I only ask because I already own and have played Thief II, and was wondering if playing Thief I would seem like a step backwards or not.

Thief 2.

I like Thief 1 better. However, I have noticed that people tend to like what they play first better, especially in this franchise. There are also hundreds of fan missions available, so its worth the price of the game alone, but a really nice bonus as some of those fan missions are quite epic.

Hard to say. Each of the Thief games has its own strengths and weaknesses. Technologically, there are just a few improvements in Thief 2 compared to the first one, so that won't detract from your experience. The atmosphere is much different, though. Remember the weird forest level in Thief 2 with all those ghosts and stuff? That's what most of the first game is like. Scary sneaky, not really stealy-sneaky.

I hope you are kidding.

You mentioned this in another thread. Of the 16 missions of Thief Gold, 3 missions are filled with undead. 4 others are filled with non humans but are easily circumvented like humans. (I.E can be knocked out with a few exceptions).

This means 9 missions are full of the standard humans and their loot. You are certainly free to like or not, but I don't find the "ghosts" in any missions but the aforementioned 3, which is a small part of the game. I think I overall prefer the more normal mansion type missions, but also find the break from that norm to keep things refreshing. Just from the facts of the mission types... Thief 1 is MOSTLY humans in mansions ;)

That is too bad. I'm not a fan of horror.

Yeah, your numbers are correct; I included the non-human humanoids into the "weird stuff" camp by default. Because it's not just about the guards, but the environments as well -- and the "mansion" type of missions is grossly under-represented there (in nonGold, of the 12 missions there are, depending on your methodology, some 4-5 which take place in relatively normal buildings). So the overall feeling definitely is skewed towards the weird.

Don't get me wrong, I actually prefer the first game myself (frankly, I thought the robots were annoying), but I know most people like the sequel more because it delivers what the first one seemed to promise. I wouldn't actually call it a horror game, though, with the exception of a mission or two. It's tense, but not outright terrifying.

Trapped in a building with a bunch of zombies sounds terrifying when you are just a thief with just a bow, some arrows and a sword.

But you're not just a thief, you're Garrett :)

Sounds like we're going to need another thread up soon full of those fan missions. I may wait till a sale to get this game but I'm definitely interested.

You might find that you have more tools at your disposal ;)

They definitely take a scary approach on some levels. I can't argue with that. But its not every level. T2 has fewer scary levels and T3 has the fewest, although, arguably, the single scary level in T3 is one of the scariest you will find in many games. If you can find the demos and make them work, you will get a really good feel for the game as they feature some great missions. With the fan mission editor, you can play only the fan levels you like. I believe there is a key command to skip a level in Thief? [ctrl+alt+shift+end] any confirmation if that still works? If so, even skipping the scary type missions will yield a ton of fun from this single game genre.

I actually preferred the first one in atmosphere and gameplay. But both games are just brilliant.

Thief 1 is much more superior from my perspective..
The movies are also quite emotional.

Level design is unbelievably amazing at times (I remember the mission where Garret needs to steal a sword from / for Constantine).

If you liked Thief 2 and never played the first one, then you absolutely must check Thief Gold.

Thief 2 was a little bit boring comparing to the original.