Playing Thief TDP for the first time in 6 years...

T-Smith on 17/2/2006 at 02:54

Yep, 6 years. I haven't loaded up Garrett's first adventure since Karras came to power in The Metal Age. Why? No idea, I've just never gotten around to playing it again, depsite my love for it.

Anyways, this is typically the part where I should say "I forgot how great it was!" or something like that. But I'm not going to, because I didn't forget :p. However, a few things I have noticed. I'm just about done with Bafford's -

1. DAMN! I may not have forgotten how awesome the game was, but I did forget just how creepy it was. Even without any nasties or freaky level designs, the simple ambient sound still sends shivers down my spine.

2. Did the game really ALWAYS look this bland? Perhaps after 6 years of playing new games I've been spoiled a tad, but for a rich nobleman, Bafford's place sure is empty. I always seem to recall it being much more lively, but now it's empty... and ugly. I don't have a problem with the graphics per se, but the simple colour choices and achitexture will take some time getting used to again. Bafford must be the laughing stock of The City, half his mansion is coloured orange :\. The Rumfords and Rutherfords must be laughing their asses off at him. As for the architexture, it too seems more bland then I remember. Even Thief II is lightyears ahead.

I may sound like I'm complaining a lot, but they're just observations from a guy who hasn't played The Dark Project for 6 years :p

Jarkko Ranta on 17/2/2006 at 07:16

Well, nice to hear that someone else also got the creeps. TDP was not the first Thief for me to play, but the Metal Age. Not too much scary enemies, but when the ambients hit in I got scared as Hell (m#tones, m06laughs).
For me the scariest game before Thief-series was Half-Life (well, Gonarch WAS scary), so one might guess how missions like Cragscleft and Bonehoard
did to common sense when played.
I even searched the mines for three hours on Expert, running from zombies when searching the stolen map. After losing my nerve before total break-down I had to visit Thief-The Circle for a walkthrough. Something you don't want to do everyday...
As for the textures and architecture, Thief (especially TDP) is a bit "colorfull" and "gaudi", but some places like the route via the well in the Bafford's can really impress. Also, places like Constantine's madhouse/mansion works better when obviously "out-of-place".

T-Smith on 26/2/2006 at 00:49

Just played through the original terror trip 'Return to the Cathedral'. The level that's been known to bring grown men to the knees, and 6 years ago was the scariest level in anything ever to me.

Things sure have changed.

I just played through for the first time since then, and I didn't get scared once. Not once. Not a single 'freak out' not a single shiver. The whole experiance was about as frightning as Elmo's World. 'Return to the Cathedral'? More like 'Brother Murus Says'. Still a good level - I do so enjoy undead missions. But it does make me wonder - in 4 more years, am I gonna replay the Shalebridge Cradle and feel the same way?

ffox on 26/2/2006 at 20:10

Yes! The scariest bit is not knowing what to expect. Once you know what's coming it can still be bothersome, but the initial fear of that particular unknown will never be regained.

I'm quite sorry about this in some ways. Now that I can easily dispose of or evade zombies, haunts, apparitions, bugbeasts, bats, bots, skeletal warriors, puppets etc. a lot of the zing has gone. Builders - new scary adversaries, please.