Order to play the Thief series

[DogMeat]

I'm planning on playing the whole series for the first time but I'm not sure what order to tackle them. I mean, the original trilogies order is obvious, but should I play this game first or save it for last?

On the one hand I like playing games in chronological order and this game, assuming its not a complete reboot, supposedly takes place hundreds of years later with a new character.

On the other hand I hear that this is probably the worst game in the franchise and frankly I'd rather get the worst out of the way first.

What do you folks think?

[HunterKiller]

Like you said. :)

[spiritman]

You should play them in the order they were released, as long as you are able to appreciate first two games singe their graphics and gameplay haven't aged very well. If you cant, then feel free to jumt to third one which at least looks decent to this day. Fourth game isn't bad at all, in fact I and many other long time Thief fans loved it. It is like the bigger and more polished version of third Thief game, Deadly Shadows.

[DogMeat]

Hmm... I don't know. Another thing that makes me want to play this reboot first is I've heard its the easiest of the series, so that would be another reason to start with it.

[Migz - DH]

Whichever order you go in, do treat this one as a reboot, and not a continuation of the story from the other games (i.e., this isn't Thief IV). With that, you should get yourself into the right mindset for the differences.

This isn't "a complete reboot, supposedly takes place hundreds of years later with a new character". Instead, it is a different character in a different city which happen to be named the same as the character and city in the other Thief games and have some similarities but some differences too.

[『Florx』]

Play them in order and you will see why most of the Thief community didn't like the new Thief.

[MLEM]

This is the best order:
1. Thief Gold (or Dark Project, both are good).
2. Thief The Metal Age.
3. Thief Deadly Shadows

And that's it. Just don't be stupid and play this new garbage Thi4f.

[...]

You must play them in the order in which they were originally released, with one major caveat: after you're done with Thief 2, you would do well to install and play through T2X - a community made expansion of wholly commercial-grade quality. After you're done with that, you can freely proceed to Thief 3. Once you're finished with all three games, you will no doubt want to sample the fruits of their fan mission community, as well as check out (completely free) The Dark Mod.

This Eidos Montreal piece you would to well to avoid, for it is at best a poorly made and unpolished game wholly devoid of redeeming qualities. It is also known to cause diarrhea, premature balding and considerable loss in sexual appetite.

[HunterKiller]

Originally posted by Agent Cooper:

This Eidos Montreal piece you would to well to avoid, for it is at best a poorly made and unpolished game wholly devoid of redeeming qualities. It is also known to cause diarrhea, premature balding and considerable loss in sexual appetite.

This would not be healthful for me. The fist issue because of my age, getting to the bathroom would be slow and messy, the second one, I don't have to worry about but the third, would be detrimental to my health, that's what keeps me going.

Thanks for the heads-up.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Play the originals in chronological order, obviously. This one is a full reboot and has only few forced connections with original story-wise, so you can play it either before or after them (or skip it altogether). And as Agent Cooper said, be sure to take a look at their mapping scene.

A far as this game itself goes, taken on its own this reboot is a mediocre AAA game with some serious issues (which is reflected in its subpar critical reception and current Steam user review score). As a Thief game, it is abysmal. So I don't know, if you really intend to play it, then it might actually be "more fair" to play it first without prior experience with originals.

[DogMeat]

Originally posted by Agent Cooper:

as well as check out (completely free) The Dark Mod.

The Dark Mod is actually a big reason I became interested in the series. That and the high praise the series has received through the years! I figured as a fan of classic PC games I had to play this series in or turn in my gamer card.

I've played a few missions from Thief Gold and the age of the series wont be an issue. Based on the recption this latest title has received I kind of wanted to get it out of the way first (save the best for last and all) but I wanted to make sure it wouldn't somehow spoil the classics or something like that. Sounds like there will be no issue playing it first.

Who knows... maybe I'll even like this one.

[spiritman]

I think that you will, and I am glad that you decided to give it a chance. Hate this game is getting from the vocal minority has very little to do with it being good or bad. This is IMO one of the best stealth games of the last decade.

[xiaowu]

good job

[Rastrelly]

Originally posted by Nifft:

I think that you will, and I am glad that you decided to give it a chance. Hate this game is getting from the vocal minority has very little to do with it being good or bad. This is IMO one of the best stealth games of the last decade.

Sorry, but I have to say that while this game is actually indeed one of the best stealth games of the last ten years, it says more about decade, not this game. For this one is actually a really weak experience, that could more or less be enjoyable on hardest possible difficulty with lowered movement speed, if that option did not involve forcefully pushed in cinematic segments, which require basically memorising every single move in order to be beaten, which, mixed with unskippable cutscenes and inability to save, makes them into sadomasochistic experience.

All negatives of Thief 3 are actually increased to alarming levels in Thief 4. Sloppy movement? How about basically zero control over vertical mobility? Crammed missions with little variativity? How about missions with two options at best, split into ridiculously short intervals. Boring repetative cityscape? Make it twice the size! Small and easy sidemissions? Make them even smaller and even easier, often not involving actual stealth at all!

And to make things worse, take original settings, tell you've rebooted it, then do not reboot it to crank confusion levels to astronomic levels, and then, as actual cherry on the cake, turn main characters (supposed professionals, one of whom is a MASTER THIEF FFS) into childish idiots who are unable to act in professional manner in the middle of a mission, making the whole situations, all the horrors of the game, all they have to endure, and not they alone, but the City as well, THEIR OWN FAULT (and I spoil nothing: it happens in the first ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mission and obvious as hell!), and finally, make the whole further story as predictable and generic as possible. Seriously, I could more or less tell what will happen next somewhere around mission 3!

There are good ideas in the game, like lockpicking which actually makes noise when failed, and falling items making noise as well. But at the same time, surface sound system is basically killed off (no more noisy tiles!), lighting system is basically the same, whic is not that sofisticated (in originals sound mattered more then light, but now, with sound irrelevant, light HAD to became more important factor), broken mobility with OP swoop, and odd level design with long empty areas rarely replaced with actual stealth segments (like, bordello in mission 3 - bordello itself is geat, but then you spend three times more absolutely alone with no enemies, and then you have a short linear segment with several really easy to avoid guards).

So sorry if I am a vocal minority spoiling everyone their fun, but this game is weak, and it HAD to be put together with much more care and thought.

[『Florx』]

Originally posted by Rastrelly:

Originally posted by Nifft:

I think that you will, and I am glad that you decided to give it a chance. Hate this game is getting from the vocal minority has very little to do with it being good or bad. This is IMO one of the best stealth games of the last decade.

Sorry, but I have to say that while this game is actually indeed one of the best stealth games of the last ten years, it says more about decade, not this game. For this one is actually a really weak experience, that could more or less be enjoyable on hardest possible difficulty with lowered movement speed, if that option did not involve forcefully pushed in cinematic segments, which require basically memorising every single move in order to be beaten, which, mixed with unskippable cutscenes and inability to save, makes them into sadomasochistic experience.

All negatives of Thief 3 are actually increased to alarming levels in Thief 4. Sloppy movement? How about basically zero control over vertical mobility? Crammed missions with little variativity? How about missions with two options at best, split into ridiculously short intervals. Boring repetative cityscape? Make it twice the size! Small and easy sidemissions? Make them even smaller and even easier, often not involving actual stealth at all!

And to make things worse, take original settings, tell you've rebooted it, then do not reboot it to crank confusion levels to astronomic levels, and then, as actual cherry on the cake, turn main characters (supposed professionals, one of whom is a MASTER THIEF FFS) into childish idiots who are unable to act in professional manner in the middle of a mission, making the whole situations, all the horrors of the game, all they have to endure, and not they alone, but the City as well, THEIR OWN FAULT (and I spoil nothing: it happens in the first ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mission and obvious as hell!), and finally, make the whole further story as predictable and generic as possible. Seriously, I could more or less tell what will happen next somewhere around mission 3!

There are good ideas in the game, like lockpicking which actually makes noise when failed, and falling items making noise as well. But at the same time, surface sound system is basically killed off (no more noisy tiles!), lighting system is basically the same, whic is not that sofisticated (in originals sound mattered more then light, but now, with sound irrelevant, light HAD to became more important factor), broken mobility with OP swoop, and odd level design with long empty areas rarely replaced with actual stealth segments (like, bordello in mission 3 - bordello itself is geat, but then you spend three times more absolutely alone with no enemies, and then you have a short linear segment with several really easy to avoid guards).

So sorry if I am a vocal minority spoiling everyone their fun, but this game is weak, and it HAD to be put together with much more care and thought.

+1 Great post!

I would say that Dishonored is the best stealth game of the last ten years IMO. Overpowered abilities and hand holding kinda ruins it though. Stealth genre is a dying breed sadly....

[Mr Hanky]

Honestly one of the worst games I've ever played and pretty much everything that is wrong with the current industry, I'd avoid it and just play the original trilogy.The first two games are essential and complete masterpieces and the third is pretty decent.