Hey all. I had the urge to post my rankings for Thief Gold's missions yesterday, and today I decided to rank the missions of Thief 2. Hope you enjoy reading!
Unlike Thief Gold, I do not necessarily enjoy every mission in Thief 2, but it’s still a good game. So, instead of "OK, The Good, and The Best," I’ll be ranking these by "The Bad, The OK, and The Good."
The Bad
Casing the Joint/Masks
I'm putting these missions together at the bottom of the list. Some of the rooms and secret passages had promise, but the layout and design are just not very good. There are also a lot of buggy and strange things happening in these missions.
Kidnap
I never look forward to this mission. There was potential. I like the idea of returning to the Lost City to face the Mechanists, but this mission turns out to be tedious and mundane. There is also a piece of loot that is unobtainable near the end of the level because it’s covered with a texture.
Trace the Courier
Another sort of repetitive mission. Maybe it would’ve been better if it was combined with Trail of Blood, but I understand there may have been some limitations. I think there should have been more to it since it's a separate mission. The ending in the cemetery is neat.
The OK
Precious Cargo
Another sort of Tomb Raider-esque mission. It has some interesting sections, but some parts seem to fall flat. I enjoy the pirate lore, but the secret shipwreck was underwhelming. The submarine is cool. Overall just an OK mission.
Eavesdropping
This is not a bad mission, but not great. This is the first time we encounter the dreaded children of Karras, which makes quite an impact. The conversation between Karras and Sheriff Truart is a pivotal moment in the storyline. There is a lot of interesting dialogue and lore with the mechanists. My primary complaint is the interior design of the Mechanist temple being somewhat uninspiring.
Ambush!
Another mission with good elements and a lot of potential that somewhat falls flat due to some parts of the design and layout being bland. Love the idea of fleeing the pub to sneak around the city streets to get back to Garrett’s residence, and being able to enter some of the structures. I just can't help but feel there should be more to it!
The Good
Sabotage at Soulforge
This unique mission is kind of in a category of its own. I’ll just start “The Good” section off with this one. The huge, intimidating layout, creepy mechanist robots and slaves, and Karras’ voice echoing through the halls of the Mechanist Cathedral make for a great atmosphere. I think it’s one of the scarier missions of the Thief series. The complex, errand-like objectives might be off-putting to some players, but I think this is a cool final level for Thief 2.
Trail of Blood
I found it hard to know where to rank this mission. It’s sort of linear and confined, has some odd elements (I guess we can expect that of The Maw), but it’s heavy with story and lore (aww, Dewdrop), and has some interesting locations. The tree beasts are amazing and terrifying!
Running Interference
Classic Thief - breaking into a guarded mansion. It’s a decent introductory level. Like Bafford’s Manor, I think it sets the tone and standard for Thief 2. Having a neat design and atmosphere, it showcases the more Victorian-like style in comparison to the Medieval-like style from Thief Gold. The mission objective is cool, but I don’t like how one is forced to score eight knockouts on Expert difficulty.
Blackmail
Another mansion mission! I think there are some parts of the design and layout that slightly miss the mark (such as large open areas outside and some strange interior sections), but it’s still one of the more fun and interesting missions. I admit I played it on Normal difficulty once just to be “Slasher Garrett,” ha!
Framed
It’s not perfect, and I think I remember a buggy door or two, but it’s a good mission with a mostly interesting layout, lots of secret passages, and interesting lore. We are introduced to the City Watch. The idea of breaking into a police station is cool.
First City Bank and Trust
Breaking into a bank must be a peak moment in Garrett’s thieving career. The bank is huge, and has somewhat of a wacky layout, but it's a fun and interesting mission.
Life of the Party
This is an iconic mission and a fan favorite. Jumping across the city rooftops and breaking into buildings is awesome! There is also a lot of interesting and funny dialogue. My only problem with this mission is in the latter half. The exterior of Angel Watch is amazing, but for some reason I find some parts of the interior design and layout to be less than great.
Shipping… and Receiving
It’s hard to decide which mission between the final three to put in the “top” spot. I could just say it’s a tie, but really the design and layout of this mission is better overall than the previous two in my opinion. It’s definitely one of the most memorable missions in Thief 2, and has a ton of atmosphere, secrets, and interesting lore… and there’s a pirate ship!
Last edited by sneaksie415; 24th May 2023 at 05:33. Reason: changed ranking
trail of blood was great i will tell you why, the gem puzzle is random locations each time you play, so a bit of variety, dewdrop ofcourse, garrett going back to the maw since thief 1,massive distance traveled in mission, a lot of different area's to explore, the freshest healing fruits in the entire seriesit was a mini adventure for a single level
You're right, I should've at least put it ahead of Eavesdropping and Ambush because I always look forward to playing it much more. The atmosphere is great and refreshing with the village and the plants. The ghosts telling the story is great, but geez, it really makes me hate those Mechanists! The gem quest is cool. I didn't realize the gems changed locations! Well, I edited my ranking and put it in "The Good" category now
Trail of Blood was special for me in terms of map design. It taught me how to make natural looking environments in the Dark Engine without long lines of sight, and for that matter other game engines. You make the rooms like 12 sided oval cylinders that touch at kiss points, where you can't see through more than 3 zones at a time, and use tree trunks to break up the space. It's true was made a bit too linearly, but Schwaa's Relic Left for Dead really used that method to good effect for a big sprawling non-linear natural looking wilderness (swamp) map, and he said he used ToB as his reference. I used the method for a cool forest map I made once that I like too.
But I guess that shouldn't really count for a list like this. I agree it was memorable and atmospheric and added to the story too though.
Shipping and Receiving is my all time favorite T2 mission. I've replayed that mission more than all the rest. It is a bit of a key hunt but there is so much to do in such a small map and you can ghost so much of it. The ambient sound really ties it together as well. And as many times as I've played through that mission I always feel like I missed an area or a secret or some loot. It does feel a bit lonely though if you knock out every single AI and walk back through the map. It's also a great mission to practice crate stacking.
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