Garrett the thief may be a little tougher than he was in previous installments, but using him to go on a killing spree just didn't feel right to me. Most of his enemies ranged from stupid to misguided to mentally ill, so I kept the bloodshed to a minimum and instead took delight in lifting their coin purses, snagging their silverware, and relieving them of their more valuable paintings. That's not to say you couldn't go around knifing people in the head or shooting them from afar with a variety of arrows. It's just that the plot and the voice acting and the gameplay mechanics are so strong that stealth play is more rewarding here than anywhere else I've seen.

It takes a thief sometimes

Set in a world that looks like a magical version of Nineteenth Century London, Thief: Deadly Shadows follows the exploits of Garrett as he becomes entangled in a grab for absolute power orchestrated by an unknown force. As in Ion Storm's Deus Ex: Invisible War, a number of factions exist that can hinder your progress or fight on your side. In Thief, though, they're a little harder to keep placated - and most of them want you dead no matter what you do. Unlike Invisible War, who you make peace with has absolutely no bearing on the end of the game and no significant effect on the game, period.

From beginning to end, you will contend with the city watch, whose main hobby seems to be putting up wanted posters with your face on them. They walk among the crowd in every part of town and they like to chase you in groups. If you fall to them in combat once, the watch will throw you in prison, thus setting up a nice little jail break stage. Get caught any time after that, and it's game over. No one escapes from Pavelock Prison twice.

The Hammers and the Pagans are two warring religious groups you will also see a lot of, and about a third of the way into the game you can actually start to win the favor of one or both of them. If you perform some very simple tasks for them as you go about your regular business, and if you refrain from stealing from them or knocking them out, they'll let you wander around their land freely. You'll always be walking on egg shells with them, but the things they ask for are so easy to do, it's no problem at all.

The Keepers run the show from behind magically concealed doors, and the tasks they call you for are what drive the storyline. Garrett trained with the Keepers and so has an in with them, but they don't fully trust one another. And the relationship only gets rockier from there.

The hero of Thief is not a hero in the full sense of the word. His is a less than noble profession, and if you don't get your hands dirty stealing from a church, a museum, and a childlike widow, among others, you simply won't pass the missions. Using your blackjack and the shadows, you can easily go the non-lethal route, but there's a reason the authorities are after you. Besides taking valuables off tables and walls, you can creep along beside a victim and rip off his purse or keys. Scare a citizen enough and he will drop his loot and run. Yep, you're a mugger and a burglar - but you also hold the key to saving the world.

Running with the night, playing in the shadows

Like any good criminal, Garrett has an assortment of tools of the trade. His blackjack and dagger bring unconsciousness of the temporary and permanent varieties. Arrows are used not only to take down foes, but also to extinguish lights, clean up blood, cause distractions, and start fires. Then there are flash bombs, gas bombs, and mines to indulge your ninja tendencies. Climbing gloves, lock picking tools, and Garrett's mechanical eye (good for zooming but not for wooing) help you rake in the loot. But the greatest tool at your disposal is patience. Sometimes you don't need to snipe a guard or leave him in the dark, just wait for him to walk away. If it gets deep, you can sometimes get different groups to fight one another, buying you some time and leg room.

Luckily for you and your enemies, the incidental dialogue in this game is competently written and often comically acted. There are arrogant watchmen and guards as dumb as box of rocks ([trying to coax you out of hiding] "We are friendly - and we don't know how to fight"), zealous Hammers ("My hammer awaits thee!"), and Pagans that speak a language all their own ("Haha, I sees you now! Gets ready to be deaded by a shaman, manfool"). Even late in the game, you will find yourself chuckling, or in some cases generally apprehensive, after hearing your enemies' exclamations. Some of the adversaries in the second half are pretty disturbing.

If you take your time loading up your loot bag in each area, you should find at least twenty hours of gameplay, with enough variety to keep you interested. The plot twists more than the serpentine city streets, and before you pocket your last ill-gotten candelabrum you will have visited some a good variety of locales and slipped past tons of freaky foes. One area in particular is extra memorable both in its visuals and in the way it masterfully weighs you down with suspense. Any game that can make me jump at my own shadow, so to speak, is doing an amazing job.

With an engrossing story, appealing lead character, and a respectable variety of weapons and locations, Thief: Deadly Shadows deserves to be on a "Most Wanted" poster. It's not as impressive as Metal Gear Solid nor as grand as Deus Ex, but if you have a little time to kill, Thief will leaving you wondering where the time went.

· · · Nick Vlamakis