For what it's worth, I don't think nanao. is talking about level design (obviously the level design here, as in many other TG fms of recent times, is more "advanced" in some ways than actual T1 levels) so much as the more advanced engine specs and features that T2 offers over T1.

And, sure, there are levels with TG-ish themes for T2: Rodamill or Dark Messiah, to name a couple personal favorites. But the assets of T1 have held up just fine, stylistically speaking, and lend themselves well...

FYI, there is an update of the mission in the works that addresses the difficulty of certain objectives. In the TTLG thread, Firemage indicated he'd work on it more once The Black Parade is released.

When I first tried this mission, I actually put it aside because I also thought it was sore on the eyes. But I picked it up again later and began to see its merits.

There are still aspects I would criticize (looking at my old review, there are even one or two things I left out), but the mission's gameplay is usually better than its looks, and there are a lot of different creative areas crammed into the mission to make it feel alive, while being unified enough to avoid feeling arbitrary. (...

I replayed this mission and decided to raise my rating a bit. I could name some criticisms, like the number of ways there are to get outside of the playable area. The fact that it just ends is a shame, but even without the intended sequel it's no less complete in itself than any other city mission, and with that in mind I'd have to name it as one of the best. The story doesn't amount to much, but the number of objectives, the freedom you are given to approach them, and the open-ended layout ...

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll add those to the (very long) list. I think the ones by nicked are already in my folder. Will probably start with the second because puzzles are not my forte.

Nice review. I'm actually a big fan of horror missions, but you're right to point out the exceptional nature of this one--the huge open layout gives more places to run and hide than the usual example. Few others really do that. I have an idea for a series of missions that would include one like this.

Everyone has their own taste but I'd like to put in a good word for Thief's zombies. You can't blackjack them, but they're slow, and if I'm not mistaken, their AI is dumber than the normal gu...

Having played those missions I can totally understand your comparison. This mission is like the theme of the above-ground section of "A Winter's Eve" combined with the more open-ended city layout of "Midnight in Murkbell."

Man I really need to play the Calendra missions, it's a big gap in my Thief experience. As I recall I got stuck somewhere in Calendra's Cistern but I'll have to return to it...