Hide!

The First of Many Complications

There are a few things that hinder Garrett's ability to stay hidden. Among the worst culprits are floors and light. While anyone not dressed in a full suit of armor can walk quietly in a carpet, it takes a master thief to move across an iron grating without waking the dead. Similarly, stone and tile aren't exactly choice sneaking surfaces.

Carry the Corpse

Ahhh! The light!

Light is definitely the biggest obstacle Garrett has to worry about. Clearly the best thief is the one who never gets noticed, and the best way to get noticed is to go skulking around in black clothing with a blackjack and bag of valuables in hand - in broad daylight. Hence, Garrett's endeavor's are limited to night-time operations. Still, even at night there are many light sources. Torches, closed lamps and even electric lighting make the life of a thief very interesting. Fortunately, there is a handy tool in the game to tell you just how visible you are - the visiblity gem. The brighter it is, the more obvious you are.

Two guards fighting over their master's honor

Only one survives - lucky him

Garrett Ain't Duke Nukem

You are constantly outnumbered in the game. The odds range from 20-1 to well over 50-1. No problem, right? Yank out the rocket … er… no rocket launcher? OK, BFG? No? Hmm… a machine gun at… what? No machine gun even?! What kind of first person shooter is this? Well, when Looking Glass labeled it a first-person sneaker, they were not kidding. Oh sure, you'll have your doubts the first time around and go up to a guard, make some noise to get his attention and then proceed to get soundly thrashed.

Light is so depressing

Purrrty

So how does one defeat all these enemies? Quite simply, Garrett is never expected to go in and clear a room of creatures. He has one thing and one thing only on his mind - the loot. How he gets it is up to you. He can certainly try to fight, just like you could try to bust a move on a nun. The odds of success are about equal, with the consequences of fighting in Thief being much steeper. No, what Garrett usually finds himself doing is creeping around in shadows, moving quietly, darting through light as fast as possible - only when he's sure he's safe; and most of all, Garrett waits. It is better to wait five minutes and learn the patrol patterns than to spend 15 minutes loading and reloading the same scene trying to dash through it.