Thief: Deadly Shadows Review

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(More customer reviews)I should preface this review by coming right out and admitting that I am a new Thief, not having played either of the earlier titles in the franchise.Sure, I had heard all the hype, the various glowing reviews and ravings of die-hard fans, but something kept me away.Not this time, feeling hungry for a new game, I saw that Thief: Deadly Shadows hit the store(s), and decided to take a chance.I'm quite happy to report that I'm entirely glad that I did.
I did have some concerns at first.For the first few minutes of play, I found myself thinking that it should have been a rental instead of a purchase.But I played on, gradually getting drawn deeper into the plot, into the city, and into the joy of slipping quietly in where you haven't been invited, and plucking some valuable trinket off a table, from inside a chest, or even off the very person of an unfortunate homeowner or passerby.But this isn't what really got me into the game.How smart my victims were did.Sure, I was a little over-confident at first.I'd boldly sneak around behind marks wandering through their own homes, I'd skulk in the shadows, or creep slowly and quietly behind them, lifting items that caught my eye as I went.But this person lives here, and when they pass through a room and a candlestick is gone, or a chair is slightly out of place from when you less cautious than you should have been and bumped into it, or when a door has been left ajar - they realize it.And they often realize they aren't alone.So you could imagine my surprise, not yet having an appreciation for the depth of AI, when my helpless victim became decidedly non-helpless, and started actively searching for me.But I'm Garrett the Thief, and when backed into a corner, I can put up a fight.So when the owner found me after I knocked a barrel on its side trying to quickly duck into a nearby shadow, and when he drew a weapon with the intent to cause me harm, I quickly dispatched him with my dagger.He was in the light, I was in the shadow, he knew roughly where I was, but I still had the advantage.I stood over my victim, enjoying the moment when I heard a scream.The scuffle had alerted someone else in the house who came rushing in, and upon seeing me standing over the body, shot straight out of the house.She hadn't just fled through, she had gone to get the town guards.So imagine my surprise as I'm casually walking towards the open door to leave, and in burst two guards with weapons drawn.They came right at me, and while I put up a good fight, they took me down.The last thing I saw was the `terrified' woman standing in her doorway again, watching the guards beat me down.
I really enjoyed Splinter Cell, and SC: Pandora Tomorrow.I think it was how much I enjoyed those that led me to finally give Thief a shot.But one thing always bugged me about those titles, as terrific as they are and were.Your enemies had the attention span and short-term memory of mentally disabled goldfish.If two terrorists are in one room together, and you snatch one up and drag him away, the other never notices that he's suddenly alone.Leave doors open, move things, do anything but show yourself or leave a corpse around, and they have no clue anything is amiss.Not so here.Guards have areas of responsibility.And when one is no longer at his post because you've clobbered him over the head with your trusty blackjack, and dumped him unconscious behind some bushes, his captain who may well be wandering around and checking up on his men will notice, and he'll investigate.
The game is outstanding, I am really enjoying it.I'm nearly done, and I've already decided that I will be playing it through again.There's so much to do beyond the main storyline, that there's really no way to get into all the little side plots and scenarios, no way to hit every house and business in your first go.Graphically the game is quite good.Not jaw-droppingly impressive, I would have liked to have seen this in 720p and widescreen, but still a solid visual presentation.The Dolby Digital sound is terrific.The depth of play, and the AI, are really what give this title legs though.
This game, in my opinion, is worth a purchase.Unless of course the idea of sneaking around just bores you to tears.If you're looking for a hack'n'slash, this isn't it.If you're looking for an intriguing storyline, exciting action, and even a few moments where you literally jump at your own shadow, then this is going to be a good time for you.Why 4 out of 5?I would have liked to have seen at least a minimal tie-in to XBLive.Not online play perhaps, given the scope of the game, but maybe expansion and bonus content (new missions, new equipment, etc.) that could have been added over time.I think that really would have gone a long way to put this title over the top in terms of re-playability.Also, I've been trapped (bug) inside or against objects a few too many times.An annoyance, and perhaps a minor one, but a piece of the puzzle when I had to decide upon a rating.To be fair, if we could give fractions of stars in our ratings, I'd give this as high a 4 as possible.
The cover art says it best."Tension-fueled stealth, variety of gameplay, advanced AI, dynamic lighting and shadow system."Yes, yes, yes, and yes.Pick this one up, you'll be glad you did.

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Product Description:
Thief: Deadly Shadows takes you into the strange world of Garrett, master thief. Rarely seen, never caught, he just wants to make a living. He's drawn into a Web of events that will destroy the world, unless he applies his trade for more than just wealth. Dynamic lighting system for realistic, dynamic shadows that enhance stealth gaming

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Jade Empire Review

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(More customer reviews)From the people who brought us Knights of the Old Republic comes another genre-blending game with a fabulously twisting plot. If you own an Xbox, you should own this game. It is not only the best Action RPG on the Xbox but one of the best RPGs played in recent memory.

For those who have played KOTOR, this game will be instantly familiar. At the offset, you pick a character and are thrust into a world of moralities. Unlike KOTOR, the morality system is a little more complex for the most part. Instead of focusing on good and evil, your character has the choice of being endlessly helpful, understanding and tolerant of everyone (in other words believes in the power of the human spirit) or someone who reveres strength. As an example of this strength concept, there is a decision early on about a dam that is open and has caused problems for a town because the sailors are land locked. A wine merchant wants the dam to remain open so he can make a killing off of the sailors. If you follow the Way of the Open Palm you would probably close the dam so that the town can prosper in what is should be doing. If you follow the Way of the Closed Fist, on the other hand, would decide that if the town were strong they will survive this current hurdle and that it is only that, a hurdle. It gets a little more tricky than that and does open some areas for roleplaying your character and deciding what you would really do in that situation. Bioware is also wonderful at making you think about your decision as they give you new information just as soon as you make a decision that might change how you feel about the situation.

My only complaint with the system is that while they say that the two paths are different from looking at things as good and evil, there are still some instances where there is a "good" and an "evil" way of doing things. I might have rationalized why I would be doing something that way, yet I would get points from the side I didn't want because it was clearly delineated as "good and evil choice." So, that's a bit frustrating given that their system isn't supposed to be good and evil. But, overall the system works well and really makes you think.

I didn't really care for KOTOR because of the battle system and that is probably the reason I'm enjoying Jade Empire much more. The fighting system is simple yet deep. As you progress you will learn different martial arts style that you can map to the D-pad for quick and easy access. And you will be constantly changing your styles as the techniques to defeat enemies will constantly evolve. Some monsters are immune to certain attacks so you will have to experiment and find the best ways of devastating your foes.

On the simple side, the combat is really about rock, paper scissors. You have a quick attack and a time-consuming attack (and a knock back attack that really only helps when you are surrounded and need some space). When someone blocks you use your time consuming attack, otherwise you mostly use your quick attacks to offset their own long attacks. It's pretty simple and easy to used to. However, some battles can become a button masher either way you look at it. But it's still exhilarating and fast with many ways of deciding how you want to play. Do you want to focus on using weapons, martial arts, magic, transformations? A little of the above? It's all up to you.

The game is beautiful most of the time. The art style is impeccable and really helps create a full-flesh universe. Since it's based on oriental myth, it doesn't take place in the Orient as we know it but a mythical world that incorporates themes from oriental culture. Because of this, the desiginers are free to create whatever their imagination can make. And it's beautiful. There are some places that I stood for awhile and just looked because it was so surreally beautiful and soothing. It made me wish that sometimes our world wasn't so industrialized and that we could go back to what was a more simple beauty. It was that affecting. However, sometimes, the backgrounds look painted on. Some of the hills and areas that act as blockades for where you can't go aren't that well designed. Also my character's body type makes me laugh because his pecs are super large and his abs are indented in his body that I laugh whenever I see it.

The game moves impeccably fast as well. Your character runs and I mean runs through the areas. The framerate is great. But, like KOTOR before it, the game stutters sometimes when you are running and turning the camera. When the camera pans, the game flutters sometimes as it tries to take in everything that happens. In battles, the game hardly ever stutters. And the battles can end up having a good dozen or so enemies fighting you and your partner so they can get pretty hectic and the graphics engine does a great job keeping the motion moving.

Aurally, the game is a treat. You will find some cameo voice actors that are immediately familiar (look for John Cleese in a hysterical role). The music is well done and has a wonderful oriental bent to it (of course). Also, Bioware hired a real linguist to help create the fictional language used in the game. It is very familiar to oriental language but isn't real. It was created solely for this game. And that's amazing.

Unfortunately, my problem with the dialogue in the game is the same problem I had with KOTOR. It's great and all but all too often the plot developments and dialogue becomes a "talking head" type situation where anyone who has something important to say gets a close up of their face while their lips move and the dialogue is heard. This is unfortunate for me because I get impatient sometimes and will just read the subtitles and skip through most of their dialogue. It's never "dynamic" in cutscenes like in some RPGs I've played (hands down the best use of dialogue in an RPG goes to FFX that used dialogue to move the plot but it wasn't a novel dialogue, it was like movie dialogue). The dialogue in Jade Empire is sometimes like a novel. So, for those who aren't interested in talking heads delivering dialogue this might get annoying after a time. But the dialogue is genuinely well voiced and excellent.

My only other complaint is the load times.While not as annoying constant as Fable where each and every small zone no matter how small had to be loaded for a good 5-10+ seconds, it still is a pain when you have to go through zones for a quest.For instance, in the beginning of the game you have to go through the town to the school (a load screen) to get a quest, go back to town (load screen) to talk to someone, then back to the school (load screen).And it's unfortunate because the actual quest takes maybe a minute, but a good 20 seconds of the time is spent in load screens.That's a uncharacteristic load time though as generally the areas are big and don't usually require many loads.Although another incident where it is very noticeable is in an arena combat situation where before and after each arena battle it has to load for a good 5-10 seconds.The kicker is, some of the arena battles are over in about a minute or much much less and yet you have to deal with two load screens comprising a good 10-20 seconds.So, in some areas it can be annoying and definitely pulls you out of the game when you should be pulled further in.And, it becomes especially annoying considering that games like Halo 2 are seamless after the original load.

Overall, though, this game is gold.It's perfectly plotted and paced and has Bioware's trademark in excellence stamped all over it.It ranks as one of my favorite games this year so far along with God of War and Psychonauts.I would definitely recommend buying this game.There are some problems that I have noted but you know regardless of the problems, this is an excellent game with an excellent story.And, at 22+ hours, this adventure is worth taking.

**NOTE: You should definitely pick up the Limited Edition of it if you can still find it.For the initial run they are all Limited Edition and after they are gone, you will only be able to get this, the standard game.The Limited edition has a new character and weapon style and a making of as well as some other fun things.Same price, so definitely check out the limited edition over this version if you want the game.

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Product Description:
Set in the ancient, mysterious world of mythical China, players train under their master's watchful eye and learn powerful martial arts and mystical powers. When danger threatens, players travel across the world, from the harsh mountains of the Land of Howling Spirits to the lush gardens of the Imperial City. In their adventures, players face powerful human and supernatural foes, learn exotic and magical martial arts, and discover the darkest secrets of the world. Only by mastering the greatest fighting styles and defeating the most powerful enemies will players earn their place as a master of martial arts in the world of "Jade Empire."

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