Oh boy, here we go! Out of the weaker missions in Thief 2, this one approaches the worst category for sure. This was supposed to be an interesting remix of the original lost city mission from T1, Garrett returning to the mystical location with new lore and things to discover. The setup was perfect as well: The mechanists set up dig sites and camps all around the place, introducing their high tech machinery into the ancient architecture of the city. But...it just turned into one of the most tedious missions in the game.

There's a ton of wasted potential here. The lost city was previously inhabited by burricks, craymen and fire elementals. None of these are present in this mission. How cool would it be if there's areas away from the dig sites that hosts any of these enemies. Or better yet, a location with a full on battle between the mechanists and the current inhabitants. Instead it's all boring tunnels, hallways and dig sites full of machines and guards. It feels like the entire level revolved around Cavadors' randomized patrol schedule, which is a completely useless feature for regular players because it doesn't tell you where he'll be at any given time anyway. You either find him right away or you run around like an idiot looking for him for an hour. And once you do find him you still have to carry him to a dig site that's hard to find as well. There's a lot here that tests your patience.

The mission also has a frankly absurd amount of equipment for you to grab. And considering the overwhelming amount of guards there are around the mission I assume that you're really not expected to sneak around much in this one. You will pretty much have enough equipment to put out any torch you see, destroy any camera or robot that you encounter and flashbomb + knockout any guards in the area too. I assume a ton of tools were placed around so you can knock out Cavador? But still...it borders on overkill. Another annoying thing is getting full loot on this mission too. There are a lot of guards with purses walking around the entire map, so you will probably end up running around blindly until you find those bastards too.

They had a cool idea for this one, but the execution is frankly abysmal. While I can tolerate other mediocre missions in the game, this is one that I wouldn't mind skipping. Oh well...at least the next mission can't be any worse...right...?