Thief: The Dark Project - Reception

Reception

Thief: The Dark Project sold half a million copies by May 2000, making it Looking Glass Studios' most commercially successful game.

The game received critical acclaim from sources including The Washington Post, PC Gamer, and Salon.com. Lance A. Larka of Computer Gaming World wrote: "If you're tired of Doom clones and hungry for challenge, give this fresh perspective game a try. I was pleasantly surprised." Emil Pagliarulo of The Adrenaline Vault wrote: "I will tell you, without reservation, that this has become my favorite game of all time." Paul Presley of PC Zone called it "a bloody good game".

Kieron Gillen of PC Gamer UK wrote: "The freedom Thief offers you is at first terrifying, then absolutely intoxicating." Aaron Curtiss of Los Angeles Times noted that the game "demands thought". T. Liam McDonald of PC Gamer US called Thief, "a challenging, riveting game that defies easy categorization", and praised the game for its focus on the player's cunning. Jason Cross of Computer Games Strategy Plus noted that "It's quite amazing how much fun it can be to avoid action". Chan Chun of New Straits Times described the game as being "incredibly immersive and suspenseful," and "a highly-recommended game for those yearning to be a night rogue." Peter Olafson of GamePro praised the game's AI, and said that the game "gets better ... the more time you spend with it".

The game's sound was widely praised. Presley wrote: "The sound adds a whole new level of realism to the game and boosts that whole 'total immersion' thing to previously unattained levels." Larka noted that "the audio is simply amazing. With directional noises and haunting 'background' effects you are plunged into Garrett's shadowy world and left with a pounding heart and twitchy nerves." Wagner James Au of Salon.com noted that the game's level of suspense was "exquisite" and that its use of detailed aural cues as a gameplay device bordered on virtual reality.

Thief's graphics received a mixed reaction, with several negative comparisons to Half-Life and Unreal. However, Andrew Sanchez of Maximum PC praised the game's graphics and noted that the Dark Engine went "feature-for-feature with the LithTech, Quake, and Unreal engines". He also praised the game's AI, sound and plot. Larka disliked the game's extremely dark areas, which required him to "max out the gamma correction and set monitor to its brightest setting just to see the barest details" but called the graphics "seamless". Some reviews complained about collision detection issues.

The game's use of supernatural and cave-exploring elements received criticism, and several reviewers opined that more realistic, mansion-robbing missions should have been used instead. Presley believed that the game's undead enemies caused the game to "degenerate into the standard hack 'n' slash, sub-Conan sort of thing that Heretic, Hexen and a million others gave us," and that "it amounts to an erosion of the storytelling skills that Looking Glass once had." Gillen decried certain levels for "infring on Tomb Raider territory, and then quite pull it off". Larka found certain levels too difficult. Next Generation noted that while "sneaking can get repetitive", Thief is "still a fun game to play" and "a worthy addition to the genre."