Stealth Games

After playing Assassin's Creed I started thinking about some other good stealth games I played and wondered what everyone else has played and enjoyed.

Other stealth games I enjoy asides from AC are Metal Gear Solid, Tenchu and Batman Arkham.

Discuss.

I remember the original Tenchu fondly. But, unfortunately, like many games on the PSX, the controls feel clunky and unresponsive today, and make the game a lot more difficult and less engaging than it was (and the graphics didn't help).


The best stealth game I can ever remember playing is Mark of the Ninja. It is, quite simply, brilliant. If you want me to gush for hours about everything this game does right, I will.


Recently, I also have gotten into Dishonored, which I have been playing as a Clean Hands / Ghost style. All stealth, no killing. I'm quite enjoying it. Part of it is the world and setting, but a lot of it is how well the game does as a stealth game. It does unfortunately have a bit of an identity crisis: The game rewards and promotes stealth gameplay, but almost all of the nifty moves and weapons you get are designed for combat. Nevertheless, it does have a lot of potential as a stealth game, and is probably rated as my third favorite IP that uses a First-Person perspective.

I would really love to see Dishonored retooled with a couple more mechanics taken from the Thief franchise, such as a greater reliance on light and shadows, as well as greater flexibility when it comes to manipulating them.

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Originally Posted by ToriJ

After playing Assassin's Creed I started thinking about some other good stealth games I played and wondered what everyone else has played and enjoyed.

Other stealth games I enjoy asides from AC are Metal Gear Solid, Tenchu and Batman Arkham.

Discuss.

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I find the stealth mechanics in Assassins Creed are too clumsy for it to be considered a good stealth game. It's a good game, but not a very good stealth one imo.

I wish there were more pure stealth games as opposed to action games with a stealth mission or mechanic thrown in.

Tenchu ftw, and the Hitman games are really good too.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

I remember the original Tenchu fondly. But, unfortunately, like many games on the PSX, the controls feel clunky and unresponsive today, and make the game a lot more difficult and less engaging than it was (and the graphics didn't help).

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It's been ages since I played so I can't comment on the controls. I get the visuals, though, especially if you have a HDTV. It usually takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the PS1 graphics after playing more recent games for so long but it never been a huge setback for me, graphics are the last thing I look for in a game after gameplay and story.

I can tell you that I was absolute crap at it and couldn't get past the tutorial without dying. The farthest I ever got in the game was the second level. My brother was the one who'd go on to beat it.

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

I find the stealth mechanics in Assassins Creed are too clumsy for it to be considered a good stealth game. It's a good game, but not a very good stealth one imo.

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I can see that. I certainly never felt the need to be stealthy throughout most of the game. A lot of the time I was better off just hacking and slashing my way through. I can't think of many pure stealth games aside from the original Metal Gear which triggered a game over whenever you were caught by a guard.

I've been looking through a list of old stealth games so far today and learned of 005 and Airborne Ranger. Anyone familiar with those two? They're pretty old so I won't be surprised if many haven't.

I like stealth games in which stealth is the key, but smurf ups can be dealt with. So Hitman, Tenchu and Thief always stood out as the Holy Trinity that should be used as the yardstick to measure all other stealth elements. Bloody love those games.

Alpha Protocol is an amazing mixture of stealth and combat and highly under appreciated

I liked the stealth in Uncharted 3 though difficult at times.

And I wont elaborate on MGS since that one is obvious.

I was going through Extra Credits' videos today, and found this gem again. I thought it appropriate.



This also points out why most games don't give you a "Game Over" if you're detected. It's clunky and doesn't allow for fast iteration of the stealth challenges.

Good to see the Tenchu love. Oh man those PS1 classics. :roll2

Wasn't there some other ninja game that basically did the same thing as Tenchu? Red Ninja or something? Never checked it out but I was interested.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution belongs in this thread too.

As much as I like MGS3, I found the stealth gameplay subpar on higher difficulty levels. I liked the normal difficulty as it allowed for both quicky-movey-tree-to-tree-sneakiness as well as much needed snaily-crawly-lurkiness. On hard and higher it felt like the guards had gained supernatural vision and all I was doing was crawl around on the jungle floor making the game so slow paced it stopped being fun.

>MGS games other than MGS1
>stealth game
>i shiggy diggy

Any game where you can easily shoot your way out of any situation shouldn't be called a stealth game imo. On anything but the highest difficulty levels, on MGS2 and 3 you can simply run into every room, gun down the opposition and also gun down the reinforcements, then continue as if nothing happened. Come the advent of MGS4 it was pretty much Duke Nukem. Getting spotted on the original on PS1 gave you three options: Run and try to hide, reload your save, or die like a dog.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

The best stealth game I can ever remember playing is Mark of the Ninja. It is, quite simply, brilliant. If you want me to gush for hours about everything this game does right, I will.

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Absolutely. I would recommend this game to anyone true stealth-game lover. Check out some gameplay on Youtube and then go instantly get your hands on it.

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Originally Posted by I Took the Red Pill

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

The best stealth game I can ever remember playing is Mark of the Ninja. It is, quite simply, brilliant. If you want me to gush for hours about everything this game does right, I will.

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Absolutely. I would recommend this game to anyone true stealth-game lover. Check out some gameplay on Youtube and then go instantly get your hands on it.

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I will get this eventually. :cool:

I tend to play even those pseudo stealth games as if they were full stealth; I always reload on Hitman if I get spotted. It can be fun playing in a realistic sense (smurf up -> fix it) but nailing the stealth is super fun too.

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Originally Posted by Old Manus

>MGS games other than MGS1
>stealth game
>i shiggy diggy

Any game where you can easily shoot your way out of any situation shouldn't be called a stealth game imo. On anything but the highest difficulty levels, on MGS2 and 3 you can simply run into every room, gun down the opposition and also gun down the reinforcements, then continue as if nothing happened. Come the advent of MGS4 it was pretty much Duke Nukem. Getting spotted on the original on PS1 gave you three options: Run and try to hide, reload your save, or die like a dog.

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You're telling me. I remember getting caught sneaking up on that guard in the room next to the exit of the Tank Hanger and getting my ass beat until I ran with my tail tucked between my legs.

If you don't want to visit the Beach every 15 minutes you must be stealthy in DayZ :)

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

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Originally Posted by I Took the Red Pill

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

The best stealth game I can ever remember playing is Mark of the Ninja. It is, quite simply, brilliant. If you want me to gush for hours about everything this game does right, I will.

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Absolutely. I would recommend this game to anyone true stealth-game lover. Check out some gameplay on Youtube and then go instantly get your hands on it.

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I will get this eventually. :cool:

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It's 15 dollars on Steam (I believe XBLA as well), and it really is the best stealth experience I know. It looks fantastic, it plays like a dream. I'll end with one of my previous posts, praising this game's flexibility. But know that there are many, many more aspects of this game that are just as strong.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

If you're looking for flexibility, Mark of the Ninja has it. Part of your character customization is a feature called "Paths". You start with the Path of the Ninja, your default, well rounded form. You get access to one of each type of item, you have your sword for stealth kills, and you have standard ability options.

As you progress through the story and bonus objectives, however, you unlock additional Paths.

The Path of Might is the combat-focused one. You lose the ability to freeze time while using focus to aim range attacks or items, but you gain health, melee prowess, and the ability to regenerate health with stealth kills. It's designed for brawling, and it does it better than any other Path.

The Path of the Hunter ditches your Distraction item in exchange for a second Attack item, and it makes your stealth attacks work 100% of the time. Because, normally, each stealth attack has a tiny Quick Time Event (where you only have two possible options to choose from) which determines whether or not it kills things silently or noisily. One of the few games where I've actually not minded QTEs, partially because of how restricted they are (only two possible buttons), and partially because they're fair on time and not game-breaking if you fail. But perfect accuracy on them is pretty nice. And the extra Attack item is good if you like killing people with traps or blow darts from the shadows. It's built for when you want to wipe out every enemy on the map, but still do it without being seen.

The Path of Silence is where the game just gets brilliant. This path gives up your Attack item, and your sword. You can't engage in combat at all, except with environmental hazards (which some levels have quite a few of). But, in exchange, you don't make noise. Even when running or using your hookshot grapple. It turns the entire stealth system up a notch. You can't fight, at all, but you can run and jump right over people, grapple around the room like crazy, and basically just have fun as a completely unseen ghost while completing objectives (for the very few story-mandated kills, you'll get your weapon back). It totally shifts how the game is played, and is an absolute joy to play with.

The Path of Nightmares is another total game-changer. Any enemy who sees a stealth-kill, or a dead body, panics (though you lose your Distraction Item). Guaranteed. You can panic people without this Path, by dropping a dead body right in front of someone (or throwing it into their back), or using certain items. But this Path is all about the terror. Remember how Batman went around terrorizing thugs to disorient them and gain the upper hand before taking them down? He has nothing on you in this form. This form is meant for terrorizing everyone, and it works brilliantly. You learn so many different ways to use bodies to freak out guards. And then you realize that freaked out guards fire randomly whenever they find something suspicious. And guards can kill each other. There's something immensely satisfying about finding the perfect way to throw one body into a room that makes seven guards all panic and shoot each other, leaving just one survivor looking back and forth in terror before his life ends.

The Path of the Mark gives you a short-range teleport at the cost of your Distraction item. You can teleport past enemies, which is pretty nifty, but I honestly don't use it that much. I prefer walking, running, and jumping, what can I say?

The Path of Wisdom gives you the ability to knock guards out with your stealth attacks instead of killing them (though I believe they can be woken up if another guard spots them), and loses Farsight and the Focus time-freeze. The advantage here is that you can still get "leave all guards alive" while attacking everyone, and you can also play a little riskier without Farsight or Focus, and having a chance that guards might wake back up. It's fun, but only available via the DLC, so I haven't used it a lot yet.


The versatility these different options give is just huge. I've played through every level as both the Path of Nightmares and the Path of Silence, and most of the others through either the Path of the Hunter or the Path of the Ninja. Each level becomes a completely different experience with the different Paths.




The mechanics on their own are also incredible, though. In Normal Mode, you can see exactly how much noise each move makes, and you'll quickly learn that noise can be just as helpful as harmful. Breaking lights causes darkness, but it also makes guards investigate the broken glass, and that's just a basic use. When someone's guarding a door, purposely running around in a nearby vent and making noise they can hear can serve as a very effective distraction, pulling them from their post and letting you slip by. And it goes on and on. The game, just through playing it, teaches you how to use your disadvantages to your advantage. To make guards shoot each other or spring traps so you can evade them. To use distractions and the terrain to evade tight patrols. To learn exactly how far each guard can see, and exactly how high you can jump to leap over their head and land on the other side while they don't see you. Or to learn exactly how long it takes a guard to turn around when he hears something, and how much freedom of movement that delay gives you.

Then Hard mode comes around. You lose your sound indicators and gain directional sight (only see in the direction you face). Oh, and one hit kills you (so much for that extra health from Path of Might, huh?). But, by the time you beat Normal, you just know most of those things anyway, so it just adds a little more complexity to the system.

The point system is also wonderful. You get bonus points for several different types of near misses, for the various types of stealth kills, for leaving all the foes alive, for finding hidden items, for getting guards to kill each other, for panicking guards, hiding bodies, and tons of other things. The game rewards each way to play.

This is seriously one of the best stealth games I've ever played. If you are a fan of stealth games, you need to get this. You will not be disappointed. 15 bucks on Steam. Go get it (and I think it's been on at least one Steam sale).

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