Thief FM Recommendations

Reviews/recommendations

A general tip for most of these missions. Only a few have their own video intros, so you're generally expected to read the FM's readme file if you want to fully understand the plot.

The very best I've played:

Thief2x (link: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144804): 13 mission expansion pack and fairly early magnum opus of the Thief community. Each level may be lacking in graphics, detail and map size compared with many newer fan missions, but it's still the biggest Thief campaign and the one which most closely ties in with the story of Thief II. A mostly well-executed story and progression of different mission types that some would argue is better than Thief 2 itself, and provides a good gateway into the world of Fan Missions.

The Seven Sisters: a really fun and large city exploration romp with a well-told, charming story and some very memorable moments. One of the most renowned classics from the Thief community's 'golden age'.

Godbreaker: A recent short to mid-sized campaign, featuring some of the most polished exploration, storytelling and atmosphere you'll find in a Thief FM. The campaign starts out with a modest, but beautifully designed city level; it only gets better from there as the story takes you through the haunted, mysterious wildlands to the south and then back to the boundless rooftops and alleyways of the City to conclude with one of the finest balcony-hopping romps ever made. Bonus points for the all-new protagonist being a thiefy Sean Connery.

Gems of Provenance (TG): An incomplete 4-mission campaign, but fortunately it doesn't end on a big cliffhanger or anything. Essentially a tribute to Thief Gold, each mission feels like a mixture of different original missions from that game (Cragscleft, Mage Towers, Bonehoard, etc). It nails the atmosphere and features some great level design that screams 'classic thief'.

Ominous Bequest - Gold: A mansion mission with a twisting, turning, epic storyline that gets better and better. Admittedly quite linear in places.

Broken Triad: More brilliance. The sequel to Ominous Bequest, this time starting you out in the streets of the City. These two are Thief's Hollywood blockbuster FMs.

Kingsbridge: Dark and beautiful city mission, with a good storyline and really nice stealth design. Lots of details and polish throughout.

The Thief 1-style city missions:
Bad Debts
Disorientation
Shadow Politics (TG)
Between These Dark Walls (TG)
Endless Rain (TG)
The Chalice of Souls (TG)
Unbidden Guest

These are mostly huge, exploration-based missions in a 'retro', Dark Project-styled version of the Thief setting (with the sort of blocky, looming architecture and thick, dark atmosphere you see in the Assassins city section for example). Great exploration in rooftops, sewers and streets; 5 stars for level design here. A couple of them are direct sequels to another (play in the order I listed and you'll be fine). See if you can find the secret dopefish in Bad Debts!

Circle Of Stone and Shadow: Gathering at the Inn is a very nice mission, but the second mission (Mission X) is a masterpiece. It's very difficult, and is kind of like Mission Impossible meets Thief- an infiltration mission with dialogue trees, choice of objectives and dynamic events in an enormous hotel-casino complex. Fantastic story in both and ambitious design in the latter. Sadly, the 3rd and later missions were scrapped, even though 3 was mostly done.

The Greyfeather Gems 1 and 2. Very atmospheric and well-done. Some of the best city missions- the first is your regular looting everything from public and private buildings mission, but the second is in a half-abandoned Haunted Cathedral sort of setting, but without undead (mostly...). Suffers from Half Life syndrome, as the 2nd mission ends on a cliff-hanger and the sequel was never released.

The Hammerite Imperium- Seven Shades of Mercury: Oh boy, this is a beautiful one. Brilliant setting and story too (seems to be in a kind of alternate version of the Thief universe, or a different part of the world), in which you must, through stealth, defeat various rival teams of students in a cathedral complex to graduate from the Hammerite Academy. Highly unique visual motif and sound design that sets it apart from all else Thief.

Other great missions I've played
Bones: The Old Quarter: You head into the snowy, haunted Old Quarter (as seen in TG) after it's been more or less re-settled and cleared of undead. Very pretty and atmospheric.

The Inverted Manse: The first FM to really nail atmospheric horror, even if it's a bit dated compared with more recent missions. Worth replaying, as each difficulty setting changes the level layout and objectives. But I'll tell you what, this mission impressed the guys at Ion Storm so much when it was released in 2001 that they hired the guy who made it to work on Thief 3. He went on to design the Shalebridge Cradle... need I say more?

Augustine's Revenge (TG): A retro-styled city and mansion mission with stellar, tight-packed level design (check everywhere; you'll find secret caches and areas) and a pretty interesting plot and atmosphere. Let down only by some rather cringeworthy amateur voice acting.

Amoral Dilemma: City heist mission where (as usual) things don't go according to plan. Nice architecture and solid design. Definitely recommended.

Among Two Storms: Very interesting idea! A singleplayer co-op mission, where you hotswap between controlling Garrett and a sidekick of his by way of some kinda technical wizardry. This mechanic is leveraged to produce interesting (if linear) puzzles and level progression.

The Seventh Crystal: The archetypal 'mansion mission with a twist' (which is a whole sub-genre of FMs). Very nice story and design. Yet another cliff-hanger ending with no follow-up, sadly. You may also be noticing an obsession with the number seven in these FMs...

Stones and Glass Houses: A small/mid-sized campaign with exceptional polish and execution throughout. Starts with a city level where there are a couple of unique details and mechanics that enhance the gameplay, and where an interesting story begins to build. Progresses through prisons, mansions and places stranger to a thrilling conclusion. This is a sequel to the somewhat mediocre All Torc, but you only really have to read the plot recap of that simple first campaign in the readme for this one to catch up on what you need to know.

Lorgan's Web (TG): Something a little bit different here. This level is actually based on the city in Assassins, but overhauled and expanded enough to feel both nostalgically-familiar in places and also fresh and interesting to explore. Some clever scripting and story events make the level feel alive, but can also cause the mission to bug out a bit so fair warning there. There's also a sequel based on Life of the Party's layout for T2, called Lord Fishkill's Curse, which is almost as good and has more entertaining, hilarious scripted events! Both are packed full of Terry Pratchett references, which are perhaps a little too on-the-nose if you're familiar with Discworld.

Saints and Thieves: A well-executed level with strong atmosphere and a well-told, slightly dark storyline.

A Night In Rocksbourg 1-3: Garrett goes on holiday to the town of Rockbourg, but arrives to find the place collapsing into anarchy. He works with the Keepers to uncover information about a sinister new organisation, work out what's going on in Rocksbourg, and find a way to escape the city (which has been sealed from within to prevent news of the disaster escaping). It's really dark and the levels ooze atmosphere with incredible detail and unique graphical design. You can think of it as Thief meets Silent Hill. The first two missions are beautiful cities to explore, with a couple of terrifying surprises. The third is even greater and takes place... okay I won't spoil it ;) Each mission improves on the last and a fourth one plus a prequel are in the works, but it's been a long and agonising wait. The first mission can be a bit rough in places though, so you may need to keep a walkthrough or forum thread handy for tips.

The Last Lighthouse Keeper: By the same author as Kingsbridge. Very intriguing storyline and atmosphere. Set in a snowed-in mansion with a lot of puzzle and supernatural elements (the puzzles are challenging but mostly very fair and enjoyable).

Darkstone Gem: A campaign in progress, with Chapter 1 (4 missions) and the first two parts of Chapter 2 released thus far. You'll find a nice mixture of locations, from City rooftops to dark and haunted mines, but they're all pure, 100% thieving thieving thieving! Chapter 2 is particularly good.

Breathing Corpses: You will get lost, very lost. It's like the bonehoard but far more labyrinthine and complex, with so many amazing places and things to find. An instant classic if you're into that sort of thing.

What've You Found Little Fly?: Based on a certain level from Thief 2, but cleverly disguised so you won't notice at first. This is one of the best puzzle-themed levels around, where the solutions are challenging but all make sense. A good supernatural story seals the deal on this one.

Relic-Left for Dead: A wacky, somewhat different level. Garrett wakes up dead! In a swamp graveyard. He explores the swamps and forests in an effort to take revenge on his killers. By the way, you get to use your skeletal fingers as lockpicks and your disembodied skull as a scouting orb!

Autumn in Lampfire Hills (TG): Takes place in a small town, with cool hub-like design, puzzly sections and some nice little gimmicks.

Calendra's Legacy: This 3-mission campaign is love or hate for most people. I come down on the 'love' side, as it tries a lot of new things. The story is fairly trashy, but there are some incredibly awesome dynamic events in the main level in particular, which mould and re-form the mission as you complete your objectives. Expect the unexpected. All 3 missions are very pretty and architecturally well-built, with lots of cool areas. This is a sequel to the groundbreaking Calendra's Cistern for TG, which was acclaimed as the first FM to rival Looking Glass's own work when it came out in the late 90s, and is still enjoyable today.

The Drymian Codex: An excellent Hammerite mission; very well done, has a great story and a few really scary bits.

The Thieves' Highway: Life of the Party 2.0 and that's all you need to know. :)

Geller's Pride (TG): "Simple job planned for tonight... fat nobleman... grab some blackmail material... then get out...". This is Thief at its most classic.

Benny's Dead: A nice city and infiltration mission with a twist at the end! You'll also meet some interesting new friends in the sewers...

Lord Alan's Fortress and Lord Alan's Factory: The first is a large fortress level with really fun stealth, while the second is a weird industrial horror mission with an absolutely enormous map (and I mean seriously massive; it takes perhaps 30 seconds to fall from the top to the bottom down the central lift shaft)- unusual, but kinda amazing.

Being Thief 1 + 2: Big city to explore in both missions. I prefer the first one, as the second is a bit too big for its own good and wastes a lot of space, which I'm not a fan of.

The Art of Thievery: Large, nicely-designed and challenging mansion heist with a focus on ghosting. If you like Mechanist security and the levels Casing the Joint/Masks, you'll appreciate this.

Fables of the Penitent Thief: A silly fairy-tale mission, for if you ever get bored of the normal stuff. Loads of fun, even if it isn't really 'Thief'!

Into the Maelstrom: A mission by Morrgan, the creator of Greyfeather Gems. It's very short, but creepy and fun.

The Saint of Redmound (TG) and Returning a Favor (TG): More Morrgan missions. I do love her aptitude for design and writing. These two are some of the best Hammerite-themed levels you can find, and the second is a direct sequel to the first.

The Tower: Verticality galore. Small, but packed full of things to discover. By the author of 'Seven Sisters'.

Upside Down: Another silly mission, where you play as a guard fighting off thieves! Very funny, unique and highly replayable.

Sturmdrang Keep: A pirate-themed campaign, with some puzzle elements later on. Solid fun. Yarrr.

L'Arsene: A big city (you'll get pretty lost fast- I had to draw my own map so I could make sure I'd explored everything!) and a rather cool plot about a rival thief to Garrett. It feels very French, in part due to dodgy translation, and is pretty rough in places though. There's a series of sequels which are supposed to be good, but I haven't got round to trying all of them yet.

Brainchild: A horrible, dark, confusing nightmare of a level, where nothing is ever explained. Highly recommended.

Resonance: What's that? A mission set during the day time?!! At sunset to be precise, but it works well and gives the mission a unique beauty. This is backed up with enjoyable sneaking, exploration and looting in a medium-sized city block.

Morbid Curiosity: Another city level, but packed with life and fun and originality. The museum section in particular reminds me of the movie Westworld: navigating through a Thief-themed theme park ride gone very very wrong.