1. Speedster09

   10

   if you've never played the thief series then you've missed out big time! without doubt or hesitation my absolute personal #1 game franchise; if you've never played the series: you play as Garrett, a master thief, always on the lookout for loot and missions; G is hardly any good at fighting, but that's exactly the point - you need to sneak and pay careful attention to your surroundings to avoid detection; at your disposal you have various tools and non-lethal weapons to ease your quest by for example creating mossy carpets to drown out noise from footsteps or water arrows to extinguish torches; if I could, I would give this a 9.5 - it's not the perfect 10 that its predecessor was for me, but also definitely not as "bad" as a 9.0; THE GOOD: * the graphics engine was greatly improved compared to Thief1 (of course, no comparison to modern games) * mission maps are typically bigger than in Thief1 and missions longer * compared to today's often generic background story, this one is immersive! while the fanatical (at least so you thought) hammerites were the focus of the first thief's story line, now it is karras and his mechanist followers * your arsenal has grown slightly, allowing for more varied gameplay, but also some (IMHO) cheating (slowfall potions anyone?) * typically more enemies, now even mechanized - greatly helps immersion by making the Thief universe even more bizarre; but also meant that zombies are gone (that's a CON in my book) * and most of the previous awesome aspects have been retained if not improved (at least the german version that i own contains some hilarious exclamations made by some of the guards when they chase you); * oh, and thank god, a character that can and does actually speak! (stephen russell is kind of a thief celebrity) * IMMERSION - you really become sucked into the Thief world because you constantly have to pay close attention to your surroundings and actions; visual cues, sounds, and lighting all are important sensory inputs in this game and thus to enjoy this game you automatically become immersed in it; just make sure that you play in a dark room with surround sound setup - and make sure no heavy or expensive objects are around - hysterical arm flailing is included in this game! THE BAD: * in general - nothing much; if you're looking for psychopatic mass murdering, you're at the wrong address; * the -0.5 i dock off for several reasons: first off, no zombies! perhaps the most awesome enemies in the first thief - scary, loud, slow, and it's possible to blow them up! what's not to like (unless you have weak nerves); the story - just not as immersive and fresh as constantine's plot in Thief1 - that one had mystery, betrayal, and revenge in it; this one only a constant fanaticist (karras) and not much more; finally, my biggest complaint - not all the playing styles that were possible in Thief1 are possible in Thief2 - even the second mission is impossible to 'ghost' (getting all loot and items without detection or even arousing suspicion); later missions just compound on that other thoughts: also used to (and to a limited extent still does) have a very proliferative fan community - check out 'thief - the circle' (no longer updated but still accessible) and if at all possible get komag's DVD sets (i think he offers a torrent somewhere) - tons of those missions are just incredibly well done, some perhaps even surpassing the original missions (calendra's legacy, T2X, 7th crystal & many more) in immersion, while others give it an entirely new spin (hammerite deathmatch, some of the unreal tournament style missions) IMHO, the Thief franchise created a wholly new type of gaming style and as such revolutionized pc gaming; much more so than other hallmark games such as crysis or half life ever did (for me at least); how good is it? i've played through Thief1&2 countless times with different styles in mind and the very first games that always get installed on any new computer of mine are the thief and system shock games!… Expand

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2. orctowngrot

   10

   This is a game that needs to be studied and its gameplay secrets learned. While Assasin's Creed continues the ideas of gameplay of Thief and brings them up-to-date more effectively than this franchise could with Thief 3, Thief has a unique gameplay focus that is lacking in the present moment of gaming. Maybe Skyrim will be capable of giving RPG fans a good thief gameplay option. But we still need the feeling of being small and vulnerable in a very big city. Thief (1 and 2) captures that feeling perfectly.… Expand

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3. RickK.

   10

   A tremendous sequel to an overlooked gem.

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