During an NYCC panel today Thief's lead level designer Dan Winfeld Schmidt said the melee was "not good on purpose" to discourage fans from ignoring stealth.
via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1372698/thief-dev-says-melee-system-not-good-on-purpose
via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1372698/thief-dev-says-melee-system-not-good-on-purpose