The game play and controls of Thief Deadly Shadows are very similar to other Xbox games, but the play style is very creative with movie quality clips set in old European style homes, towns, and villages. A rated M for mature (over the age of 17) has been established for violence, graphic colors, and language to some extent I presume and the over all nature of theft in general.
"Cry Brethren for the Betrayer has come. Your hands will be crippled and you will perish as the wretched outcast in the bleak unwritten and you will know the face of the Destroyer" a recovered text from the Propheticus missing for 132 years in Thief Deadly Shadows.
To begin the game you enter the first mission briefing. Set your difficulty level to easy, normal, hard, or expert modes and view your main objectives in the mission area. Check these objectives often as they will change as your game play advances.
The Gear area shows your arrows, tools, loot, quest items, and maps to keep you informed of your supplies and location. You will need to keep track of the arrows you have on hand mainly but checking in with your available tools and map locations will help throughout the game.
Your first mission is a training tutorial that will gain you extreme navigation and sneak skills. Following the blue footprints along the path will bring you through this quest. Don't try to attack anyone randomly on this mission, wait for the tutorial to direct you. Taking as many water arrows as you can carry will assist you greatly not only in this mission but in the next. The water arrows that you use on the first quest will replenish for the next. As long as you have around 25 arrows when you pick them up, you will have 25 arrows when you leave the first area even if you spend them all in training.
Upstairs in this first mission, as soon as you enter the side room the guard will not even see you anymore. No longer having the threat from a guard will get you extra loot, some are throwing items.
After training, game play begins with Garrett (you, the thief) walking through corridors, homes, city streets with a rather old London feel of dark, dingy, and a creepy sort of "Jack the Ripper" days ambiance. As you sneak around as the story unfolds, Garrett is just a thief as far as the player is aware. Later in the game, Garrett's stealing for the sake of stealing morphs into an investigation of sorts. Your curiosity as a player peaks as the Keepers fill you in on the prophecy (Garrett already knows this information and through narration, together, the Keepers and Garret let us as players in on it all).
Keepers are a magical society obsessed with books, writing, pages, and glyphs. These Keepers are central to the story line and involve Garrett in some interesting travels beginning in Garrett's home town of the South Quarter, a poor region of the realm.
Your second mission brings you into the South Quarter. Shooting a torch holding guard with a water arrow will put him on higher alert, but gives you the added bonus of more shadow and more stealth. Thumping guards with your black jack weapon will also help you get through this mission. Hit them from behind, then pick up and hide the bodies in the shadows. Use a water arrow to wash away the blood stains, this keeps the other NPC's (non player characters) at bay and does not send them into alert frenzies.
Retrieving your killing arrows that miss and stick into any wooden object will keep your arrow counts higher. Being a thief, you will need to hone your lock picking skills at your home. You begin with two practice locks and can purchase others later in the game in certain shops. Becoming adept at the lock picking skill and actually memorizing the positions of some of the easier locks will help you progress much faster.
Waiting and listening are two more of a thief's greatest asset skills. Tips that flash on the loading screens, conversations between NPC's, and added hints left unsaid by NPC's to Garret will assist you greatly in knowing things before Garrett acknowledges that you, as a player, know them. Locating secret passages and cubbies along your path is well worth your time, though you may not come by these very frequently.
Where does a thief go to sell his ill gotten gains? Why a "fence" of course! A dealer who knows how to sell your stolen swag. You will become friendly with a few of these people along the way but some fences only deal with certain types of goods. Generally, each will direct you to another if they do not bother with your particular item at the time, sending you on to meet a new fence.
The feature to change the difficulty for each mission selected is quite the useful assistant. Missions can actually last in real time up to and over 16 hours and saving "in mission" is another great feature to this incredible game and leaving an area does not necessarily mean that the enemies will respawn, a mission has many areas.
A very dark, both dimly lit and Medieval feel game full of information fed as a story style narrated by you, Garrett the Thief of Deadly Shadows. Keep your ears alive as in the narrative lies clues to help you gain your way to the truth of the game. "In the years, the seven great families have become neither great nor families".
Stealth, surprise, strategy, and trickery are the plan in Thief Deadly Shadows. If you master lock picking, sneaking in the shadows, patience, and aim, your video games and gaming Xbox experience will be great fun and an awesome challenge.
