After DXIW, I'd have to seriously consider whether or not I'd bother downloading Thief3 if it were free...

I might rent it to play on my xbox:)

DX:IW had a demo, although it had terrible reviews, it still had one. T:S, using the same engine and technology DOES NOT have a demo, can anyone explain that? Doesn't that seem a bit odd to anyone? The Devs must not be too confident of their product, no sale for me until I get a demo.

Don't blame fish for swimming where the water is. Being a starving artist may sound romantic but it gets old pretty fucking quick when the monthly rent bill comes round again.

Amen to that.

About the divine and gayfull words spoken about Gamespy like their words are facts, that gave me the creeps. The reviewers of Gamespy are people also, so what's the reason for worshipping?!
Oh and online reviews... I don't trust them. A small hand of cash or something is enough to let the reviewers fake it all. Enough game-magazines do that business!

About the graphics.. who cares? For a First-Person SHOOTER it is terrible, agreed. That's why I disliked the engine for DE:IW (although that whole game sucks). But for thief.. who cares.. Like someone in this topic already mentioned: Were the graphics in Thief 1 and 2 perfection itself? Neh.

After I've looked at a lot of screenshots and the trailers (trailer002 on the thief3 site is a good one) I do think I'm gonna buy the game. Thief 1 and 2 are in my collection, so 3 should be added.
Will it be a game worthy of the Thief title? Pray, to whatever god you worship!
This comment was edited on May 26, 07:55.

"Funny how a console defined as 'ill-fated' by last years standings is hammering the shit out of the today's industry."

But the console isn't hammering the shit out of todays industry, it's the developers. They're busily driving the nails into their own coffins and don't even realize it because they can smell nothing but money from the direction they run.

I almost think they sabotaged the PC version on purpose just to drive people off the PC--

You're almost right.
More like they damn near abandoned the PC in favour of the XBox.
Funny how a console defined as 'ill-fated' by last years standings is hammering the shit out of the today's industry.

DX2 was really watered down in the gameplay district. 'Fun' game... as far as first person shooters go... too bad it wasn't a worthy sequel.

This comment was edited on May 26, 03:40.

Well I just played DE:IW for the first time...after being a very big fan of DX. Man, that game sucks...it's not even remotely close to the gameplay I loved in the original. I played the first 3 missions and could not force myself to go on - it was horrible. On top of that, the settings were hosed and it crashed my computer upon trying to uninstall it. Injury to insult.

I've pre-ordered Thief:DS, but only because I really (REALLY) liked the first two and want to support the franchise. I really hope a vastly different team of coders made TDS - because they severely missed their target with DXIW. I almost think they sabotaged the PC version on purpose just to drive people off the PC and onto the more profitable XB. Utter shite.

Too bad Ion Storm doesn't understand 'public relations' and the importance of a demo.

Companies are releasing four hour demos, four level demos, tech demos, beta demos, alphas for christs' sakes!
What's stopping these choads from giving us a demonstrational version of the game? I never buy a game until I've tried it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the guy at Gone Gold, who has finished the game, said it's perhaps even better than the first two. This guy, remember, hated DX:IW. But he seems to love T3.

Personally, I'm not trusting any reviews on T:DS. I don't trust them to be completely honest. I'm getting it myself, and then I'll judge.

IGN said it well. *sigh*

I do wish Ion Storm had gone iD Software's route and handed the console version off to a separate, dedicated team, because I never quite shook the impression that DS's overall geometry was streamlined to fit under the Xbox's hood. The Hammerite church should be an imposing and haunting piece of work. The Pagan underground headquarters should be massive, with countless possible routes to your destination. I was consistently left underwhelmed with the size of almost all of the indoor environments, and was often confused by a few superfluous shafts and crawlspaces.

"If you're not ready to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary."
- Malcolm X

space captain: "find me another major game publisher distributing dating games, and I'll laugh at them too"

Aye, aye captain! Electronic Arts up for your derision. One of those innumerable Sims expansion packs was called "Hot Date" It's the one I wouldn't let my daughter buy...

From the GameSpy review:

"There's also the unfortunate concession to developing simultaneously on the PC and Xbox: level divisions. During the game, many of the levels are divided by fog-filled doors that signify loading zones. This leads to a number of annoyances. First, it means that levels are much smaller than they could be, resulting in a tight and claustrophobic feeling to the game that previous editions never had. There's no Deadly Shadows equivalent to the brilliant (and huge) rooftop missions of Thief 2, and they're sorely missed.

Second, moving from one area to another freezes time in the section you've left. If you duck out of one area, neatly avoiding four Pagan daggers, those daggers will still be falling when you return, making for some nasty surprises or long, circuitous routes to avoid it. Third, load times, while not that long (I didn't clock any at longer than 15 seconds), are still annoying -- especially when they're totally unnecessary and unwelcome on the PC."

This pisses me off. I hated the tiny levels in DX:IW. Unnecessary load times suck too. Now they inflicted both on Thief as well.


"God isn't interested in technology. He cares nothing for the microchip or the silicon revolution. Look how he spends his time, forty-three species of parrots! Nipples for men!"
This comment was edited on May 26, 00:25.

Overall it sounds pretty good. They seem to have more or less lived up to the Thief saga and retained the gameplay. They just didn't take it anywhere beyond that.

I'm remaining cautiously optimistic. From the reviews it sounds like something I could enjoy. I think I'll pick it up. Too bad tho, that its major weaknesses derive from the limitations of the X-Box.

Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I QUIT.

Wow, biggest bunch of pessimists ever. From reading the GameSpot review, it sounds as if Ion Storm created a good, lengthy game that stays true to the franchise. Isn't that pretty much exactly what everyone wanted?

I could end this post now, but then someone would follow it up with "but we didn't want a slow engine with smaller levels and THOSE DEVELOPER FUCKS, THEY HATE US PC GAMERS AND DON'T RESPECT US!!!", so I'm going to preempt you there. I seriously doubt that the first two factors should cause this game to be terrible, or unworthy of the franchise. As for the developer, perhaps they'd respect your "PC gaming needs" more if you'd stop bitching at them and making them out to be untalented dumbass jerks when all they're trying to do is create decent games for you to play.

-Madguy
http://madgames.adventuredevelopers.com

Ion definitely seems to have learned from the issues it encountered in Invisible War and added a highly respectable addition to the Thief series that, while not boldly innovating, holds the franchise bar at least as high.

another positive review.

Hehehe

Always nice when someone gets the reference

I have it on good authority that this [Gamespy] statement is just flat-out false

Cue Gamespy team in 60s garb...

'Are you having any trouble with him?'

'Yes, a little.'

'Well we reviewers are more than a match for the likes of you, "Two Sheds".'

'Yes, make yourself scarce, "Two Sheds". This forum isn't big enough for the three of us!'

'Get your own game review site, you fairy!'

eh, who gives a shit... its funny

find me another major game publisher distributing dating games, and I'll laugh at them too

_____________________________________________
Give me slack. Or kill me.