Gameplay

Once a Thief...

Thief II, not surprisingly, is a lot like Thief. You are given a little bit of background on a mission, a setup screen where you buy your tools for the night to come and then you're off. You are, of course, provided with a "map", but it's a very crude device. The map gives you a rough sketch of your target area, and it's only nice enough to highlight the zone you're in, not your exact position. In addition, it's often missing many areas, and can be wrong about others.

Well, it's his life.

Kerr-splat!

The map is generally correct though, and can be useful in giving you the general idea of what direction you want to go through. However, any guard patrols or security cameras are your problem. Then there are the times you'll have to pickpocket a key, or pick a lock in a bright light, praying that you're not spotted.

In Game

Thief II is an extremely challenging game, thinking you to think and act fast one minute, then display a great deal of patience for another 10. Many were the times that we just sat, huddled in a corner, thinking on how to get out of a mess we made for ourselves because we went in too quick. You too, might find yourself stuck somewhere because you missed the opportunity to take out a torch, or killed a guard you didn't have to and forgot to clean the bloodstain on the ground. With an entire complex on alert, how long can you last? Should you stay still and hope that they don't come your way, or try and run for a safer haven?

So many bodies to dispose of

Look, it's a party!

In general, Thief II works very well as long as you're playing it the way it's meant to be played. Still, as old-school Quakers, we found ourselves bored with the tedium at times and went on a rampage. That we got smacked down pretty good is a nod in the direction of the designers, but... if you go and play the game hard - like killing or knocking out everyone in sight - you can win. If you play that style very smart - picking your targets one at a time, developing the proper technique for taking them out as fast as possible - you can actually breeze through most of the missions. There are, of course, some limits to this. Certain monsters are too tough to try and take out this way. Then there are some areas you can't 'break' because patrol routes are too well planned.

Nice light to the left

A closer look

The gameplay here relies on AI more than most games, since the game isn't about beating the monsters but getting around them. Unfortunately, if challenged, the human targets can be beaten handily. This is quite disappointing, but the game doesn't let you do this often - before long, human guards will start getting replaced, and there are several missions where you can't kill anybody.