The Thief series has sadly been blackjacked to death, but diehard fans will always remember the original releases. Hailed as classics in the early days of the stealth genre, one person has decided that the first game needed some new content.
As spotted by Eurogamer, user skacky – also known as Feuillade Industries – has released The Black Parade, an unofficial expansion for Thief Gold. A trailer swoops us through some of the add-on’s moody setting and familiar gameplay.
Spending seven years in development, there’s a lot of content to keep you busy if you’re after some old-school Thief goodness. Here’s a list of what you’ll find in the download:
- 10 huge, open-ended and meticulously crafted missions with varied themes packed with content.
- A brand new protagonist thrown into a dark, intricately woven story of crime and conspiracies.
- 4 new tools happily supplied by the undermarket, at a price.
- Many tweaks to the AI to make the game a bit more challenging but still fair.
- A brand new “banter” system where AIs greet each other during their rounds and nightly life.
- 28 voiced characters totaling roughly 1,800 new lines of dialogue.
- 30 minutes of gorgeous hand-drawn briefings and cutscenes.
- Brand new AI motions making the denizens of The City look more alive.
- Full English subtitles.
Not playing Garrett, though
With a new story comes a new character. The creator describes The Black Parade thus (and no mention of My Chemical Romance, either):
In The Black Parade you play the character of Hume, a hardened criminal who was sent into exile as a punishment for his crimes. The year is 833, you are now back in The City, a sprawling metropolis of soot-caked brick, greasy fumes and noisy machinery, with many a sinister conspiracy whispered behind closed doors. Lost and without a penny to your name, you are back to your life of thievery and must find your old associate Dahlquist. Shadows and silence are your allies. Light is your enemy. Stealth and cunning are your tools. And the riches of others are yours for the taking.
It should be noted that the add-on is for Thief Gold, which was the expanded version of the original game released in the late 1990s. It is, of course, completely free to play as well.
It’s been many-a-year since we had a Thief title. The last one, the 2014 attempt at a reboot, was something of a let-down. At least with Feuillade Industries’ expansion, we get to revisit the iconic stealth game.
