marker arrow (or chalk lol) would have been welcome.
I keep envisaging a VR remake made by a competent studio
@@stuartburns8657 Heresy. You WILL learn and love the maze.
To this day, the moss and water arrows are my favorite weapons in all of gaming. They brought SOOO much replayability into the games that it’s criminally underrated.
Deadly Shadows, MGS, Tenchu, Planet of the Apes (you weren’t hitting shit with that club, you had to sneak lol) were my initiations to Stealth; oh how the genre has fallen.
I hope everyone has a great weekend 🍻
edit: criminal -> criminally
Can honestly say this is the first time I've heard of a Planet of the Apes video game, never mind that it's got stealth elements?? I've got to try this.
@@Majuular it was on the PS1. It didn’t have stealth elements, really. Not deliberately, at least. It was more so “wait until the enemy has moved away to run past them while hugging the opposite side of the room enough times until you find a better weapon; then repeat timing the pass but instead adding a strike while the enemy is still unaware awarding no damage multiplier” kind of stealth lol
Love some Thief gold. I even like the caving. The Downwing Thieve's Guild is the only Thief level I got TRULLY lost in. I didn't know what to do.
I remember trying to create a map for Thieve's Guild on grid paper many years ago... somehow made everything even more confusing.
It made me quite the first time, but after the third I quite liked it
It's a terrible map, I actually got claustrophobic inside it, somehow! I skipped it altogether.
51:16
Dude you just turned Thief into John Wilkes Booth Simulator.
I found this channel in the strangest of ways. I was talking with a guy and I decided to check his playlists just out of curiosity of what kind of stuff he watched, and he had this in the middle of a music for the shower playlist. I was intrigued, and I couldn't be happier to have found this hidden gem.
Is he cute?
@@Ducking69 who?
@@sergio_gyg the guy you mentioned
Calling it now. This channel is going to absolutely explode! Loving the content Maj!
Hey, thanks Scoob. Relative to the 16 subscribers I had a month ago, it HAS exploded to me! Glad you're enjoying the vids 😎
@@Majuular Hahaha hell yeah man!
You are my new favorite channel. Your format is exactly how I like it. Feels very organized, only going off track when necessary but keeping to one subject, and the skits are quick and relevant or help regain my attention by shaking up the tone a bit and is a nice break after a big stretch of content. I will be watching all your videos and future videos.
these jokes never get old, I have watched this video about 5 times and they really never get old, pure gold.
Another awesome vid man. I still like the metal age more, but I can absolutely appreciate what TDP does
The Thieves' Guild was my favourite mission as a kid!
1:50 and that’s where it went down the drain lol. I’ve just resigned myself to the fact there will never be more games like the first Thief games.
Great review, I found your criminally underrated channel a couple of days ago and I'm loving it, keep up the good work. Man Thieves Guild kicked my ass when I was going for a full ghosting playthrough.
i really enjoy your vocabulary and tone of voice, informative, humorous and insightful. Would love to see more old school gaming coverage from you!
53:10 Random Fun Religious fact: The Upside Down Cross was actually originally used by the Christian church as a symbol. It comes from the story of St. Peter the Apostle who was executed by the Roman Emperor Nero. The story goes that he requested to be crucified upside down because he felt he wasn't worthy to die in the same way that Christ did.
As a result the symbol is known as Saint Peter's Cross or The Petrine Cross.
It is most often associated with the Papacy following the Catholic tradition that the pope is the succesor to Peter in the Church.
Your videos remind me of another small creator who is criminally underrated, Running Shine. Good shit my guy.
Thank you bro! Love Running Shine!
WE NEED A THIEF 2 RETROSPECTIVE!
this vidya was so fire
This game came out over 20 years ago and is one of the best stealth games. To this day the AI has not been topped by any other game.
Just the soundtrack alone is AMAZING!!! I rewatch walkthroughs all the time while working because the ambiance is amazing too...Garrett walking around and talking to you
Played a modded version at a friends house when I first played this game, and never knew in vanilla that broad head arrows couldn't break electric lights normally.
I've been playing a lot of Doom 2 WADs again lately, and this game is mentioned in the same circles in some areas online (Doom, Duke, Quake, and Thief).
I've been curious about this series for many years now, and this video has convinced me to finally play it.
Thank you for this!
Man, I really appreciate your toughtful effort for putting together this outstanding video. It'a much more like a deep dive documentary about Thief and this testifies the love you feel for this game. I madly love stealth games, it's hands down my favorite genre and it's a shame that today stealth is almost dead. I have been lucky. I never had a proper pc for gaming. I used to play on Sony consoles. Through many years I collected dozens of PC games via Steam, GOG and of course Epic. I played Thief Gold on Steam for the first time back in 2018. I remember that it was a very pleasing experience but over the following 5 years, I almost forgot everything. That's due because, mysteriously, the game didn't display any cutscene. A couple of days ago I finished this great title with mods on Normal. My God ! It was one of the most well crafted, atmosheric and intense gaming experience I had in years. Of course it has its shortcomings like a not so fleshed out tutorial, sometimes the platforming is not responsive as it should be and I definetly hated most part of Thieves'guild as it is too much convoluted in the sewers section. Thief is easily my most intense and visceral stealth game experience along with MGS3 and SC Chaos Theory. What a thrill, monkey taffer !
P. S. : I'm glad that I completed the game on Normal. So I'll do at least other two runs. Great and smart replay value
P.P.S : Good Lord, I also hated badly the parte when you have to get out of the Lost City. Nobody tells you how and where to use that f@cking lever.
P. P. P. S : When you mention platonic ideas, you are not showing Plato. It's Aristotle
I absolutely love that you gave RTTC an objective analysis, considering how important it is in the game and how much was put into its design.
Thanks for representing one of my top 10 games of all time. You're channel is super underrated and I hope it blows up!
yo thief videos are always cozy and this is no exception. Great work keep it up!!
AMD K6-2 350Mhz, Voodoo Banshee, 96Mb RAM. My first PC, 13 years old, poor Romanian kid. I have fallen in love with Thief. I started to get bald, I changed many girlfriends but I NEVER stopped loving Thief!
This guy is gonna be big some day
Thank you Vinicius, really appreciate that!
Damm I was so right
Bro, you've got quality stuff here. Keep it up man. You're going to blow up for sure. I wish you the best.
Yeah, your content is about to blow up btw. Really good stuff.
Killer vid, man. Let's hope we see more Thief (and Deus Ex as well)
Thanks mate, I'd love to cover Looking Glass's catalogue as well as Deus Ex. Stay tuned!
What a fantastic review for such fantastic games 💙
this was a great and well-constructed review and the Burrick solidarity was the icing on the cake
I love how almost every level recap starts with "I don't REALLY like this one, but," or "This is a personal least favorite," or "This one isn't GREAT, but," as he goes on to not have the dedicated section on soundtrack that he lied about having. He's a liar and he's a bad man.
nah jk love you boo, good video
That MIDI rendition of Cowboys from Hell lol
you did a great job with this. you perfectly covered everything that makes this game a timeless classic. I hope you eventually decide to make a Thief II video.
Just found this channel. Great work man. Subbed
I love Garrett's narrations. I still randomly pull a few up them up on RUclips to reminisce about the good ol days.
Those trippy rooms were wild. So cool!
Thanks for checking out my vids Jon, hope all's well!
@@Majuular thanks bro, honestly your videos are COMFY. Need to unwind after a long day? Majuular can help!
The "imagine their is some guy in your house" accompanied with the mugshot genuinely terrified me 😭
The flashbombs need to be pointed at the guards faces. They won't work from behind or with enemies withou heads... I think it's even explained in the manual. And yes, the Thief games came with an actual manual 👍
Aw man, that Embracer section didn't age well.
These games are considered classics for a reason. Incredible experience.
Great video, thank you and well done.
Cool review, but for some reason it left me with a craving for a crisp, delicious, and most importantly, invigorating Monster Energy. Fortunately they can be found at retailers everywhere, and at a price that won't break the bank!
Thanks, Monster Energy, and thank you, Majuular, for this wonderful review.
The reboot is a rough game for sure but I grew to love it. The traversal is so hideously done though, my god.
Excellent video review, my friend. One can never get too many Thief video content. It’s all we got.
Love the review. This makes me want to play Thief. I would love a Time Splitters review especially Future Perfect!
Found this server from your Gloomwood video. You got yourself a subscriber. Hope you cover the sequel.
Your bit with that sarcophagus dude's will just kicked a bark laugh out of me so violent that I needed to take a minute to collect myself 💀
10/10 would nearly seize again 👏👏👏
Harder levels also make the levels bigger. Like on the level where you have to get the heart stone and the soul stone and etc, you can't even reach stones that aren't in your objective list - the door to that area is gone.
A game I had so much fun playing, a game I had absolutely no regrets completing. Those guard steps and ambience are engrained into my memory
ngl u deserve more views keep up the good work!
this is some great video game writing right 'ere! And thanks for making it.
You just about nailed everything.
Have to say, I will NEVER get over the Pavlovian conditioning instilled in me by the sound of craymen. Pretty sure that sound effect is the only thing that I’m actually afraid of
I'm one of those people that actually likes what you don't like, yes including the last part of the game, I also think that Thief 2 is better imo. But if there's anything we can both agree on is that thief is a very influential masterpiece. Also scary as hell.
I'm always fascinated by how split opinions are on the Dark Project, ask people to rank their favorite levels and you'll get completely different answers. Agreed on Thief 2 by the way, I think it's a little bit better than the original (how do you beat First City Bank & Trust AND Life of the Party in the same game?)
I enjoy every detailed Review of Thief even if they have been done several times now - you did a great job and there were no wrong infos as far as I know, which happens quite often (or at least old time Taffers recognize - except maybe that the route of the Assassins is randomized and not glued to the difficulty level as far as I know) Thanks for that very positive but honest review. If you want to know more about Thief or hear people like Stephen Russell, Daniel Thron (Art/Cutscene Designer) interviewed, have a look at our Thief Podcast :)
I really appreciate the kind words, and will definitely throw on your podcast while working. Looks right up my alley!
@@Majuular thank you, looking forward to a Thief 2 review from you ;) for convenience - our podcast also available on podcast apps/spotify etc :) don't know if you are into Fanmissions - but if you are there are several authors as our guests.
In the horn of quintus part i climbed to tthe highest point and then dropped myself.
I did land in the water below, but the impact from there to the bottom and the speed at which i was traveling was so epic; it sent shocks throughout my body when Gareth made impact.
Man, that bit about Embracer Group has aged like spoiled milk. No offense to you, but I got a knot in my gut hearing that name and "good news" in the same sentence.
You are so correct.
👍 Nice! One tip to offer for Thief 1 AND 2: ALWAYS have the compass on-screen when possible, if you always know where north is, navigation is easier.
Imo it's always cool to hear more people talk about Thief. It's a dope ass series that I wish would get a proper revival one of these days lol.
Splintercell chaos theory was a stealth game that captured my heart. From the lightning, enemy ai awareness raising due to alert levels, floor clutter raising the amout of noise you produce. It was an amazing stealth experience for young me
I was a PC Gaming nerd in 1998 so I was there, on the frontlines of being bad at Thief.
What made these first two games so great was the modding community. There were well over 2000 levels created for these two games and a very large percentage of them were good to great quality. I set out to play as many of these as possible and I spent roughly a decade playing this game almost daily! Great great memories! They've never outdone those first two games.
Having to pick that lock before the zombie gets you reminds me of when I was a kid and using the bathroom at night in my uncles house. Actually the entire game reminds me of it
Although this game has been analyzed a lot, you do it in an original way. Great content, us old guys appreciate good Thief reviews!
Very few games stood the test of time for me and TDP is one of them.
I always loved the Lost City level. It has a great style and atmosphere, that I liked. My fav is Undercover ofcourse:)
I feel the fire in the fire tower makes sense. It was either conjured by the mages and/or mages used them for training to help tolerate the heat of their magic, used as a tool to envision it in their minds, ...or to char their skin so they are fearful of it or to help weaken enemy fire magic.
I sure agree that people need to know about Thief, so thanks for video
I played every Thief game pretty much as they came out. So I never had to worry about age any. Thief was my first stealth game and really nothing has matched it. For me, Thief 2 was the best. A lot of the issues you had here, were why Thief 1 loses out. The missions with lots of loot and sneaking around blackjacking people were great. But those later levels, the undead, monkey guys and dinosaurs were just not very fun. Ironically, until this video some 20+ years after I first played, I had no idea you could knock out the dinosaurs. Even in thief 2 I still preferred dealing with human guards and servants than the machines.
It is as shame they really never improved on the style, though, Thief 3 and 4 were alright but they often missed that original atmosphere, that the first 2 had. Lock picking became a mini game, and by 4 it makes you almost pick a style, do you ghost, go opportunist or chaos...when really I just wanted to do the best I can to get out alive, and not have to feel like I was graded at then end. Actually moving through the city was kind of cool at first, but then it felt more like a progression system, where you had to find all the things in the city, instead of just focusing on the Missions that usually had more challenge and depth to them.
Still, to to this day, I have not played a stealth game that matched the level of fun of the first 2 Thief games, just being able to steal things without killing, but instead systematically taking out guards silently and trying not to get noticed.
Just wanted to add, in your arrow rankings you didn't mention the water arrows 'finest' bonus quality, utilising fonts of holy water to turn them into one-hit-killers on the undead.
This is good content. I love it.
This channel is a hidden gem
I got so bored with modern games. A some point it felt like a chore to choose a game for evening entertainment. At some point I thought that video games are boring in general, but suddenly Thief came to my mind. And then felt that sweet, sweet dopamine come back to me
You've got some deliciously golden rants dude, keep those coming! (Seinfeld?! Lol!)
What an underrated channel. A great essay video from a like-minded Thief enthusiast on why the game is so freaking awesome. Have my sub man.
So I did play the original The Dark Project in 1998 (after loving and replaying the Bafford's Manor demo several times). The Haunted Cathedral was definitely my stopping block level. I still don't like that level very much (even though I do like the end of it when you finally get to the Cathedral and meet the Eye.) Off hand I don't even remember if I finished the game before Gold came out or not. I did eventually power through that level a bit later with a walkthrough though, it's just too hard to navigate and the treasure is *waaay* too randomly spread out.
I agree, it's a great level for atmosphere but I do feel exhausted by the time I get through it.
Fancy French waiter with garlic knots.
Yeah and Gordon Ramsey is demonstrating a technique "Now what gives you that wonderful contrast in heat between the inside and outside and helps get that great rubbery texture is if you cook it in the microwave.
Your video made me wonder if you know about "The Dark Mod"? I learned about it recently myself, it's mostly thief engine with an editor and a small (big and I dont know yet?) community, the levels and even games made with it are great and all work with the Thief formula! My best Thief-like experience after the 3 main games.
20:47 I subbed like 30 seconds before that joke and it feels like dodging a bullet
I would love to see a Metal Age retrospective. I love the late-game levels in Dark Project, but everything after Angelwatch in Thief 2 makes me want to cry, even though I've probably played all the levels up to there more often than I've played all of Dark Project. Would be interested to hear a level breakdown of Thief 2.
Great video! Now I'm going to go resurrect my GoG account and install Thief Gold. 😁
Thank you :)
I'm planning on doing a Metal Age retrospective at some point this year! Got a few projects I'm getting out of the way first, but I've been craving some more Thief antics.
@@Majuular Subscribed so I don't miss it!
30:00 heck yeah, which is why the cemetery level of Ocarina is so creepy and memorable even as an adult.
Thief 1 & 2 have yet to be beaten in terms of immersive stealth and sound design, unfortunately. The lack of hand-holding and emergent gameplay is very refreshing. A must-play, especially with TFix and T2Fix with the HD packs.
I recommend playing with the brightness/gamma set to low so darkness is pitch black, It will make the levels more readable and also force you to rely on sound, it is immersive as hell also.
I recommend not saving too regularly and rolling with the punches if you are detected as there is rarely a fail state.
2:15 ohh this one aged like clotted cream my dude, to have been so blissfully ignorant
Man that comment on Embracer Group sure aged well.