![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I know a lot of people hate Thief: Deadly Shadows. Before I'd played the original series, I didn't understand why, though I do now; TDS is very, very ambitious, and when ambition doesn't come off, it makes for uneven games. TDS is a good game, but it's not as utterly brilliant as TDP and TMA. I can imagine how the fans felt playing it after waiting so long through the death of Looking Glass, especially considering the huge backlash against Deus Ex: Invisible War.
But I don't hate it. In fact, I have a weird sort of affection for it that I don't exactly have for the other games. Because, despite all the signs that it was rushed - the awful frame-rate, the half-implemented features, the glitches - it was obviously made with love. The developers were trying so hard to make a game that was both a worthy addition to the franchise and more than a carbon copy, but they ran out of time, struggling against limitations. I can still play it and dream of how it might have been, had they been given enough time, because even with all the problems they had, they still turned out a great game. It's beautiful and well-written and atmospheric and funny and creepy and strange, and I'll put up with a lot of things for that combination. Plus, I've seen what happens when the inheritors of a concept don't understand what makes it brilliant. Compared to them, Thief got off light.
So yeah, despite all the problems I see in it now, TDS doesn't deserve the hatred it gets. I mean, geez, they didn't change Garrett's voice actor or give him a love interest or make him anything other than the sarcastic, sneaky bastard who may or may not have a heart of gold, did they?
That said, fuck the tutorial. I can only assume that was publisher mandated due to the sheer concentration of suck.
Anyway! ( Blah blah blah, gamebabble, newly noticed things, avoiding post-Cradle spoilers. )
For those of you uninterested in Thief and/or spoilers! I just...find these pictures really gorgeous and awesome!
But I don't hate it. In fact, I have a weird sort of affection for it that I don't exactly have for the other games. Because, despite all the signs that it was rushed - the awful frame-rate, the half-implemented features, the glitches - it was obviously made with love. The developers were trying so hard to make a game that was both a worthy addition to the franchise and more than a carbon copy, but they ran out of time, struggling against limitations. I can still play it and dream of how it might have been, had they been given enough time, because even with all the problems they had, they still turned out a great game. It's beautiful and well-written and atmospheric and funny and creepy and strange, and I'll put up with a lot of things for that combination. Plus, I've seen what happens when the inheritors of a concept don't understand what makes it brilliant. Compared to them, Thief got off light.
So yeah, despite all the problems I see in it now, TDS doesn't deserve the hatred it gets. I mean, geez, they didn't change Garrett's voice actor or give him a love interest or make him anything other than the sarcastic, sneaky bastard who may or may not have a heart of gold, did they?
That said, fuck the tutorial. I can only assume that was publisher mandated due to the sheer concentration of suck.
Anyway! ( Blah blah blah, gamebabble, newly noticed things, avoiding post-Cradle spoilers. )
For those of you uninterested in Thief and/or spoilers! I just...find these pictures really gorgeous and awesome!
