Thief: Deadly Shadows players are tasked with saving the world from an impending dark age. As in the original game, stealth, character choices, weapons and tools work in combination with a richly interactive world to give players freedom to solve game problems the way they want to, rather than simply figuring out the path game designers had intended. Gamers can sneak, club, distract or kill their way past any problem encountered within the game world.

Thief: Deadly Shadows features a powerful physics system, amazingly intelligent AI, dramatically enhanced character modelling and animation, a groundbreaking sound propagation system, state-of-the art lighting and graphics, and for the first time in franchise history -- a third person perspective. The game systems combine to enhance gameplay and challenge the player.