I played Thief: Dark Project years ago. I loved sneaking around, stealing treasure, and avoiding humans.

But then I had to go underground and face undead. That ruined the game for me - it just wasn't fun. I didn't want to worry about holy water. I much preferred sneaking around in castles. And there were no cheat codes to allow me to skip ahead or load myself up with holy water.

So, did any of this change in Thief 2? Will I once again be facing enemies that don't die? Would you recommend this game for someone who prefers to keep the weird and paranormal out of my thieving?

There are exactly two zombies in one of the last missions, but they appear only if you read a certain ominous-looking book. And there are two or three ghosts in some catacombs – one under the police building, and the other under the Mechanist seminary. Both areas are optional and avoidable without missing out on any important bits of plot.

This game is mostly about robbing mansions, banks and police stations. There's a level set in a deep forest and populated by ape-men, but it isn't very creepy. Undead have largely been replaced by robots, and their sounds and movement are more funny than menacing. Oh, and there are a couple of spiders too, but only one small spider is in the area you absolutely have to go through. The rest of them are in an optional warehouse.

Thank you for the very helpful response, Charon121!

I looked around online, and it looks like there are some cheat codes for the game, so that's encouraging.

This game is sounding like it's more up my alley - more sneaking, less fighting.

There is apparently a code to skip a level. I forget what it is exactly but other people in this forum have posted it. Something like pressing Ctrl + Shift + End? I believe it works for both Thief 1 and 2.

But yeah, the general consensus is that Thief 2 was more confident in its sneaky gameplay so there aren't as many monster-type creatures. It was indeed possible to sneak through everything in the first game though, even past spiders and undead.

Does the game make me go into catacombs, caves, tombs, and such?

Or do I get to stay in the city buildings?

You primarily stay in the city. There are a few exceptions that I remember but even in those you are still mainly dealing with human guards.

I should add that the story does reference events from the first game. I actually played Thief 2 first, and I kind of regret it, since I didn't fully understand everything that was going on.

There are dancing zombies in one level (behind a fence)...

There are zombies in the graveyard you pass through at one point in the game... But they only awaken if you get too close to them...

There are the two zombies if you read that scroll...

There are two hammerite haunts both in crypts below a mechanist seminary, and another below a chapel...

There are are a few ghosts, one is a mechanist haunt/ghost in a secret prison cell (but I don't remember if it can attack or not)... There is a pirate ghost, it's dangerous. Several pagan ghosts and will-o-the wisps, all non threatening. Another ghost or two haunts a library in one of the later mansions in the game... It can be dangerous.

That's about it...

Ah, yes, I forgot that one. Anyway, if you complete the library sequence quickly enough, you should never encounter that ghost, although you'll hear some creepy sounds.

I remember having an Eidos demo disc that came with Gangsters: Organized Crime which had a demo of Thief II on it. I'd never heard if the series before, but I loved the demo so much that I got the game.

I recall reading recently that in the first Thief game, the supernatural creatures started appearing in the second level, but as I recall in Thief II it was quite a while before you encounter any. Which for someone who was not expecting that, was much worse.

I was totally loving the game until I came across some zombies. I mean, it's not as if it was entirely realistic before that, what with the moss arrows and robots and such. But at least the robots were loud and clunky and mechanical, and were realistic in the in the way that if someone had invented primitive robots hundreds of years ago, that's what they would've been like. So the world they created was still believable in that sense.

Then without warning, I started running into zombies and stuff and it just totally took me out of that world I was getting to know and love. I just wasn't able to get back into it after that. I thought I was playing one game and then it kind of turned into another.

While part of me is really wanting to play this game again, because it was a lot of fun up until that point, I dunno... If I do, I may have to wait until it's half price since I'll probably only play the first half again.

I know there are a number of mods for these games, are there any good ones out there that cultivate the atmosphere established early on and eschew the supernatural?

I'd recommend trying the game again... as others have noted, there really aren't many zombies or other "supernatural" elements in Thief 2. The "warning" that you didn't get came from the first game, which had a lot more of that... players coming from Thief 1 will have known that things like zombies exist in the world. But with Thief 2, you will really only have to look past a few instances at most, and then you can get back to the thieving you enjoy.

The zombies in thief 2... there really are no places you really have to mess with zombies... You can bypass all of them... Most won't even awaken unless you purposely get close to them (graveyard zombies)... There is little in the graveyard you need to get out of those tombs... Even still you can pick up stuff without even waking the zombies...

You don't even have to release the zombies in the necromancer's tower, and if you do, they are so easy to run away from.

I really can't see how zombies in the second game could destroy the atmosphere... or get in the way of it... You could probably play through the game, without even encountering them at all... That is to say you have to be going out of your way to even run into them.

The main exception is the undead hammer haunts (not counting the ghost one), that are awake and moving about, but those exist in only two fairly remote and limited spaces. They can't chase you out of those places, and are relatively easy to avoid if you stick to the shadows. You'll experience your first 'haunt' (non-threatening IIRC, ghost one in a secret dungeon in 3rd level, it'll chase after noises), you'll encounter a dangerous physical one in the fifth level in underground crypt, IIRC (when you go the mechanist seminary).

Hammer haunts are like mechanists/hammerites that can't die, running on adrenaline... You can't knock them out with the blackjack... They are destroyable though, IIRC. Take them out with one hit with a backstab with the sword, or damaged by sword fighting in general (not recommended). But basically just an uber guard with a skull-face skin.

Likewise they are somewhat similar to the guards with the facemasks or neck armor, that you can't knock out with your blackjack... But you can use gas...

These things shouldn't be enough to pull you out of the 'thievery' "realism"!

BTW, you can encounter zombies in the third level of Thief 2, but they are not easy to get to, and if you get to them, there is no way back the main map. They are there as an easter egg.

Hmm according to the thief wiki, apparently there is another zombie in Truart's house in unpatched version of Thief2, but doesn't appear in teh patched version (1.18 patch)...?
http://thief.wikia.com/wiki/Zombie

It also says that zombies appear in the unpatched "Life of the Party', however, zombies also appear in the patched version as well (only if you read the scroll in the necromancer's tower). So I'm not sure what the Wikia's context is exactly.

Oh, and btw, if you have been playing Demo version of Thief II, you would have been playing The Unwelcome Guest (its the level that became Life of the Party, with a few variations). There is a way to encounter zombies in that mission in the Necromancer's Tower, just like in full game.