Never before have I played a campaign so great and terrible at the same time.

The first mission "Walking The Edge" is clever and varied, if a little aged in it's simplicity.

"Tears of Blood" however is excellent and the crown jewel of the campaign, Garrett has been beaten up and imprisoned deep underground, what follows is a desperate climb out into freedom, and the mission really makes you feel the desperation of the situation, along with excellent use of darkness and light, If nothing else, It's worth playing this campaign for this mission.

Following this up with "All Astir" is not bad per se, but It's rather simple and mediocre, especially following up such a great previous mission.

If you stopped here though, you'd miss another classic: "The Broadsword of Sheol".

Trying to lay low from the law, Garrett decides to visit an Island home to a tomb in order to find a sword.
This mission made me feel like I was back in Thief TDP or Gold in it's use of architecture.

I also liked that it was puzzle oriented as opposed to the usual monster fare. When the monsters does show up there's creativity in their use. These are not the average monsters from Thief, and I appreciate that.

Had the campaign ended there, this would have easily been a strong 9/10, a little aged in places and "All Astir" is rather mediocre, but it's bright spots shine so bright.

There's still one mission left though...

Garrett is tasked with killing the man that put him into this mess to begin with, and so you try to infiltrate his mansion.

"Nightcrawler" Is filled with simple and rather unattractive architecture, but the biggest problem is all the keys! It gets to the point of feeling like a parody at times. Also, hiding some of the keys in a way where you'd only find them if you did pixel hunts is infuriating level design, It got to the point where I didn't care anymore and looked up a guide, and I'm glad I did, frankly some of the puzzle solutions were so obscure that I'd give up on finishing this mission due to boredom and frustration.

This mission isn't worth the trouble and can safely be skipped, you'll thank me. The bonus mission "Tuttocomb's Tomb" that comes after is decent though and worth trying out.

I don't want to end on a negative note, so let's discuss the story!

Every mission starts with a simple cutscene composed of music with scrolling text, alongside the occasional visual or sound here and there. It's simple, but It sets the mood well. The best part of the story is the sense of momentum, every mission feels as though they lead into the next logically.

The various scrolls were all well written and never too long to become tedious.

Shadow of Doubt shows it's age, but the ambition here is clear to see. It delivers a campaign that is great for the most part, and has that old-school Thief Gold/TDP feel in abundance, I'd say give this campaign a play!

Thank you for your review, interesting points. I have a very sentimental approach to Shadow of Doubt, I wrote about it in my own review.

Until then there is some understandable unevenness excusable by age, learning curve etc. but BoS already has a different air and especially Nightcrawler feels like made by somebody completely else, an idiot child perhaps because it strays so much from what came up to that point - it does not fit together at any level, elementary faults, seems non-commital to the point that it feels at times actively hostile or oblivious to the player, keys are apparently named and fit randomly and disappear at will, events, layout and transitions between areas lack any sense, and even in visuals seems left completely on its own.