Poll: Taking the Non-lethal approach in games

[Auberon]

I _tried_ to do Human Revolution non-lethally as a challenge. Of course the guys caught the bumbling, clumsy idiot Jensen in the very first sneaking section of chromed-up Adam... and I stopped there. Not as if I managed even the bloody tutorial without killing or alerts.

 

[iwinatlife]

well in assassins creed when given my elegant selection of weapons...I Pick the largest mace I can weild and bash every skull between me and my target. So yeah less stealth more kill

 

[Autumnflame]

Hitman series you can generally go full stealth but you have to kill someone to complete the mission

 

[Bertylicious]

In Deus Ex: HR you got 50 xp for each non-lethal takedown. You got 10 for shooting a dude, 20 if you capped him in the melon. Your skills directly translated to your ability to get more stuff, in order to get more xp, in order to level up enough skills to fully access all the content in the game.

In my eyes that is not a choice. That is the game saying "this is the best path to take, this is what you should aspire to do." I haven't got a problem with that, I often like games that offer higher rewards for higher difficulty levels.

Now, I'd like to say that in other games where a more balanced approach to non-violence is possible that I have the tranquillity of the ghost of Ghandi but the truth is I revel in base slaughter; my character wading knee deep in the dead, their cut-short screams a choir singing my hypocrisy, towards the "good" ending.

 

[chadachada123]

I tend to not kill those who don't deserve to die, or who it would be immoral to kill, if given the option.

For example, I don't kill, say, Grunts that run away in Halo, because they aren't a threat; it would essentially be a war crime. Same thing with dying or fleeing soldiers in Call of Duty, etc. If someone is slowly crawling away after being shot, I'm not going to shoot them. (I might if it was in real life, as a merciful death)

I wouldn't know my thoughts on stealth games, though, since I haven't played any in a long time.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

The only game in which I have enjoyed a stealthy approach over a more combat oriented play-style was in Bioshock: Buried at Sea - Episode 2.

This dlc alone actually solved the issue of how to make the Bioshock franchise both challenging and suspenseful after our first visit into the world of Rapture.

By forcing players to plan their actions while still having a sense of hesitation should something go wrong, it made them feel like they were playing a completely different game. The stealth made it possible to feel both empowered and vulnerable, as you had all the tools to getting away scott free or completely making a mess of things, while still providing an equal degree challenge and difficulty to both approaches.

 

[Flammablezeus]

I usually play non-lethally (for the most part) in games where it's a decent option. One gripe I have is when games allow you to knock people out without any risk of killing them or having them wake up (I'm looking at you Dishonored.) To me that's just incredibly lazy, as there's no discernible difference between killing somebody and putting them to sleep.

I like the option to knock people out, but it shouldn't be anywhere near as easy as it currently is in games. There needs to be more risk involved, such as hitting somebody too hard or strangling them too long which would result in death, or not hitting them hard enough or strangling them long enough which would result in an angry enemy. Plus, people should wake up after a short period of time if they're just knocked out.

I love the idea of drugging somebody to knock them out but not giving them a high enough dose, so they end up wobbling all over the place like a drunk, yet they'd be aware that something's not right. It's just one of those little touches that would make stealth actually feel more like stealth.

 

[Flammablezeus]

Edit: The double post was because captcha messed up and made me enter something twice.

 

[al4674]

It really depends on the game. I did a non-lethal playthrough in Dishonored and in no way was the experience fun or interesting. Going in non-lethal made the game less fun, severely restricted my choices both in the use of weapons and gadgets and made the overall experience frustrating and mundane. Consequently, Deus Ex was fun, because going non-lethal didn't restrict you that much and game gave you enough tools for a non-lethal playthrough to make it fun.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

I checked "I don't like unnecessary violence" but I simply run for non-lethal if I can just because it's different.
I know it's all the same in the game, the player incapacitated him, make the enemy stop moving but personally I just like the idea that he or she is not dead, I didn't kill them. Most of the time it's stealth but since I'm terrible at stealth, I'm more likely to bluntly incapacitate (which I'm sure in most games is still killing) but take Watch_Dogs. I'd rather use the baton before I use a gun, and when I *do* use a gun, well, I'd like to say I aim for the knees (which by the way, I find a neat little kink in the game) but in a hasty firefight, I really can't focus that well.
It's just that I've played enough game where killing is the only way, I appreciate something different. Not because it's hurting my conscious or anything, it doesn't unless the game goes all Spec Ops: The Line on me and says "Yeah, killing isn't actually as candid as it seems" and I do appreciate those thought provoking moments but I just go non-lethal because it's different is all.

 

[G00N3R7883]

The vast majority of the time I prefer to kill my enemies, mainly because its easier. Deal with the threat now while I'm in control, so they don't give me a bigger problem later. I'll try to stay hidden/quiet for as long as possible and get stealth kills (I think this is Splinter Cell Blacklist's "Panther" style), but as soon as I'm spotted I'll switch a more aggressive style.

The only exceptions would be in an RPG, I might spare someone for story reasons, or if there's an achievement I'm targeting on a second playthrough such as the one in Deus Ex HR.

 

[the doom cannon]

just remember that if you want the nonlethal achievement, it includes the prologue mission as well. I tend to attempt nonlethal, but have no qualms about killing someone here and there.

 

[nevarran]

Given the chance I always go for the stealth approach.
It's not only more challenging and satisfying, but also more realistic and immersive.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

Having a game sour your ending because you decided to use all the cool weapons and takedown abilities you acquired during the entire breadth of the game instead of the one or two tools you had from the very beginning is fucking bullshit. Dishonored is the biggest offender in this aspect.

 

[veloper]

Sometimes for the fun, challenge and the alternative end scene, but the game designer has to make the non-lethal stealth bits fun (or short and mandatory, at the expense of enjoyment), or I won't bother.

That means guns and explosions most of the time.

 

[Avalanche91]

Depends on whether or not I feel they deserved it.

Mark of the Ninja pitted you against, what felt essentially, like Mall security for the first part of the game and those don't really stand much of a chance against a ninja. Once I got a hang of the controls, I rarely bothered with killing at all (but those FUCKING DOGS).

 

[Robert Marrs]

If it actually gets me anything or is more challenging I may give it a shot the second time around. As a general rule though I actually go out of my way sometimes to make sure I kill everyone in stealth games. I think its hilarious when there is just one guy walking around who still has not noticed all his buddies are missing. Also you don't have to worry about some alarm going off and all those people you left alive coming after you.

 

[Thyunda]

I do it because I can. There's literally thousands of games where you just kill shit to progress. If I've got an option to do it non-lethally, I'll do it simply because it's different.

What he said.

Although there's really not much point to it. I mean, it just consists of playing the game the same as always except using "stun bullets" and a blackjack instead of regular bullets and a knife. Or you get the Dishonored approach where 90% of the tools at your disposal are lethal, so non-lethal players get to use precisely fuck all.

And there you've got the reason I don't often play stealth. Too often it's just the same game with slower-reloading weapons.


OT - Never be afraid to retreat. That's always an effective way to minimise casualties, and doesn't always require stealth. If you get caught, you don't always have to just shoot your way out, you CAN wet yourself and make a dash for the way you came in.

 

[happyninja42]

I always pick the non-lethal route if given the option. As I've stated in another post about video game violence, I've just grown tired and bored with it over the years. I like having options that don't all boil down to "and then I killed him, so problem solved."

Now I'm not against it in games, like the OP said, it makes sense in games like God of War, or Borderlands 2, but when given the option I always take it.


The only time it slightly irks me is when the fact that you did or didn't kill anyone factor directly into the quality of ending you get. Like Dishonored and Deus EX: HR. Yeah, they give you some wiggle room if you have a low body count, which is fine, but I do admit, against my usual aversion to being an Achievement Getter, that "Pacifist" achievement in games does dangle in front of me a lot, and I want it. That's one of the few times where I will really bust my ass to try and get an achievement in a game, the non-lethal achievement.

In some games it's not even a big problem, like in Mirror's Edge. That game was so focused on avoiding conflict by simply parkour'ing past it, that the achievement was pretty much a sure thing. Other games though, it can be more of a challenge.

But yeah, rambling aside, I love non-lethal options, and happily take them when possible.

*Edit* I especially like it when the game rewards you for the non-lethal approach with bonus xp. Because if you ignore the badguys, depending on the game mechanic, you are basically missing out on XP, which means being stealthy and non-lethal can hamper your progression. So, at the end of the mission, you get a bonus xp chunk for not being seen or setting off alarms, to help mitigate that discrepency. I like that, like in DE:HR. It helps to encourage the non-lethal/non-combat/avoidance game style, where you don't feel like your missing anything.

 

[go-10]

I like playing without ever being noticed, but I don't like letting enemies live. Taking them out undetected and staying undetected through it all is just fun for me to do