Stealth gaming,has it peaked?

[pippin]

Tenchu was p. cool.

 

[Beastro]

I hate Alien Isolation. Also, everytime that stupid Alien would see me I would run and hide in a locker. I also like how it magically forgets about you the moment you are done clearing the section with triggers designed to trigger the alien in the first place.

Everytime I went into a locker it was a deathtrap winding up with me trying to hold me breath, the good it did. Was more effective, and less believable, to hide under something like a table and stay just out of sight as the Xeno walked around it until it had enough and left despite it being very much able to have seen you if it had be a real situation.

I'd recommend playing it with the mod that removes the tether the Xeno has on you, iirc called Unpredictable Alien. It very much is that, where at times it feels like you're running around facing no threat at all and then it'll appear. It also messes with certain tactics like making noise to bring it to kill people, since banging on stuff or throwing a noise maker is no longer a guarantee of making it appear.

Tenchu was p. cool.

That it was, but it was a very arcadey stealth game. That and the fact that it was a console game in the late 90s meant half the games challenge was fighting the controls to look where you'd want to.

 

[Freddie]

I see No One Lives Forever 2 mentioned, but first one was IMO better, even though it didn't had any sort of "stealth meter" or maybe because of that. Stealth was difficult but rewarding, there was even health and armour bonus for non-lethal / stealth completion of levels.

Splinter Cell games at least 1 - 3 were good too, but IIRC levels weren't as big and lifelike, with pedestrians and others people, like in Nolf 1.

 

[Carrion]

I see No One Lives Forever 2 mentioned, but first one was IMO better, even though it didn't had any sort of "stealth meter" or maybe because of that.

It's a much better game, but as a stealth game it's notably more limited, having just a basic noise system and being mostly about staying out of the line of sight of enemies. The sequel is more fleshed-out in this regard.

 

[Freddie]

I see No One Lives Forever 2 mentioned, but first one was IMO better, even though it didn't had any sort of "stealth meter" or maybe because of that.

It's a much better game, but as a stealth game it's notably more limited, having just a basic noise system and being mostly about staying out of the line of sight of enemies. The sequel is more fleshed-out in this regard.

IIRC there were good ideas in NOLF 2, but implementation didn't worked out that well. Hiding in the shadows didn't always worked out perhaps because of buggy AI and I recall at least two levels, latter part of Asian village and one of the later levels where stealth approach just didn't worked out, maybe because of bugs or game play design choices, even if level design and mechanics should allowed stealth approach to be used.

Even NOLF had very simple stealth mechanics per se, level design was far more suitable for different sort of approaches. I recall skyscraper construction site level being kinda stealth puzzle that was most difficult for stealth run, but also very rewarding once I figured it out.

So I don't know. NOLF 2 had new stealth play gadgets, hide in the shadows system, enemies noticing foot tracks in snow, I don't recall what else, but even after all that effort I don't recall they worked out that well in the game. It did get lot of flak because of respawning enemies, which were supposed to encourage stealth play but I don't think was necessarily the main problem, but that stealth system wasn't that reliable and other game design decisions could made it frustrating experience at times.

I guess some sort of hybrid design would be most interesting for me. But what comes to later titles I recall police station level in Deus Ex HR being fun, but otherwise I didn't find it that great.

I guess it's marketing decision to some point... Idea of soldier doing some sort of spy stuff is easier to sell than idea about stealing a diamond from display case in a museum, or something outlandish, like there is a bell in a tower, it's big and it's heavy, but there is a collector who wants it. Even though latter scenarios might give room for more interesting gameplay, ideas might be difficult to sell.

 

[Deflowerer]

Tenchu was p. cool.

Might be interested in this, then.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/280160/

 

[Sykar]

Fallout 3 had great stealth.

Spoiler

 

[Master]

Heres a mod for SC 3 so you can play it in FP

http://www.moddb.com/games/tom-clan...s/splinter-cell-chaos-theory-first-person-mod

Tell me honestly is this thing worth playing? I never bothered because of TPP and the story put me to sleep but may try it with this mod.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Hitman: Blood Money and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory are the best stealth games I've played.

I haven't played the Thief games yet.

MGS 5 and Dishonored were decent attempts, but too easy. In MGS 5 you could just tranq and balloon everyone. In Dishonored, you could just blink everywhere.

 

[Master]

You probably should play Thief.

 

[sullynathan]

Tell me honestly is this thing worth playing?

Of course its worth playing. Outside of Thief, Chaos Theory is the best stealth game in the past decade.

 

[Master]

So i finished CT. Not bad but it seemed pretty linear. Wide open levels of Thief, these are not. That so hyped up bank level for example, had just two ways in... Disappointing. And all the objectives boiled down to: find some dudes computer and download some files. Fuck, how exciting.

But messing with the AI was fun and sometimes it was pretty tense.

However...

Somehow, while playing this, i realized that some years ago i actually COMPLETED the first and the fourth SC game... Holy shit! This means two things.

1. I am too old for this shit and my memory is the first to go

2. These games were so boring that i cant remember a single thing about them


Everything i know tells me its #2 but later i browsed some old magazine with Double Agent review inside.

And it says things i cant believe. Different endings? Codex trademarked C&C? Two opposed factions giving you conflicting goals? Somekinda Mask of the Betrayer-o-meter that can cause game over if youre too dumb? What?

Things improve even on the story front. Instead of whateverthefuck is going on in Chaos Theory, here we have Fisher infiltrating a terrorist cell and doing missions for THEM. WHAM! BAM! Instantly intriguing and no need to reach for a Wikipedia article explaining the story... Furtheremore, Fishers close family member is dead, leading him to a path of ruin and desperation. Excellent.


Codex is this true? Is Double Agent an undiscovered gem? Is it the Blood Money of the Splinter Cell series? Is it like Alpha Protocol but with gameplay? Please tell me that it is...

 

[sullynathan]

Double agent is pretty boring and was linear compared to chaos theory. I haven't finished it yet but you have to juggle between the NSA and terrorists mid mission depending on your actions like killing people and doing extra objectives.

 

[tormund]

I've heard some praise for the Xbox/PS2 version which was supposedly developed by much of the same team and should play p much like more of Chaos Theory, whereas the version for PC and then new consoles was a wholly different game from it, and was developed by different team.
Never played the former so i can't vouch for that. But I often saw people making that claim about PS2/Xbox version of Double Agent.

 

[skacky]

I love Chaos Theory but yeah, level design is way more restrictive and enclosed than Thief overall. I see Chaos Theory's maps more like a series of obstacles rather than a more or less freeform and organic sandbox like Thief's.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I heard that despite some popmole things, Splinter Cell: Blacklist is actually good. Is this true?

 

[Master]

Well it seems the rumors are true. This is some bugged up shit. The game lacks shadows ffs. you have to manually edit the ini file and turn on the shadows and bunch of other stuff. And somehow it still looks worse than CT or is it just me. WTF

But damn im pushing through it just on the account of the great main theme

Spoiler

Goddamn this breaks my hearth.

 

[sullynathan]

Nothing trumps the music in Chaos Theory.

 

[Master]

Come on dont be a hipster, CT music is just a bunch of random sounds. But this is some Tony Scot level of emotional engagement. Its really cool how they harmonized the clicking sounds with the theme. So just by clicking around you *help* make the theme. Genius. Combined with those shots of Sam pulling the gun... Damn its like when Bruce Willis blows up the asteroid in Armageddon. Its that level... Gamings most emotional moment - clicking around in Double Agent main menu.

 

[sullynathan]

These trump anything I've heard in double agent so far.

Spoiler

 

[Master]

Hmm okay Battery is kinda cool. But i cant remember hearing it anywhere, maybe because of how they did it ingame cause on wikipedia it says

"In-game music sequences are similar but not identical to the official soundtrack, as most of the in-game music is produced by layering different sequences together."

Thats how it felt in the game, kinda like a disjointed mess. It wouldve been better if it was like in Hitman, one long theme playing until combat starts. but they had to be French about it. I guess it fits the confusing narrative or something.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

No. The best Main Menu OST that I have heard is no doubt the one from Shadow Warrior 2.



Well anyway. What's your opinion on Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

 

[Master]

The first minute is cool but then...

Blacklist? I dont know im not a Splinter Cell expert. But i watched some video and the first thing i see is Sam Fisher firing an AK 47 at some dudes while everything explodes around him. So it doesnt look good.

 

[Ivan]

heresy or truth?

 

[Darth Slaughter]

heresy or truth?

About SC:Blacklist, I'd say truth... The gameplay is different from old SC (which was similar to original thiefs), but it works as an stealth game in a modern hi-tech world....