By way of an expanded re-release, last years excellent Thief: The Dark Project sneaks its way into this years top picks. Thief Gold is a new edition of last year's highly original game of stealthy stealing and backstabbing. This time around it includes three more levels, all of which involve stealth rather than the less enjoyable monster killing of some other levels. All the things that made Thief such an excellent game are still here, particularly the top quality sound design that will more than once save your life during gameplay. Being able to hear a guard, work out where he is with the help of the 3D sound and ducking into an alcove is one of the things that made the game so enjoyably different and thankfully hasn't changed in this new edition. The game is let down mainly by the graphics which were already looking dated when it was released and sadly haven't got better with age. Despite this they do the job just fine and the other excellent aspects of the game more than make up for it. If you haven't played the original Thief and are after something a little different, we recommend picking up a copy of Thief Gold, particularly at the current low price.

Read our review of the original game, Thief: The Dark Project.