Thread:Raadec/@comment-3547390-20120503185907/@comment-3547390-20120526190705

I haven't said much on Thief though besides saying I like it and little tidbits.

Thief is made by the same people who made Ultima Underworld and System Shock. I don't even know where to begin, the storyline is the most complex but immersive I have ever experienced. Yet it does not interfere with gameplay, and you could just spend your time travelling area to area and having fun.

You spend your time in a medieval world, something I think Hexen was set in as well. However, Thief is the only game where sound is an important part of the game. Every noise is important to your progress to not being heard, every corner and light important to your survival against those guards. Remember Unreal being from the perspective of an anti-hero, one who was reformed but was viewed as evil? Think of Thief like that, he tries to survive for his own interests which ends up making him have to save a city out to kill him.

Hexen is like every other game out there, you have a gun and you shoot it. The looks change but the main concept doesn't. Thief does on the other hand, it focuses on the player having to use stealth and wits in order to make it around enemies. On harder difficulties you can't kill enemies, and there is a style where you have to not even be seen. Meanwhile there are the Undead that you will spend your time fighting, so you still are killing something but with melee weapons or arrows.

The objectives can be completed in a nonlinear order, as well as any hidden objectives you may find in the missions. Graphics are similar to what you find in Jedi Knight, not that impressive (but we don't care about graphics). You shoot out lights to create darkness, create ropes to climb to upper floors, ect. The enviroment is just fully immersive.

The AI knows how to open doors, ect. They could move around the entire map, they are not limited like enemies in other games (Quake comes to mind, even Unreal had some limitations). Hexen is like a Doom clone with added things, while Thief has nothing to compare to it. It just is a complete different experience, something that has never been repeated even with other stealth games trying to come close. If it wasn't released a week after Half Life it probably would have been more known, but due to this it was cursed to hide in the shadows.