Picking up where they left off last week, the folks at Good Old Games have released the second entry in the Thief series: Thief 2: The Metal Age.

The Metal Age has come to the City. The city has gone fully steampunk and steam-powered robots, cameras, and other cutting edge wonders have been introduced by the Mechanists, a faction raised from the ashes of the Hammerite religion. Although the Mechanists are a new cult, they are led by a former Order of the Hammer priest named Karras, and he is showing the usual Hammerite taste for labyrinthine plots. Not everyone loves the new religion, though, and the City’s people have created a small religious sect in opposition to the Mechanists. The Pagans are a nature-loving sect led by Viktoria, a wood nymph in human form. Their aim is to shun technology and live in harmony with the wild, chaotic natural world.

A third player has thrust himself into this tense situation: Gorman Truart, the new Sheriff. He is a corrupt plotter who oppresses the people, collects bribes, and exploits the weak, and he’s on the long list of people who are not fans of the master thief Garrett. All three factions have their own wants and needs, and it’s almost enough to make an honest thief want to give up the business. As usual, Garrett’s not really interested in playing the role of hero for the City, but despite his self-centered instincts, circumstances will propel him into the middle of this three-sided war. One thing is sure: if he?s going to save the City, they?re certainly going to pay for it.

Thief 2 was praised by critics for reducing the number of combat-focused levels and areas as compared to the first game, and its overhauled engine offered some added challenges for players. It was panned, somewhat, for dated graphics and a less-than-stellar story, however. For the most part, though, Thief 2 was in every respect another classic Looking Glass Studios game, and then (sadly) their last. Royalty payments from the game did not arrive at the studio quickly enough, despite the fact that the game sold both quickly and in high volume, and the studio was shut down before the game’s Gold Version saw release.

Though there was, I gather, a rather significant fan-made expansion released some years later.