Stealth

[simon oeyen]

Hi there everyone,

If there is one stealth related game I truly love and haven't heard mention by Yahtzee it's Commandos. Okay, the first one and its expension pack where piss-easy because you could solve almost all problems by standing behind a wall and clicking very fast with your pistol on every enemy that wondered around the corner... But I enjoyed the second and third instalment very much (and considered checking them out again to see if they held up to my memories). I feel like there aren't many stealth-based games, and certainly none where you benefit careful planning. The fact that you clear a certain area at the first go because you studied guard patterns and planned when to take out which guard and where to hide the bodies is extremely satisfying. I certainly wonder if Yahtzee ever played them.

PS: A little praise to Yahtzee because I've been a long time fan of his reviews (or criticisms) and had to agree on them even when they were about a game I love. Keep 'em coming!

 

[simon oeyen]

you said mixing game styles would be rubbish. well AC2 does it. you sneak around with your hidden blade. then there are fighting gaurd moments. and escaping gaurd moments. all 3 combined. and it generally scored highly. you can even do nothing (tea party).

Though I think you are right about the elements all being in Assassins Creed 2, but it lacks in execution... In the original AC were moments when you HAD to flee because of a huge horde of baddies following you, but in AC2 are no moments of fear. Even when my health dropped as low as just one block, I'd still focus for a sec and finish the fight with no problems. In fact, the only moment when I was running was for time challenges or just for the fun, but never with someone following me...

 

[simon oeyen]

you said mixing game styles would be rubbish. well AC2 does it. you sneak around with your hidden blade. then there are fighting gaurd moments. and escaping gaurd moments. all 3 combined. and it generally scored highly. you can even do nothing (tea party).

Though I think you are right about the elements all being in Assassins Creed 2, but it lacks in execution... In the original AC were moments when you HAD to flee because of a huge horde of baddies following you, but in AC2 are no moments of fear. Even when my health dropped as low as just one block, I'd still focus for a sec and finish the fight with no problems. In fact, the only moment when I was running was for time challenges or just for the fun, but never with someone following me...

 

[JoshGod]

you said mixing game styles would be rubbish. well AC2 does it. you sneak around with your hidden blade. then there are fighting gaurd moments. and escaping gaurd moments. all 3 combined. and it generally scored highly. you can even do nothing (tea party).

Though I think you are right about the elements all being in Assassins Creed 2, but it lacks in execution... In the original AC were moments when you HAD to flee because of a huge horde of baddies following you, but in AC2 are no moments of fear. Even when my health dropped as low as just one block, I'd still focus for a sec and finish the fight with no problems. In fact, the only moment when I was running was for time challenges or just for the fun, but never with someone following me...

Please refrain from messaging in old topics, this is over a year old, also please edit your second post when you get a double post. As you are a new member these mistakes are understandable, but please learn from them. As this topic is so old Lets no longer bump it, if however you wish to contine talking do so directly through my profile instead of through this thread.

 

[TheUnbeholden]

a game with a three-act plot would use all three corners of the triangle - start out with evasion when you're vulnerable, use stealth in the middle to redress the balance guerrilla-style, then gain sufficient strength to sort everything out with violence in the end.

that's exactly what Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth did!

bingo, yahtzee!!!

though I don't appreciate the respawning enemies in alot of the stealth sections... forcing evasion on us when we've just gotten some guns was a bad move. But the game did the triangle pretty well for the most part.

Hmmmm....

The whole conflict triangle thing got me thinking about Uncharted 2 oddly enough.
See you begin that game in a very weak position and have to literally climb your way up through death and destruction. In fact you don't have a legitimate conflict with an enemy until about half an hour into the game. But the game does do a good job of making you feel less than all powerful at times.
There are plenty of evasion set pieces as well of slap dash plans that only succeed due to luck and skill. You can stealth it up a little bit, but those generally take a back seat to the action.

There are probably better examples of this, but really Uncharted 2 seems closest to your desired triangle to me....

Hitman my friend. There where some parts where evasion was a better choice and where going in guns blazing was usually a bad choice making the game harder but could if you want.

Splinter Cell doesn't appeal to all people. Still I find it stupid that Ben likes Hitman stealth but seems to dislike Splinter Cell stealth, even for the reasons he mentioned.

-_- Hitman is one of the most non-linear games out there. Its a oxymoron as no game can be 100% non linear like Yahtzee said, but its not as linear as Splinter and probably one of the best games out there when it comes to giving players choice.
There are many routes to enter / get to your target and many ways to go about doing it. Enemies/innocents go about their daily routine regardless of whether Agent 47 is around or not which makes the world feel alive... and not dependent on the player like Sam Fishers is.
Very few games do not use position triggers (or use it sparringly) and Hitman is a excellent example.