Recent reviews by allocated

247 hours of love and hate

GOTY
no
doubt
about
it

(review + HD textures + d3d9 affects install instructions)

So, people.

You are probably looking at the price of this timeless gem (around 2$) and maybe thinking that it would not cost as much as YOUR time.
----------------------------------------
Well let me stop you right there.
----------------------------------------
This is not a thief simulator.

It's a freeform stealth game series where the emphasis is on evasion, rather than aggression. The world we inhabit is creative and nuanced.
But I still feel like that's selling Thief short.

It's a subtler, more mature way of designing than the modern industry's focus on cramming in as much content as possible into a game. It infects every level of a modern game's infrastructure and "disgusting" - Thief (2014) is a good way of comparing the two time periods. It's a brash overly simplified version of the original Thief game containing its service features but little more. To be fair, it's not the worst thing ever It could have been an action game.

Thief (2014) follows this modern approach to game development with attempt to cram in all this content, in the hopes of appealing to someone out there.
The problem with this ideology isn't just that the individual game mechanics are watered down and the game becomes a sort of, jack-of-all-trades - master of none, although this is certainly a major concern, a more pressing problem is that your game loses direction and focus.
Things will be thrown in for the sake of filling out the product - for the sake of being cool and flashy.
Take the implementation of maps in the two games - The Dark Project and Thief (2014).
In the former, in a way I haven't seen before or since, the map is a world building story appropriate piece of paper, the player character - Garrett - has limited information about it at the start of the mission. The map you receive may be sketchy and incomplete
-------------------------
Garret:
"The map's pretty specific about where the entrance is.
Too bad it's not as clear about where the Hornet is.

Felix did some scrounging before he left and his notes say the horns is in the tombs of some nobles - the 'Quintus Family'.
--------------------------
So the map has a complete street layout but in the game itself, roads often blocked off or caved in so while the map will serve as a general guide, it can only help you so far and it's up to you to figure out your actual bearings.

You see, when you have a quest marker or mini-map, the player doesn't take in the
game world. They're not playing a game so much as they're sleepwalking through it.
It becomes a monotonous grind.

This applies to any game that uses a quest marker to structure its gameplay.
The Dark Project's map forces the player to get their bearings, to work out where they are, to respect the environment around them, to get a little bit lost, worried and isolated, to stumble upon things like gold, they might not have found with a quest marker.
And then to start learning the unique elements of the level, to help them finally reach their primary goal.
By the end of the mission the player knows, respects and cherishes the mission they just conquered.
It's a wholly different experience to one with map markers.
Quest markers are the laziest game mechanic I can think of. The usual solution that develops concoct in response is "Well, just turn them off," and naturally Thief (2014) ships with this feature.

Basically, no amount of turning off quest markers or mini-maps will bring back the sublime in-world maps of the original Thief games.
About to enter a boss room? They'll probably be a minor pick-up to reward your exploration.
And that makes sense since and it's a good idea to reward the player agency -for paying attention. A music room probably doesn't have a whole lot in the way of gold, but it might have a few valuable instruments.

Already the player's brain is doing real thinking, using its initiative to problem-solve. It gets even more interesting when player motivation plays a part in finding these items.

Thief was never a slouch when it came to storytelling either. This reflects Garrett and the player's mind state - all is going according to plan.
Theres one mission with a mansion where the area is clearly documented in Garrett's in-game map, but no one's really ventured further to get any information for the rest of the mansion, so Garrett's map reflects this:
There's just has a big blank space with question marks beyond.

As you get deeper and deeper in, things get weird and leaves you feeling unprepared but really curious.

Another example is in Thief: The Dark Project, you can use rope arrows only on wood surfaces, so if Looking Glass don't want you climbing a specific wall, they simply don't place wood in the area. In thief 2014 there are speacial markers for those errors.

The player is forced out of using the rope arrow but in an entirely believable and natural way that never feels gamey or patronizing.

Even the idea that power and wealth are something to be feared is effortlessly communicated to the player organically through gameplay.

A torch, the basic light source in the game, can be put out with a water arrow to give the player more darkness. Wealthier ares in the game will utilize electronic lights, and these can't be put out using a water arrow and are usually more numerous.
Likewise, wealthier mansions will have marble floors installed, instead of regular stone.

Marble is far louder to walk across. The player feels more comfortable in the poorer areas where you can slip into the darkness and race across stone and wooden floors.

When you start giving the player more choice, the developer loses sight of what the player is doing in the narrative will become muddled. When empowered, the player will never feel vulnerable. If they don't feel vulnerable, that emotionally-charged arc contained within the level will never take place.
If it never takes place, then player will never recognize the character progression in the contractor who hired Garrett. So despite this initial joy you might get from a choice like this, it ultimately serves to impact the experience negatively in a game like Thief.

But I think the most important takeaway here is to never stray away from the direction of your game.

Appropriately tweak your game to the direction's needs. Be your own game and consider what effect each element has on the player's experience.

Create something unique and relevant.
(grab the HD mod from the game community section)

*****************
10 OUT OF 10
*****************
mods recommended
English:
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1307567090

Russian:
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1307567090

(удивительно простая установка - просто распаковать, далее меняйте стиль постобработки в конфигах папки игры)

Для тех, упустивших магию игр конца 90х годов, а именно - один из главных соул стоунов той эпохи, предлагается окунуться в неповторимый мир истоков похождений ""молчуна" из засекреченной лаборатории под землей Американской пустыни.

Разрабы какие-то маньяки, все сделано любовью, и что важно дополнено как-надо.

Всем советую.

За отсутствие КСЕНА ставлю 8 полураспадов из 10

Если не успели сыграть в первую часть, то этот мод-улучшение игры для вас. Ни одна новая деус экс не насыщенна такой атмосферой как первая.

Настальгия превыше всего.
Разочараволо конечно то, что иллюстраторы местами ложали, например нестилизированные под наше время пиксели начала 90ых. Музыка как и актеры на высоте. Требуется привыкнуть к меню с действиями.
8 макак из 10