PlayfulPuppy
03-28-2005, 04:54 AM
Okay, Thief. You all know it and love it.
I didn't. *shock*
I've seen the game before, played it before, and going on the credibility of friends and reviews I decided to try and get into it. I failed miserably. Nothing about this game grabbed me at all, it was slow, clumsy, and the gameplay didn't feel satisfying.
Okay, forward about 4 years, I recently got back into System Shock 2 and fell in love all over again. I've played it through 4 times since I rediscovered it about a month ago (Which is more than I've EVER replayed a game since the SNES days), and was hungering for more of the same, so I thought I'd give Thief another chance.
I played for about 2 hours, and was so pitifully bored with the damn thing that I quit. A few days later, I uninstalled it.
Then, roughly about 20 minutes later, I reinstalled and FINALLY got hooked. It was such a relief, I knew it was a good game, I just had to find that final hook to keep me there. Finished it last night and enjoyed every minute of it (Except the return to the chapel, I either wasn't playing it right or the gameplay in this section was completly out of line with the rest of the game).
Now I'm considering delving into the sequels, but I have some queries.
First of all, what's changed? I know there are more abilities and the like, but I'm looking forwards to discovering them when I play them.
Are there any fundamental gameplay changes? In Thief 1, there were a few elements that grated on me a bit, namely the use of the USE key for both inventory and interaction (It really bugged me when I accidentally drank my last health potion when trying to press a button) the lack of a sneak button (Garret is a bloodly loud bastard) and a couple of other niggly things like the fairly subtle glow of interactive items and the seemingly pointless loot (Did this actually have any benefit? I thought it would allow you to buy more things, but unless I'm mistaken it didn't seem to).
The level layout also seemed a little haphazard at times. Sneaking puzzles went from good planning oppertunities to "Might as well run out screaming bloody murder" on a fairly regular basis. This may be my brutal impatience, however. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And final question: What else is out there like Thief and System Shock? I loved SS2 for its futuristic setting and being able to upgrade your character (Amongst a million other things) and I loved Thief for it's fantastic tale and for being one of the most unique experiences I've had in quite a while. I tried getting into System Shock 1, but it's gone past that 'It's old but I still like it' barrier, and not being able to redefine the keys just made it too frustrating to play (Unless anyone knows of some utility to change this).
These games have reimmersed me in the FPS genre after a fairly disappointing lineup over the past few years. What else have I missed?
I didn't. *shock*
I've seen the game before, played it before, and going on the credibility of friends and reviews I decided to try and get into it. I failed miserably. Nothing about this game grabbed me at all, it was slow, clumsy, and the gameplay didn't feel satisfying.
Okay, forward about 4 years, I recently got back into System Shock 2 and fell in love all over again. I've played it through 4 times since I rediscovered it about a month ago (Which is more than I've EVER replayed a game since the SNES days), and was hungering for more of the same, so I thought I'd give Thief another chance.
I played for about 2 hours, and was so pitifully bored with the damn thing that I quit. A few days later, I uninstalled it.
Then, roughly about 20 minutes later, I reinstalled and FINALLY got hooked. It was such a relief, I knew it was a good game, I just had to find that final hook to keep me there. Finished it last night and enjoyed every minute of it (Except the return to the chapel, I either wasn't playing it right or the gameplay in this section was completly out of line with the rest of the game).
Now I'm considering delving into the sequels, but I have some queries.
First of all, what's changed? I know there are more abilities and the like, but I'm looking forwards to discovering them when I play them.
Are there any fundamental gameplay changes? In Thief 1, there were a few elements that grated on me a bit, namely the use of the USE key for both inventory and interaction (It really bugged me when I accidentally drank my last health potion when trying to press a button) the lack of a sneak button (Garret is a bloodly loud bastard) and a couple of other niggly things like the fairly subtle glow of interactive items and the seemingly pointless loot (Did this actually have any benefit? I thought it would allow you to buy more things, but unless I'm mistaken it didn't seem to).
The level layout also seemed a little haphazard at times. Sneaking puzzles went from good planning oppertunities to "Might as well run out screaming bloody murder" on a fairly regular basis. This may be my brutal impatience, however. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And final question: What else is out there like Thief and System Shock? I loved SS2 for its futuristic setting and being able to upgrade your character (Amongst a million other things) and I loved Thief for it's fantastic tale and for being one of the most unique experiences I've had in quite a while. I tried getting into System Shock 1, but it's gone past that 'It's old but I still like it' barrier, and not being able to redefine the keys just made it too frustrating to play (Unless anyone knows of some utility to change this).
These games have reimmersed me in the FPS genre after a fairly disappointing lineup over the past few years. What else have I missed?