Remember kids, stealing is wrong. Of course, so is shooting people and blowing up public buildings which is why we have computer games to simulate these otherwise unrecommended activities. Just over a year ago, Thief: The Dark Project was released, allowing gamers to realise any latent kleptomaniac tendencies without getting arrested. Filling the padded shoes of Garret you took part in various missions usually involving stealing something. Now players can haunt the shadows once more in Thief 2: The Metal Age, a sequel more than worthy of the original for once.
With the Baron away, newly instated Sheriff Gorman Truart is cleansing up the streets with an iron grip, often going too far and arresting many innocent people along with the guilty. In place of the Hammerites of the original title we have the Mechanists, an offshoot religion that has drawn most of its members from the now insignificant Hammerites. Making a living in a city of hammer wielding religious fanatics and increased numbers of policemen isn't easy for a thief, but Garret doesn't know any other trade so the first few missions involve Garret simply making a living off other people's purses. Of course, things progress quickly from there and the plot eventually involves the Mechanists, Truart and even the Pagans. Of course it'd be wrong to give away the plot at this stage but suffice to say it involves many unexpected turns of events. Rather than pepper quality stealth missions with irritating action missions as in the Thief: The Dark Project, Looking Glass listened to players of the original game and every mission in Thief 2 can be completed without a single confrontation if you are a good enough sneak. In addition, gone are the monsters that spoilt the original such as the zombies, Burriches and other such creations that often had to be defeated with sword and arrow rather than shadow and wits. But the new story and a lack of monsters and action missions aren't the only things to make Thief 2 a better game than the already excellent original.
