History VideoGame / ThiefDeadlyShadows

* BlamedForBeingRailroaded: In one mission, you can meet a blind, delusional widow who owns the mansion you've broken into in search of a MacGuffin. You also find a note from her late husband explaining that the large bag of money in a nearby chest should allow her to live well without him. If you don't steal the money, a few levels later she sends you a letter and a gift. Unfortunately, on expert difficulty, you ''have'' to take the money to meet the 90% loot requirement[[labelnote:*]](The game requires you to complete the main objective AND to steal a specific minimum of loot from the entire area to complete a mission)[[/labelnote]]... which causes her to send an assassin after you instead. Notably, the ''Sneaky Upgrade'' community mod changes the loot list to allow the player to steal 100% of the loot in the Manor ''without'' taking the applicable item.

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: After overhearing a thief impersonating him, Garrett [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] "So that's the famous Garrett, huh? He's not as handsome as I'd imagined."

** PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: They're often vague, but glyph prophecies haven't been proven conclusively wrong once in the series. Garrett has managed to thwart the previous two dark ages warned about by the glyphs, but [[spoiler: the prophecies are not merely ''warning'' the Keepers about the Unwritten Times, they are ''coming''.]]

''Thief: Deadly Shadows'' is the third game of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series. It was developed by Creator/IonStorm, with many Creator/{{Looking Glass|Studios}} employees moving there, and published in 2004 by Eidos Interactive. A new sequel didn't emerge until [[VideoGame/{{Thief2014}} a decade later]].

* VideogameCaringPotential: In the Overlook Mansion mission, you come across Captain Moira's widow, who politely asks you to bring her a glass of wine. If you do so (and ''don't'' steal her inheritance on the way out), later on she'll send you an expensive bottle of wine along with a letter thanking you for your kindness.
** VideogameCrueltyPunishment: Of course, if you ''do'' steal the inheritance (which is unfortunately required on Expert difficulty, unless you're using the unofficial Gold Edition patch), she'll send a loyal servant to kill you instead.

''Thief: Deadly Shadows'' is the third game of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series. It was developed in 2004 by Creator/IonStorm, with many Creator/{{Looking Glass|Studios}} employees moving there, and published by Eidos Interactive. A new sequel didn't emerge until [[VideoGame/{{Thief2014}} a decade later]].

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: When roaming the City hub world, the first time Garrett gets killed by the City Watch, he'll be taken to Pavelock Prison, a sort of bonus-level where Garrett is locked in a prison cell, when a brainless guard basically hands him the keys to escape. Rather than punish new players who aren't used to the game yet for their mistakes, the Pavelock Prison level allows players a second chance to get a handle on what to do, how to move, how to sneak, how to steal, etc... and even introduces the oil flask gadget. And to cap it all, the prison is only one level, rather than story missions which are split into two areas, meaning it isn't too long or confusing. Contrarily, it's actually very linear.

* BedlamHouse[=/=]AbandonedHospital: [[spoiler:The Shalebridge Cradle]] was this before it became an abandoned wellspring of evil, but ''after'' it was an [[spoiler:orphanage]]. Notes left around the place tell how bad it was. WordOfGod (Jordan Thomas, overall director and designer of the level) says that the establishment's creators honestly meant well and were quite forward-thinking, but tremendous costs, the class divide, primitive techniques and a series of disasters turned the place into a nightmarish cage. For example, [[spoiler:a clockmaker checked himself in after a nervous episode, was treated, and pronounced fit to leave. Due to a mix-up, he was then ''accidentally'' given extremely painful electroshock therapy, turning him into a massive headcase who had to be locked up with the most dangerous patients.]]

* BlamedForBeingRailroaded: In one mission, you can meet a blind, delusional widow who owns the mansion you've broken into in search of a MacGuffin. You also find a note from her late husband explaining that the large bag of money in a nearby chest should allow her to live well without him. If you don't steal the money, a few levels later she sends you a letter and a gift. Unfortunately, on expert difficulty, you ''have'' to take the money to meet the 90% loot requirement[[labelnote:*]](The game requires you to complete the main objective AND to steal a specific minimum of loot from the entire area to complete a mission)[[/labelnote]]... which causes her to send an assassin after you instead.

* CreatorCameo: [[http://thief.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Painting_Images All those]] paintings of male and female nobles appearing throughout the game.... They're actually [[RuleOfFunny portraits of the game's developers]], in period clothing !

* DevelopersForesight: If you never [[spoiler: sell the Kurshok Crown]], you won't have to [[spoiler: steal it in the final level]]. But they don't make it easy for you: [[spoiler: if you didn't sell the Crown, but head for the fence who buys stolen jewelry after exiting the Museum with all the other loot, you can accidentally sell the Kurshok Crown and break the ending because you cannot buy back the Crown.]] So the seemingly hard way is actually the easier way: [[spoiler: If you do sell the Crown, and have to steal it from the Museum, the Crown becomes a protected item and you will be unable to accidentally sell it, a handy feature in the chaos and confusion at the end of the game.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: A very subtle and well-done job throughout the whole game foreshadowing [[spoiler:the Hag as the true villain]]. Frequent but low-key references create a constant background hum that builds up the feel of a creepy urban legend very effectively.

* HubLevel: The City streets that Garret visits between missions. This is a departure from earlier games in the series, where Garret can go to fence his ill-gotten goods, pick up a little extra loot, buy the tools of his trade, and even do a few {{Side Quest}}s should the mood take him.

* MistakenForGranite: In the late levels. You'll know it when you'll see it.

The first game concentrated its storyline on the Pagans, the second game on the Mechanists and Hammerites, and ''Deadly Shadows'' finally shows more insight into the Keepers and the challenges they face. Though Garrett still insists on wanting no association with the order after he left them at a younger age, he's more willing to cooperate with them after the events of the second game. Slowly but surely, he's drawn into a growing string of mysteries from the Keepers' past...

* BlamingTheRailroadedPlayerCharacter: In one mission, you can meet a blind, delusional widow who owns the mansion you've broken into in search of a MacGuffin. You also find a note from her late husband explaining that the large bag of money in a nearby chest should allow her to live well without him. If you don't steal the money, a few levels later she sends you a letter and a gift. Unfortunately, on expert difficulty, you ''have'' to take the money to meet the 90% loot requirement[[labelnote:*]](The game requires you to complete the main objective AND to steal a specific minimum of loot from the entire area to complete a mission)[[/labelnote]]... which causes her to send an assassin after you instead.

* VideogameCaringPotential: In the Overlook Mansion mission, you come across Captain Moria's widow, who politely asks you to bring her a glass of wine. If you do so (and ''don't'' steal her inheritance on the way out), later on she'll send you an expensive bottle of wine along with a letter thanking you for your kindness.

--->'''Keeper:''' Gone... what will we do? What will become of The City ''do'' without us?

--->'''Artemus:''' Gone... what will we do? What will become of The City ''do'' without us?

* FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:During the end-game apocalypse when you're weaving between Gamall, City watchmen, Hammerites, Pagans and Gamall's stone servants, this troper noticed that it took 4 hits from a Pagan mage to kill a statue, while it only took 2 hits from a Hammerite mage. And why is that? Because the Pagans are focused entirely on nature, their magic would work best on plants and trees. Hell, to enter Gamall's lair you need to find an amulet to destroy some roots that are blocking a door. Pagans are entirely about nature, and the Hammerites are entirely about stoneworking and building. If there's anything the Hammers understand far better than the Pagans, it's stone. Not only do they know how to shape it and craft it, they know all too well how to break it.]]

''Thief: Deadly Shadows'' is the third game of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series. It was developed in 2004 by Ion Storm, with many Creator/{{Looking Glass|Studios}} employees moving there, and published by Eidos Interactive. A new sequel didn't emerge until [[VideoGame/{{Thief2014}} a decade later]].

Along with missions like in the [[VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject first]] [[VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge two]] games, you can now control Garrett through [[HubWorld The City]] to go between areas and missions, pickpocket occasional passersby and obtain additional sidequests. It also included perspective switches and the ability to stand against walls as a stealth mechanic.

* AscendedFanboy: By this time, Garrett seems to have a lot of admirers among co-workers as well as foes. One petty crook tries to pass himself off as Garrett to a possible customer (and fails). A female example that occurs is Marla Madison, a young fence that is basically Garrett's "greatest fangirl". Predictably, Garrett has a good laugh at the impostor's expence and is fairly annoyed by Marla's ditzy advances.

* KnifeFight: Garrett has traded his shorter sword from the previous two games for a stealthier simple dagger. It's also slightly less tricky for occassional backstabs than the sword was. There is a {{dummied out}}, ultimately unused model for the third game's sword, but it was ditched early in development, when the team decided to emphasise that players should avoid swordfights.

* TrickedOutGloves: Climbing gloves replace the rope arrows from the first two games. They have a more limited use, though, and the player is only required to use them on one or two occassions. Their use beyond that is completely optional.

* StealthPun: In one of the main missions, you have to break into a clocktower operated by the Hammerites and sabotage the mechanism, causing the clock to stop. In other words, you have to [[MCHammer stop hammer time]].

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: If you never [[spoiler: sell the Kurshok Crown]], you won't have to [[spoiler: steal it in the final level]]. But they don't make it easy for you: [[spoiler: if you didn't sell the Crown, but head for the fence who buys stolen jewelry after exiting the Museum with all the other loot, you can accidentally sell the Kurshok Crown and break the ending because you cannot buy back the Crown.]] So the seemingly hard way is actually the easier way: [[spoiler: If you do sell the Crown, and have to steal it from the Museum, the Crown becomes a protected item and you will be unable to accidentally sell it, a handy feature in the chaos and confusion at the end of the game.]]

* BlamingTheRailroadedPlayerCharacter: In one mission, you can meet a blind, delusional widow who owns the mansion you've broken into in search of a MacGuffin. You also find a note from her late husband explaining that the large bag of money in a nearby chest should allow her to live well without him. If you don't steal the money, a few levels later she sends you a letter and a gift. Unfortunately, on expert difficulty, you ''have'' to take the money to meet the 90% loot requirement (since the game requires you to complete the main objective AND to steal a specific minimum of loot from the entire area to complete a mission)... which causes her to send an assassin after you instead.

* CreatorCameo: All those paintings of male and female nobles appearing throughout the game.... They're actually [[RuleOfFunny portraits of the game's developers]], in period clothing !