Thief II
Thief II: The Metal Age | ||
---|---|---|
Composer(s) Eric Brosius | | |
Series | Thief | |
Engine | Dark Engine | |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows | |
Release | ||
Genre(s) | Stealth | |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Thief II: The Metal Age is a 2000
Thief II was designed to build on the foundation of its predecessor. In response to feedback from players of Thief, the team placed a heavy focus on urban stealth in the sequel, and they minimized the use of monsters and maze-like levels. The game was made with the third iteration of the
Thief II received positive reviews from critics, and its initial sales were stronger than those of its predecessor. However, the game's royalties were processed slowly, which compounded Looking Glass's financial troubles. As a result, the company closed in May 2000, with plans for Thief III cancelled. The third game in the series, entitled
Gameplay
Thief II is a
The game's 15 missions take place in large
Thief II is designed to be played methodically,
Plot
Setting and characters
Like its predecessor Thief: The Dark Project, Thief II is set in a steampunk metropolis called the City,[4][7] whose appearance resembles that of both medieval and Victorian era cities.[7][8] Magic and steam technology exist side by side,[9] and three factions—the manipulative and enigmatic Keepers, the technology-focused Hammerites and the "pagan" worshippers of the Pan-like Trickster god—are in operation.[9][10][11][12] Thief II takes place one year after the first game.[13] In the aftermath of the Trickster's defeat and the failure of his plan to revert the world to a wild, primitive state,[2][9][14] a schism in the Hammerite religion spawns the "Mechanist" sect, which fanatically values technological progress.[9][15] The new inventions of the Mechanists are used by a resurgent police force to crack down on crime.[9][13] The pagans are in disarray, and have been driven into the wilderness beyond the City.[2][9] From there, they engage in guerrilla warfare against the Mechanists.[9] The Keeper faction is dormant as the game begins.[2]
The game continues the story of Garrett (voiced by Stephen Russell), the cynical master thief who defeated the Trickster.[1][2][4] Pursuing Garrett is the new sheriff, Gorman Truart (voiced by Sam Babbitt), who has imposed a zero tolerance policy on crime.[4][13] Viktoria (voiced by Terri Brosius), the former ally of the Trickster, eventually joins with Garrett to combat the Mechanists.[5][16] The game's primary antagonist is the founder of the Mechanists, Father Karras (also voiced by Russell), a mentally unstable inventor who despises the natural world.[5][15]
Story
The game begins as Garrett continues his life as a thief. However, he is betrayed by his fence and ambushed after an early mission, and he determines that Truart, the local sheriff, is hunting him.[1] Keepers take Garrett to hear a prophecy about the "Metal Age",[17] which he ignores.[18] As Garrett leaves, Artemus, the Keeper who brought him into the order, informs him that Truart had been hired to kill him,[19] and he gives Garrett a letter that directs him to eavesdrop on a Mechanist meeting.[20] There, Garrett overhears Truart and Father Karras discussing the conversion of street people into mindless "Servants",[21] who wear masks that emit a red vapor capable of reducing themselves and any nearby organic material to rust.[22] Truart promises to provide Karras with twenty victims for the Servant project,[23] not realizing that Karras is recording his words for use in blackmail.[24] Garrett steals the recording from a safe deposit box, in order to coerce Truart into revealing his employer.[25]
However, Garrett finds Truart murdered at his estate.[26] Evidence at the crime scene leads him to spy on the police officer Lt. Mosley. Garrett sees Mosley deliver a suspicious letter, which is carried through a portal by a wounded pagan. Garrett enters the portal and finds himself outside the City,[27][28] and he follows the pagan's trail of blood to Viktoria, who persuades Garrett to join her against the Mechanists.[29][30] On a lead from Viktoria, he infiltrates Karras' office to learn about the "Cetus Project",[31] and inadvertently discovers that Karras is giving Servants to the City's nobles.[32] Garrett travels to a Mechanist base to find out more about the Cetus Project,[33] which is revealed to be a submarine. In order to locate and kidnap a high-ranking Mechanist named Brother Cavador, Garrett stows away in the vehicle.[34]
After delivering Cavador to Viktoria, Garrett steals a Servant mask to learn about a Mechanist technology called a "Cultivator". Meanwhile, Karras hides inside the Mechanist cathedral in preparation for his plan.[35] Garrett and Viktoria learn that it is the Cultivators inside Servant masks which emit red vapor, or "rust gas". Karras had provided Servants to nobles with gardens in order to set off an apocalyptic chain reaction.[36] Viktoria plans to lure the Servants into the hermetically sealed Mechanist cathedral before Karras activates their masks, but Garrett believes this to be too dangerous and leaves.[37] Viktoria goes to the cathedral alone and dies while filling it with plants,[38] and Garrett completes her plan, killing Karras in the rust gas. Afterward, Garrett is approached by Artemus, who explains that Karras' scheme and Viktoria's death had been prophesied. Garrett demands to know the rest of the Keepers' prophecies as the game ends.[39]
Development
Early production
Looking Glass Studios began designing Thief II in January 1999.[40] The team's goal was to build on the foundation of Thief: The Dark Project,[41] a game that Thief II project director Steve Pearsall later said was an experiment.[9] He explained that the team had played it safe by including certain "exploration ... or adventure oriented" missions with "jumping and climbing puzzles" in Thief,[11][42] and that the new game was significantly more focused on stealth.[9][13] Combat was given less prominence than in the original.[8][13] Based on feedback from players and reviewers of Thief,[8][13] the team decided to scale back the use of maze-like levels and monsters such as zombies in favor of urban environments and human enemies.[8][41][43] Pearsall stated that Thief's monsters were negatively received because, unlike the game's human enemies, they did not clearly indicate when they noticed the player. The team sought to remedy this problem by improving the audio cues given by non-human enemies in the sequel.[40]
Production of Thief II commenced in February.[44] Looking Glass chose to compose the game's team of "half the original designers and half new blood", according to executive producer James Poole.[43] The company tried to select people who meshed well both personally and creatively, in an attempt to guarantee a smooth development cycle.[42] Adrenaline Vault editor-in-chief Emil Pagliarulo was hired as a junior designer, in part because of his positive review of Thief.[45] Rich "zdim" Carlson and Iikka Keränen joined from Ion Storm's Daikatana team, and Looking Glass contractor Terri Brosius was hired as a full-time designer.[9][46] One-third of the team was female, which Pearsall believed contributed to a strong group dynamic. As was typical at Looking Glass, the Thief II team worked in a wall-less space called a "pit", which allowed them to converse easily.[42] Describing the work environment at the time, writer Laura Baldwin noted that "conversations dash madly about the room, [and] when someone is demonstrating something interesting everyone gravitates over to look."[47]
During the first months of development, the team regularly gathered to watch films pertinent to Garrett's character and to the game's visual design, such as The Third Man, The Castle of Cagliostro, M and Metropolis.[8][44][47] Pearsall said that the latter two films were Thief II's "biggest aesthetic influences", while the main inspiration for its plot was Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose.[47] The team also drew influence from Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.[9] The game's story was written in the three-act structure: Garrett was intended to transition from his "cynical self" in the first act to a private investigator in the second, and to a character similar to James Bond in the third.[8][10] The City's technology and architecture were influenced by the appearance of Victorian London, and certain areas were given an Art Deco theme to provide "sort of a 'Batman' feel", in reference to the 1989 film.[8] Lead artist Mark Lizotte captured over two-thousand photographs during his vacation in Europe,[11][46] and these were the basis for many of the game's textures.[10]
Thief II was built with the third iteration of the Dark Engine, which had been used previously for Thief and System Shock 2.[8][13] According to Pearsall, the Dark Engine had become "a very well understood development environment", which made for an easier production process.[42] Engine updates created for System Shock 2, such as support for 16-bit color, were carried over to Thief II. The average character model in Thief II was given close to double the polygons of the average model in Thief, with much of the added detail focused on characters' heads. This was an attempt to give the characters a "more organic" look.[10] Certain artificial intelligence (AI) routines written into the Dark Engine, which allowed enemies to notice changes in the environment such as open doors, had not been used in Thief or in System Shock 2 but were implemented in Thief II.[40] Weather effects such as fog and rain were added,[10] and technology from Flight Unlimited III was used to generate the sky and clouds.[13]
Announcement and continued development
Thief II was announced during the
By July, the team had begun initial construction of the game's levels.
The game's sound team was composed of Kemal Amarasingham,
Artist Dan Thron returned to create the game's cutscenes, with assistance from Jennifer Hrabota-Lesser.[13][52] Thron later called Hrabota-Lesser "one of the greatest artists I've ever seen".[55] The cutscenes, which Computer Games Magazine called "unique", feature multiple layers of artwork and footage of live actors filmed against a green screen. These components were combined and animated in Adobe After Effects.[10][52] The technique had been developed for the original Thief, as an evolution of designer Ken Levine's suggestion to use motion comic cutscenes. David Lynch's films Eraserhead and The Elephant Man were important influences on their style.[55]
Final months
By October 1999, the team had cut the game's multiplayer feature.[11] Pearsall explained that Looking Glass did not "have the resources to do a new kind of multiplayer and ship a finely tuned single-player game".[13] Plans were announced in January 2000 to release a multiplayer-only Thief game shortly after the completion of Thief II.[56] As Thief II's development continued, Looking Glass experienced extreme financial troubles. The company's Marc LeBlanc later said that "Eidos was writing a check every week to cover our burn rate" during the last months of the project. The game's final cost was roughly $2.5 million.[57] According to company head Paul Neurath, Eidos informed Looking Glass that "it was not an option" for Thief II to miss its release date, and that there would be "dire consequences if [we] missed by even a day". An anonymous Looking Glass staffer later told Salon.com that Eidos "told us basically to ship [Thief II] by their fiscal quarter or die".[58]
By January, Pearsall confirmed that the game had reached beta, and that most of the team's energy was being spent "tuning, polishing, and fixing bugs".[9] He noted in early February that Thief II had been produced almost entirely on schedule.[42] The company slipped behind near the end of the project and entered crunch time to make up the loss.[58] On February 24, Thief II producer Michael McHale announced that the game had reached "feature freeze", and that the team was in "super crunch mode". Numerous game testers from Eidos joined the project. However, McHale said that the team was energized and that "spirits [were] high".[59] Certain employees slept in the office and avoided bathing so that the game could reach its March deadline. LeBlanc later stated his belief that the game was rushed, and that its quality suffered as a result. Nevertheless, the team met their goal,[58] and the game was released on March 23, 2000 in North America, and on March 31, 2000 in Europe.[60][61] Eidos expedited the company's payment for completing the game.[58]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 87/100[62] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Computer Games Magazine | [2] |
Computer Gaming World | [1] |
GameFan | 95 out of 100[63] |
GamePro | 4 out of 5[64] |
Next Generation | [65] |
PC Gamer (US) | 89%[6] |
PC Zone | 82%[5] |
Thief 2 debuted high on the bestsellers list for computer games,
Jasen Torres of GameFan wrote: "If you liked Thief, you'll love Thief 2: The Metal Age; it's more of the stuff that made Thief great, with less of the annoying stuff". He applauded the removal of "zombie killer" missions and believed the game's sound to be "superior to any other game". He considered its story to be "good" but "nothing great" and its graphics to be "decent"; but he commented that the game was "really all about the gameplay", which he praised as "quite compelling and fun".[63] Benjamin E. Sones of Computer Games Magazine considered the game's story to be "quite good", but he faulted Looking Glass for failing to detail the events of the first game for new players. He wrote that Thief II's graphics were passable but that its sound design was "phenomenal". Sones praised its missions as "very well crafted" and noted that they gave the impression of being in "a living, breathing world". He summarized: "It may not be perfect, but Thief 2 has got it where it counts".[2]
Charles Harold of The New York Times called the game a "refreshing alternative to games that glorify violence". He found its story to be "slight", but he lauded its world as "amazingly alive" and its AI as a "remarkable impersonation of real intelligence".[3] Writing for GamePro, Barry Brenesal commented that Thief II "provides a solid gaming experience" but "doesn't startle like its predecessor". He wrote that its missions featured a "great deal of variety" and praised their "ability to casually suggest a much larger world", but complained that they were linear. He considered the game's writing to be "among the best in the business". While Brenesal enjoyed the game's textures and lighting, he noted the low detail of the game's human models, whose animations he found to be "arthritic".[64] PC Zone's Paul Presley wrote that the game's levels were larger but easier than those of Thief, and he considered their objectives to be somewhat linear. He found Thief II's graphics to be dated and wrote that its lack of real-time lighting "tends to give each environment a sort of 'false' quality". However, he believed that the game "still has enough atmosphere to immerse you" and praised its sound design. Presley considered the game to be a straightforward rehash of its predecessor and finished: "A more clear-cut case of sequel-itis there has never been."[5]
Jim Preston reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "Great, skulking gameplay, useful new tools, and clever level design make Thief II an excellent first-person 'sneaker'."[65]
Post-release
While Thief II performed well commercially, Looking Glass was not set to receive royalties for several months.[58][66] The company had struggled financially since the commercial failures of its self-published games Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri and British Open Championship Golf. Looking Glass's Flight Unlimited III had flopped at retail, and the development of Jane's Attack Squadron had gone over budget and fallen behind schedule. A deal to co-develop the stealth game Deep Cover with Irrational Games had recently collapsed.[66][71][72] According to Looking Glass's Tim Stellmach, the delay in Thief II royalties "faced [us] with the prospect of running out of money."[66] Looking Glass management signed a deal in which Eidos Interactive would acquire the company, but Eidos fell into a sudden financial crisis, in part because of the failure of Ion Storm's $40 million game Daikatana.[58][66][71][72] These factors led to the closure of Looking Glass on May 24, 2000,[73] with the planned Thief II successors Thief II Gold and Thief III cancelled.[58][66]
Later installments
The Thief series had been planned as a trilogy,[58] and work on Thief III was "in a fairly advanced stage" when Looking Glass closed, according to PC Zone's Keith Pullin.[74] Randy Smith and Terri Brosius were appointed as lead designers, and they developed the game's concept over several months.[75] In an open letter published after the company's bankruptcy, Smith wrote that the third game would have taken place in an "open-ended, self-directed city", and that its plot would have centered on the Keepers.[76] Brosius suggested that Thief III would have seen Garrett "accept[ing] that there are consequences to his actions", and that he would likely have become "ready to give, rather than always take."[58] The player would have uncovered the game's story gradually, while exploring a free-roam environment.[77] Serious plans had been made to include co-operative multiplayer,[13][43] and a new engine, Siege, had been in production.[77] When Looking Glass closed, its assets were liquidated and the Thief intellectual property was sold at auction.[66][78] This raised doubts that the Thief trilogy would be completed,[58][76] a situation that Salon.com writer Wagner James Au compared to Lucasfilm closing after the release of The Empire Strikes Back.[58] However, following rumors, Eidos announced on August 9, 2000 that it had purchased the rights to Thief.[78]
Development of Thief III was delegated to the Warren Spector-supervised Ion Storm, which had recently completed Deus Ex.[78][79] According to Spector, Thief III would have been given to Core Design or Crystal Dynamics had he not accepted it.[78] The game was announced for Windows and the PlayStation 2.[79] On August 10, Spector commented that Ion Storm's first goal was to assemble a core team, composed in part of former Looking Glass employees, to design and plot the game.[80] Thief II team members Randy Smith, Lulu Lamer, Emil Pagliarulo and Terri Brosius were hired to begin the project.[77][81] On August 16, Ion Storm announced its hires, and stated that concept work on Thief III would begin in September.[82] The team planned to "wrap up [the] loose ends" of the series,[80] and they built directly upon the Thief III concept work done at Looking Glass.[83] Thief III was eventually renamed Thief: Deadly Shadows,[84] and it was released for Windows and the Xbox on May 25, 2004.[85]
In May 2009, after several months of rumors, a fourth game in the Thief series was announced by
Fan expansion
Soon after the bankruptcy of Looking Glass, a fan group called the Dark Engineering Guild began developing an expansion
The mod was praised by critics and by the Thief fan community.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h L. McDonald, Thomas (May 9, 2000). "Stealing Beauty". Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on February 11, 2001.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i E. Sones, Benjamin (April 4, 2000). "Thief 2: The Metal Age". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on May 17, 2003.
- ^ a b c d e Herold, Charles (July 6, 2000). "GAME THEORY; Thief II Stress Stealth Over Strength". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hart, Dorian (2000). Thief II: The Metal Age manual. Eidos Interactive. pp. 5, 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 30, 34.
- ^ a b c d e f Presley, Paul (April 2000). "Thief II: The Metal Age". PC Zone (88): 68–71.
- ^ PC Gamer US. Archived from the originalon December 28, 2001.
- ^ a b Doke, Shunal (February 20, 2014). "Thieving Through the Ages". IGN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Laprad, David (July 28, 1999). "Emerging From the Shadows: Thief 2 Developer Interview". Adrenaline Vault. Archived from the original on January 19, 2000.
- ^ Vault Network. Archived from the originalon August 15, 2000.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sones, Benjamin E. (February 4, 2000). "Thief 2". Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on February 28, 2003.
- ^ a b c d Ward, Trent C. (October 20, 1999). "Thief 2: The Metal Age". IGN. Archived from the original on November 17, 1999.
- ^ Weise, Matthew (June 29, 2011). "Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 5 - Ken Levine". Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pullin, Keith (March 2000). "Thief II: The Metal Age". PC Zone (87): 42–47.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (1998). Thief: The Dark Project. Eidos Interactive.
Trickster's Note: The world as I once knew it was a place of magic—full of mystery and inhabited by creatures of glamour and terror. The men who lived there lit their bonfires and wondered at what crept and lurked in the darkness outside their weak circles of light. All their dreams, their aspirations and dreads, come from that darkness. Now, as the forces of "progress" cover the meadows in brick and cobblestone, as they replace the majestic loft of tree with the blocky ponderousness of building, they also light the world in their electric, actinic glare. With the lighting of the shadows, man loses his ability to fear, and to dream. [...] I have conceived of a plan to revive the darkness, to bring a resurrection of the ability to fear and dream.
- ^ a b Dean, Paul (October 7, 2012). "Thief 2: The Metal Age retrospective". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013.
- ^ Staff (2000). "Readers' Choice - The Ten Best Female Characters". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 10, 2001.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: Nice poem. / Keeper: Not poetry: prophecy. The Metal Age is upon us.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: Well, you've got the danger part right anyway. Tell you what: you Keepers can plant a few shrubs about town and I'll take care of me. I'll find my own way home.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Keeper: You have trouble, my friend. Danger from someone who hired Truart to kill you.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Letter: If you seek the private knowledge of the Sheriff, go to the Eastport Mechanist seminary tomorrow night. With stealthy discretion, overhear what you may, at a certain very timely meeting.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Karras: Behold, Sheriff Truart! From the lowly street rot emerges the loyal worker. That which I call 'The Servant.' / Truart: This is one of the tramps I delivered to you? The transformation is spectacular! / Karras: And neither want nor worry has he.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Karras: I must ask thee to step away from the Masked Servant. That's right. And meanwhile, I will retrieve our 'volunteer.' A most unfortunate guttersnipe who waits just outside. Come, come, gentle beggar. And stand ye just there, next to the masked man. [...] / Truart: My word! The mask emits a red vapor! [...] They're gone! And what remains in their stead? Sand? No--rust!
- prostitutes: those who will not be missed by anyone of consequence. They'll be rounded up, charges invented, et cetera. Still, there's always risk. So I will give you twenty; no more.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Karras: Now, behold, my wax cylinder machine. I've used it to capture the Sheriff's very words, even as they moved through the air, today. [...] With his voice thus preserved, Truart dare not betray me or he'll have the scandal he fears so much.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: That recording should let me exert a little pressure on Truart to find out who hired him to kill me. [...] The Mechanists put the recording in a safety deposit box earlier today but since I have a copy of the key, I should be able to open it. [...] It didn't take much to learn that the Mechanists do all their banking with First City Bank and Trust, one of the wealthiest establishments in town, catering to the financial needs of the city's upper crust.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: Damn! Someone beat me to the Sheriff. I better keep a low profile or else I'll be pinned as the killer.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: The keyring I found at Truart's house belongs to Lt. Mosley of the City Watch[. ...] And sure enough, she just left the local Watch station well before schedule carrying a letter. This is my chance. If I can trail her without being spotted, I should be able to find who's on the other end of this little conspiracy.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: The portal from the graveyard deposited me in a grove of trees and the wounded pagan I was following is nowhere in sight. He's carrying Mosley's letter and I'd still like to know where he's heading with it.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: I'm hoping he's in too much of a hurry to stop and tend to that wound so he'll leave a trail of blood that I can follow.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: Sometimes enemies must join forces to overcome a more terrible foe. So tell me, Garrett, yes or no. Are we agreed to work together, sharing knowledge and skills against the Mechanists? / Garrett: I... agree.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: ...you must find out whatever you can about the Cetus Project, a name our agents have overheard repeatedly. Karras has an office in the tower. Try to obtain some information there.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: You say he's giving these 'Servants' as gifts? / Garrett: Yes[. ...] The servants are weapons, and the nobles have just invited them into their homes.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: And the schematics confirmed what my agents presumed: Markham's Isle is the staging area for the Cetus Project.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: And now I know more about the Cetus Project than I ever wanted to. They've built a ship that can can sail underwater. [...] The only way I can reach him is to hitch a ride in its belly. [...] 'Course it's not enough just to find Brother Cavador at this mysterious "K.D. site", I said I'd bring him back in one piece.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: ...and some sort of agricultural device called a Cultivator. / [...] Garrett: I think I know where we can lay our hands on one of those masks. There's a collector named Bram Gervaisius with an interest in masks and headdresses. / [...] Viktoria: Gervaisius is planning an exhibition. He's bringing his collection with him from his summer home. / [...] Garrett: Karras is holed up inside the Mechanist cathedral and it looks like whatever he's up to, we're running out of time.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: The reaction will continue if it finds more organic material. [...] Garrett, for what purpose would the Mechanists use these Cultivators? / Garrett: Well, we know Karras has installed them in the masks of servants. / [...] And the servants have been placed in the homes of the wealthy. / Viktoria: Yes! The homes with the gardens. The plants there could sustain a reaction large enough to destroy everything!
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Viktoria: We must go to the Mechanist cathedral. The beacon you've heard about, you could find it, try to activate it, to draw the servants to the cathedral! Then you must somehow get Karras to signal them, to release the rust gas! You see, if I fill the cathedral with plants, enough to fuel a chain reaction, then it should cause the same effect we just saw, but it would take Karras with it, instead of the City! / [...] Garrett: Your plan is suicide. I'll think of a better way. And I work alone.
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Keeper: Viktoria has begun an assault on the Mechanist cathedral. / [...] Viktoria: I'm plant enough!
- ^ Looking Glass Studios (February 29, 2000). Thief II: The Metal Age. Eidos Interactive.
Garrett: Viktoria's death... and Karras... was it written? In your books? / Keeper: All is... as it was written. / Garrett: And there's more? / Keeper: Yes. / Garrett: Tell me!
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