Can you suggest any PC games that play similarly to Phantom Pain? Open world optional.
- Thread starter ninja666
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Well, pretty much everything I was gonna say has been mentioned, but I'll add to them:
Splinter Cell series for sure, it was after all heavily inspired by the stealth of MGS. While Conviction and Blacklist are a bit more action-stealth than the older games, you should still give them a go. Chaos Theory is still the best of the series, and while stealth is the main focus, there's nothing really stopping you going guns blazing in it.
Hitman Series is the other one. Similar to the older Splinter Cell titles all out action is a bit harder and less satisfying but still somewhat fun. The stealth on it's own however is incredibly open ended. You really can take your targets down pretty much however you want. This is talking from the games before Absolution though, which I felt really wasn't very good.
Mercenaries is flat out action, but you are pretty open to how you approach a mission. It has the whole call down supplies thing exactly like MGS5, so you can drop in a tank with a few button presses. The first one is an incredibly fun game and definitely worth a play. The second is pretty... Meh. Play the original over it.
Splinter Cell series for sure, it was after all heavily inspired by the stealth of MGS. While Conviction and Blacklist are a bit more action-stealth than the older games, you should still give them a go. Chaos Theory is still the best of the series, and while stealth is the main focus, there's nothing really stopping you going guns blazing in it.
Hitman Series is the other one. Similar to the older Splinter Cell titles all out action is a bit harder and less satisfying but still somewhat fun. The stealth on it's own however is incredibly open ended. You really can take your targets down pretty much however you want. This is talking from the games before Absolution though, which I felt really wasn't very good.
Mercenaries is flat out action, but you are pretty open to how you approach a mission. It has the whole call down supplies thing exactly like MGS5, so you can drop in a tank with a few button presses. The first one is an incredibly fun game and definitely worth a play. The second is pretty... Meh. Play the original over it.
my suggestion would be alpha protocol
modern spy game rpg.. ability to go loud or stealth, lethal or non lethal, lots of toys
if you do play it you never have to do the hacking minigame outside the tutorial and stay away from pistols. they are overpowered enough to basically break the game
*edit* maybe the deus ex games
modern spy game rpg.. ability to go loud or stealth, lethal or non lethal, lots of toys
if you do play it you never have to do the hacking minigame outside the tutorial and stay away from pistols. they are overpowered enough to basically break the game
*edit* maybe the deus ex games
It's an open world action-stealth game where you explore an open world and infiltrate enemy bases with your silenced pew pew pistol while gathering resources and expanding your influence across Chicago. The game can be played as a stealth game or a straight action game. The main difference is Watch_Dogs has way better graphics, more REVENGE, REVENGE, REVENGE, MUH REVENGE OH MY GOSH MY TEAM MATE WAS THE ONE WHO GOT MY FAMILY KILLED! MUH REVENGE! DID I MENTION HOW REVENGE LEAVES YOU EMPTY AND HOLLOW INSIDE? and runs terribly thanks to some questionable coding from Ubisoft.Amaror said:
No, just no. I played both of those games and believe me there is no way that Watch dogs has better graphics than MGS 5. Not a single chance. The graphics of MGS 5 look even better than the ones from the techdemo of Watch dogs, you know the one that looked nothing like the finished game.Ambient_Malice said:
And it's much more of an actiongame than MGS 5. Yeah there's technically some stealth in there but it's not in any way comparable to the stealth gameplay of MGS 5.
Don't get me wrong, i do like Watchdogs. I was one of the few apparently that was able to look past the graphics and just enjoy the over-the-top hacking mechanics of the game. It is a fun game to play. But it's a very, very different experience than MGS 5, trust me.
Someone else said Alpha Protocol, and I'd suggest it as well. It's a fairly good stealth game if you choose to play it as such, and the skills/rpg parts give you some variety in ways to go through.
However, like the other person said, the pistols are by far the most effective weapon in the game, due to headshot bonuses and being silenced, and having "regular" shooting controls. The shotgun and assault rifle both use unique aiming systems that make using pistols hard to avoid.
The missions can be done in any order (as long as you have access to it) which while cool, kinda works against the game, because characters and plots can appear seemingly random and act as if they already know who you are.
Its a fun game though, and if you follow a steam guide for which counties to complete first, it'll go somewhat smoothly.
However, like the other person said, the pistols are by far the most effective weapon in the game, due to headshot bonuses and being silenced, and having "regular" shooting controls. The shotgun and assault rifle both use unique aiming systems that make using pistols hard to avoid.
The missions can be done in any order (as long as you have access to it) which while cool, kinda works against the game, because characters and plots can appear seemingly random and act as if they already know who you are.
Its a fun game though, and if you follow a steam guide for which counties to complete first, it'll go somewhat smoothly.
I would second Alpha Protocol. It's not the best game but it is surprisingly fun and engrossing. Sadly, there is one build that outshines any others but it has an interesting story set against a modern, espionage backdrop, interesting characters, multiple ways to approach missions (stealth, loud, tech) and story/missions that can change and play differently based on player actions, attitudes and choices.ninja666 said:
Another good one is Styx. A third person stealth game with a self contained story, a couple of twists but a wonderfully realised world. It's one of the best stealth games in recent years, actually playing like one for starters. Action is certainly possible but Styx cannot go toe to toe with more than one guard for long. Luckily he has several fun magical powers fuelled by "Amber" which let him temporarily disappear, create clones, augment his vision and more. It's got some fun platformy bits, leaping from handholds to ledges to chandliers, traps to make use of, takedowns and other fun stuff.
Dishonored is another option. It can be played in any combination of loud and stealth and unlike Styx, Corvo can hold his own in combat. While most of Corvo's magic and gear is aimed at bringing death to many, the game becomes slightly harder and darker with this approach. Taking the stealthy option is more challenging and rewarding, but less fun. It also suffers from the issue that since we, the player, know that we *can* do anything and still complete a mission any which way, it makes even the illusion of choice non-existent. It's like conversations in newer BioWare games...you can say absolutely anything and it makes no actual difference to the outcome. It doesn't close off anything, make anything play significantly different or the like. It has a couple of frustrations, but it's a nicely designed world, cool powers, enjoyable levels and interesting enough characters and story.
As for SC: Blacklist...it's not a scratch on Conviction and even that lost a little something compared to its predecessors. One major gripe I had is that they player has three mission handlers who give specific mission types. These also relate to the nonsense "Panther", "Ghost" and "whatever the other one is" titles that you're "awarded" based on how you performed. There's no quick save, missions are standalone and must be completed in a very specific way. Deviate from what is expected of you, you fail and start right back again at the start. The mechanics are sound but the story and maps are humdrum. You cannot play this your way, there are not multiple approaches. You have to do what the game tells you to do, or restart over and over until you do it their way.
Conviction OTOH is better. The Mark/Execute nonsense did make it's first appearance here, and like everything in games now, you get XP rewards for performing everything in Fisher's arsenal. Saying that, the maps are brilliant, the black/white/colour thing works well, it's got a great mix of action and stealth and is one of the best co-op experiences available on PC (a seperate storyline). The story is fantastic...a great mix of espionage, personal and the past-catching-up and is very enjoyable to play thru. The gadgets and weapons are cool too and if you haven't played SC games before, at least playing this one first means you get to hear Michael Ironside as Fisher, instead of the wet fish they found for Blacklist.
On a slightly different note, you could consider Skyrim of Far Cry 3. The former is fantastic in its setting but has so much content, amazing mods for the PC version, great DLC (included in Legendary Ed.) and can let you play many, many ways. I've had two stealthy types, one an archer, the other liked her daggers. I've had a "druid" type playthru with nature magic, shapeshifting and animal companions and most recently a vampire playthru, using vampire abilities and magic. Far Cry 3 is one of the earlier "generic sandbox games" but is actually quite good. I don't know how FC4 managed to mess up the formula considering it was mostly copy-paste, but it was bland and lifeless in comparison. You play Jason Brody who, along with his friends, was kidnapped by pirates and held on a tropical island. He escapes captivity and with help of the natives and their "strange ways" becomes a skilful hunter and killer. You acquire new weapons and abilities which you can use to take out strongholds (loud or stealth), complete story missions and hunt/explore. The setting is the star of the show, but the gameplay is also fun.
Absolution and Watch Dogs suggested above are both dreadful. The former is closer to Splinter Cell than Hitman, but without the mechanics to support it. It's a horrid, linear game with a frikkin score for heaven's sake. The story is utter nonsense, the gunplay is barely mediocre, the "magic bar" is one of the worst designed mechanics period (I even experimented, downloading a trainer to have infinite magic bar. It didn't help, the game still sucked). I gave up on this and uninstalled it, grateful I didn't have to sit thru any more.
Watch Dogs...it's the generic Ubisoft game in a different setting. "Hacking" involves pressing one button. The driving mechanics are awful, car handling is horrible. The characters are universally unlikable and unsympathetic, the story is utter nonsense, the extent of "stealth" is crouching behind something and the action is as bad. It has the poker minigame copy-pasted from FC3 and some other stupid new ones like "Find the Queen" and some drinking thing with moving dots. It's a collection of shitty minigames, held together by a shitty story, loathsome protagonist, shitty driving mechanics and a "hacking" mechanic which honestly involves pressing one button. Oh, but it's an Ubisoft game so *of course* you get to climb fucking towers, because it's *so* enjoyable and challenging. Then you can uncover the aforementioned minigames.
Save your money and avoid those two like the plague. And the Thief reboot (first person anyway). I couldn't even make it to chapter 3 before I gave up on it. Funny that Dishonored was a better "original Thief" inspired game than the Thief reboot was. Thankfully, the people who made it no longer work for Eidos/Squeenix so a future game might be better. The Thief reboot is for people who enjoy watching loading screens, quick times events and watching progress bars as they hold down a button to search a drawer that might give 1 silver coin. The only thing you'll get from buying one of these is buyer's remorse.
Watch Dogs...it's the generic Ubisoft game in a different setting. "Hacking" involves pressing one button. The driving mechanics are awful, car handling is horrible. The characters are universally unlikable and unsympathetic, the story is utter nonsense, the extent of "stealth" is crouching behind something and the action is as bad. It has the poker minigame copy-pasted from FC3 and some other stupid new ones like "Find the Queen" and some drinking thing with moving dots. It's a collection of shitty minigames, held together by a shitty story, loathsome protagonist, shitty driving mechanics and a "hacking" mechanic which honestly involves pressing one button. Oh, but it's an Ubisoft game so *of course* you get to climb fucking towers, because it's *so* enjoyable and challenging. Then you can uncover the aforementioned minigames.
Save your money and avoid those two like the plague. And the Thief reboot (first person anyway). I couldn't even make it to chapter 3 before I gave up on it. Funny that Dishonored was a better "original Thief" inspired game than the Thief reboot was. Thankfully, the people who made it no longer work for Eidos/Squeenix so a future game might be better. The Thief reboot is for people who enjoy watching loading screens, quick times events and watching progress bars as they hold down a button to search a drawer that might give 1 silver coin. The only thing you'll get from buying one of these is buyer's remorse.
I'm not sure how similar they are to phantom pain, but for a fun, third person action/stealth sandbox game, there's the Batman: Arkham series. The mix of different mechanics, the cool, unarmed combat and setting are all quite enjoyable.
Sleeping Dogs has a little less stealth but is also a great third-person action sandbox. It has a great feeling of Hong Kong cinema, with the martial arts, crime story set in the far-east. The driving and shooting are great but the martial arts action is the real star. The story is fairly linear but is a cool crime drama with a lot of twists.
Lastly, if you can forgo the third-person part, STALKER is a great first-person trilogy of games, set in The Zone around Chernobyl. It has many different mechanics, cool gunplay, exploration, a great setting and some RPG elements.
But if we're giving up third-person, there's tons more to add. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an exceptional game. The cyberpunk, corporate led near-future is a great setting, the story is suitably personal and epic and like the earlier games, has some secret society/conspiracy elements. The gameplay is great, offering a mix of stealth and action, lethal and non lethal approaches. Weapons are straightforward but very functional, tho the real star is Jennsen's augmentations which can help him leap from heights, breathe toxins, turn invisible briefly or lift vending machines (a surprisingly fun and incredibly useful pastime). It will also set the scene for the forthcoming sequel Mankind Divided. The Director's Cut includes a formerly standalone DLC now streamlined into the main game and some upgrades, improvements and additional items over the base game. Best part is it got rid of the yellow/gold filter (tho the downside is some textures (crates) can look quite last-gen.
Sleeping Dogs has a little less stealth but is also a great third-person action sandbox. It has a great feeling of Hong Kong cinema, with the martial arts, crime story set in the far-east. The driving and shooting are great but the martial arts action is the real star. The story is fairly linear but is a cool crime drama with a lot of twists.
Lastly, if you can forgo the third-person part, STALKER is a great first-person trilogy of games, set in The Zone around Chernobyl. It has many different mechanics, cool gunplay, exploration, a great setting and some RPG elements.
But if we're giving up third-person, there's tons more to add. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an exceptional game. The cyberpunk, corporate led near-future is a great setting, the story is suitably personal and epic and like the earlier games, has some secret society/conspiracy elements. The gameplay is great, offering a mix of stealth and action, lethal and non lethal approaches. Weapons are straightforward but very functional, tho the real star is Jennsen's augmentations which can help him leap from heights, breathe toxins, turn invisible briefly or lift vending machines (a surprisingly fun and incredibly useful pastime). It will also set the scene for the forthcoming sequel Mankind Divided. The Director's Cut includes a formerly standalone DLC now streamlined into the main game and some upgrades, improvements and additional items over the base game. Best part is it got rid of the yellow/gold filter (tho the downside is some textures (crates) can look quite last-gen.
Sorry for another post, but there were two more titles I felt compelled to suggest that I'm sad to have forgotten. Both are third person sandboxes with a blend of action and varying degrees of stealth, and both are magnificent.
The first is Mafia II. It's a story about Vito, a Sicilian American who returns home from war and joins, surprise surprise, the Mafia. It's got some issues...the save system is horrid and the FoV is absolutely terrible...these two things would normally make for a game I wouldn't even buy, let alone install or play for more than 5 minutes. But this game is really, really, really good. The setting, the unique (among games) mafia setting and story, great characters, great action and driving and a really nicely realised sandbox. It's that good that I overlooked the FoV (which cannot even be hacked/modified/etc) and other shortcomings. On another note, a sequel (Mafia III) is forthcoming and hopefully brings some more crime family drama goodness to a new hardware generation.
The second is The Saboteur. It was Pandemic's swansong before EA shut them down, but what a game. Apparently, there are/were issues with it but I must say I've never really experienced them. The ending isn't great but the games main failing is that it has one. I really wanted more of it, more Paris, more missions. The characters are great, the story is great (involving the eponymous saboteur, Sean Devlin in a story of revenge, espionage and the French resistance to Nazi occupied Paris). It has parkour, fun action and stealth gameplay, great, period vehicles, lots of explosions and a unique setting for a sandbox. My one gaming wish, if I could make one, would be a sequel to this phenomenal game, can't recommend it enough.
The first is Mafia II. It's a story about Vito, a Sicilian American who returns home from war and joins, surprise surprise, the Mafia. It's got some issues...the save system is horrid and the FoV is absolutely terrible...these two things would normally make for a game I wouldn't even buy, let alone install or play for more than 5 minutes. But this game is really, really, really good. The setting, the unique (among games) mafia setting and story, great characters, great action and driving and a really nicely realised sandbox. It's that good that I overlooked the FoV (which cannot even be hacked/modified/etc) and other shortcomings. On another note, a sequel (Mafia III) is forthcoming and hopefully brings some more crime family drama goodness to a new hardware generation.
The second is The Saboteur. It was Pandemic's swansong before EA shut them down, but what a game. Apparently, there are/were issues with it but I must say I've never really experienced them. The ending isn't great but the games main failing is that it has one. I really wanted more of it, more Paris, more missions. The characters are great, the story is great (involving the eponymous saboteur, Sean Devlin in a story of revenge, espionage and the French resistance to Nazi occupied Paris). It has parkour, fun action and stealth gameplay, great, period vehicles, lots of explosions and a unique setting for a sandbox. My one gaming wish, if I could make one, would be a sequel to this phenomenal game, can't recommend it enough.
Dishonoured is always worth a try. Stealth, lots of different routes and options, generally great level design.
Only buy this for PC if you intend to play with a controller, because mouse controls are plagued by horrid mouse accelerations that can't be turned off (If you try, it's inverted - ie, the faster you move the mouse, the slower the camera moves).Ambient_Malice said:
I'd suggest checking out Stalker if you want a compelling and deep open world experience - Especially Call of Pripyat. It's a first person shooter rather than third person though, but still worth checking out because they're fantastic games.
You don't need to play the previous games to enjoy Phantom Pain anyway. You can just play it and enjoy it as it is and check up on the backstory of characters as you go along (or save it until you've finished the game). I'd suggest waiting for a price drop however, since while the game is good, it lacks a satisfying self-contained conclusion. The developers ran out of time and it's especially noticeable towards the second half of the game. Even so, it's a great game, as my 100+ hours playing it would attest.
Agreed. I keep meaning to go back and finish Absolution, but there's just not that much interest. That's some drop off from me playing Blood Money nearly to death. It's not just the imposed linearity, it's just missing a certain charm too that's a little hard to place a finger on.Grottnikk said:
The minimap, the focus system, the inventory system, the checkpoint system, the cover system, the barely functional disguise system, the level design that encourages the use of all those modern and dumb mechanics often found in modern third person games, the scoring system, the inability to customize your loadout. The last thing coupled with level design and abysmal disguise system reveal that you only have an illusion of choice. Exploration and experimentation is definitely not encouraged in Absolution. AT ALL.Sexual Harassment Panda said:
All of that is completely true, and much of it is what I meant by 'linearity', which is basically robbing the player of choice. You know... "Streamlining", because it sounds better phrased like that.Adam Jensen said:
But, there's something about the overall tone of it, aesthetically and otherwise that is off too. Like they tried to gritty it up and left behind the colour and the dark humour elements that were so charming in Blood Money. If these things were intact I might have at least finished Absolution, despite not enjoying it nearly as much as it's predecessors. As it was it just felt like a cocktail of wrongness that was completely off-putting.