Stealth Games - A rare breed

[Chicago Ted]

Cause good stealth is tricky. So far Hitman is my vote for good stealth though.
Also Yahtzee made such a game, but its 2D I think. Or 1.5D I guess since modern games are and are not 3D.

Art of Theft. Yes, Trilby's adventure was quite fun. What I'm saying is, why aren't there any fully developed games like that? I don't know, I just enjoy the whole cat-burglar/thief concept.
I've never had the chance to play Hitman, unfortunately, so I can't say one way or the other about it. I'm almost absolutely certain, however, that Hitman's gameplay is more violence based, being a game focused around assassination. I want a stealth game that discourages violence and encourages you to have the stealth abilities of an over-glorified ninja.

Try Hitman. The point of it is to do a hit, yes, but it's to do it in as silent and sneaky a manner as possible. Make things look like accidents, or do it quietly when no one is around. And don't say it doesn't discourage violence enough. Play on the harder difficulties and you won't have that problem. And hell, I find it a lot more fun to not creep around in the shadows, but to hide in a crowd as the unknown. Here's a bit of a detailed account on my favourite assassination:

Three targets, one hotel. One target has a briefcase of diamonds I want to retrieve, the other one of biological material. There is an exchange taking place between a Shiekh for this biological stuff. The one with the diamonds is the scientist waiting to confirm it's real so the exchange may occur. First I wait for the scientist to go into an elevator to his room. I wait until he comes in the strangle him, and pull his body to lie on top of it. I take the briefcase of diamonds to my escape. Then I go back to my floor and wait for the man with the biological briefcase. I wait until the doors to his room open before quickly rushing at him with my fibre wire and strangeling him. I hide his body in his bathroom, and dress as him. I then pick up the briefcase and place a bomb inside. Then I go to the exchange. I meet my final target, and leave the briefcase with him. I then excuse myself to go the bathroom. Once I am out of the guards sights, I detonate the bomb, killing the final target, before moving through the fleeing crowds to my exit, with the diamonds in hand.

Careful planning an execution make Blood Money extremely enjoyable. Don't doubt it.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Crysis had a fun part with the cloaking and the high speed stuff. If it had been made as a stealth game it could still have worked.

I like to refer to it as "Predator vs. Koreans". Honestly, wait for a patrol to go by before suddenly running towards them from behind, grabbing one, and running back into the jungle.

I remember one time as well when there was a two man patrol in front of a base I needed to get into. I couldn't kill one without the alarm being raised, and I couldn't do it loudly. So I snuck up behind them, and grabbed one of them, hurled him at the other with strenght, killing one of them, then standing above their bodies as the other looked up to finally put a single silenced pistol round into him. All of this happened within a hundred yards of two machine gun bunkers and sniper towers. Felt bad ass after doing it.

 

[Zeromaeus]

Crysis had a fun part with the cloaking and the high speed stuff. If it had been made as a stealth game it could still have worked.

I like to refer to it as "Predator vs. Koreans". Honestly, wait for a patrol to go by before suddenly running towards them from behind, grabbing one, and running back into the jungle.

I remember one time as well when there was a two man patrol in front of a base I needed to get into. I couldn't kill one without the alarm being raised, and I couldn't do it loudly. So I snuck up behind them, and grabbed one of them, hurled him at the other with strenght, killing one of them, then standing above their bodies as the other looked up to finally put a single silenced pistol round into him. All of this happened within a hundred yards of two machine gun bunkers and sniper towers. Felt bad ass after doing it.

I like ramming into people in speed mode. Some of them would freak the crap out when they saw you running at them.

So, with Hitman, i should just start with number one right?

 

[Googenstien]

Stealth games just arent as fun for most people.. as said here a few times in this thread. Sitting in a bush waiting just isnt fun. Plus most games with stealth also have weapons and most times you can just walk up and bash an enemy or shoot him instead of waiting 20 mins for the right moment.

 

[Krantos]

(Second option is splinter cell: conviction BTW)

Protip: don't use Conviction when trying to advertise Stealth games, it's a mere shell of a stealth game, it's stripped away so many of the great features that made earlier titles great and it's basically a short mediocre 3rd person shooter with stealth elements. Oh yeah and we had to wait 4 freaking years for it.

Nice double post btw.

Anyway, SC:C is a stealth game, just not the campaign, which sucks. Honestly, I don't know who's head was shoved up who's rectum during the design phase of the single player.

However, Denied Ops is a ton of fun and very stealthy. Ok, sure Last stand is a load of bull, and infiltration's objective should have just been to get the end of the map, but hunter and infiltration are still a blast. Especially the new maps they released with the insurgency pack, which are easily the best maps in the entire game; huge, sprawling and with a myriad of possible paths.

 

[Zeromaeus]

(Second option is splinter cell: conviction BTW)

Protip: don't use Conviction when trying to advertise Stealth games, it's a mere shell of a stealth game, it's stripped away so many of the great features that made earlier titles great and it's basically a short mediocre 3rd person shooter with stealth elements. Oh yeah and we had to wait 4 freaking years for it.

Nice double post btw.

Anyway, SC:C is a stealth game, just not the campaign, which sucks. Honestly, I don't know who's head was shoved up who's rectum during the design phase of the single player.

However, Denied Ops is a ton of fun and very stealthy. Ok, sure Last stand is a load of bull, and infiltration's objective should have just been to get the end of the map, but hunter and infiltration are still a blast. Especially the new maps they released with the insurgency pack, which are easily the best maps in the entire game; huge, sprawling and with a myriad of possible paths.

That's good and all, and I like Splinter Cell, but stealth games need to have good stealth in single player too, ya know?

 

[Commissar Sae]

Maybe because opening up the game into one massive onslaught of huge fight scenes attracted a larger audience?

I would recommend Sniper: Ghost Warrior to you. Quite stealthy.

I was kind of disapointed by that game actually. Maybe its because the stealth felt so one sided after playing thief. One second I'm sneaking through bushes and all of a sudden half a dozen guys see me and I'm full of holes. That and the fact that you don't seem to have many real sniping opportunities as my average kill distance was maybe 30-50 feet away rather than the epic distances I was hoping for. I have to toy with the game a bit more before I can really give it a final verdict though.

OT: the Thief series was excellent for stealth. Even Thief 3 was pretty good. You screw up something in a mission and you basically have to high tail it to avoid horrifying death.

Blah

Just checking but you wouldn't happen to go by the Steam ID Thrillzapper would you? If so we need to game at some point soon, otherwise you have the same avatar as a friend of mine, which is also cool.

 

[Commissar Sae]

So, with Hitman, i should just start with number one right?

I'd probably avoid hitman 1. It's pretty buggy, a lot of the gameplay hadn't been refined yet and the graphics haven't aged well at all. Silent Assassin (hitman 2) is much better on the whole and plenty of fun even without playin the first game.

 

[Acaroid]

What's with this. Why are stealth games so uncommon? I really like the concepts of beating a game through stealth, yet the entire concept seems to fall out of most games. Why is that?

Honestly, I'd like a game where you play as a cat burglar or master thief or something and the whole point of the game was to steal things and not get caught. That would be fun to me. No violence necessary, just sneaking.

Why do you, members of the escapist, believe there are so few genuine stealth games? What would you guys want from one?

(Don't mention Metal Gear. I love Metal Gear, but stealth wasn't the primary focus of the last game)

You mean like the original thief? well parts of it anyway, some parts are just rubbish LOL.
But yes they are missing a really good stealth thief like game that doesn't have a Tom Clancy or Metal Gear badge stuck all over it!!

 

[J a m m y]

So, with Hitman, i should just start with number one right?

I found number one wasn't anywhere near as good as Silent Assassin and Blood Money. It was alright however, I'd recommend buying the Hitman pack on Steam, it's $20 for all three (as opposed to $10 each). If you do get them all, you really need to play them in order. The plots aren't very connected, but each one improves on the previous so much that after playing it you won't enjoy the early ones as much.

Also, Theif: Deadly Shadows works in such a way that in between missions you get a (quite small) sandbox city to wander around in. There's not too much to it, but you can rob various houses and taverns and evade guards. I've spent hours just going around the city ignoring the main plot. Some of the main missions are fun too.

 

[slowpoke999]

You know what would be fun, a game reminiscent of the barefoot bandit who was caught a few weeks ago,stealing shit, driving stolen planes, wilderness survival,being a fugitive across the country.

 

[octafish]

So, with Hitman, i should just start with number one right?

I'd probably avoid hitman 1. It's pretty buggy, a lot of the gameplay hadn't been refined yet and the graphics haven't aged well at all. Silent Assassin (hitman 2) is much better on the whole and plenty of fun even without playin the first game.

I seem to remember some not at all stealthy parts of the first game too. Wasn't there a jungle level that was pretty much run 'n' gun? Blood Money is the best and the prettiest, but if you play that first you won't be able to go back to the older games.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Because stealth games have a smaller audience than games where all the back of the box says is

WIZZ, BANG! *SHOOT*

The closest thing to stealth games i have seen is hitman, to this point i know i have been ninja'd but the point still stands.

Someone needs to play Thief.

Seriously, Hitman is like a babyman's version of Thief.

 

[Tallim]

Try the original Forbidden Siren, you spend half the game hiding behind boxes waiting for the right moment to leg it.

The Thief series is really good especially on the harder difficulties (which nicely require you to do more stuff rather than making enemies harder)

Edit: I forgot Tenchu, not for everyone though as it is a bit clunky and awkward at times, I loved them though, especially Wrath Of Heaven

 

[Zeromaeus]

Try the original Forbidden Siren, you spend half the game hiding behind boxes waiting for the right moment to leg it.

The Thief series is really good especially on the harder difficulties (which nicely require you to do more stuff rather than making enemies harder)

Edit: I forgot Tenchu, not for everyone though as it is a bit clunky and awkward at times, I loved them though, especially Wrath Of Heaven

I almost forgot Tenchu. Those games were great...

 

[Vrach]

Just checking but you wouldn't happen to go by the Steam ID Thrillzapper would you? If so we need to game at some point soon, otherwise you have the same avatar as a friend of mine, which is also cool.

Hah, no, sorry, the avatar is from the www.LFGcomic.com, they have some tiny avatar-size pics as "extras" and I loved this one for several reasons... I got it mostly for my WoW/guild forums as I play a Feral Druid Cat, but use it pretty much anywhere now

 

[Zeromaeus]

Just checking but you wouldn't happen to go by the Steam ID Thrillzapper would you? If so we need to game at some point soon, otherwise you have the same avatar as a friend of mine, which is also cool.

Hah, no, sorry, the avatar is from the www.LFGcomic.com, they have some tiny avatar-size pics as "extras" and I loved this one for several reasons... I got it mostly for my WoW/guild forums as I play a Feral Druid Cat, but use it pretty much anywhere now

Okay, Richard. Or should I say Dick?
Lolololol. I said dick.
LFG is a really good webcomic, ya?

Now back to stealthy-ness...
...
Someone else say something.

 

[Kalabrikan]

Honestly, I'd like a game where you play as a cat burglar or master thief or something and the whole point of the game was to steal things and not get caught. That would be fun to me. No violence necessary, just sneaking.

Thief II: The Metal Age. On many of the missions on Expert, one of the objectives is to not kill anyone. You need to disable any multi-core processor you have in order to play it, but it's well worth it.

 

[Badong]

Painkiller!The Thief series, Hitman series(especially Blood Money), Splinter Cell

It passes the time.

 

[Vrach]

Okay, Richard. Or should I say Dick?
Lolololol. I said dick.
LFG is a really good webcomic, ya?

Yeah I love calling people Richardheads and see how long it takes them to get it...

Anyway yus, one of the better webcomics, though I stopped reading it a while ago, it's one of my "I'm bored to death" web locations now where I just stop by and catch up on the story once in a while rather than keeping track of every new release ^^

OT: Hitman games are awesome, but yeah, I'd suggest skipping the first. Everything further from there you'll enjoy as long as you can handle old games, though personally, my favourite is the latest, even though it just copies a lot of levels from the previous games, it does add a LOT more pleasant gameplay compared to the earlier ones.

For example, in previous games, barring a few disguises, most people, even unrelated civilians/workers/etc. will be able to see through your disguise and sound an alarm, which makes little to no sense and just adds a hell of a lot of frustration at times.

Also, I believe it's the only game where you get to choose your load-out and you can upgrade/modify your weapons in a lot of different ways, which I find is a very enjoyable aspect that allows you to tailor the weapons to your style of gameplay perfectly and gives a lot of replay value if you decide to try other playstyles.