YMMV / Thief: Deadly Shadows

• Best Level Ever: The famous Shalebridge Cradle level is typically held up as one of the (if not the) best levels in the franchise, particularly due to a combination of its "haunted house"-like presentation, atmosphere and sound design, voicework from Looking Glass Studios mainstay Terri Brosius (of SHODAN fame) and heavy emphasis on text logs that reveal more about the sordid history of the facility. It helps that the level is one of the few (if only) levels to have received a sprawling ten-page feature story solely on its development and level presentation by PC Gamer Magazine.
• Complete Monster: Gamall, The Hag, is an immortal Serial Killer who maintains her immortality by killing children, before ripping the skin off her victims and wearing it as her own, having done this for centuries. Wanting to re-infiltrate the Keepers organization she was excommunicated from to learn their secrets, she murders a little girl to take her appearance. Once inside, she murders her teacher Caduca so she can take to her position as Interpreter. When the Keepers learn the truth about Gamall, she slaughters most of them. She later kills and steals the skin of Garrett's long-time friend Artemus before strangling First Keeper Orland to death when he tries to redeem himself.
• Game-Breaker/Lord British Postulate : The last part has you sneaking past the monstrous form of the Big Bad several times to set in place various items. She is 100% invincible... but enough oil flasks thrown to create a large slick WILL make her slip, fall, and apparently become unconscious (if you lure her to slip on the slick). Oops! Though that's not actual unconsciousness; she breaks her neck, but since she can't die she just lies there blinking and occasionally going invisible but otherwise immobilized. This bug-related trick can be pulled off on an inclined part of the street in Auldale, or even better, you can do this at the docks and make her fall into the ocean.
• Good Bad Bugs: You can, without warning, start to crouch-float all around if you try to jump or interact with certain objects. Up to the player to ultimately decide if this is hilarious or downright annoying during stealth-based missions. Fortunately, there's a way to escape the otherwise game-breaking glitch: simply equip and un-equip your bow and arrow until Garrett stops hovering.
• Inferred Holocaust: You have to wonder just how many people died when Garrett caused the clocktower to collapse, burying several buildings and streets underneath it...
• Nightmare Fuel: Has its own page.
• Scenery Porn: The atmosphere and lighting effects of some of the levels, including the sinister ambiance, is just gorgeously immersive. Fairly close to state-of-the-art for its time. In fact, many gamers have drawn attention to it, pondering if Frictional Games used Deadly Shadows as inspiration for their critically acclaimed survival horror Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
• The Scrappy: Coupled with Never Live It Down, Heartless Perry will repeatedly (and incessantly) remind the player of the beating he took from Lady Elizabeth for the rest of the game. It doesn't help that Garrett's first line in the game is a Memetic Mutation mentioning him.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • Due to the console-focused development, the mid-mission loading screens inspired plenty of ire from players. Certain stages (such as the Shalebridge Cradle) were even designed with this loading scheme in mind, as sections are separated by long hallways that feature loading areas. The Sneaky Upgrade community mod removes all of the in-mission loading screens (including the infamous tutorial segments), improving its reputation among PC players.
  • Going to sell your goods during the Hub Level requires the player to either waste time sneaking past City Watch guards or rapidly running through areas, risking a mass freakout from the citizens in the process. While this mechanic generally doesn't overstay its welcome initially, it gets really annoying in later stages, particularly when you've exhausted resources after a big heist and just want to visit one of the Fences without getting mobbed by enemies.
  • Shalebridge Cradle is often held up as the game's signature level, with atmosphere and dread that continues to hook players years on from release. The midpoint of the mission, where you must go around and play a "Simon Says" minigame where you return lost items to specific places (forcing you into an alternate time where you must avoid shadowy apparations that boot you back to the present if caught, forcing you to go through the same process again) or the finale, where You Can't Thwart Stage One and have to transport to another time period, backtracking through the Cradle again just so you can jump out a window, are less fondly remembered.
• Tough Act to Follow: While the game has been generally Vindicated by History (as noted below), the fact that it followed on from The Metal Age (which is often held up as one of the most critically-praised stealth titles ever made), had a disastrous launch due to its console-focused development and was not built by Looking Glass Studios (despite having a large portion of said staff moving to Ion Storm and taking part in its development) had it initially garner this reaction.
• Ugly Cute: Rats are harmless and even though they aren't the most beloved of creatures, their cute squeaking makes them rather endearing if you run into them.
• Vindicated by History: For some time, Deadly Shadows was generally perceived as the weakest of the series by the fanbase due to simplified gameplay elements, various unpatched bugs, and the Loads and Loads of Loading due to console limitations. The negative fan reaction towards the reboot, the digital re-release of the series on Steam and GOG.com, and fan modifications like Thief 3 Gold and Sneaky Upgrade fixing many of the game's issues have given it a new appreciation. That, and its story along with a perfect ending to the trilogy.

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