Ominous Bequest holds up well despite its age. You will -- at first -- find a dense mansion heist with fun secrets, plenty of intrigue, and even a little humour. There is some DromEd wizardry on display as well, with pleasing touches like a functional telescope, moving ladders, and surprising behaviour from guards that makes them seem more clever than usual. Aside from rare questionable guard placements, the mansion section is very strong, and it's hard to find fault with it.

Among the most striking features of this mission is its use of foreshadowing and suspense. What's that creaking sound? Why are the burrick stables empty? Ominous Bequest produces entertaining answers to these and many other questions. But alarm bells went off in my head over mentions of ancient curses, legendary weapons, and mysterious magical objects. There is much more to Lord Farrington's manor than meets the eye. Too much, in fact.

Put simply, this is a mission undermined by a bloated, over-scripted, and highly linear third act that loses touch with what makes the early parts of the map -- and Thief generally -- fun. It tries to resolve a plot that is simply too large to unfold entirely in somebody's basement, and its efforts to impress fall flat as you find yourself wishing that you had seen the "Mission Complete" graphic half an hour ago.

A lot of the fun in Thief is gradually mastering an initially unfamiliar location. Ominous Bequest would have been better served by a short conclusion that made use of the existing mansion space, allowing the player to apply what they have learned about the manor to new challenges. Instead, it takes place in an unrelated, unfocused sprawl that should likely have been cut altogether.

Mission authors should take note of Bequest's methods in creating suspense. They should also learn from its poor sense of scope, and remind themselves to trim the fat in their own work.