The narrow corridors of Cragscleft prison, for example, make sneaking around awkward, while the game’s latter half is filled with gimmicky missions like ‘Undercover’ that don’t really pay off. A deeper issue is that many of Thief‘s levels don’t facilitate stealth particularly well. The prevalence of undead enemies is one example of this, although in some ways those enemies are key to the original game’s uniquely terrifying atmosphere. However, The Dark Project is also a flawed gem, visibly bearing the scars of its RPG heritage. These elements and so much more make Thief: The Dark Project one of the most influential games ever made. But it’s the game’s eerie, surrealist ambient soundtrack that is crucial to staving off the ravages of time, lending Thief its distinctively leaden atmosphere that makes crouching behind a stack of crates utterly fraught with tension. While visually Thief may look simplistic today, its ability to render gloomy environments (despite a lack of dynamic lighting systems) remains impressive. Indeed, what truly elevates Thief into masterpiece territory is how every aspect of its design feeds into the thrill of trying not to be seen or heard. Although it may seem silly that the footsteps of a master thief make so much noise, if you’ve ever tried to sneak around your own house at midnight, you’ll know how loud every creak of a floorboard sounds in the dead silence of the witching hour. Most modern stealth games don’t include this feature, but its effect on Thief‘s game design is profound, transforming every level into a maze of potential hazards and forcing you to think hard about every step you take. Thief features many different floor types such as stone, wood, grass, and metal, each of which makes a different level of noise when the protagonist Garrett steps on them. But Thief has other mechanics that have been replicated far less often. Much of this might seem unremarkable today, as similar systems are commonplace in other stealth games. Guards, meanwhile, would have multiple states of awareness, able not just to be active or passive, but to appear suspicious of the player’s presence, and actively hunt them down. Players would be vulnerable in the light, but able to conceal themselves completely in shadow. Looking Glass set about creating a whole roster of systems in service of sneaking. It’s this specificity that ensured Thief‘s legacy, because the whole project switched from flailing about in search of a hook, to solving the problem of making stealth engaging. But the team couldn’t figure out what those approaches would be, and so the project eventually switched to focus exclusively on stealth. Named Dark Camelot, Looking Glass’ early concept was much broader, intended to offer a range of different approaches to missions. Instead, the initial concept was for a grim fantasy RPG based on Arthurian Legend. Looking Glass Studios’ pioneering stealth game was not originally meant to be a stealth game at all. To answer that question, we need to go back to 1998, and the launch of Thief: The Dark Project. Credit: Looking Glass Studios, Square Enix. Why is Thief 2‘s stealth is so much more compelling than the partial offerings of games like Dishonored and MGS? What does it do that those games don’t, and how does it make avoiding interaction so singularly compelling? But putting aside the fact that other true stealth games have released since, like Splinter Cell and Mark Of The Ninja, Thief 2 remains a singular stealth experience, and it’s intriguing to ask why. Which makes my next point, that Thief 2: The Metal Age remains the best stealth game ever made, sound like a backhanded compliment, as if the only reason this is true is that nobody else has tried. “True” stealth games that focus purely on evasion and distraction are few and far between. But you can play these games as pure action experiences and they work equally well. Titles like Dishonored, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Metal Gear Solid 5 let you choose to be stealthy if you want. This counterintuitive approach to play is perhaps why most modern games that feature stealth do so as an option. READ MORE: ‘Kirby and the Forgotten Land’ review: a breath of fresh air.The ultimate achievement in a stealth game is to “ghost” a level, to complete it in a way that suggests you were never there at all. They ask you not to interact with enemies, not to be seen or heard. Stealth games are one of the industry’s strangest genres, in that they actively encourage players to avoid engaging with the game’s own systems.
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