After the studio had gone out of business in 2000, many former employees moved to Ion Storm and began developing the third part of the series, Deadly Shadows.

There are a variety of tactics to avoid being heard, however, such as walking gently, steering clear of noisy pavement, or using moss arrows to create a carpet that muffles the sound of footsteps.

The astute player is constantly keeping an eye on areas of light or shadow, guard patrol routes, and the type of terrain they are walking on, in case a hiding place is needed in a hurry.

A light source, such as a torch or gas lamp, can be doused with a Water Arrow, creating an area of darkness in which the player may hide.

The package also contains bonus content such as the DromEd Dark Engine editor, a behind-the-scenes "making of" video, and a desktop theme designed for Windows 98.

The basic gameplay was also fundamentally similar to the original Thief, but many new elements had been added, including technological gadgets such as a remote eye camera.

In fact, the player encounters almost none of the monsters from the original Thief except for burrick (dinosaur-like creatures) heads mounted as trophies in some of the mansions, and a few zombies, undead and ghostly apparitions.

A major departure from the first two games in the series, Thief: Deadly Shadows was developed by Ion Storm rather than Looking Glass Studios (albeit with many of the same people).

Because of all these factors, Thief: Deadly Shadows was different (and vastly updated) from the first two games in the series in both appearance and gameplay.

Smaller improvements were made to AI behavior, allowing for guards who noted when items went missing from their field of view or when doors were left open, along with an overhauled sound-propagation mechanic.

Eidos-Montréal's General Manager Stéphane D'Astous commented in an interview for Deus Ex: Human Revolution that confirmation of the company's second "AAA title", which its website states "begins with the letter 'T'", would occur "over the next year" or so.

[11] The universe of Thief is a dark fantasy setting and is centered mostly on a dense, sprawling metropolitan complex known only as "The City", which has some resemblance to 18th/19th century London, but with an altogether more Medieval culture, reflected in the architecture, style of dress, semi-feudal social structure, and a lack of firearms but widespread use of magic.

Thief takes place hundreds of years after the original games, possibly with a heavier emphasis on the identity of "The City".

Ken Levine, when working on The Dark Project's story, wanted the game's world to feel familiar to fantasy fans, but also to have a film noir aesthetic.

Feeling that there was a lack of anti-heroes in gaming at the time, Levine took inspiration from films from the 1970's such as Blade Runner and Chinatown, keeping the protagonist a character with a failed past "living on the outs of society".

[citation needed] GameSpot also chose him as one of the 64 contenders in the 2009 user poll "All Time Greatest Video Game Hero".

[17] In 2011, Empire ranked him as the 29th greatest video-game character, calling him to "a medieval Han Solo type" and adding that it is "his sardonic amorality that shines through most of all, ensuring Garrett a place as one of gaming's most appealing anti-heroes".

[21] GameSpy's Mike Sharkey called Garrett a noticeable omission from the 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition's top 50 video-game characters.

[22] Also in 2012, GamesRadar ranked this "not exactly Robin Hood" as 35th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games, also calling him "a pioneer of sorts, paving the way for the myriad other thieves and assassins of our time".

It was also accompanied by a poll asking who should play Viktoria in the movie adaptation of the Thief games (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Elizabeth Hurley, Salma Hayek or Jennifer Lopez).

Tom's Games stated she should be played in the live-action adaptation by "Naomi Watts, who's got the sexy voice, beauty and charisma for the part".

This allows fans to design their level with all the interactive objects seen in original missions, as well as place stealable loot and lighting, factors which drastically affect gameplay.

[30] In May 2017, the Game Central reporters at Metro UK suggested that the shared universe was unlikely, pointing out that no progress had been made on any Just Cause, Deus Ex nor Thief films.