Introduction

Developer: Looking Glass
Publisher: Eidos
Thief 2 Official Page: http://www.eidosinteractive.com/thief_metalage/index.html

The Prequel

Looking Glass Studio's Thief was the most innovative and interesting game to hit the PC market in a long while. While it could technically be called a first-person shooter, due to the perspective and general style of the game, LG hyped it up more as a "first-person sneaker", since you spent less time fighting and more time avoiding fights. The main character is Garrett, a thief with a destiny. You had recently broken relations with the guild that trained you and believed in your fate. Now, out on his own, young Garrett needed to get a job to pay the bills. Psha. Who in their right mind would take a 9-to-5 job, drudging away at some medieval job and only earning a subsistence salary when he can earn a month's salary in one night of 'work'? That was precisely Garrett's reasoning.

Looks to be a good night of work!

The gate's locked, but what thief would use it?

The Sequel

In the last game, Garrett got a little involved in the City's politics and things considerably beyond such petty squabbles. For a time he would be allied with factions he was normally at odds with - his former friends the Keepers and even the extremely lawful Hammerites.

This time around, he again finds himself embroiled in the byzantine politics of the City. There's a new Sheriff in town and his policies are cutting into Garrett's profits, in addition to pettier concerns like repressing the rights of the citizens, but that's not important. In addition to this Sheriff, Garrett now finds himself contending with a fanatical faction that make the Hammerites look like hippies. This group - the Mechanists - are representative of the radical change that an Industrial Revolution can bring. In fact, in the world that Thief takes place in, they embody the revolution. The Mechanists bring all sorts of industrial gadgetry to the City - electricity and lighting, heavy machinery and complex 'toys' such as mechanical guards.

Ah ha! An open door!

Nasty, evil technology, always getting in the way!

Unfortunately, these Mechanists are very bad. In their ceaseless quest for advancement they are slowly ruining the City. Throughout the game you'll run across characters having conversations, speaking of their troubles - most of which are about failing crops, bad air, and other pollution related troubles.