As perfect now (2005) as the day it was released. A timeless classic if ever I saw one. I honestly cannot recommend this game enough. One thing I will say: do yourself a favour and get the Gold release instead of the regular Dark Project - you won't regret it, taffer.

My first love affair with a computer game. Thief is a masterpiece on every level, Warren Spector has crafted a chilling yet humble experience that overflows with charm and unique atmosphere unlike any other.

One of my favorite games of all time, along with the sequels. Thief brought a breath of fresh air to 1st person 'shooters'. It has to be the best stealth game series I have played to date. You sneak around and hide in shadows and either knock people out or put an arrow in them. Your missions are almost always to get into someplace and steal something. And the storyline is just awesome. It's way better then that joke of a game "Assassin's Creed"-- which I discovered was nothing close to what Thief was. I have yet to find any game that matches Thief in style. I found a website where a group has made an open source game that is like Thief (but it is buggy yet and relies on fan-made mission). Recently I read that Thief 4 is being worked on, but so far no release date! I only had one part of the game that I didn't like, and that was where they put zombies in the game. It wasn't that bad, but I like going up against people that seemed to have some intelligence not some mindless walking goon that made a noise when it saw or heard me-- but thankfully it was only in one part of the game so I can't really complain that much about it. Overall the entire series is just fun to play, and I recommend it to anyone that is tired of mindless shoot 'em ups that have weak or no story lines.… Expand

A timeless masterpiece. Still thrilling in 2006!

Absolutely great, even if most people weren't smart enough to understand that it wasn't the doom-like moronic FPS where you have to kill everything you see, and so it got snobbed. Timeless masterpiece.

Even after all this years, this game is one of my favorites... the story, the gameplay, the sound... everything comes together to make an incredible atmosphere. Playing the level "Return to Cathedral" was one of the scariest moments of my life!

I loved it, it fits my sneaky style in real life. Also, it's realistic in the sense of shadows, sound, and all that stuff an actual thief loves and hates. Return to the Cathedral was scary though, I also hate the rat guys.

This game is the Best Game I have Ever Played yet. I have Played Lots of Games But this Beats the Lot . I Really Got Hooked on it.

Great atmosphere with a great story and great characters. Vote for great !!

Pure stealth was relatively untouched before Thief came out, and it's a testament to how good it is that it's now almost a genre of its own. Incredible atmosphere, ambience and suspense make this one of or even the greatest game I've ever played. It encourages you to remain a sigh on the wind, a flicker of darkness in peripheral vision, an anonymous, undetected shadow. Combine the low fantasy, pseudo-mechanical medieval backdrop with the tense, nail-biting gameplay, and the result is an utter masterpiece. Play it properly and they'll never even know you were there.… Expand

What an incredible series. Thief was so different in it's time. And even now games are still catching up. With a sound system built into the entire that rivals modern games, an intriguing and dark story, and tense gameplay that changes the way you play games - thief is a hallmark of excellence.

what a perfect game!
i love all the Thief series!
atmosphere, story plot, game play... everything is perfect!
even though i started Thief 2 first in 2010, it was great

This is my all time favorite game. I have stacks and stacks of next gen games, yet Thief seems to always unbury itself and find its way into my computer. It's 2009 and I still like to play it. This was the only game that ever made me jump out of my chair.

Even in 2009 Thief has managed to steal my heart and still stands head and shoulders above other games in terms of story and atmsphere and frankly beats Splinter Cell or Metal Gear solid in stealth terms because no either game truly captures the tension involved in sneaking up on someone or hiding from guards.

Awesome game. Scary as hell!

It was really good and intruiging the graphics rocked.

Even in the era of Half Life 2,Doom3,Far Cry this game holds its own in terms of sheer brilliance in gameplay.

The best i've ever played.

It's 2008 and still no other other game has ever been made quite like Thief. I still play it all the way through about once a year and have so much fun. Even the graphics have held up well because, even though they're a bit angular by today's standards, the design was so incredibly good, I almost don't notice. Probably the best 1st person game and best thinking man's game ever.… Expand

if there´s a game which I would prefer among any other to bring with me to a desert island, that game is thief; after 10 years this is still my favorite game. This game is infinite, the situations vary every time you play it, besides, a very active fan community gives tons of fan missions to continue the adventure. 10 years has past, and any game has reach the high level of realism of the sounds and atmosphere of thief, and another important thing:for me (and this is very personal opinion) the dark engine is the most realistic engine ever created, I mean, in any other game you don´t FEEL the walls are really there, the floor, the roof, this is also pushed by the sound quality, but there´s something else, with dark engine you dont need high res graphics to FEEL a phisic 3d world, that´s something I´ve never felt again in any other game...ahhhh Ooops, there´s thief gold and thief II… Expand

Phenomenal game considering when it came out. One of the most interesting and unique atmospheres in gaming even over a decade later. I would give this game a 10 if the a.i. was better. A.I. is one of the key ingredients in stealth games considering you have to analyze movement and patterns of behavior to be successful. The a.i. falls short compared to modern games, but it's impressive for it's time. Few games have left me with as much satisfaction after completing a level. Not only is it satisfying, you get to watch awesome cut scenes and mission briefings. Anyone who likes stealth oriented games should check this game out.… Expand

I whole-heartedly join the chours: a timeless classic; THE most immersive game I have ever played (besides perhaps System Shock 1/2 and a little less Deus Ex 1); if you have never played it you are missing out on an incredibly stunning style of play; as another reviewer mentions, if you do want to remedy such a short-coming (as serious an offense as this is :) get the Gold version on ebay - it is exactly like the original just with a few excellent missions added; if you want to read more, go find my Thief 2 review i just wrote; what i do want to mention here though are some of the things that make this game so outstanding: (1) the immersiveness of its atmosphere and the Thief universe - sure, crysis is eye-candy, but this is the real immersion deal! because of the setting (sneaking and looting combined with the player's weak offensive abilities) and the excellent programming, you will use your senses much more than in any other game - you need to pay constant attention to lighting, visual cues, and sounds made by you and others in order to stay hidden and avoid trouble; and the fresh story with its twists and turns (including a betrayal that costs you dearly and your attempt at revenge) makes this a novel and great experience; what's more, the sequel - Thief 2 - IMO greatly expands on this by making the Thief universe even more bizarre with its mechanist enemies and setting (2) (may not apply to all) the outstanding localization work - i own the german version and the voice acting and translations are unbelievably good - the exclamations made by guards chasing you are sometimes outright funny and if i didn't know any better i would have thought that the game developer was a german company (3) the outstanding fan community - humdreds of fan-made missions were made and are still (mostly) available - some even surpass the original missions in quality while others give the game an entirely new twist (and satisfy any cravings for just running around and slaying foes) (4) where Deus Ex offers (often simplistic) alternative ways of getting to the same goal, this game offers entirely different styles of playing the game - ranging from weapons-first approaches to ultimate sneaking (ghosting, Lytha's way), this game can be replayed in many different ways; (5) one of the very few games that i have ever played that really make me miss my experience of playing it for the first time - i remember the nerve-wracking atmosphere of trying to stay hidden; and then all of a sudden there are the moaning zombies! and later the spine-tingling rattle of the haunts and their infernal 'join us, joins us now!' if you've ever played Thief, and you're still not on ebay right now, then i don't know how to help you ;)… Expand

The whole Thief trilogy are classic games. I recommend that you buy all three in a bundle. I don't think these games will ever wear out. The graphics are good, sound is very good and re-playability is very good.
I'll never forget when I first heard the 2 ole guards talking about going to the bearfest and the underslung cheek spikes. I had to just stop and laugh. These are truly the Best sneaking, blackjacking games that have ever been produced or for that matter ever will be . The entertainment value of these games is much more than you can imagine. I hope these 3 never go away.… Expand

For its time and even now, Thief the Dark Project is a masterpiece in stealth games. Despite the obviously aged game engine, the game is very immersive and atmospheric with some good writing given to the protagonist. The stealth is obviously Thief's main strength: sneaking up on an unaware guard and giving him a boff across the bonce is immensely satisfying. Thief does have it's gripes: the game burdens itself with too much zombie and dinosaur killing who didn't seem to respond to a blackjack to the head and were frustrating to say the least. These issues however, do little to make Thief any less of a classic.… Expand

Be aware of the walls, thief. They see everything.

It should tell you something that, 14 years after its release, Thief: The Dark Project still inspires awe and devotion in its fans. Story, voice acting, and level design don't age; if they're great at release, they're great forever, and so it is with Thief. All that remains to review is the technology, and this is where this game and its sequel, Thief II: The Metal Age, really shine. Even the best-conceived and -executed games of the late '90s put their advancing age on full display, with the exception of Thief, and here are the reasons: (1) After all this time, no game has made better use of sound. With headphones or surround-sound, you can literally close your eyes and know where every conversation, grunt, footstep, dripping fountain, and crackling torch are located and how far away they are. The sound design of Thief remains simply astonishing, and it's a critical part of the gameplay; you navigate through the sprawling levels and enthralling missions as much by sound as by sight. (2) Similarly, the use of light and shadows remains unsurpassed. (3) The NPCs have superior AI compared to most games, then and now. Their actions and reactions are varied, complex, and extremely sensitive to how visible you are, how much noise you make, how far away you are, whether you have a weapon drawn, how long you've been in hiding after once being spotted, and so on. And they talk like real human beings! I'm not sure there was a single line of repeating dialogue in the entire game. (4) Finally, the graphics, though limited by the technology of the day, remain surprisingly fresh because of the Dark Engine's unique, angular building blocks. Characters and environments are constructed from skewed polygons that make up for a lack of resolution with a slightly weird distortion, as though you're looking through a kaleidoscope, or perhaps on an extremely low dose of acid. That's not a perfect description, but suffice it to say that Thief looks quite like no other game. Thief IS like no other game. You can buy it cheap these days, and if you love gaming and are open to an experience that challenges your mind more than your twitch reflexes, it is absolutely worth the price.… Expand