Line #3 VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thiefii_9581.jpg]]
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3	->''He poured his children's eyes from glass, and from steel wrought their hands, that none could escape his judgement.''
4	-->--'''The New Scripture of the Master Builder'''
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6	''Thief II: The Metal Age'' is the second game in the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series, which honed both the original's {{stealth\|BasedGame}} gameplay, and its ImmersiveSim mechanics. It was also, sadly, the final game created by Creator/LookingGlassStudios before it filed for bankruptcy. Four years later, [[VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows another sequel]] emerged, developed by Creator/IonStorm.
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8	Following the events of ''[[VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject The Dark Project]]'', Garrett returned back to his old profession as he observed more technological advances in the hands of the Mechanists, an offshoot to the Order of the Hammer. When overhearing its leader making deals with a corrupt sheriff who seems to have it out for him, Garrett sought to investigate the intentions of the new sect, ending up embroiled in an escalating conflict.
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10	Since Looking Glass folded very shortly after release, ''Thief II Gold'', which similarly to ''Thief Gold'' would have added levels and bugfixes, never saw release, but there have been attempts by fans to develop a remake based on existing documentation.
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12	----
13	!!This game provides examples of:
14	* ActionBomb: The frogbeasts in the previous game can now be purchased, where they attack the enemy instead of Garrett but otherwise behave the same. Since they make noises as they hop around, they also serve as a distraction as well.
15	* AllInARow: A few groups of police and guards act this way, e.g. Cavador's bodyguards follow Cavador.
16	* ArcWelding: In the first game you repeatedly encountered "Smart Guard" and "Dumb Guard" (AKA Benny), who were voiced by the same actors and had consistent personalities. However, the game never explicitly stated that these were all the same two characters. In this game they continue to appear and you can overhear conversations between them which confirms that yes, it is the same two guys who just happen to have the bad luck of repeatedly getting hired by new employers shortly before Garrett robs them.
17	* AutomaticCrossbows: The Mechanists sometimes wield small pistol-styled auto-crossbows.
18	* BadMoonRising: The second-to-last mission, "Masks", has a red full moon in the night sky.
19	* BankRobbery: The sixth mission, "First City Bank and Trust", is one of these. Oddly enough, the main target is not money, but an incriminating recording. Still, there's plenty of cash to be picked up.
20	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:On the sweet side Garrett and Viktoria succeed in sabotaging Karras' plans to destroy the world and remake it in his own insane, metallic image. Saving the City, the world, killing the madman and bringing about the downfall of the Mechanist order in the process. On the bitter side, Viktoria is forced to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] herself in order to do so, [[HeartbrokenBadass devastating Garrett]]. To make things worse, Garrett is informed by Keeper Artemus that [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows more trouble]] [[SequelHook awaits him]] in the Keepers' glyph books.]] In the end, the saddened Garrett finally accepts his destiny and becomes ResignedToTheCall, ceasing to run away from it.
21	* BilingualBonus: The name of the Mechanist's archaeological excavations in the Lost City is named Cavador, i.e. "digger" in Spanish and in Portuguese [[note]]Brazilian Portuguese, to be more precise[[/note]].
22	* BloodOath: When [[spoiler:Viktoria]] and Garrett forge a truce, they seal it with this. [[spoiler:It's more of a "Sap Oath" in Viktoria's case, since she's a dryad and bleeds sticky green fluid.]]
23	* BlowGun: A certain type of (relatively harmless) enemy in the service of the Pagans uses them.
24	* BodyHorror:
25	** The Mechanist Servants. Being made into one of these is so horrific, [[spoiler:some will thank you for killing them]].
26	** The [[spoiler:Necrotic Mutox]]. You never actually see it used on a person, but you hear it. The person it is being demonstrated for reacts with both horror and fascination.
27	* BrickJoke: During the mission "Life of the Party" while on the rooftops you can eavesdrop on a conversation by a NouveauRiche couple who received no invitation to the Hammerite gathering, which they think was a deliberate snub. Later in the Hammerite cathedral you can find a ledger listing invites sent out and responses received. The couple in question is marked as "No response - lost in the mail?"
28	* CantRefuseTheCallAnymore: After spending his life running away from it, after Viktoria's death and his culpability in it shocks [[HeartbrokenBadass Garrett]], he finally resigns himself to it.
29	* CharacterDevelopment: The game where Garrett goes through the most of it. He starts the Metal Age a [[AntiHero selfish loner]], snarking about the follies of feelings and losing one's taste for thievery and professionalism, as well as rudely [[RefusedTheCall distancing himself]] from the Keepers trying to help and warn him. Over the course of the story he is drawn up into the escalating events and conflict of the Metal Age, is forced to work together with [[EnemyMine Viktoria]] to survive, someone he hates for personal reasons, and in the process grows closer to her and aids her people against their mutual foes, the Mechanists. He gradually drifts away from his usual biting selfishness and becomes [[KnightInSourArmor more selfless and heroic]], coming to care about her and what is happening to the world, her [[MoralityChain bringing out the best of him]]. Unfortunately, when the danger of death draws near, he panics and tries to revert back to his former cold, distant, selfish self at the worst possible time, abandoning Viktoria, [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack before changing his mind and going back to save her]], but arriving too late and failing to do so. In the end, after losing Viktoria when she is forced to carry out a HeroicSacrifice, he chooses to defeat [[BigBad Karras]] and save the world, accepting and fulfilling a part of his destiny. In the wake of the Metal Age, vulnerable and devastated, Garrett at last decides he CantRefuseTheCallAnymore and asks his old mentor Keeper Artemus for the answers the Keepers possess, and that he has been running away from his entire life.
30	* CoolButInefficient: The grenade-launching robots can be tricked into destroying themselves by firing their grenades into the wall they are pressed against. Also, they can be disabled by water arrows in the ''open boiler on their back''. This weakness is mentioned within the game; apparently the smith just never got around to fixing it. What's more strange is that those big ugly death machines can be broken easily by StuffBlowingUp (if you have enough), but the annoying "steel cherubs" cannot.
31	* CooperationGambit: [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that Viktoria is the "contact" through which Garrett is given the Shoalsgate job, and all the information he's provided to help him are due to the fact that the Pagans have already infiltrated the station and are currently trying to wrestle the control of it out of Karras's hands, with the information provided by Lieutenant Mosley, who by then had joined their cause. Understandably, given their past, Viktoria decided to not hire Garrett directly, and instead seemingly decided to draw him towards her and into her cause from afar over time]].
32	* CuteGhostGirl: In "Trail of Blood", the ghost of a young Pagan girl named Lily appears before Garrett in the massacred Pagan village. She offers to let him take her doll with him, saying that she doesn't need it anymore.
33	* CuttingTheKnot: "Life Of The Party" has a locked armory with the key inside the Angelwatch Tower, forcing you to backtrack if you wants the goodies inside. ''Or'' with a bit of snooping earlier in the level, you can find an explosive Sunburst Device you can use to blow open the door.
34	* DeadMansChest: In "Precious Cargo" where you find the wreck haunted by a pirate's ghost.
35	* DeadpanSnarker: As usual, Garrett shows this off a lot. Perhaps the best example occurs when [[spoiler:Viktoria]] nonchalantly declares he'll join them and help them. Garrett immediately blurts out "Join you?" in what sounds like a mix of surprise and irritation, and then follows it up with a sarcastic "Not exactly my first choice...".
36	* DirtyCop: Sheriff Truart, but not in The City's traditional way. The organized crime in The City is used to buying off the authorities, but Truart has been on an almost zealous crusade to bring The City's organized crime to heel. However, this is only because Karras has already bought him off for a price no petty crime lord could match. For his part, Truart simply sees the law as an instrument of will, not of justice.
37	* DramaticIrony: Garrett begins the game snarking about his fellow criminal and partner Basso falling in love with a chambermaid and losing his taste for thievery, talking about how feelings get in the way of professionalism, and how he never lets that happen to him. By the end of the game he has developed feelings for the worst possible candidate that he could over the course of working together, [[spoiler:the very being who betrayed him, ripped out his eye and left him for dead, and is visibly emotionally devastated by her HeroicSacrifice.]]
38	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The [[IslandBase Markham's Isle complex]] in the mission "Precious Cargo".
39	* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:How Garrett and Viktoria's partnership begins -- he makes it very clear that he's willing to attack her, even though he knows how powerful she is, only for her to tell her that they must ally together to stop Karras, despite his misgivings towards her]].
40	* FirstPersonGhost: As in ''The Dark Project'', from the player's perspective, Garrett is nothing but a pair of floating disembodied arms.
41	* FrameUp:
42	** The focus of the titular mission, "Framed", which sees Garrett dispatched to perform a FrameUp on a dodgy cop named Lt. Hagan.
43	** Karras records audio of Truart confessing to kidnapping beggars and prostitutes for test subjects in order to hold leverage over him, with the intent to leak it if Truart falls out of line. Maybe not the most well-considered plan, given that Karras would be indicted and hanged right alongside him...
44	** Garrett unintentionally becomes this after he's framed for the death of Truart, who was murdered by Lt. Mosley. The watch instantly goes on alert once Garrett gets to the third-floor entrance, forcing him to get proof of the crime before fleeing.
45	* FriendlyEnemy: Garrett and [[spoiler:Viktoria]] are a somewhat odd case. Garrett sees [[spoiler:Viktoria as the monster who betrayed and mutilated him]], while [[spoiler:Viktoria sees him as a jerk who ruined everything and slew her god]]. Only because Karras is the threat do they work together at all. There is absolutely no alternative. They do gradually grow more fond of each other, though, making it closer to this trope than just a usual EnemyMine.
46	* GangplankGalleon: "Precious Cargo" is set on an island with an abandoned pirate hideaway which has been taken over by Mechanists.
47	* GenderIsNoObject: In contrast to ''The Dark Project'', this game features female private guards, female City Watch, and female Mechanists. The latter in particular is a departure from the all-male Order of the Hammer they spun off from, and evidence that they are not beholden to older Hammerite dogmas.
48	* GoryDiscretionShot: The meeting you overhear in "Eavesdropping" involves Karras using two hapless beggars as test subjects, reducing them to ''rust'' in the process. The only thing the player will hear is their agonized screams on the other side of the door (coupled with Truart's shocked reaction).
49	* GratuitousLatin: The Mechanists called their submarine the ''Cetus Amicus'', Latin for "friendly whale".
50	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Karras planned to [[spoiler:unleash the Necrotic Mutox gas on the City, wiping it clean of all life while he is safe in his isolated cathedral and then repopulate with mechanical creatures.]] Garret turns this around on him by [[spoiler:sending a signal which calls the Servants carrying the gas into the cathedral where it can be let loose to destroy Karras and be contained without affecting anything else.]]
51	* ImColdSoCold: The Servants will occasionally utter the phrase "So cold...So very cold..." Considering [[spoiler:[[FateWorseThanDeath the nature of their servitude]], ]] one can imagine why they feel like that.
52	* InCaseOfXBreakGlass: The game features a YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe variant: "In time of peril, breaketh glass."
53	* InsecurityCamera: The Mechanist surveillance cameras can be shut down easily by finding their fuse boxes and pulling a lever or two. However, if there's one central generator room for all of them, then it's usually well-guarded or pretty hard to sneak into. An alternative, much noisier way of disabling the cameras, is to simply blow the cameras up with your fire arrows or by placing an explosive mine under them and triggering it with your broadhead arrows.
54	* InstantWinCondition: "Casing the Joint" has the requirement that you must not be seen by any guards. However, if you reach the streets after having completed every other objective, the mission will still be won even if you get spotted by a guard just before exiting, since there's a brief delay between being noticed by a guard and the mission failing.
55	* LampshadeHanging: In the first mission of the game you can put out a torch right next to a guard post. This will actually cause the two guards at the post to notice it, then argue about which one will go relight it. They eventually abandon the whole idea when they realize neither of them has a tinderbox.
56	* MissionPackSequel: Built on the same engine as ''Thief 1'', with the caveat that levels are generally larger and more varied.
57	* NotSoAboveItAll: Played for drama. As much as Garrett snarks about and resents his fellow criminals falling in love and losing their taste for thievery, becoming less professional, the same thing ends up happening to him by the end of the game with Viktoria. He ultimately loses her because he tries to go back to the way he was and emotionally distance himself from her in her hour of need, and when he does finally give into his feelings and comes back for her he is too late to save her, leaving him a HeartbrokenBadass by the end of the game.
58	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:The Mechanist servants.]]
59	* RemixedLevel:
60	** "Ambush" has Garrett escaping the City Watch in the streets between a pub and his house; "Trace the Courier" takes place in the same streets, but this time Garrett is tailing a City Watch lieutenant, Mosley, to find out about a letter she's delivering.
61	** "Kidnap" is a heavily-altered remake of "The Lost City" from the first game.
62	** "Casing the Joint" and "Masks" are nearly identical and occur back-to-back. The only major difference is that in "Masks" you can fully explore the third floor of the mansion both missions take place in, whereas you could only look around a bit in the previous mission.
63	* SchmuckBait: In "Blackmail", a hidden secret in the basement has a corpse with some minor loot... along with a BigRedButton with a sign that explicitly says [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo not to push it]]. Doing so insta-spawns two giant spiders, who will immediately attack Garrett.
64	* SequelHook: The ending cutscene.
65	-->'''Garrett''': "All this... it was written?"
66	-->'''Artemus''': "All."
67	-->'''Garrett''': [[spoiler:[[WellExcuseMePrincess "Viktoria's]] [[HeroicSacrifice death?]] And [[OmnicidalManiac Karras?]]]] Was it written? In your books?"
68	-->'''Artemus''': "All is, as it was written."
69	-->'''Garrett''': "And there's more?"
70	-->'''Artemus''': "[[BluntYes Yes]]."
71	-->'''Garrett''': [[CantRefuseTheCallAnymore "Tell]] [[ResignedToTheCall me]]."
72	* ShoutOut: One of the items you need to unlock doors in ''Blackmail'' is called a ''VideoGame/MetalGear.''
73	* {{Steampunk}}: Of the three games in the trilogy, this one has the most overtly steampunk aesthetics (with some ArtDeco mixed in for good measure), in no small part thanks to the presence and influence of the Mechanists.
74	* TakeYourTime:
75	** The objective description for "Eavesdropping", stressing that the meeting you need to listen in on will begin at midnight, makes it sound like it's going to be a TimedMission, but in reality, midnight conveniently arrives only when you've made it to one of the doors to the conference hall that the meeting takes place in.
76	** The last level, "Sabotage at Soul Forge", also runs into this. You can listen to Karras' impending messages of doom until the cows come home -- there is no time limit for the level.
77	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: [[spoiler:The cooperation between Garrett and Viktoria starts like this, with Garrett immediately swearing to break the truce at the first sign of foul play, and snarkly reminding Viktoria that he is not even being paid for the whole ordeal. Later, he warms up considerably]].
78	* ThankTheMaker: The Mechanist robots ''reeeally love this trope''. "Praise Karras", "All should hear the words of Karras, the words of Karras...", etc. A full list of the phrases can be seen [[http://thief.wikia.com/wiki/T2_Sound_Folder:_Robots here]]. This trope is [[PlayingWithATrope slightly played with]] though - every robot uses ''a voice track recorded by Karras himself''.
79	* ThouShaltNotKill: Several levels require Garrett to get in and out without killing anyone. Higher difficulty levels require Garrett to complete several of the missions without even so much as knocking someone unconscious.
80	* TrailOfBlood: Literally the name of a mission, wherein Garrett pursues a wounded Pagan agent through a destroyed Pagan village, and then through the Maw of Chaos from the original game. The trail goes on for so long that Garrett begins to hope that the agent doesn't run out of blood. [[spoiler: He does, but not before leading Garrett right to Viktoria.]]
81	* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The ironic fate for Karras dreamed up by Viktoria and implemented by Garrett in the end, turning his doomsday creations against him, with Karras as their only casualty.
82	* UndergroundLevel: Parts of "Trail of Blood", parts of "Precious Cargo", "Kidnap".
83	* UnwinnableByDesign: In "Ambush", it's possible to softlock the game if the player manages to get into the Graveyard (at a point in the game when they're not supposed to), via stacking crates found outside Garrett's house at a break in the wall and going over. If you haven't saved your game before leaping over, there's no way to escape. (The Graveyard is visited properly later on in the game).
84	* VariablePlayerGoals: Certain levels have optional secret objectives for enterprising players. "Running Interference" awards you with a hefty bonus if you locate a pair of matching wedding bands (for Basso and Jenni) in the Manor, while "Blackmail" awards you with an objective award if you manage to locate the secret graveyard ([[spoiler:which the dead Truart can be buried in, via placing him in an open grave.]])
85	* WouldHitAGirl: Depending on the player's decisions - and whether the difficulty level or mission parameter allows it - the female guards and soldiers are viable targets for Garrett, and they're just as good at swordplay and shooting arrows as the male characters.
86	* WouldHurtAChild: In their efforts to wipe out the Pagans, the Mechanists do not spare their children, as evidenced in the massacred Pagan village in "Trail of Blood".

Context VideoGame / ThiefIITheMetalAge