At its core, Deadly Shadows sticks very closely to the formula of the older Thief games, which are first-person perspective action adventures in which you must carry out a series of high-risk, high-reward missions as Garrett, a self-serving master thief living in a cold, surreal, medieval world. As in previous Thief games, the gameplay in Deadly Shadows primarily revolves around having to retrieve a bunch of special trinkets (and other riches) from assorted heavily guarded establishments--and doing so by hiding in shadows, waiting for unsuspecting guards to turn their backs, and then blackjacking them so that they remain unconscious for the remainder of the mission. You'll have a wide variety of other gadgets to help you, including lock picks, water arrows for dousing torches and other firelight, flashbombs for temporarily blinding opponents, and more. There's always a compass onscreen to help you navigate the sometimes mazelike environments, and you'll also be paying close attention to the onscreen "light gem," which changes color depending on how well-concealed you are. This interface feature has always worked great in the Thief series.