Poll: Getting into the Thief games

[Squilookle]

So I'm a stealth nut, to the point where I even managed to enjoy Far Cry 2 occasionally by stealthing the hell out of it, but I want to try out the Thief series, seeing as it gets a lot of praise for its stealth.

My question is which should I START with?

I'm not a fan of horror and zombies and monsters etc so I'd like the one with the least of that, but also I'd like to know which does stealth and story the best to get me sucked in.

So, which should I try first?

 

[Good morning blues]

Thief 2 is probably better if you want to go without zombies and monsters, but the first two play almost identically. Why not start the series from the beginning?

 

[Nicos Amblecrown]

I agree, Thief 2 skips the zombie and "horror" parts the first one felt obliged to put in (which is why I voted for it), but there is nothing wrong with starting with the first. They are both amazing games and pretty much birthed a genre.

 

[...]

I've played 2 and 3, so I'll recommend 2.

 

[Flight]

I recommend playing the series from the beginning.

 

[Squilookle]

I recommend playing the series from the beginning.

So would you say the story is good enough to start at the beginning for even despite all the zombie stuff?

Actually that's another thing- is the story continuous through the games?

 

[richasr]

With a series I always say the first game, as you can see the improvements and changes between each version, but Thief 2 is my favourite.

 

[Signa]

Voted 1. There is a few things that carry over from the first game to the second. Not much that you'd be lost, but it just better develops the universe and the characters in it. Things like the Hammerites having a discussion about being down on their luck will be meaningless without the perspective of the first game.

And the zombies are awesome. I have not played any other "horror" games to compare to, but I felt that Thief 2 suffered without the undead. Thief 1 did a great job making you feel like there was a great selection of enemies to deal with because it would switch it up every other level. Thief 2 is always against humans (and their creations), and that gets old quickly after experiencing the ever-changing enemy lineup facing you.

FYI, both Thief 1 and 2 are a pain to get running on dual core machines. There are plenty of FAQs to help you through though. The biggest issue is having to Alt+tab the game each time you start it up to set the affinity of your cores for running the game. If you don't, the game will crash, and sometimes take the whole system with it.

 

[The Thief]

Slight off topic, but I never understood the complaints over the horror aspect of Dark Project. Not once are you forced to fight any of the Zombies/Burricks/etc. Everything can be avoided with stealth (Or killed, if you choose to play that way), like any human enemy. However, those things did scare me shitless when I was young... and still do. Damn Cathedral.

Play Dark Project first. It has many fantastic levels that should not be missed. The Metal Age is pure greatness, which is only made better by having played its predecessor. Deadly Shadows has a lot of shortcomings compared to the other two, but it is still a thoroughly enjoyable game which has the scariest level of any game ever.

 

[Marsell]

I've only ever played the first one,
it INVENTED stealth in games

 

[Squilookle]

Well sure the first one probably did invent stealth, but it's more about which is the better game to enter the series on.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

Only Deadly Shadows worked on my PC for some reason, so I'll recommend that