Soulforge Cathedral is a great concept: it's a microcosm Karras' vision of a mechanical world. There are no humans, only robots. Soulforge itself is more of a factory, instead of a place humans are supposed to live in. Every room reflects this. Not only that, this feels like a monument to this concept. A monument to the inorganic.

The story here is perfect: the cutscenes surrounding this mission are filled with tension, excitement and emotion. Giving Karras a taste of his own medicine is satisfying. Achieving this takes quite a while, however.

The first half has you do something you haven't really seen before in Thief: crafting. This is a bit of a puzzle to figure out on your first time, which adds to the tension when traversing. When you play this mission for the first time, you have no idea what to do. All you know is that, whatever you need to accomplish, it will take a lot of time. The second half becomes more brutal. Various challenge rooms stand between you and the antennas you need to switch over. These can be very tough, but I found them quite doable when I made a save at the start of every room. Luckily, getting to these challenge rooms still requires exploration. Reaching them is half of the struggle. This mission truly tests your skills, and every item turns out to be useful (you may underestimate in how many places the Vine Arrows can be used).

A very impressive finisher, albeit a bit much at points.