Pacifist Games

[AngloDoom]

-Snip-

If you really want a challenge, try a pacifist run of Prototype. If you jump too high, the shock-wave will throw nearby pedestrians ten feet into the air.

 

[Krantos]

-Snip-

If you really want a challenge, try a pacifist run of Prototype. If you jump too high, the shock-wave will throw nearby pedestrians ten feet into the air.

Pretty sure a "pacifist" run on that game is impossible. I know for a fact you have to kill something like 20 people just in the story quests. Besides, that game is all about killing things. Take that out and there isn't really anything at all.

 

[Morph]

I feel like the series that most obviously represents the dilemma you mean is Assassin's Creed, for me. The cutscenes are fairly heavy handed in telling you that you only kill when necessary, and these specific people, but then when you're actually executing missions, you cut down guards by the score. I suppose some areas could've theoretically been tackled with stealth, but the game fails to incentivize doing so. Plus the combat is so easy/fluid that there's never much reason to not just walk up to and kill all the guards.

 

[Pink Gregory]

I feel like the series that most obviously represents the dilemma you mean is Assassin's Creed, for me. The cutscenes are fairly heavy handed in telling you that you only kill when necessary, and these specific people, but then when you're actually executing missions, you cut down guards by the score. I suppose some areas could've theoretically been tackled with stealth, but the game fails to incentivize doing so. Plus the combat is so easy/fluid that there's never much reason to not just walk up to and kill all the guards.

Maybe there's something to be said about it being easier for an assassin to kill than to not kill?

Although I doubt that was any intention on the developer's part...

 

[Jhooud]

Are you trying to stick to action-style games rather than, say, games like Civ or such? Civ can be played pacifist - I think I've won far more victories through science or economics than I have through military conflict.

If you are sticking to action games, then I'd add my voice to the chorus saying MGS.

 

[HHammond]

Fallout 1 can be completed without directly killing anyone

Spoiler

But you have to persuade the big bad that his plan won't work and he blows up the building he's in, killing everyone inside. You also have to blow up another military base which is filled with mutants.

Fallout 2 cannot be completed without killing at least one character.

Fallout 3 can be completed if you only kill super mutants and a rad roach so that still doesn't really work.

I'm pretty sure New Vegas can be done with no deaths... In fact a guy did it somewhere online. I can't think of any point in the game where you HAVE to kill anyone.

Spoiler

Although in 3 out of 4 of the games you have to remove Mr House from his position of power, and to do this you can just release him from his capsule which is keeping him alive so he dies of old age, this depends on whether you count this or not.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Fallout 1 can be completed without directly killing anyone

Spoiler

But you have to persuade the big bad that his plan won't work and he blows up the building he's in, killing everyone inside. You also have to blow up another military base which is filled with mutants.

Fallout 2 cannot be completed without killing at least one character.

Fallout 3 can be completed if you only kill super mutants and a rad roach so that still doesn't really work.

I'm pretty sure New Vegas can be done with no deaths... In fact a guy did it somewhere online. I can't think of any point in the game where you HAVE to kill anyone.

Spoiler

Although in 3 out of 4 of the games you have to remove Mr House from his position of power, and to do this you can just release him from his capsule which is keeping him alive so he dies of old age, this depends on whether you count this or not.

I remmember someone doing a no kill run through on the official forums.

Spoiler: Response to you spoiler

Well he doesn't die of old age he dies of a microbial infection that happened because you opened his chamber so really you do kill him. Though if you side with him you absolutely have to kill the brotherhood of steel(unless you have a pc and get the mod). So really you have to cause one indirect death to do a no-kill run.

 

[aguspal]

Thief II: Metal Age offers a similar experience... It's not a pacifist run, per se, but there are 3 levels of difficulty with the hardest level normally requiring the player to not kill anyone. I'm not 100% certain because I didn't play the whole game on the hardest difficulty, only most of it (One of the nice things about Thief 2 was that you could choose any difficulty level at any stage of the game, leaving the player to decide how to handle each stage scenario individual from the last, or the next).

My favourite thing about Pacifist runs is simply the fact that the choice is available. Should I? Shouldn't I?

I'm kind of with you there; it's the challenge and the availability to accomplish that achievement for me...

Why why why would someone want to do a pacifist run is beyond me.

Other than to make the game harder to themselves, of course. But even then the games are usually not optimized for those kind of things so its usually horrible.

What games are you citing as "usual?"

Um...


Something like 90% of the games in existence?

I mean, pretty much every game I know just plain isint suited for pacifist runs, aka not killing anyone. Except maybe a few special ones like Alpha Protocol, and the game itself aknowledges it so it was intended.

 

[Woodsey]

I eventually got around doing my pacifist run on DXHR on the fifth or so playthrough (I <3 Adam Jensen), but I often find myself staring longingly at all the toys on offer that I can't use.

I've started my second playthrough of Dishonored and abandoned the attempt almost immediately. Far too much fun to mix and match the gear and powers for maximum brutality. That it's actually practical to be highly inventive just makes it harder to resist.

Why why why would someone want to do a pacifist run is beyond me.

Other than to make the game harder to themselves, of course. But even then the games are usually not optimized for those kind of things so its usually horrible.

That's why he's listed ones that are compatible with that and is asking for others that are like it too.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

Alpha Protocol can be played Pacifist, and you get an option to kill or spare every boss right after you defeat them (always take at least one gun skill though for taking out turrets and tranq rounds when you get swamped) be sure to check your intel after every mission to find ways of spending your extra cash to make stealth and fighting easier. Be warned: while you never have to kill anyone it is required that certain people die in the plot. 1 person dies every time and 2 people die if you choose to save innocent civilians instead. (Inversely, only 3 people are guaranteed to live through the game if you choose, you get a choice to kill everyone else)

New Vegas can be played non lethally to the point that all but two quests are entirely resolvable without killing. Beef up your speech, sneak and grab paralyzing palm, boxing gloves, beanbag rounds or the compliance regulator, then get animal friend and be prepared to make some shady deals. Not sure about the DLC, but Im pretty sure DM can be ghosted, HH has non-lethal optional quests, OWB is all about the speech checks and it's boss can be beaten by shutting it down. Not sure about LR but I saw the main bad guy can be made to be friendly so it should be possible. Be warned though, failing speech checks can put in you situations where killing is required so save often and carry a lot of magazines.

Dishonored can obviously, its one of the main selling points.

All Deus Ex games allow pacifism as well.

 

[Spacewolf]

I like them, when i was doing my high chaos dishonoured run it always felt off to be slicing though guards rather than sneaking around them.

Does anybody know if theres a different ending or dialog for going for medium chaos?

 

[HHammond]

Fallout 1 can be completed without directly killing anyone

Spoiler

But you have to persuade the big bad that his plan won't work and he blows up the building he's in, killing everyone inside. You also have to blow up another military base which is filled with mutants.

Fallout 2 cannot be completed without killing at least one character.

Fallout 3 can be completed if you only kill super mutants and a rad roach so that still doesn't really work.

I'm pretty sure New Vegas can be done with no deaths... In fact a guy did it somewhere online. I can't think of any point in the game where you HAVE to kill anyone.

Spoiler

Although in 3 out of 4 of the games you have to remove Mr House from his position of power, and to do this you can just release him from his capsule which is keeping him alive so he dies of old age, this depends on whether you count this or not.

I remmember someone doing a no kill run through on the official forums.

Spoiler: Response to you spoiler

Well he doesn't die of old age he dies of a microbial infection that happened because you opened his chamber so really you do kill him. Though if you side with him you absolutely have to kill the brotherhood of steel(unless you have a pc and get the mod). So really you have to cause one indirect death to do a no-kill run.

Spoiler: Actually I think...

if you you blow up the Brotherhood bunker there's a self destruct sequence and the Brotherhood is evacuated? I've never done this but I've read this online so it's entirely possible I'm wrong.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Fallout 1 can be completed without directly killing anyone

Spoiler

But you have to persuade the big bad that his plan won't work and he blows up the building he's in, killing everyone inside. You also have to blow up another military base which is filled with mutants.

Fallout 2 cannot be completed without killing at least one character.

Fallout 3 can be completed if you only kill super mutants and a rad roach so that still doesn't really work.

I'm pretty sure New Vegas can be done with no deaths... In fact a guy did it somewhere online. I can't think of any point in the game where you HAVE to kill anyone.

Spoiler

Although in 3 out of 4 of the games you have to remove Mr House from his position of power, and to do this you can just release him from his capsule which is keeping him alive so he dies of old age, this depends on whether you count this or not.

I remmember someone doing a no kill run through on the official forums.

Spoiler: Response to you spoiler

Well he doesn't die of old age he dies of a microbial infection that happened because you opened his chamber so really you do kill him. Though if you side with him you absolutely have to kill the brotherhood of steel(unless you have a pc and get the mod). So really you have to cause one indirect death to do a no-kill run.

Spoiler: Actually I think...

if you you blow up the Brotherhood bunker there's a self destruct sequence and the Brotherhood is evacuated? I've never done this but I've read this online so it's entirely possible I'm wrong.

Spoiler: Actually I think...

Spoiler

Spoilers broker bro.

Spoiler: No what really happens is...

No when you blow up the bunker you run out guns blazing and when you get out it explodes and everyone that was in the bunker dies.

 

[Darknacht]

In Planescape: Torment you have to get it to 2 fights, and neither has to end in death, one is against a zombie and the other you can let go after they acknowledge defeat.

 

[beyondbrainmatter]

I once did what might be considered a pacifist run in Samurai Showdown 4, online. Using Sogetsu, I just cherrytapped once and kept away for both rounds or untill my oponent rage quit.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. It's possible to go through the entire game and just letting your companions murder Chinamen for you...

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

I thought you were talking about games where the there was simply no conflict to begin with. "Pacifist Runs" may have been more appropriate.

That said, I still thought of Vib Ribbon for whatever fricking reason.

 

[Lugbzurg]

So, I've gotta think of something that contains even less player-created violence than Portal, ehh? Ok, how about Frogger? Specifically, the 1997 title on Windows 95/98 and the original PlayStation? Konami's also been making a bunch of new Frogger games, lately. Frogger Returns is nothing to write home about, Frogger 3D on the 3DS might be cool, but Frogger: Hyper Arcade Remix seems to shine pretty dang well!

Then, there's Roller Coaster Tycoon! You can totally kill your guests through various ways, such as throwing them into the water and watching them drown or making them blow up in a roller coaster! ...or the ghost train. Heck, I've somehow gotten the water tube ride to cause an explosion.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

I believe there is a pacifist achievement for one of the Half Life 2 Episodes so there's that. Apart from that I can't recall anything that hasn't been mentioned already. I suppose you could be a pacifist in Minecraft.

 

[Azahul]

Also, Dishonored:

Spoiler

I absolutely LOVE the way they enabled also the "bosses" (targets) to be disposed of in non-lethal way, and the fact that so far at least one of these disposals (the first one, I believe) has (morally) pretty interesting consequences later... I was, again, trying for non-lethal, which pretty soon turned into "it's a preffered option, not a requirement" approach. But then again, in the lower wards/assasin territory level, I consciously went for the "kill them all, they're friggin' hitmen with no morals" approach, which I then broke at the bossfight (when the boss gave up and gave his speech) - I came up with an idea for a cool disappearance (slow down time, blink back through the half of the building), which I did, and then realized "this is the guy who killed the empress, what the hell did I just do, letting him live?!", reloaded and killed him.

Also, the only thing I didn't like about it yet: it seems impossible to kill the guy silently right away, I tried several times to slow down time, blink behind him and stealth kill him, but it seems not to work, it always launched the battle, I suspect so the player doesn't miss the final speech.

Spoiler

I managed to kill... Daud, I think his name is, the assassin boss, by shooting him with a sleep dart, which did nothing but did lure him over to the doorway. He didn't come through though, so didn't see me, and when he turned around I stepped out of cover and knocked him unconscious. I read some of the notes in the room, then went over to him and cut his throat as he lay there on the ground.
Until reading your post I didn't realise he gave a speech. Something to bear in mind for my next playthrough