So, I finished Thief: The Metal Age and I must say everything that lacked in Thief Gold was built upon in the sequel. I spent many, many hours looking for hidden loot and secrets while trying to kill nobody. This game highly rewards the non-confrontational type of players and stealthy manuevers gives an immense amount of satisfaction for doing so. There are many new toys for Garrett to play with in these huge mission areas and also some of the encounters are hilarious. The story was amazing; I will not dive in but it has great morals and a few familiar faces will be present. Once again the sound is spot on whether Garret is going down a steep hill or a long climb everything syncs pretty greatly, not to mention the music is very fitting and adds to the overall atmosphere.

On a side note the visuals in this game can be somewhat bland but in my opinion that is no reason to bring the score down since there are so many amazing modders that keep this game running on par with some games today!!!

Personal score: 9.8
play Thief Gold before Thief Metal Age

Thief 2 (along with its predecessor) will shine on as timeless gems in the PC goldmine that is the turn of the millenium - apart from its chilling sound base, Thief 2 carves its own niche in the art of level design. This is one of the only 1st person games with a truly realistic environment - entire wings of a building may contain no leads, no loot, no nothing. Or it might just hold a secret. As a gamer, you are left guessing, until you take the time to explore it. Forget polygon counts, forget sloped terrain - Thief 2's calibur of level design, in and of itself, makes it a winner. P.S Let's not talk about the ♥♥♥♥ty re-make.

I can't think of any game that has done sneaking better. HUGE levels, superb use of audio and light. It is so much fun I quickly forgot about the 10-year-old graphics (and I believe there are mods for correcting that now).

This game isn't linear or easy. Loot quotas force you to explore your surroundings and it rewards the observant with many a secret stash or alternatve point of entry.

There is some slog in the middle as the thief universe has always had a mystical bent that I could do without and the last level can get very frustrating but that didn't stop me playing it through twice in a row.

What really sells me in the end is I *feel* like a proper thief when I play this. I can't recommend it enough.

Unlike the first game, this one is much more steampunk-oriented. Much more so than even Deadly Shadows.
This was a very deliberate choice as the main antagonist created a morphed Hammerite order obsessed with techonology, steam-powered engines and such.

There are no more supernatural, mysterious creatures around the world. This is the triumph of technology, so a good part of the game is spent with human AI's if you enjoyed that. About half of the game is spent "rubbing shoulders" with the rich, going to various mansions of flexible level design, especially by the end when Looking Glass was close to bankruptcy.

It's just that same, immersive game as always. I did find it to be a little disappointing to see fewer horror sequences, but it's all the same great. The story picks up right after Thief 1. Without saying too much I think everyone owes it to themselves to try the game for themselves, simply because this is as much of a breakthrough in the stealth genre as Half Life for shooters.

You can find the free demo of the game here: http://www.thief-thecircle.com/media/demos/

Thief II: The Metal Age sets the high water mark for stealth gaming. Bar none. No game before or since can compare to the immersiveness of this game and it's fine-tuned mechanics. It manages to mix the fantasy, strategy and adventure aspects of the first with a more prescient storyline than the first Thief game. The first game was an excellent stealth game that occasionally drifted too far into Tomb Raider territory with it's platformy style missions, devious traps and creature threats. The fact that Eidos was the publisher of both Thief and Tomb Raider, and that one of the missions had you raiding an underground tomb frought with booby traps and monsters, ought to tell you something. Thief 2 , thankfully, focuses on the strengths of the stealth system and makes that the core of the game and not just an aspect of it. That's not to say you won't be jumping across ravines and encountering creatures, but the heist-pulling, pick-pocketing and blackjacking really comes into thier own in Thief 2. I've read that the developers created the missions of the first game to suit the plot, while the missions of the second were produced first with the plot retrofitted. In any case, the levels are larger and more complex than the first.

The graphics had gotten a slight bump from the first game with higher poly models, better texturing and weather effects. They even added dithering to the hardware renderer, which was a nice addition. It did have the effect of dampening the deep shadows that were such a part of the first game, but it generally made the game more pleasing to the eye.

The sound design is, again, excellent. Sound propagation is one of the core facets of gameplay. Listening to footsteps draw near or fade into the distance allow you to judge from your hiding place in the shadows whether or not you can risk stepping into lit areas. Leaning against doors to listen to conversations or the presence of sounds in the next room allow you to determine if opening a door is wise or not. Sound is fundamental to this game. You will not be able to play this game successfully while blasting Megadeth or Slayer. Just not happening. And that's one of the things that makes this game so damn immersive. You are literally concerned with the environment both visually and aurally at all times. It sucks you in.

There are some new gadgets in this game. Garrett lost an eye in the first game, and that has been replaced by a mechanical eye that can zoom in and out like a telescope. A new object called the Scouting Orb allows you to take a peak over walls or around corners without exposing yourself. There are also new potions and a new arrow: the vine arrow. Similar to the rope arrow, but it can "stick" to things rope arrows can't, like metal gratings.

The design went from a predominantly dark age style steampunk in Thief 1 to a predominantly Victorian era style steampunk in Thief 2, in much of it's architecture. Actually, art deco also makes an appearance as part of the design of buildings operated by a faction that's new to Thief 2, the Mechanists. The European old world oozes in these games. In fact, many of the textures from Thief 1 and Thief 2 were from photos of architecture taken by the developers while vacationing in Europe. The overall design is pretty immaculate.

The first two Thief games share a cult status, along with System Shock2 (uses the same game engine and made by some of the same people), as games of remarkable vision and quality. They are all lauded as excellent games by the gaming press and continue to make the top # lists. The gameplay transcends gaming. To play this game is to embark on an existential and metaphysical experience. This game seems to attract a higher-brow gaming audience. There is a community forum that has been the stomping grounds of its players since the games were released. They have created hundreds of fan missions to play; you can find it here: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/forum.php

Here you can get a community made patch that updates the rendering of the game and allows for some nice effects, like bloom, while also fixing a number of leftover bugs: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131106

Here you can get a high resolution patch that updates some models, textures and also adds a numbder of new effects to the game: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144312

Here you can read about and find fan missions to play: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=100

Score: 8/5/10
Status : Classic

The Good

+ This game has some of the best level designs around. Much improved over the first game.
+ Great story and voice acting by the lead characters
+ Great stealth mechanics


The Bad

-Sometimes the AI can be frustrating
-Some minor bugs
-lackluster ending

Played Thief: GOLD first and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thief II is no different offering a similar experience, but with some improvements. The levels look much better and flow better. Like the first, the story and cutscenes are great. Garrett is awesome and so is Thief II.

This game is absolutly amaizing. Huge open levels that you can play time and time again, good blend of action and stealth, tons of interesting items... 10/10

Really great stealth game, the 1st game has more horror elements, this 2nd really bring out the feel of the steampunk universe that the series is set in even more than the 1st game and brings a host of different challenges that the 1st game did not.

The game never disappointed me since the first one. It has really good maps, and stealthy as usual. Though it doesnt seem to be as horrifying than the first. Lost its bit of touch with horror. Regardless, there are some levels that are rather challenging, especially on highest difficulty. I just love the challenge in this game.

One thing that bugs me however...... No fan missions in workshop. Would RECOMMEND having THAT in steam. Would definitely try whatever maps that throws in steam workshop. I know its in a website, but i feel it would be nice if it was in steam workshop, dont we agree?

Anyways, this game i recommend anyone. I dont recommend to people that never played the first though. :P

Check my name.

That's what this game did to me.

ITs mean

Thief 2 is a game an old game thats amazing, numerous ways of achieving objectives, great stealth mechanics, lots of secrets , the game trusts that your not a ♥♥♥♥♥ can be a bad thing especialy for me i have got lost inumerous times. Conclusion its a great stealth game that is old but its still up to this day pretty amazing that doesnt mean it has its flaws (guards ai is buggy, etc ... ) you should probably go into this game expecting not that great of graphics (u can fix this with mods) and some ocasional bugs but the pros out weight the cons ... so buy the game if you're a stealth fan :D

This sequel is awesome ... i forgot you cant kill anyone lol .. but still so much fun to play !

Instant knockout with club + horrid graphics + amazing gameplay = 11/10 would buy again.

Thief II is a steampunk stealth game.
It's a Singleplayer only game.
Release date: 21.03.2000

Graphics: 6/10

The graphics are ok for its release date. In comparison to the prequel it's only a slight improvement, but I think they could've made it a little bit better than they actually did. Like the prequel they managed to create an awesome atmosphere with the "poor" graphics and effects. One reason I just gave 6/10 is that most of the game looks 1:1 exactly the same like
Thief Gold.

Sound: 6/10

The sounds are quite good and the voice actors are doing a great job. Some sounds are really annoying (robots for example). Like in Thief Gold there is nearly no music. I know it's not necessary, but I still miss it.

Level design: 7/10

The level design is just as good as in the prequel. You can search for secrets and have more than one way to reach your goal. The atmosphere is fitting and the levels are well structured.
Except for one level, namely the last one. The last level is so frustrating. If you want to sneak the whole way through then you get detected the slow way. If you want to rush through you get detected fast. That is the only difference and the reason why I skipped the last level. And this last level degrades the Level design by 2 points: 9/10 => 7/10.

Gameplay/Handling/Equipment: 8/10

The good points: Like in the prequel you have a really nice arsenal for a thief. Plenty of arrowtypes, the flashbomb for your escape and so on. You still must get used to the controls but when you know how to play it you will like it. The playstyle remains pretty much like it was in the prequel. You sneak around, steal stuff, knock out enemies, etc..
The bad point: No improvements at all.

Enemies/AI: 6/10

Well the guards search for you if you are too loud and act really authentic. But robots act totally random and I don't get the point why they made them so annoying. Sure it's no problem to disable them but still I don't like the idea of them. They didn't improve the AI from Thief Gold to Thief 2 so I just give 6/10.

Story: 4/10

Maybe it's just me but I don't like the story. It's boring and I miss the "magical" part of it. The target is a guy who wants to kill people with poison and created robots to protect himself. I don't even know how to make it sound better.

Critic summary: 6,2/10

Personal fun rating: 7/10 [good game]

All in all a good game, but the developers didn't make real improvements. I recommend the game if you played Thief Gold, otherwise I don't. Since the game isn't very expensive: Give it a try.

Need to downgrade into peasant status before you can run this which is weird because thief gold runs fine...

Stabbed someone 4 times, they died, shot someone 4 times, they ran away, hit somone once over the head with a club, FATALITY! 10/10

"What was that?! Must have been a rat. Say where did all the other guards go? Why are all the expensive things missing from this room? WHY IS THIS CLOSET FULL OF UNCONCIOUS BODIES?!?"
stealth

If you're wondering why modern "stealth" games seem lacking in sneaking features, it's because Garrett stole all of them.