A rather disappointing follow up. The game was sadly dumbed down for the xbox crowd. Still, it had a few good qualities.

Sweet. Like theif 1 and 2, really good.

It's a great basic engine, and I always had heaps of fun running around the city robbing people and places, but about a quarter way through the plotline goes pants-on-head stupid and the game suffers for it. I wanted the game to be like the first two or three levels, but once you've robbed the Hammerite cathedral the game apparently feels the need to include strange monsters and the like, none of whom respond well to a whack on the back of the head. It would have been one of my very favorite games - and is in my imagination, regardless - but, sheesh... The game starts off as nothing short of revolutionary, but unfortunately goes downhill fast as soon as the zombies pop up.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Thief: Deadly Shadows is truly the weakest game in the series, partially due to it being produced for the XBox. The levels are small, and the mini-maps are linked by this unexplained purple gas to connect them. Thus, you don't go through any of the city gates, but actually go around them through the purple gas. Other characters don't travel through the purple gas. As a result of the small levels, I found the cities somewhat boring. Further, some of the fun features of previous Thief games were removed (i.e. rope arrows) and were replaced with a wall-climbing ability, but it just wasn't as interesting. They really missed out on the opportunity to create a much more complex map (utilizing the "Thieves' highway" of the rooftops. Travel through water and flooded areas - once an interesting puzzle - has been disallowed. If you accidentally fall into water, you sink like a rock. No swimming, as in past games! A voice comes through and says you've been captured and taken to prison, which is fun to escape from -- once.

Going through the city and picking pockets is an interesting diversion for a while, but having to sell your stuff at a fence can get tedious.

You can befriend the Pagans and the Hammerites by doing things for them to increase your friendliness ranking. (Okay, that could be interesting... but...) But this just prevents them from attacking you later, and possibly defending you, and if you steal from them, your status goes down. Whether the faction noticed you stealing or not, they still lose respect for you. Also, the favors you do for them are pretty odd. Pagans, for example, like you to shoot moss arrows at green cornerstones to increase your status with them. Hammerites like you to shoot at dog-sized bugs which explode when you shoot them. (Huh?) To make matters worse, I encountered a few annoying bugs. Occasionally, the protagonist would get stuck in a jump and not descend until I exited the level. Occasionally, you could lean just right an look through an object to the horizon. Expect a few little screwball errors like this.

The storyline, as opposed to Thief: The Dark Project, was lacking as well. You don't want to think about it too hard. The villain of the story uses inconsistent resources throughout the story, as if the level designers did not consult with each other when designing the characters or levels. So sloppy all around.

So, yes, Thief 3 is a little disappointing, but possibly worth playing if you can get it cheaply and keep your expectations low. The game was obviously rushed to market, and could really have used another month or two of play-testing.… Expand

AWESOME game. Lots of fun. Couple glitches that need some attention, but this is a truly Immserisve, and best of all entertaining game. I cant believe i am saying this considering that i HATED the game, Deus Ex invisible war which was a console piece of crap and considering that Deadly Shadows has a similar engine, and similar physics...i had feared it might take the same route. Fortunately not! It's WAY longer than invisible war, and every moment is filled with tension and crafty joy. BUY IT!… Expand

Wow Ion Storm really outdid themselves with this game! I'm sorry to hear they had to lay off people!

This is not a PC game. Good example of a game that is made especially for consoles and after it to PC. Horribly small levels, crashes, horribly bugging and very low resolution graphics, AI is very limited and stucks into corners and even archers run very next to you and after that they start shooting. I loved Thief 2 and especially Thief 1. But this 3rd Thief... it has some of the atmosphere as older Thiefs had, but still it looks, feels, smells and sounds like a crappy console port. Sorry, no bonus!… Expand

Outstanding.

Speechless...

Best game on steam so far - until thief 1 or 2 comes out. Do yourself a favour and play a different computer game for once...this one!

The athmosphere in this game is absolutely incredible! I have never seen anything like it. (and I am playing PC games since 1992) Once you got started, there is really no way that you can put it away before you have finished it. Especially that level in the cradle was just stunning. The gameplay and atmosphere in there just cannot be described, because there is simply no other game that has anything likewise. I would even say that it is worth buying the game just to see that level - it's a MUST PLAY. The only weakness of the game is the ending, which I felt was a bit weird, but that is probably just me and I don't want to spoil anything, so you can find out yourself.… Expand

Classic game, Beastly, You cannot find a better stealth action game anywhere, Except for maybe Thi4f

My fears are allayed, they kept the most important thing from the first two games: the unmistakable thief ATMOSPERE. There are a couple of design decisions that I don't agree with, but it feels like thief, and its just as fun and as engrossing

I DO feel that this game is a true Thief sequel in heart and soul, the developers obviously having spent a lot of time on the trademark series dialog and ambience. I have no beef with the third-person camera (it's useful and, best of all, optional) and I found myself occasionally picking my jaw up off the floor. Recommended without reservation.

Graphics are good. If you have a some-what good system it is not slow. The story could have been better, but overall it was a great game. I enjoyed it a lot.

An amazing game, not quite on par with the previous prequels but for what it lacks free form design it more than makes it up in atmosphere and plain intrigue. If your in the mood to try something with a different pace and style of its own then this game is a must buy especially for 20 bucks!

Not as bad as some gamers claim it! Thief:DS is definitely the weakest addition to the Thief series. I think the reason behind that are the innovations the developers tried to implement in the game. Innovations like the new open city, the player can explore between missions( In the previous games the player were placed from mission to mission) , the cutscenes now use simply animation (previously they used partly animation, and partly motion capture technology). The developers tried to update the game to 2004 gaming standards, and I think it was not liked by many old fans of the series. I have to admit that the story is somewhat weaker this time (The villain in the game is not as charismatic as Karras or the Trickster.) Above all I still enjoyed the game. It had the same stealth mechanism as the previous games. The atmosphere of the old games was still present, the graphics were improved, it had great music, and really good missions ( Like the Cradle). The story of Garrett came to a full circle in this last installment.… Expand

This game was the first game I had ever seen or played. It was what got me into gaming and it made me love stealth. Now whenever I play an FPS I find a way to be sneaky when its not what the game is about. If you dont care about graphics then pick up this game. If I could describe it in any outher way it would be a double rainbow all the way.

Clearly weaker than Thief 1 and 2 in terms of gameplay. I'm also surprised that som many thought the graphics were excellent. The gfx must have been developed with the Xbox in mind and I was bothered by that fact, a lot. Also the gfx isn't fluid, no matter how fast your pc. The sfx are great even though the vioce acting doesn't feel as fine tuned as in the prequels.

The concept of the city is handled in a great way, not to mention the AI is one of the best i've ever seen in a game and it retains all the old glorious features of the previous Thief games. And it manages to be even funnier.

After playing the first two titles over and over, I can't say how pleased I was with their follow up. The best stealth action game to be released in a long time.

Crashes, crashes, and more crashes. I finished the first mission but now can't get past the opening screen. Tried all the affinity hacks, etc. that I could find on the web but no dice. I am severely disappointed in this game, it ought to be a crime to sell something this lame and without any support past the ancient v1.1 upgrade.

Great.

A great game, worthy of its predecessors. While the rope arrows will be missed, and despite the various nitpicked issues about it, it still upholds the high standard set by the previous two games. As some fans of the series would agree, I'm just glad to be seeing the continuation of a great franchise. Thumbs up.

A very well designed game. Very similar to Thief: The dark project. Although it doesn't have any huge outdoor spaces like thief 2, this game does have great level design that is decidedly non-linear. Veterans of the series will notice some details from past games missing (in Thief 1 and 2 having a bow or sword out made you more visible and things like that are missing in this game) there is still so much fun to be had that I have to give this game a ten.… Expand

Requires a pretty hi-end machine to be fully enjoyed. Good graphics, good sound. Excellent story as usual. The Thief series has provided me with hours and hours of quality amusement! If you liked Thief 1&2 you will definatly like (love...) this game! Even though I still think that the first thief is the greatest of them all (even though the sequels outperfom it when it comes to graphics it still has the best story...). I also miss the rope arrows! Why did you cut them out ION Storm??? Climbinggloves are less fun :) Oh and btw... If you don't plan to make another sequel please sell the filmrights or I'll miss Garret terribly he's my NO 1 anti hero of all games!!! //Nick … Expand

I have a Athalon 1700+, 256MB of ram, and a GeForce 6600GT and the rendering and framerate are fantastic. As a hardcore fan of the previous two titles, I'm very happy with the gameplay and level design. They've included all the little details that put this title over the top. There are the patented plot twists, a decent amount of exploration and enough tools to let you try a variety of tactics in any situation. This game is flat-out fun. I just spent two days in a row putting in 10-hour shifts on this game. That hasn't happened in a long time. The only reason it doesn't get a ten is because of a lack of modding tools. I would also like a larger "sandbox" of a city, but I'm glad it is there for between missions and it is big enough and detailed enough to not cost them points.… Expand

Very good, not just amazing graphics, but good level designs and use of lighting, as we're used to from the other Thief games. Definately my favourite of the series.