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''Thief II: The Metal Age'' is a 2000 stealth video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. Like its predecessor ''Thief: The Dark Project'', the game follows Garrett, a master thief who works in and around a steampunk metropolis called the City. The player assumes the role of Garrett as he unravels a conspiracy related to a new religious sect. Garrett takes on missions such as burglaries and frameups, while trying to avoid detection by guards and automated security. ''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 Dark Engine, which had been used previously to develop ''Thief'' and ''System Shock 2''. ''Thief II'' was announced at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo, as part of an extended contract between Looking Glass and Eidos to release games in the ''Thief'' series. Looking Glass neared bankruptcy as the game was developed, and the company was kept running by advances from Eidos. ''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 ''Thief: Deadly Shadows'', was developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos in 2004. ''Thief 2X: Shadows of the Metal Age'', a widely praised expansion mod for ''Thief II'', was released in 2005. In 2013, Eidos Montreal announced a reboot of the series (''Thief''), and it was released the following year. ==Gameplay== ''Thief II'' is a stealth game that takes place from a first-person perspective in a three-dimensional (3D) graphical environment. The player seeks to complete mission objectives and to evade the notice of opponents such as guards.〔〔 The player must minimize the visibility and audibility of the player character, Garrett, to escape detection. Players try to avoid lit areas and loud flooring in favor of shadows and quiet flooring. A light monitor on the heads-up display (HUD) indicates the player character's visibility. While it is possible for the player character to engage in direct combat, he is easily defeated.〔 The game's 15 missions take place in large levels that can be confronted in multiple ways.〔 Guards may be knocked out with a blackjack or killed with a bow or sword, and their fallen bodies may be picked up and hidden.〔 In addition to human enemies, the game features security automatons and surveillance cameras.〔 While completing objectives such as frameups and blackmail, the player steals valuables that may be used to purchase thieving gear between missions.〔〔〔 The player's main tools are specialized arrows, including water arrows to douse lights, moss arrows to dampen the player character's footsteps and rope arrows to reach higher ground.〔 ''Thief II'' is designed to be played methodically,〔 and the player plans ahead by scouting, reading the game's map and observing patrol patterns.〔 The player character has a zooming mechanical eye, which connects to throwable "Scouting Orb" cameras.〔〔 One Scouting Orb may be deployed at a time; when it lands, the player views the game world from its perspective until normal play is resumed.〔 The player listens for noises, such as footsteps and humming, to determine the locations of enemies.〔〔 On the highest of the game's three difficulty levels, killing humans results in a game over,〔 and in certain missions the player must not knock out any guards.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thief II: The Metal Age」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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