An Introduction to 'Thief III'

(Thief III, or Thief: Deadly Shadows, was released on May 26th, 2004. Simultaneously released on the PC and Xbox, it was the first Thief game to be released on a console as well as the PC. Unlike the first two, which had been made by Looking Glass Studios, this one was made by Ion Storm.)

            Thus far in my project I’ve considered only Thief I and II content. But, in this final section of my mission-analysis, I’ll be looking at a Thief III mission: Mission #9, “Robbing the Cradle”. Before analyzing this mission, I think it’s important to introduce Thief III. “Robbing the Cradle” is a unique mission in comparison to the other missions in Thief III, specifically with its atmosphere and content. So before examining this well-crafted mission, let's get familiar with Thief III overall. Doing this will, I think, make you appreciate "the Cradle" even more than you might have otherwise.

            To that end, I’ll be introducing Thief III by briefly looking at its City-hub section and two of its other missions. Please read on and take a look at the videos, so that we can then make a context-informed look at “the Cradle” together.

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~Thief III’s “City”

            One departure Thief III made from the design of its two predecessors is in its having a central ‘hub’ between missions. ‘Hubs’ in games are areas that the player keeps returning to after completing each mission, and can ‘mess around in’ before starting the next mission. Sometimes story-sensitive sequences can happen in the hub-portion of a game, to set up the next mission, or even the next series of missions.

            In Thief III, the hub is the “City”, and in it Garrett can nab loot in optional “side quests”, sell loot to fences, and buy more equipment off the black market. He can also be locked up in jail if he’s caught by the City Watch.

There’s a “Faction” system. By this, Garrett can act to please either the Hammerites or the Pagans (there are no Mechanists in Thief III). So, Garrett can be an ally or an enemy of both the Hammerites and the Pagans. If allied, he can enter their territory in the City freely, and will be defended by them from City Watch officers. If their enemy, they will attack Garrett as if they were City Watch officers. This Faction system doesn’t open up until after the “Hammerite” and “Pagan” missions have been completed, so there isn’t an awkward story logic where Garrett is robbing a Hammerite church after becoming allied with them.

            Unfortunately, this Faction system is easily broken, and by late in the game the City becomes a chaotic place of Hammerites, Pagans, and City Watch officers all attacking and killing each other. It’s one of the many design flaws of Thief III that hold it back from being the great game it could have been.

            Anyway, this is a secondary critique and has no relation to the central purpose of this blog; but, in the video below, I take a walk through the City hub. This is the first night in the City, after the first mission of the game. In it, Garrett introduces the City to the player—who may or may not be a Thief veteran. The second mission in the game is also setup. I’ll be taking a brief look at the second mission in the game in the next post, so do take a look: