A new Strawpoll for the taffers of the Thief community. Vote:

http://strawpoll.me/3655532

Remember: multiple choices are allowed in case you have trouble deciding.

Also I'd appreciate not only votes, but also discussion.

As for me, I'll have to go with Thief II. Not only are there several improvements, but the game focuses much less on zombies and undead, and more on typical thief-like behavior. At the same time, Thief II still manages to throw in variety as well, so it doesn't feel too repetitive or boring. (missions aren't all the same, as they have different objectives and such)

Cheers!

That's a rather difficult question for me. The second game has some significant improvements, but it also moves away (understandably, I will admit) from the undead levels that I so loved in the first. (For reference, Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard stand out in my memory as perhaps two of my favourite levels from the Thief games.)

For the sake of completeness, I'll mention that I found the third game to be very good, if not quite of the quality of the first two, and haven't yet played the new game, although I'd like to do so.

(I haven't taken part in the poll: between my having not played the new game and my equivocation regarding the first two, I don't feel comfortable with adding a vote.)

thief 3 is my favourite. i know its the least popular for some reason, but to me it's the most "thiefy" of the games, that just involved breaking into places and stealing all the valuable crap you see, which is exactly want i want in a thief game. iirc, only two missions in thief 3 were supernatural/adventure themed, the orphanage and the zombie ship, and the zombie ship doesn't hardly even counts because it was so brief. i also really loved the visuals, the mission locations, the voice acting (thief 1 and 2 had exceptional voice acting as well, but thief 3 had a lot more voice content to enjoy compared to rather limited amount in the first two), and best of all, spending my time between missions robbing the city. for me, thief 3's only flaw was the loading zones, which don't even bother me that much since loading in video games is the norm. i mean, i'm used to playing elder scrolls that require a load screen every time i enter or leave a damn store. i don't even notice thief 3's in comparison.

i can't give my opinion on thief 4... i do have it for the ps4, but i haven't touched it, and the ps3 version is one of PS plus's free games this month, but the new garrett is such a turn off i haven't felt motivated to pick it up. i only bought it out of a sense of obligation because its technically part of the thief series.

It wasn't the loading that bothered me, it was that each area was so damn TINY. After playing through huge, sprawling missions in the first two games, Thief 3 had these miniscule places to sneak around in. They were well-designed given the limitation, but I sure noticed the limitation after loving the levels in the first two games so much. The open city was the worst offender in this regard -- there's a mission in Thief 2 that takes place in a small part of the city, and that mission is still bigger than the ENTIRE city from Thief 3.

Also, while I appreciated the idea of the open city, it quickly became a chore to have to go fence everything myself. Also, it meant I was rolling in cash and always had full supplies for every mission, instead of having to pick and choose my equipment each time like the first two games. Not a deal-breaker, certainly, but still noticeable.

I still love Thief 3, though. Just not as much as the first two games.

It's also worth noting that Thief 3 did a few things better than the first two games, including dynamic light sources and shadows (e.g. guards carrying torches) and, as you mentioned, the nicer graphics and voices.

Waltorious, if you haven't already, I do recommend playing Thief 3 with the "Thief 3 Gold" mod (as mentioned in this thread, I believe): amongst other things, I recall that it removes the loading zones within levels, allowing the player to explore each without pauses for loading screens or immersion-damaging blue mist. Alas, this doesn't apply to the inter-level City sections or the tutorial level (at least when last I looked), but even so I recall finding it to be a rather welcome improvement.

Yeah, I heard about that... does that mean guards can follow you across the (old) loading zones? Or do they still stay within their section of the map?

I may try this at some point but I haven't had that much time for gaming recently. I'm more likely to replay the first Thief, especially because I've only every played The Dark Project so I'm excited to see the changes and new missions included with Gold. But if I do return to Thief 3 I'll be sure to try out the Thief 3 Gold mod.

Honestly, I don't know: I'm not sure that I would have noticed, and in any case have a habit of blackjacking pretty much everyone, guards most especially, when the mission goals allow it. Ah, Thief Gold I also rather enjoyed, as I recall. I think that I've seen varying opinions on whether it's an improvement, but my impression was rather positive, I believe.

Whichever you choose (if you choose any), have fun! ^_^

I'm mostly interested in the new missions. I've heard that at least one of them may not be that good, but I felt the standard Dark Project was a little short, especially when compared to Thief 2.

I seem to recall enjoying all of the new missions (of which there are three, I believe). Of course, the differences in opinion may be a matter of taste, or I may have simply not noticed the issues reported by others.

I do think that I found the Thieves' Guild mission to be perhaps a little long, I'll admit.

i noticed the levels were smaller too, but i didn't mind cuz in the first two games i find there is far too much empty space. some of the levels are particularly bad for it, while others are better. i mean yes i would have PREFERRED 1 and 2 size levels in 3, because that would give me more game to play, but only if the space was filled better than in 1 and 2. if they weren't going to do that, i'd rather have the 3 sized levels that felt more cramped and, imo, tense because of it.

The straw poll is still there, but it doesn't have an entry for "Thief: The Dark Project (original)". I liked how the original Thief had a plot that fit well, and was believable once you accept that magic is normal. I liked that better than Thief 2, because the artificially intelligent robots don't seem to fit a medieval setting. And having completed Thief 2, I know robots are integral to the plot.. so they belong, but they don't feel like a good fit. Finally Thief 3 required blackjacking guards, which is the opposite of leaving no trace. You can't "ghost" a level when guards must be knocked out. On the plus side, the game did tally "flying knockouts".

Although I want to vote for the original Thief 1, the straw poll lacks an entry for it. I haven't played Thief Gold yet.

Maybe add The Dark Mod too since that's basically a Thief game.