Just over two years ago I did a ‘Netbook Gamer’ review of Thief Deadly Shadows, the classic third entry in the stealth series. I highlighted one of the classic levels of gaming:
The other is one of the most amazing areas I have ever played – Shalebridge Cradle. Once an orphanage, later also used as an insane asylum – while it still housed orphans – it is a dreadful place, and your character comments “If there’s a way to cram more misery into one building’s history, I can’t think of it.”
The area is packed with spirits and other hostile undead, but you must free the ghost of an innocent young girl that is trapped inside. It is brutal and heart-wrenching and scary, and replaying it was just completely wonderful even on the netbook.
I played the Steam version, but today GoG.com has released the game DRM-free for $9.99! Here is what they are saying:
GOG.com is incredibly happy to complete the most acclaimed and loved PC stealth series ever developed–the Thief series. Thief Gold and Thief II: The Metal Age have been both voted 5-star-perfect games by our community (thanks for the votes!) and Thief: Deadly Shadows is a strong contender for yet another entry on your “best of the best” lists. The third installment, a worthy and mighty successor, does not change what’s exceptional about Garrett’s adventure–stealth-based gameplay that uses silence and shadows as your main weapons–but it does add a few twists, like seeing Garrett’s limbs from first-person perspective, non-linear exploration of the City and secondary missions, Wall Climbing Gloves, a variety of gameplay (Break & Enter, Steal, Combat, Ambush and Assassinate), and, what’s best, an improved AI that will now seek and hear you more easily, track evidence, and even chase and fight you to the end.
Thief: Deadly Shadows has been especially praised for its exceptionally refined standard of lighting, graphics, level design, and–of course–immersive gameplay. Sound effects, music, and voice acting are top-notch, and the game looks and feels better than ever with a dynamic lighting and shadow system, and the possibility to switch between first person and third person mode. The story, the dark and tense atmosphere, the visual appearance, the thrill–everything you wished for in a 3D sneaker is here. There’s only one thing no one should see–it’s Garrett, hidden in deadly shadows.
Head to GoG.com and grab this classic now!
