Thief II: The Metal Age Critic Reviews

Intriguing, delightful, spooky and thoroughly enjoyable.

Smashing sequel improves on the original. Utterly unique and addictive series.

Older graphics aside, Thief 2 is a great game. Though I'm sure some sociology professor might decry the glorification of breaking into people's houses and stealing their stuff, there's no denying that it's a lot of fun.

The missions themselves are so incredibly enjoyable and entertaining to play through, and are what make Thief II such a fantastic title.

The most impressive aspect of Thief 2 is its massive and varied levels. The levels are truly huge and require hours to fully explore.

This truly is the sneakiest game available on the PC, and is also one of the best designed and most enjoyable releases of the year so far.

All of the game's levels are very well crafted, and many of them are huge. Looking Glass has done an excellent job making each level feel like a "real" place.

For those of you looking for a complex, unique effort, Thief II continues to shine. The game puts in so much world detail that you can't help but get immersed in Garrett's plight and his adventures.

But with more interesting and varied missions, bigger and more detailed levels, new enemies (and allies), a few new toys to play with, and some vital tinkering under the bonnet, Thief II stands on its own merit.

More focused and polished than the original, it's a game to get for any fan of the FPS genre looking for something a bit different.

But the story is a bit disappointing compared with the complex plot of "Thief," and the game itself lacks the surprises of the original.

Sure, it's essentially an add-on for the original Thief plus a few engine enhancements, but the result still works.

Like its predecessor, Thief II is subtle, deep and refined, words associated with the action game genre about as often as they are with fraternity hazing rituals.

The levels are even bigger and more interesting. The game will take a good while to finish - 50 hours isn't out of the question, so you'll definitely get a good bang for your buck.

The pace is slow, but it's a lot of fun and very rewarding. However, the game suffers from unattractive graphics, bad sound in places, and a few bugs. If you can get past those points, however, you'll find a whole lot of deep gameplay.

It has provided me with in excess of 60 hours of pure addictive gameplay, and has earned a permanent spot on my shelf, sharing space with the likes of "Kings Quest 1" and "Doom."

A very entertaining "thinking person's shooter" that provides more of the same to fans of the original release. It's tough to learn, but rewards you with an immersive, fun experience.

I like the larger scenarios and the attention to detail on all of the levels is amazing.