For me, the Stealth subgenre is my little sweet treat in Action games. I'm not one for "realistic" military shooters like CoD or BF (love TF2 and CS:S, though), but then there are games such as MGS and Hitman that I can take to and hide in the shadows, preying on my victims. But the special formula, for me, is a FPS (First Person Sneaker). The charm with it is that I may be preying on one person, but may not even notice who's behind me, and subsequently get caught. Today's game does just that. Thief Gold is one of my favorite "action" games of all time, and here's why I think it's worth the investment.

I'd like to go over some point while discussing Thief:

1.Presentation
2.Gameplay
3.Overall

Ready? Let's go!

At first glance, Thief really does show it's age with the Dark Engine. Skeletal animation is quite intergrated with some muscular animations, providing rather overdramatic deaths (if any, which will be discussed below). Enviroments are very blocky (or shall I say, simplistically geometric) as polygonal maps are painted with 2-D textures. What may also annoy you is the audio. But not the voice acting, or the music, oh no. It's the more subtle features, like footsteps, and loud dings. What makes up for this, however, are some very artistic cutscenes done in the fashion of victorian oil-paintings. Lighting is also impressively done, as darkness can overcome your sense of vision, yet the game will want you to run from the light when possible. Mentioning the voice-acting earlier, there are some pretty witty lines to be overheard in Thief: Gold, as guards and civilians may converse with each other under a scripted fashion, and will even mutter to themselves with humorous intent. Some of the NPCs sound very wimpy, yet some undead enemies will really freighten you with their demonic chanting and sinfully evil laughter. Even some of the cutscenes with leave you breathlessly in despair. That said, Thief really does show its presentful values with an excellently crafted story, as well as its protagonist. For in Thief, the players' intentions are personified into Garret, a misanthropic nobody with utter disregard for human sympathy, thus thrusting his life into that of cold lonliness upon which he accepts, nontheless. What drives Garret to keep living the way he does, however, is the challenge of a hiest. Likewise, it's the challenge in every level of Thief: Gold that'll want you to keep looking for more loot. These ambitions will lead Garret to rob enormous manors, a mountainside prison, an ancient, subterrainean city lost to the anals (I mean annals) of time, the Thieves Guild (how's that for a TES reference), a madhouse, a wizards' synod, an opera house, and even the depths of Hell, themselves. Thief: Gold really does present itself rather well when you look deeply enough, but that's only one reason to buy this game.

Point Two: Gameplay

Under its point of view, Thief: Gold works a lot like your typical FPS under its basic set. Move the mouse around to move the camera, left-click to use a weapon, right-click to use an item. The controls are a little different, though. To move, you use S, Z, X, C rather than your typical WASD format. In fact, you press W to sprint, rather than holding the Shift key. Use Q and E to lean in their respected directions, as a means to peek around corners, checking for guards. You also have a set array of weapons. Garret has a sword for hairy confrontations, a blackjack for knocking out patrols, and a Bow with several sets of arrows, including rope and water arrows. He can also lug around flashbombs for quick getaways, healing potions to mend wounds, and speed potions to hasten his running speed. These are just a few examples of weapons and gadgets you may use in Thief. But you don't really have to use a sword or broadpoint arrows to get past an enemy. You could indiscriminatly kill everyone in every level, and at the same time, you can beat the game without killing a single soul. Crafty thieves will use their environments to their advantage, throwing objects for distraction, finding secret entry points, and patiently hiding in the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike. This game really rewards the patient and insightful, while tolerating the maniaclly homicidal. Of course, the homicidal will need to be patient to, as heading straight on into a confrontation will more than likely get you killed. See, Garret is NOT a tank. He can die within a few hits of a blade, or a few arrows to the chest. Even the sneaky will need to be cautious, as these guards will use thier sights and sounds to sniff you out of the shadows if they so much as suspect you. In turn, however, you are a master sneak, being able to hide in plain sight if you're cloaked in a dark shadow, or run a marathon on a bathroom carpet (for what that's worth). By the way, whatever you do, don't step on tile floors. They are your worst enemy possible, as every step you take can be hear within the nearest 20 yard radius. That said, Thief is a successful stealth game, giving you a light meter to show how visible you are to an enemy, rewarding exploration with tons of loot and secrets to reveal, and providing weapons only in self-defense rather than assault. If anything, the gameplay is where Thief: Gold truly shines.

Point Three: Overall

Given the games' age, it's easy to see how obsolete the Dark Engine is. But also has a reputation of providing masterful games with rich storytelling and gameplay aspects, with Thief: Gold as a shining prodigy. It's a very functional sneak 'em up, with about 60+ hours of gameplay, and more if you go back on higher difficulties. It's an obvious cult-classic being the ghost-father of modern gaming, providing intelligent enemies, a powerful storyline, immersive gameplay, and just being an exemplar of stealth games, in general. I would highly recommend buying Thief even today.

This game has been Dubb-approved.