Thief: Deadly Shadows

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1. Theophilus March 10, 2008

   It’s disappointing to hear that this game is anti-Christian. I was thinking of buying it at one time. I played a demo for the first Thief game and it was sweet. It didn’t seem to have much (if any) offensive material from what I experienced.
2. Kenny July 23, 2008

   I guess you should look at the game again.
   The symbol of the Hammerites isn’t a T, its a large metal-HAMMER. And a hammer usually makes you think of work (and not of a christian cross) which fits perfectly in the story as the hammerites glorify hard work and diligence as the foundation of a good life in the eyes of the “builder”.
   So allthough the religion of the Hammerites may be inspired by common book religions the game devellopers surely didn’t want to “poke fun at Christians”.
   Another point is that the hammerites are an essential part of the theif series since Dark Projekt 1, (the first part of the thief series) and are surely not better pictured in the game than the hammerites as you have to work together with the hammerites to finish the game which is of course only one example .
   So there is definetely no reason to feel offended by the game as a christian.
3. Colonel Link July 25, 2008

   No, the symbol is a T. It represents a hammer, but in reality it looks nothing like one, as hammers have one side bigger than the other. And does it really matter that the hammerites are in all of the games? That only means that the previous games have similar content. I don’t see how that makes it right.
   And what does “common book religions” mean? The hammerites are essentially Christians. They walk around in medieval crusaders clothes, have big T’s on the back of their armor, and directly reference biblical parables. Now, it’s true that they fill a stereotypical christian view (judgmental, old fashioned, etc), but that only offended me more.
   And you haven’t even begun to mention the witches and pagans (with blood sacrifices, which you are forced to participate in).
4. Kenny October 11, 2008

   The shape of a hammer depends on its task. There are long hammers, small hammers, and also symmetric hammers with 2 even sides.
   With “common book religions” i mean the way how official religions work. You have a holy book full of stories and laws you should follow or else something bad will happen … or not. Those books were of course written by people that god or allah or whoever spoke to. We have that from time to time in the history of humanity, so why not also in a computergame.
   You should not forget that this computergame plays in a fictional world. Thats why there are dead people running around, not-human guards that communicate with their thoughts and the figures you call witches is something you find on both sides… the pagans and the hammerite. Everyone that has a cool stick can shoot fireballs or green things but i wouldn’t call that witchery since they can’t do it without the stick.
   And at last the blood sacrifice isn’t that bad as you tell it … you don’t even have to kill somebody to finish that mission.
5. Colonel Link October 14, 2008

   @Kenny: I have no problem with “fantasy” religions, because they don’t represent real religions. The Hammerites and Pagans aren’t “common book religions” though, as they directly reference Christianity and Paganism. And the blood sacrifice thing: While you don’t have to kill anyone, I still don’t think it’s right to drag a dead body onto an altar and stab it until it bleeds.
   All of the content aside, the game isn’t even worth the price gameplay wise, so there is no reason to consider it.
6. Deus est lux March 15, 2009

   Let’s be straight: I cannot understand the zelotic view on a game like Thief. It’s pure fantasy – probably with some references to darker times in our christian history (is not all we build with our hands or we think with our minds referential to other times and other thoughts?). I am a student of history and I know times, when people like the Hammers were running around with crosses instead of hammers on their clothes. They were certainly no Christians, they were crusaders. Or witchhunters. Or inquisitors. The Hammerites refer, if they do, to those and not at all to true and peaceful Christians. Or do you see yourself linked to such radicalistic fanatics like the Hammerites?
   And why should I as Christian feel attacked by a game that doesn’t even pretend to be more than entertainment? It’s no blasphemy of some kind, and it’s certainly not meant to mock Christianity.
   But for the game, I have to admit that it’s not as fantastic as the two first parts. I played it through tough.
7. thedaver July 23, 2009

   You might think that a game titled “Thief” would just be about breaking and entering, stealing, then getting out of there….thats what I thought. Then about 2/3 into the game it turns into the horror genre by setting loose tons of various undead who would just love to suck your brains out. I found myself sneaking around a zombe infested ship, a haunted orphanage, and other nasty places….yeah so if you don’t like scary games I wouldn’t recemend any of the Thief games.
8. thedaver July 23, 2009

   this game isn’t anti-christian…its anti-religion
9. stealthfreek78 July 23, 2009

   I have to say that this game does not live up to the thief seres…many of the levels have boring or uninspired designs, and the game is ruined by almost every level having some form of undead lurking in the shadows. This may not bother you if you like scary games. But for me at least, (I don’t enjoy horror games) it ruined the game. For people like me, I would recommend buying Thief: the Metal Age or waiting for Thief 4 to come out.
10. Bob December 31, 2009

    The first mission was interesting but extremely hard after it just got dumb and there were zombies and I died and never played it again because reading ahead it was all about fighting zombies which is not anything to do with being a thief.
11. Eagle4Delta February 24, 2010

    Good to read this. To bad i did finish the game. I did had my doubts about the occult content but i realy liked the stealth and mid-age time this game plays in. I wish i didnt finish the game cause there are some freaking situations you'll encounter. Strange though i didnt saw the builders the way Colonel link did. So for those who want to know how it ends: by the end you'll have a child but there's no woman involved. This is shown in a movie of a couple of seconds. So no need to continue this game cause this wont add anything good to yourself.

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