After 25 years, the beloved stealth classic that inspired Dishonored just got a huge unofficial expansion
Dec. 2, 2023Thief’s sneaky modded expansion gets a sneakier release
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Thief: The Dark Project was the boundary-pushing stealth game from 1998 that had you lurking in the shadows and dealing with foes from crotch level. For a game all about crouching, Thief left an unusually tall legacy and influenced countless other immersive sims - from Dishonored to Deus Ex. And now, modders are celebrating the landmark classic’s 25th birthday with a huge, unofficial expansion called The Black Parade.
“I am very proud to announce on behalf of our team Feuillade Industries that The Black Parade, our unofficial expansion for Thief Gold, is out today,” writes project manager Romain Barrilliot onTwitter, who’s also a level designer at Dishonored studioArkane Lyon. “It’s a brand new game featuring 10 missions, 4 new tools, 30 minutes of gorgeous cutscenes and more,” he continues.
To clear up any confusion, Thief Gold is simply an expanded version of the original Thief: The Dark Project - and it’s how the game is titled on storefronts such asSteam. They’re both essentially Thief Number One, though.
Other additions include a new protagonist “thrown into a dark, intricately woven story of crime and conspiracies.” He’s slightly heavier than his base game counterpart, making stealth tougher for the clumsy players among us. There are also 28 voiced characters, a new “banter” system that allows NPCs to greet each other while they get on with their nights, and several tweaks to AI and difficulty.
The expansion seems to have been received very warmly by fans of the genre. Dillion Rogers - the developer behind indie hits Dusk and Gloomwood - called the project “amazing,” while giving a special shoutout to its cursed polygonal horse. Rogers also shared the expansion’s custom main menu, which looks like it was lovingly ripped straight out of the ‘90s.
For more light-footed escapades, see our picks for thebest stealth gamesto play right now.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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