THIEF GOLD

Learning to forgive myself for knocking out every single guard.

- Ted Litchfield

For 15 years, I’ve felt like a fake immersive sim fan. My relationship with Thief, one of the earliest imm-sims and PC stealth games, resembled the stereotype of an adult trying to finally finish that copy of Moby Dick they keep by the bed: I kept Thief and its sequel, The Metal Age, permanently installed, would try to begin a new playthrough of one or the other every few years, and I’d always stall out somewhere in the campaign, usually about a quarter of the way through. I’ve developed a history, love, and nostalgia for Thief and Thief 2, but I’ve never rolled credits on either – until now.

After gelling with New Blood’s Thief-inspired sneaker, Gloomwood, and finding myself enticed by the release of the wildly ambitious Thief Gold fan campaign, The Black Parade (read more in Rick Lane’s issue 388 Mod Spotlight), I figured it was now or never. I declared The Summer of Thief, and endeavoured to find my inner infiltrator, presumably a neighbour to my inner child.

STAY GOLD

My Summer of Thief began with Thief Gold, the 1999 updated version of The Dark Project that outmoded the initial release. At this point, I know mission one, Lord Bafford’s Manor, about as well as I do my own childhood home after so many playthrough attempts over the years. Even so, it’s still magic, one of the best first levels in any videogame that effortlessly introduces the player to everything that makes Thief special.