Looking Glass Studios' Thief series is one of those few games that can be said to have defined a genre; the first, Thief: The Dark Project introduced many gamers to a new concept in First Person Shooter mechanics, the "sneak" title. Far from a the run-and-gun gameplay that was and still is the hallmark of FPS titles like Duke Nukem, Doom, and Painkiller, the Thief series relies on patience, guile, and wit to win.

Two games and a new developer later - Looking Glass studios having gone under and Eidos / Ion Storm Austin picking up the license - we have Thief: Deadly Shadows. In many ways it's full of "firsts" for the series itself. It's the first time that "faction" matters, and improving standing with political entities is a concern to the player. It's the first time that third-person play is available. And it's the first Thief title to be pushed out on a console, with console controls available.

After seeing how it plays on the console, I'm of the opinion that the Thief series is one of those rare games that benefits more from the console's controller options than from the PC's greater graphics power.