Mithrandir on 9/5/2002 at 03:06
Top 5:
1. Between LoTP and Soulforge.
2. Blackmail
3. Precious Cargo
4. Framed
5. Trail of Blood (After seeing the Pagan Ghosts, I slaughtered the Mechanists brutally. That made the level on my top 5.)
Bottom 5
1. Casing the Joint
2. Masks (OK, I loved that I was able to go on a KO spree, but still this level was not my favorite at all)
3. FCB&T
4. Kidnap
5. S&R
Quiet Sound on 9/5/2002 at 08:08
I can't really think of a ranking, but here are the levels I liked:
Blackmail
First City Bank and Trust
Ambush
Framed
Levels that I'm indifferent about (ie, they are fine as filler material):
Masks
Shipping and Receiving
Trace the Courier
Precious Cargo
Evesdropping
Running Interference
Levels that I just didn't like:
Kidnap - Nice idea (hunt down your victim and kidnap him), but I didn't like the level even slightly.
Life of the Party - Again, nice idea but it didn't feel at all like I was traveling along the rooftops of the City, it felt like I was traveling along a bunch of buildings built only for the purpose of getting me from Point A to Point B.
Sabotage at Soulforge - I got bored with the level and never finished it. Too many bots compared to people.
Trail of Blood - Started off decently but went downhill after entering the maw.
Casing the Joint - If I wanted to play a level twice, I would reload it. Not a bad idea if it hadn't involved the same level as the very next mission. Playing in the area around the mansion would have been good. Peeking into windows to make a map/see where guards are/something else would have been good. Perhaps even climbing into one or two rooms to take advantage of an opportunity to grab a key/patrol assignments/guest map/whatever would have been good. Being forced to play a level twice is not good.
Zaphod on 28/5/2002 at 17:48
Life of the Party – The Gold Standard.
Blackmail – huge adreneline rush by sneaking around a police station.
Framed – I don’t know why I like this one so much. I just love exploring that big house.
The Bank
Shipping & Receiving – freaking huge, and almost as good a straight sneaker as the Bank.
Casing The Joint – Better ghosting through television.
Trail of Blood (first half) – haunting and brilliant.
Ambush!
Running Interference – I barely count this as a mission. You can’t really say anything good or bad about it.
Precious Cargo
Trace the Courier
Kidnap – this was like a combination of babysitting and clockwatching. Yawn.
Trail of Blood (second half) – annoyingly otherworldly and kinda silly.
Masks – Groundhog Day.
Eavesdropping – felt kinda pointless and rushed.
Soulforge – a chore.
Illuminatus on 29/5/2002 at 20:43
Top 5 (in chronological order):
-First City B&T: great visuals and good atmosphere, a real challenge
-Trail of Blood: next to the Bonehoard, this level has the best atmosphere in the Thief series
-LOTP: great story, design, environment, etc.
-Precious Cargo: great design and atmosphere
-Soulforge: a very fitting way to end the game
There is no such thing as a bad Thief mission, however, some levels are just slightly more enjoyable than others. I have listed those above.
Lytha on 30/5/2002 at 10:08
Hm...
1.) Soulforge
2.) Cargo
3.) Framed
4.) ToB
5.) LotP
6.) Eavesdropping
7.) Blackmail
8.) Ambush
9.) Bank
[... big separator ...]
10.) Running Interference
11.) CtJ
12.) S&R
13.) Kidnapping
14.) Masks
15.) Courier
Our Newest Acolyte on 31/5/2002 at 23:53
Soulforge at number one???? Hmm. May have to think about this one. Currently (second time through) hating it like poison. But then again my first couple of times through RTC I thought it was an appalling, deliberately impossible piece of crap - and now I find the most compelling level in TDP. Maybe Soulforge is a "grower" as well.
Current ratings:
Life of the Party & Trail of Blood are top (doubt I'm the first to go on a Mechanist backstabbing mission after coming across that My Lai-style massacre - and having played the T2 demo so often I felt I knew the LotP map as well as my own home turf).
Ambush I hated first time through, after taking several hours to reach home turf, but grew on me after second run when I got there in 20 minutes (liked the redone decor and cache after applying patch - also the removal of those jarring out-of-place non-police guards).
Precious Cargo I rate, and will probably enjoy more once I find a way to deal with the guards on top of Station 1 on expert (killed all but the sub crew on hard and got slightly bored with wholesale murder). Main jarring factor is an apparently coal-fired submarine (I know somebody actually built one once, but it was limited by always having to have a funnel sticking out of the water).
Casing was fairly awful, but Masks grew on me on my second run, mainly because I managed to get max loot(!!) without dying every five minutes. Not sure how much replayability it'll have though - main motivation was getting enough cash to stock up for Soulforge.
Trace the Courier was fairly unenjoyable - very long version of the first part of Assassins, which didn't really take off until the zombie encounter in the cemetery.
Kidnap was total rubbish - what is it, sixth mission in a row featuring Mechanists? They may be an appalling bunch of thugs, but killing them gets boring (this isn't Wolfenstein 3D!) and avoiding them/knocking them out on higher difficulty level will probably be so as well. Not that they're a bad enemy, but running into them so often is slightly tedious.
Bank I loved first time, slightly less the second (although the basement remains a challenge) - yet to try the "wait eight hours" method.
If this seems over-critical, don't worry - I love this game. And once I can get properly to grips with Soulforge without being consumed with fear (currently seems unlikely) I expect to love it as least as much as TDP.
Lockpicker on 27/2/2016 at 03:01
1. Life of the party
2. Shipping and Receiving
3. First City Bank & Trust
4. Eavesdropping
5. Framed
6. Blackmail
7. Masks
8. Casing
9. Kidnap
10. Cargo
11. Running Interference
12. Sabotage
13. Ambush!
14. Trail Of Blood
15. Trace
neux on 2/3/2016 at 13:35
1. Ambush! 5/5
2. Blackmail 5/5
3. Framed 5/5
4. First City Bank & Trust 4/5
5. Casing the joint 4/5
6. Masks 4/5
7. Running Interference 3/5
8. Life of the party 3/5
9. Eavesdropping 3/5
10. Cargo 3/5
11. Kidnap 3/5
12. Trace 2/5
13. Shipping and Receiving 2/5
14. Trail Of Blood 1/5
15. Sabotage 1/5
I'm very surprised at other ratings. LOTP seems overrated, Mask and Casing quite underrated, imo.
Lord Taffer on 8/1/2020 at 13:31
For me the top five would be:
1. Sabotage at Soulforge (15)
2. Trail of Blood (9)
3. Life of the Party (10)
4. Kidnap (12)
5. First City Bank and Trust (6)
I think Trail of Blood is the most atmospheric and unique mission in TMA. Also liked Kidnap because the surroundings are very different than the most TMA missions and to return to The Lost City was just nice! Sabotage at Soulforge, Life of the Party, First City Bank and Trust - these are all massive and great all the way!