Hit Deity on 1/3/2023 at 15:10

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I remember seeing that years ago. Still funny!

Hit Deity on 2/3/2023 at 19:55

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I think you're right, Kubrick. It's an early one, so I've hit it probably the most possible number of times that I've started a T2 playthrough. I also have some very strong memories of Life of the Party, but Shipping ...and Receiving just stands out so much.

Shoshin on 3/3/2023 at 01:32

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Shipping... and Receiving stands out in my memory as well, along with the Bank mission and the Mechanist cathedral mission. Very much what I think of as I think of Thief 2. The Treebeasts do as well, though they were very underused. Just one mission if I remember correctly.

Shoshin on 9/3/2023 at 13:53

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The place you start out is another area showing off the colored lighting. I don't know if I just didn't notice before, or if I had a crap monitor, or if the work done on NewDark has emphasized the colored lighting a bit, but for whatever reason I'm really noticing it. I like the way the missions have been starting, outside your main objective and you have to get in, with a little bit of the city accessible. In this case, it's just the bar across from the police station, but it's a nice touch. As are the dancing zombies.

Getting in requires going into the machine room near where you start, though I think it's also possible to break in through the front door if you swim up and get out of the water underneath the security camera. But going in through the sewers is easiest, and there's a bit of loot down there. And rats! Finally, "Musta been rats" has some actual meaning in the game. Another nice touch. There's the ghost of a Hammer Haunt, which originally scared me a bit, but he's just window dressing. Can't kill him, he can't kill you. There for the atmosphere, along with the prisoners. And the prisoner in the interrogation room, tied up and about to be tortured.

Once inside, I typically go through each floor, getting everything I can. The ground floor is challenging, as in this mission you cannot knock out (or kill, though I always play non-lethal) anyone, so observing the guard patrols is critical. There's a nice callback to the first mission, as Lady Rumford is complaining about her missing maid Jenivere. The guard patrols overlap and there are a lot of them, so I did spend a lot of time in the shadows observing. The stairways are heavily guarded, so going up to different floors could be a problem, except for all the secret passageways. I enjoyed the "KICK ME" sign crumpled up on the floor in one of the offices.

The second floor is where the Lieutenants and Sheriff Truart's offices are. Lt Hagen's office has the incriminating personal item, Lt Mosley's office just has backstory about her doubts around Sheriff Truart. He has apparently been hiring thieves and thugs, as is made obvious by the conversation between two of the guards/cops who used to be Downwinders. Mosley has the key to the secure records room, so once I have that I can break into the secure records room and get the code for the evidence locker. There's also the dumbwaiter that goes between the kitchen area and the mess hall on the second floor, and a secret passage to Truart's office from the upper level of the training room. And the Warden's Division has a secret passage up to the third floor where the evidence locker is.

Once I'm in the evidence locker, I drop the incriminating evidence and grab the strongbox to take back down to Hagen's office. Once that is done, I just have to get out.

Overall, this is another enjoyable thievery level. Taken in isolation, this is an excellent level. It's tense, it has the classic moments of observing patrols and making your move when the coast is clear, picking locks in the brief moments when you're not being observed. And then the framing someone part, which is a very good use of Garrett's skill set. However, this is also where the story gets a bit disjointed. We are into the main plot just a little, as Truart is trying to crack down on the Pagans (who are clearly a reduced force in the City after the fall of the Trickster) and the Mechanists are at the very least providing materials, if not giving the orders directly. But coming from Shipping... and Receiving, there just isn't a strong story connection.

The same is true with the next level, Ambush.

Shoshin on 16/3/2023 at 00:24

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One of my clearest memories of this level is playing it with my new (at the time) 3D shutter glasses. There were issues with ghosting using those glasses, but overall they worked surprisingly well. It did help with the immersion, and I really remember looking at the plants on the top of the building right at the beginning of the level. Just sitting here remembering how cool it was makes me really really want to see Thief in VR, which I think would be amazingly cool.

So we start outside a pub, and have to go back to Home and then to a second hideout in Shalebridge. Mostly this level is about avoiding patrols, not a lot of looting. The loot from the previous mission is at Garrett's house, along with a key to a gate to Shalebridge. There are a lot of patrols, and one thing that jumped out immediately to me is that patrolling guards can have buddies that follow them. The archer guards, who walk faster than the sword guards, are forced to tag along behind, leading them to walk forwards and also sideways so they don't go too fast. Maybe they should have slowed down the archer guards a bit? Anyway, it occasionally looks silly.

Generally, this level doesn't have enough going on in it, and is the first disappointing level in Thief 2. It's just about watching, avoiding guards, and getting to your objective.

I think this is the first level that introduces an enemy with the anti-blackjack helmet. I saw a guard with the neck protector helmet, but didn't try to blackjack him.

My main issue with this level is that the get somewhere while avoiding guards mechanic doesn't feel like enough to sustain a level. It's like the last part of Assassins, but there's nothing else to it. If the city were a bit more interactive with more places to break into, it would have been better, but as it is I finished it feeling a little let down.

On to Eavesdropping next.