Done with Thief: Deadly Shadows. Enjoyed it, again. Despite all the obvious shortcomings brought on by leading on Xbox. Retained its identity much better than Deus Ex: Invisible War, the other franchise that was put into a coma in the same generation. If only Thief had been successfully revived, too. :/
spoiler (click to show/hide)
--- The one thing I really didn't appreciate and only partially can be blamed on the Xbox are Garrett's animations. They make traversal unreliable and clunky, whether you're using a controller or a keyboard. You can't just play, you constantly have to keep its quirks and limitations in mind, especially when mantling. By the end, I had even learned different means of unfucking a recurring bug that would leave Garrett stuck in a falling animation.
- The animation problems become painfully apparent in one of the first proper missions (the Pagan compound), due to a very large amount of complex geometry.
+ On the upside: head-attached cameras are rad, as is being able to look down at your body.
- Head-attached cameras are not so rad when they don't account for digital input. The camera is really jerky as a result.
+ Thankfully it's not nearly as noticeable when you're creeping, which is most of the time.
++ Dynamic shadows! Actual shadows, period.
- Difficulty levels no longer gate meaningful content within missions. Expert just means extra loot requirements, and more perceptive enemies. Completely understandable that they didn't want to waste resources on furnishing big parts of levels that many people may never see, but still.
- Papyrus font.
+ Combined lightgem and compass into one.
- Lockpicking minigame.
- Levels are markedly smaller than T2's. Which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't also have load zones, bc Xbox RAM.
- They decided to go from mission-based to hub-based when it was obvious the city would have to be cut up into several pieces, making traversal tedious. Load times were OK on PC, now, dunno what they were like on Xbox though. Too early/wrong lead platform to make this switch.
+ The city is nice, considering. And it pays off well in the finale.
++ All of your gear carries over between missions, which encourages you to use it carefully and/or look for more goodies in missions.
- You can't not be rich if you play on Expert, so the above is kind of moot. Might be true on lower difficulties as well.
- Some area transitions within the city can be very unfair, due to guards patrolling very close to load zones.
- Guards recognize and attack you on sight. Regular folk do not, wanted posters notwithstanding. Makes no sense.
- Loot inside the city respawns. Makes sense for water and moss arrows, not so much for jewelry.
+ You can eventually befriend both the Hammerites and Pagans, after which they leave you alone in the city. Comes in very useful around the mid-game, when they will even fight on your side.
- Zombies are back, but...
+ ...they don't constantly moan and retch. And they're fast now, i.e. somewhat dangerous.
-- No swimming whatsoever. Garrett dies on contact with the water. That means no underwater entrances or secrets.
- Another grave sin for old-timers: no rope arrows. (I don't mind as much.)
~ Replaced by climbing gloves, which allow you to scale any brick wall. More options are welcome, but the conceit is somehow dumber than rope arrows. And you look like Spider-Man using them.
- Leaning is completely worthless since you can switch into 3d person. Not only can you then see all the way around a corner, but you remain completely safe doing so. Dunno why 3rd person is even in the game, other than them adding it just because, as they'd already modeled his body for first person animations.
+ AI notices opened doors, missing guards and even missing loot.
- They are not very alarmed by this. Not for very long, anyway. And they are still pretty damn dumb, even on Expert. (But then that's all stealth games, and kinda sorta have to be, I guess...)
~ You can flatten yourself against a wall to hide even better. Said to break the game, but it's not like it's especially difficult without. Can't think of a moment when I actually needed it.
- Game's ugly. Thief 1 and 2 retained some charm, despite the low poly counts. Don't see this faring as well.
- Lots of z-fighting, misaligned assets, and gaps. In very conspicuous places, too.
+ The Cradle didn't scare the shit out of me this time. :>
- The Cradle just plain sucks when you're not scared. :<
+ I completely forgot the twist and was taken in by the story all over again, including the misdirection.
- But Garrett was much too trusting regardless. He shoulda known! So soon after larning about the thing with the thing, too.
- He's also much too blasé about bringing down the Clocktower. As are the keepers, really.
+ The ending is just - mh! <3 I think I'm a sucker for stories going full circle like this.
- There should have been repercussions for pilfering your neighbour's and even your landlord's apartment. They know who you are and what you do. There are wanted posters with your face on it.
--- Had to steal a loopy widow's last savings because of Expert difficult loot requirements. Was just 500 gold, too. I finished the game with 20k or so. Lemme give it back, game! I even had to knock out her one loyal guard who came looking for me at my apartment. T_T
