LGR - Thief: The Dark Project - PC Game Review 

Thief: The Dark Project is essentially an interactive thesis on how sound design is equally as important as gameplay and graphics

R.I.P. Looking Glass Studios

Thief was and is an absolute classic!

Thief is probably the best game I've ever played. It's more than a game really, it's an "experience". I agree that the Gold version is best, however one thing I liked better in the original version is that there are no human enemies in the Lost City level. It just felt more right for there to be no humans there.

Actually the supernatural levels are some of my favourites. They force you to be even more stealthy than usual, because dispatching the creatures on those levels is so damn hard. If you want to dispatch them, they offer some great alternative ways. You can use flash bombs against undead (2 flash bombs will kill most of them), and you kinda have to discover this by accident. The Bonehoard mission has a certain projectile trap that allows you to lure zombies to it and watch them get burst to pieces as they mindlessly try to enter the door. These levels are also much more creative and varied than the usual "rob the manor" missions you find earlier on (with the exception of Constantine's Sword mission)

Thief was the game that taught me the word "mantle". Who says games can't be educational?

Just an fyi. You can also shoot the water arrows at the moss to make it grow so you can save on some moss arrows, as well as shoot blood spots and pools on the ground so enemies don't see them. amazing video like always!!

The "crude and inprecise" map was made that way on purpose!! There's no minimap telling you exactly where to go, you have to actually think and figure things out

The Metal Age was so good..it even inspired fan made campaigns! Less supernatural, more steampunky and human. I loved it.

Apart from the great stealth action, Thief is also a great horror game. The undead in Thief scared the shit out of me as a kid. I'm pretty sure I was not the only one. Took me quite a few attempts to overcome my fear, but once I did, other horror games didn't raise my pulse one bit :)

the sound effects in this are absolutely spectacular. so much immersion

The old team needs to get back together and make a spiritual succesor to Thief 1 & 2. I'd support the hell out of it if they made a kickstarter.

Thief was also one of the first games to support Creative's EAX sound extensions, and it was bundled with many Sound Blaster cards.

I know what your saying about the sword combat... but, I always preferred the challenge of avoiding all combat. It's the only game I've played where it felt like the 'best' way to play was to not engage in combat.

One of my absolute favorite games of all time. But I always wondered why Garret had shoes that would had made Fred Astaire envious.

Awsome, awsome game. The 'less talk, more ambience and spooky music' aspect of the game s in the 90s is sorely missed. Also, look at that gui. A game purely made for pc and no console port in mind. How wonderful.

One of the greatest games of all time in my opinion. Immersive environments, intriguing story, quick-witted AI, and strenuous levels. This is what AAA developers SHOULD be doing.

A masterpiece, one of my all time favorite along with Thief 2: The Metal Age. Great to see a review of it.

Just picked up Thief Gold and Thief 2 on steam for 1.74 each. I think I finally understand the draw of PC gaming. Such amazing deals. Wonderful!

This, and metal age, Rank in my all-time favorite games, EVER. and not many games with graphics get that.

A modern version of this game with Ray Tracing would be immense!

good review, but some of the criticism of confusing level design was while playing that infamous manor, it was supposed to be confusing, it was an absolute stroke of genius i thought to start with the "normal" mission from constantine and then suddenly the manner is like getting weirder and weirder, i am also one of the these people who thinks the zombie levels provide contrast to thief 2, they then reflect one another the first is before the mechanists and the world is very much full of supernatural stuff :) in the second game you revisit areas that where TERRIFYING, and they are built over and mechanised i cannot really describe the effect this game had as a pair with the two games, it was just stunning, the highlight of the gaming decade for me

These days I get so many of your older videos in my recommendations list and I'm loving them!

Holy shit. I already forgot about that "new" Thief game... Just goes to show how memorable that was. lol

Man this game used to creep me out like no other. The atmosphere from the get go is spot on. Love the review man!

I used to start playing Thief about ten pm and play it until the sun came up, all the time sitting in a completely dark room. SO MUCH FUN! It is definitely my favorite game of all time. I'll never understand, however, why eveybody hates on the supernatural stuff in it. When Thief II came out, I wsa sorely disappointed with it's lack of weird critters and bizarre twisted environments. I'm honestly not even sure I ever finished that game. I know I never finished the third game. To me they just didn't stack up to the original. I would gleefully sit alone in only the light of the screen, completely still in-game, and watch and wait for the perfect time to launch an arrow or bludgeon an unwary guard. And I would sneak around so slowly in levels like the haunted cathedral, scared out of my wits, trying to never catch the attention of those things, whatever they were. I don't remember. But damn! The audio design in that game was stellar! It truly was the source of all of my dread while playing. It was perfect. Anyway, I'm glad to see someone enjoying this game so long after it's release. It's well worth it.

Same as me. Always loved that box, but never been able to play this game. And now, here I am, seeing you unboxing and playing... I love your work.

This game is stealth done right

That scene where Garett lost his eye really scared me when i was younger.

Modding community for Thief is fucking amazing

I was waiting for this review to popup on your channel. The waiting was worth it. Thank you, LGR. And greetings from Argentina. :)

One of my favourite series! I can't really agree with you that the combat is more fun in doom though, in my book both sword- and bow fight are done very well in Thief, and you being in the position of disadvantage is intended, since you are meant to be a thief, not a war tank. This is a first person sneaker, not first person shooter after all. Combat should be the last resort normally, unless you really want to go that way. Same goes for undead, you can sneak around them perfectly.

As a longtime Taffer, have you ever played The Dark Mod?

This game looks like fun, even in 2014.

A true masterpiece. This game is the definition of art. And there is a lot of us thief fans who actually think T1 is by far the better of the 2 original games. For me the supernatural attribute what sets is apart from thief 2 and to its advantage. I mean look at a mission like "The Sword" and think about you just defeated satan. T2 was a lame-ass boring "steal this, steal that" game compared to its predecessor. I dont say i hate T2, I love every bit of it. Even T2X, and a lot of fan-made missions. Its just that T1 raised the bar up so far for me, its impossible to top that. And the reboot? Its not even worth seeing in my opinion.

Awesome, been looking forward to seeing you review Thief for a while. Love your channel, you're always reviewing all the games I used to play in the 80's and 90's on PC. For better or worse it's great watching you revisit them, always feel a strong sense of nostalgia watching your videos.

Oh wow, when you showed the instructions manual I felt like I could just smell it, and then you smelled it! Glad to see I'm not the only one with this fetish.

Oh yess! I was secretly hoping you will make review of Thief before new one comes out!

Great review! This guy's game reviews are the only I've ever been able to sit through from beginning to end. Also I loved this game.

I actually liked the Undead stuff. Down in the Bonehoard and the Haunted Cathedral are two of the best levels. I also prefer the game to Thief 2, this one was just dripping in atmosphere. I will take the undead over robots any day. Thief 2 was amazing though don't get me wrong but I preferred the original back in the day.

I still can't get over the changes they made to Garret. It's disappointing to see what they've done to him in the reboot.

I'm still playing this now - just saying - it's that freakin awesome

This is the best game I have ever played in my 42 years of gaming. No media, be it movie or game, has as much atmosphere as the original Thief for me.

Another great review! Thanks LGR!

This is probably my favorite game of all time. Thanks for the review!

The prequel to one of my favourite games of all time: Thief II (known in Germany as "Dark Project II: The Metal Age"

I love all the flashbacks I have when you showing things and games of the 90s :D

Awesome review :) I really have to play this game since i already bought it on gog.

Great review man. This is probably my favorite stealth series and the second game is in my top ten.

Man, I love this channel. My childhood. I remember playing this game on my first PC Pentium 1.

Awesome. Better than most games today and this game came out in 1998!

this game was soo far ahead of its time.. and just plain awesome

Awesome review dude!

LGR, can you please please please please review System Shock 2?? I mean, come on, the game is one of the best ever made! You even teased it in the background of this video!

I'm a big fan of the thief games, got more into thief gold than the others, I always try to be serious on being the star of the game, I'm being the thief him self. I always jump at surprises and it as it was real, LOVE IT!

Mmm. I love the smell of fonts in the morning.

Good game, good review to go with it. Liked the "smells like fonts" part. hahaha, these videos never get old.

I just bought the Trilogy for under 2 $ in a store, it's a bundle from 2013.

i played the whole original trilogy and i have to agree with you, some levels (at least in the first two games) are ENDLESS! i had to use the "skip level" key combo on the catacombs when i realized i walked in circles for TWO HOURS! but nonetheless, they are great games and i loved to complete them without killing anyone to the point of restarting from a quick save multiple times just to knock out a bunch of guards :D

I always look forward to your reviews, dude :D This game looks incredibly fun, maybe I'll give it a go!!

Thief series is brilliant piece of art Form. Truly one of the best PC Game series of all time

always looooved this game big time, so cool theres another approach now to it

I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Ken Levine was either one of the art designers or lead artist for this game before founding Irrational.

Great Review, hope you finish the series.

One of the best titles ever made, surpassed only by its own sequel and still the curve by which all other stealth games are graded. Fantastic gameplay, atmosphere, voice acting, world-building... Thief has more than most games even try to accomplish.

Your collection is awesome

Hey LGR, your video inspired me to buy this game and play it. I just finished it and it was really good. Maybe I'll buy the second game during the Steam sale. Cheers.

One of the most immersive games I have EVER played! The sound design with all the reverb is still one of the best...

Rock on LGR! I've been watching your videos for many years now ans you're the best youtuber ever. Thanks!

Those damm spiders...always jumping on my head!

at first i didn't like zombies either, but then the whole thing grew on me, especially the crypt levels, and over all, with the pagan/satanist fantasy elements, it created a deeper atmosphere for me, more so than the machines of the metal age. looking back on all things, its a perfect classic for me, and it will stay that way forever, i guess. i count myself lucky for having on older relative buying me these games back in the day, besides thief 1, i got lands of lore 3, unreal 1, and the neverhood, needless to say, all mind-blowing, of course, and these all stayed my top games since. i know its boring and useless to ask but what the fuck happened since the late 90's?

Great review, I always thought the Thief series was highly underrated, it's great to see a classic finally getting it's overdue attention. Thief 2 is one of my all time favourite games.

I remember getting this game bundled with a Creative sound card. I was blown away by EAX at the time. To this day, this game is one of my favorites.

Played this one for the first time last year and I freaking loved it. Need to get around to playing Thief 2 and Deadly Shadows as well.

This game was (is) absolutely fantastic. I remember playing it in a dark room with speakers cranked up.

LGR, I really enjoyed this review and it would be entertaining if you do a review for Thief II: The Metal Age.

Absolutely loved this as a kid, recently finished another playthrough on expert and it was just as fun as ever. Still very atmospheric.

Once I had tradition: to beat Thief 2 every month. Game is that good. But first Thief is a bit too complicated. For example mission in haunted Hammerite temple. So many objectives. By the way fans-made Shadows of the Metal Age is also great.

A great review of a very great game! I remember reading some of the first tests in computer game magazines back then... later i bought this game within a game-compilation box and was not disappointed. They did an amazing work on the audio system, that you really can tell where the enemy is coming from. After Half-Life the best game from 1998.

The dark foreboding atmosphere mixed with the supernatural creeps lurking around in a first-person perspective would scare the crap out of me. That mixed with the fact that I'm about as stealthy as a freight train means that I don't think Thief is a game for me, LOL!

Thief 1 and 2 still to this day my favorite. Still have my boxes. I loved the art they had on them.

I absolutley adore this game, I remeber playing this first time on my dads pc when i was around 14 years old, and ever since then i love sneaking around video games with my trusty bow and arrow and looting the place. Which is why i love doing it in Nowadays in Skyrim, nothing better than a woodelf thief in the thieves guild. Also cool video LGR!

Damn man! Your shelves are pretty stocked! So many memories from pausing the vid and seeing whats up there LOL! You must have 1000's of floppies in those trays aswel. We've got a few hundred and thats in only about 3 trays!

Yes! Been waiting for this!

2:26 "You start the game off in a city! known as the city!" Idk why I found that so funny 😂

Keep on going man live the dream.

Definitely know what series to try in the next GoG sale.

I played it over and over for years at expert level. Loved it. I especially liked the stealth aspect because I could set my own pace and come out of the shadows at will. FPS's are typically a run in, kill everything that moves at a caffeine induced rage pace that would scare the Trickster into a sobbing little girl. This was a refreshing change. Doom and Quake were fun for a while, but Thief: The Dark Project was a much more relaxing environment where you felt more in control. Eventually I would try subduing every soul in the buildings and stacking them up in the vestibules just to see if I could. That was fun. Searching every room on every floor, whacking the unsuspecting and dragging them to the front one by one. Good times... Goood times.

Have you had a chance to play The Dark Mod? It started out as a mod for DooM 3 and it was inspired by Thief. As of version 2.0, it's gone standalone and it's free.

My compliments. An excellent review and the best review I've ever seen. Many STARS :-)

I think I've finally decided that this is my favorite game of all time. Amazing, a timeless classic.

I remember this being the creepiest game I played as a kid, Resident Evil included. The memories...

I'm a recent fan. I really enjoy what you are making. Side note, if you ever come across swords in your thrifting, I would not mind a heads up. LOL

I love the undead parts, or the supernatural in it. It's not overexplained, the first time you for instance hear the ghost which speaks backwards was a really strange experience. The haunts are also one of the best enemies in any game ever. Be sure to enable EAX if you can, especially with a Creative card is it enhances the experience tremendously, just one of those things that I wish was still around.

was wondering when you were going to review this. :) will there be a review of the 2nd, and 3rd game too?

on the Haunted Cathedral: use flash bombs... makes life easier.

I actually prefer the original Thief to Thief 2. Yeah, the undead are overused but I enjoy the varied locations, I think the bad guy is more interesting, and finally, Thief 2 just gives me a feeling of being unfinished.

I thought you said Carrot the first time, not Garret haha Another great video!

I was hoping for an opinion of the the 3rd game, aswell. I've heard some people were disappointed with it, but I remember I really enjoyed that one. But, obviously, still a great video!

Bravo! :) 2:57 "The most important part of the gameplay revolves around paying attention to your own body, keeping constantly self-aware." Perhaps the best description of what makes the Thief series so special. 6:45 "Never leaving first person takes immersion to the max." So true!