Thief II: The Metal Age

Released in 2000 by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive, Thief II: The Metal Age is a first-person stealth game and the second main entry in the Thief series. Players again control Garrett, the cynical master thief voiced by Stephen Russell, in the City, a dark fantasy-industrial setting shaped by competing religious factions, aristocrats, guards, and criminal networks. Unlike many action games of its period, Thief II emphasizes avoiding direct confrontation: Garrett relies on darkness, sound, lockpicks, water arrows, rope arrows, and carefully observed patrol routes rather than conventional combat. The story begins after the destruction of the Trickster Constantine in the previous game. Garrett returns to professional burglary, taking jobs for clients such as Viktoria, a former ally connected to the pagan faction. He soon becomes involved in a conspiracy surrounding Sheriff Gorman Truart, the City’s corrupt law-enforcement chief. Truart has been financing the Mechanists, a technologically minded religious order that broke away from the Hammerites. Their charismatic leader, Father Karras, believes humanity must be “purified” through an apocalyptic transformation. Karras’s Mechanists are central to the game’s identity. They construct servant machines and increasingly dangerous metal devices, reflecting the series’ shift toward a more industrial environment. Garrett investigates their operations across missions set in mansions, banks, police stations, docks, factories, and Mechanist installations. Notable levels include “Life of the Party,” in which Garrett infiltrates the wealthy Angelwatch estate during a celebration, and “First City Bank and Trust,” a large bank-heist mission requiring players to bypass security, locate a vault, and escape with valuable loot. As Garrett uncovers Karras’s plan, he learns that the Mechanists intend to release rust gas, a lethal substance designed to kill organic life while leaving machines unaffected. The plot culminates in “Sabotage at Soulforge,” where Garrett infiltrates the Mechanists’ massive cathedral-factory and reverses the intended outcome. Rather than allowing the gas to devastate the City, he traps Karras and the Mechanists inside Soulforge with their own weapon. Thief II was built with Looking Glass Studios’ Dark Engine, also used for Thief: The Dark Project and System Shock 2. Its missions reward patient observation and support multiple difficulty levels, with harder settings imposing stricter objectives and restrictions. The game is especially remembered for expanding the stealth-focused design of its predecessor, reducing supernatural enemies in favor of human guards, urban spaces, and elaborate robberies.