A couple of months ago I bought Thief: Deadly Shadows on Steam, and I absolutely adore it. From the moment I started it, I couldn't let it go and kept on playing... Until I came across the Cradle level. I don't mind admitting it: I'm scared out of my mind here. I could get around the level just fine, with only this hesitant feeling in the back of my head. But as soon as I encounter the first zombie (or whatever they are called, they look like dead psycho's and since the building this level is situated in is an abandoned and burnt out insane asylum, I'm pretty sure they are) I freeze up completely, the hairs in my neck are standing up straight and I can′t keep moving forward. The only thing my head is saying is "Get the hell out, get as far away from those beasts as possible and do another level", which is of course not possible.

Now, if I could just pick them off from a distance (as far away as possible) with my bow, it wouldn't be such an issue, but since I have to get pretty close to do them any harm, I can't move on. I'm not into horror, not in movies or games or whatever medium you would like to put it in, so this level is just a little too much for me. I need help. Does anybody have some advice how to make this level a bit easier to cope with, or a way around the enemies while still completing my objectives? I really want to finish this game. Thanks in advance.

If your turn the difficulty down you can kill the undead inmates (otherwise they only go down for a little bit and then they get back up)

Try and separate the game from reality. You know they're just 3D shapes in the game, so the most they can do is surprise you.

In my memory the zombies aren't killable after-all. This might be a good chance for you to practice your 'ghosting' and trust me, its worth it. Whenever I play the Cradle, I don't even try to kill the zombies.

These might be of interest:

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107858&highlight=cradle
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106242&highlight=cradle
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108910&highlight=cradle

Ah...perhaps the BEST Thief level ever.

It's good, but not as well designed as The Sword, nor is it as scary as Return to the Cathedral. And I even prefer Overlook Manse within Deadly Shadows itself.

Haaaaah, the craddle. Fond memories, yes. Congrate on you clever purchase! Like someone mentionned, the best way to deal with this level is to ghost the mission, meaning: don't been seen, don't disturbe anything, don't "be" there. Save often if you want to test an approach. Ghosting a mission in thief 3 is way easier then previous games, so give it a try. Most of all, take your time to learn those psychos' patrol, it will help you a lot. This cannot be done in a few seconds, take your time, take it slow. This mission is long, but well worth it. Once you succeed, you'll be so proud you'll come back to it over and over. It gets easier!

Oh god, that and The Lost City levels give me nightmares, even to this day. Hell, the first visit to the Cathedral was a traumatic experience, since I insisted on going through the level keeping the street lights off. :ph34r:

Rather ironic that Thief, a stealth series, makes for a far superior horror experience than any horror genre game I've ever played in my life. Amnesia and Silent Hill can't touch Dark Project. Or Metal Age (Those machines creep me the [censored] out). Or Deadly Shadows.

Yeah, I found the cathedral vastly scarier than the Cradle, at the very least because you're in genuine danger. Once you're through the Cradle you realize there's very little in the level that's actually any threat to you. Heck, within Deadly Shadows I also found that zombie-riddled ship a lot scarier than the Cradle.

Sure, but the Cradle has the creepy little girl voice and the fact that it's an orphanage/asylum doesn't help. But I agree, Cradle is generally overrated.

I disagree. First, the Abysmal Gale mission is too short and you expect stuff and can see quite well.

The Cradle is so dark and hard to see that on the first play through you are expecting something to pop out at every turn. Try and use your mechanical eye? You get an augmented soundtrack that creeps you out even more than plodding about in the dark. It's a mission that puts you on the edge of suspense and leaves you there. Have the phone ring or someone walk in while playing that mission and you'll jump out of your seat from shock.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I haven't had the time (or courage) to try them out yet, but maybe I'll be able to try it again this weekend.

The main problem, and the particular part I got stuck, is that I'm entering a larger room that leads toward a hallway with a lot of different cell doors. I'm not sure where to go, so I sneak up to the first door. While moving towards it, I hear an inmate around there somewhere, but I'm not sure where the sound is coming from. I look behind me, nobody's there, I start fiddling with the lock and two seconds later the bastard is right behind me, freaking me the hell out. Then it's "Quit, exit game, let's play something funny and cheerful".

The developers would probably wriggle with glee to hear that... from what I understand, gamers being paralysed with terror was exactly the reaction they wanted!

I share your pain. I couldn't, just couldn't go through with that level. I had to get a friend to do it for me, then comandeered it for the ending I suggest getting all your mates round and playing it together. Get the beers out and go for it. It won't be so terrifying with you all together, and you'll have a fun evening - what more could you ask?

As far as actual advice: holy water, fire arrows, and flash bombs. These will permanently destroy the undead patients, making them far less able to scare you.

Yeah, that's how I finally dealt with it. After spending 10 minutes hiding in a little room trying to figure out if outside was clear I just decided "To hell with this", forgot all about stealth and just walked straight up to each one and threw 2 flash bombs in each face.

Great game.
Eidos is currently producing Thief 4, that's a buy next year.

You are not alone there. I bought Thief: Deadly Shadows two years ago and had never played a Thief game before. The Cradle was the scariest thing I have ever played in any game or seen in real life. I just wanted to get out of there. I have done that level four times now but every time I had to get through it as quick as possible. The very first time I played it was at 1am and I had no idea it would be like it is, I really freaked out. That place freaks me out even now. You can kill the inmates, I usually shoot fire arrows into them or blow them with mines.

In fact I just love the Cradle so much that I created a homage to it in my Oblivion Mod, Pell's Gate, by building my own abandoned asylum. Not nearly as scary of course.

Thief 3 is one of my all time favorite games. Hanging around the city picking pockets is freakin brilliant. The conversations, the amazing locations like the Captain Moira's house and the Cradle. I have often wanted to make an interior city like that in Oblivion, but we don't have the tilesets.

I just finished playing Thief 2 for the very first time, last week. I can highly recommend that one as well. That one frustrated me, scared me witless and was a really good play. I went into the game with no knowledge of what to expect so when I rounded a corner and came across a mech beast for the first time.....it was pretty freaky. :bolt:

I love both those games, both have brilliant story lines and characters.

Embrace the fear. :flamethrower:

My mom did that....we saw two movies. The first was R.E.D. and the other was something else...don't remember, but it freaked her out. She had to watch R.E.D. again just so she could go to bed.

Now you just need a copy of Thief: Gold and you'll have played...http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/Thiefpackshot3eidos.jpg

The Cradle.... *shudders* *runs out of thread*