Doom. Half-Life. Civilization. Age of Empires. Diablo. When you think of the games that define the PC’s history, these are the hits that instantly spring to mind, the epochal launches that cemented our platform as the home of pioneering creativity. The mid to late ‘90s were a vital era for PC games, owing not just to the work of Valve, id Software, and Firaxis, but less-remembered studios like Looking Glass and – latterly – Ion Storm. One of the best games ever made, Thief The Dark Project is a nexus of PC development talent. And now it has a huge new expansion, lovingly created by fans, and available to play right now.
25 years after it first arrived, Thief The Dark Project remains a landmark of the PC, stealth games, and what was then the burgeoning immersive sim genre. Setting the standard for first-person horror and environment-driven storytelling, Thief The Dark Project now returns to vivid life thanks to an ambitious fan-made DLC.
Created by Feuillade Industries, The Black Parade is an enormous unofficial expansion for the Thief Gold version of Thief The Dark Project. Developed over seven years, this is essentially an entirely new Thief game, adding new missions, characters, dialogue, mechanics, and more. You have a new protagonist. You have ten, full, open-ended missions. There are 28 fully-voiced characters. There are even some completely original characters.
Plus, the entire gameplay system has been tweaked and reworked to reflect The Black Parade’s story and its central character, Hume. Hume isn’t as light footed as Garrett, so guards will notice you if you bump into them, even if you’re hiding in the shadows. Similarly, Hume’s footsteps make greater or lesser noise based on different types of metal. It’s a hugely detailed, extremely dedicated love letter to one of PC’s greatest games, and you can get the entire thing right now.
Alternatively, feed your nostalgia with some of the other best old games, or maybe try some of the best RPG games, that owe a lot of inspiration to the early immersive sims.
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