Tom Clancy -esque spy-thrillers ?

[Alienman]

It seems to me the gaming industry have steered away completely from semi-realistic spy-thrillers, like Splinter Cell, Metal Gear (besides the far out there Japanese stuff) and Deus Ex (Cyberpunk but I still find it fits). So I'm wondering if maybe you know something good coming, or maybe there is some golden oldie that are not that known?

In my own searches I found Cold War on Steam. Not played it myself yet but looks promising. There is also Mission: Impossible - Operation Surma for PS2 and Xbox. Never played but looks promising too, maybe as a budget Splinter Cell? I also read that Splinter Cell: Double Agent for OG Xbox is totally different from what was released for Xbox 360 and PC, supposedly it's more alike Chaos Theory than, well, what we got.

But that is all what I got so far so any tips would be appreciated!

Edit:

Forgot to add, one recent game I played that wasn't too bad actually (especially for 10 bucks only) was Ghost Recon: Breakpoint - but only if you play it with immersion mode and preferable with a friend. I know many prefer the cartel story, but I actually thought this new story was intriguing and felt very - maybe not Tom Clancy but more Michael Crichton. Also Sam Fisher makes an appearance later in the game

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Let me give you the biggest tip you'll get. In the '80s there was a game adaptation of The Hunt for Red October. This is based on the novel and not the book. Don't play it, its shit. Red Storm Rising and SSN, are fine but they're not what you're looking for. October is just completely shit. There are a couple of other strategy games based off Clancy's works, they're...well, I haven't played Shadow Watch, but ruthless.com is weird. And not what you want.
The only thing I can think of that directly fits what you want is Alpha Protocol and Covert Action. Alpha Protocol is specifically what you want, and its an RPG too. Covert Action...is more of a crime thriller, but you might be interested in that. There's also Shadow President and its sequel Cyberjudas, a pair of strategy games where you're the president, which, while not exactly spy-thrillers, are a bit Tom Clancy-esque.
Haven't played, might be interesting to you:
Mission Impossible
Traitor's Gate
Winback

 

[Alienman]

Ah, Alpha Protocol, can't believe I forgot that one. Played it many times so not sure how I could.

Traitor's Gate and Winback looks pretty interesting, never heard about them. Thanks.

 

[sser]

Invisible Inc and Silent Storm: Hammer & Sickle for strategy stuff. Phantom Doctrine also came out recently but I've yet to try it. The Shadowrun games have a thriller-y vibe.

The Hitman series is probably closest to Splinter Cell, it's just that you're hiding in the open instead of the shadows. But the concept of traipsing about the world tasked by "top men" is more or less the same.

Alpha Protocol is literally a spy-thriller RPG with the most frustrating blend of "this could be great" and "this kinda fucking sucks" possibly ever.

Number of adventure games I suppose, Gemini Rue is one I'd take a look at.

Splinter Cell is the GOAT, though. After Chaos Theory I've never been really satisfied with any other game at least when it comes to pacing and immersion into that sort of genre.

 

[Alienman]

Yeah, I was considering Hitman, since some missions truly feel Clancy. Like when you infiltrate secret labs set up by lunatics with a new world order in mind, but most of the missions/games feels pretty mundane compared. But man, I would love if they made a new stealth series in the same vein but with more of a spy-thriller approach instead of random assassinations.

 

[agentorange]

Yeah, I was considering Hitman, since some missions truly feel Clancy. Like when you infiltrate secret labs set up by lunatics with a new world order in mind, but most of the missions/games feels pretty mundane compared. But man, I would love if they made a new stealth series in the same vein but with more of a spy-thriller approach instead of random assassinations.

Have you played Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002)? Story wise it's quite different than the other Hitman games, with a lot of the targets being high ranking Russian generals, Afghanistan terrorist groups, etc. Has more of a thriller feeling to it than the other games.

 

[Alienman]

Yeah, I was considering Hitman, since some missions truly feel Clancy. Like when you infiltrate secret labs set up by lunatics with a new world order in mind, but most of the missions/games feels pretty mundane compared. But man, I would love if they made a new stealth series in the same vein but with more of a spy-thriller approach instead of random assassinations.

Have you played Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002)? Story wise it's quite different than the other Hitman games, with a lot of the targets being high ranking Russian generals, Afghanistan terrorist groups, etc. Has more of a thriller feeling to it than the other games.

Long time ago, but I do remember skulking about looking to kill some Russian top official. Will check it out again.

 

[CaffeineConquistador]

Spycraft: The Great Game - mid-90s adventure with a unique twist of the KGB Russian state security services and the CIA working together to save the U.S. President. Former CIA director William Colby advised on it before he kicked off.

Goldeneye for the N64 - A very solid shooter set in a post-Soviet world. Yes, James Bond, but at least the source movie was an honest attempt at reviving the franchise from the Dalton years.

Perfect Dark - another Rare N64 game, I don’t know probably doesn’t fit the criteria - I got a soft spot for this one because it got the atmosphere right.

No One Lives Forever 1-2 - Another one that probably doesn’t fit the criterium here, but they were fun.

Just thinking, too - Rockstar was working on a game called Agent, but nothing ever came of it.

 

[7h30n]

In Cold Blood -- an adventure game from Revolution software.

 

[Sensuki]

Soldier of Fortune 2 springs to mind

Original Ghost Recon is probably my fav 'slow' FPS.

 

[Alienman]

In Cold Blood -- an adventure game from Revolution software.

Nice, looks really interesting. Found it on gog too which simplify things, and it's pretty cheap.

This though:

A gripping spy-themed storyline that will keep you entertained for over 60 hours

Longest adventure game ever?

 

[7h30n]

In Cold Blood -- an adventure game from Revolution software.

Nice, looks really interesting. Found it on gog too which simplify things, and it's pretty cheap.

This though:

A gripping spy-themed storyline that will keep you entertained for over 60 hours

Longest adventure game ever?

Hmm, I don't remember it being that long... But at the time I was playing a lot of adventure games.
Oh and just to keep your expectations low, it's from the time when adventures were being put into 3D and this in turn means the game is rather clunky and not up to the standards of original Broken Sword and Beneath a Steel Sky. The only thing that kept me interested is the Cold Warish, Spy theme.

 

[FranticDistortion]

Alpha Protocol

TBH there is not a lot of them nowadays, only Hitman is alive. Invisible inc was a good one.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Did you heard about Gorky17 / Odium? They turned it into something else. They made two games - Gorky Zero: Beyond Honor and Gorky02, both let you play as Sullivan from G17.
You can grab latest one on gamersgate store under Soldier Elite label with different protagonist (not from G17).

On the same store you can grab Cold Zero - Last Stand, it's weird game. It's action game but player need to utilize sneaking to deal with large number of deadly enemies. And then they throw you to the jungle...

 

[Alienman]

Nice, all three games look very interesting. Had no idea there was a follow up to Gorky17. Is Soldier Elite a sequel to Gorky Zero, or stand alone?

Edit:

For those that are interested both Gorky games can be found as abandonware.

Link: https://www.myabandonware.com/search/q/Gorky+Zero

Edit 2:

Language seems to be in Russian... no idea how to change it

My mistake. When installing there is an option for English, was just hard to see in all the scrambled text.

 

[mck]

Definitely check out Death to Spies and its sequel. It's hitman + WWII with vehicles

 

[DalekFlay]

The PS2 version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent is the same as the Xbox one, which is apparently just like Chaos Theory, so you could play it on PC using a PS2 emulator. I plan to do that someday. You could also emulate the PS1 Syphon Filter games which are in that genre, though how well they hold up I have no idea.

Hitman suggestion was a good one, a lot of the levels feel more like spy work than hitman work.

mck just mentioned Death to Spies which is a great suggestion.

There's a Splinter Cell style spy game called Velvet Assassin which is very AA and not AAA at all, and has tons of flaws, but I remember enjoying its style and mood a lot.

 

[Avonaeon]

Clandestine is a spy thriller set in a post cold-war world. It wears its influences on it's sleeves. It's not the best-looking, or the best-optimized and it's definitely janky, but I think we had some pretty cool ideas nonetheless. It supports several playstyles, including a pacifist ghost run.

 

[Alienman]

Clandestine is a spy thriller set in a post cold-war world. It wears its influences on it's sleeves. It's not the best-looking, or the best-optimized and it's definitely janky, but I think we had some pretty cool ideas nonetheless. It supports several playstyles, including a pacifist ghost run.

Don't you need to play that with a buddy for optimal fun? One on cameras and one playing the spy?

 

[Alienman]

Definitely check out Death to Spies and its sequel. It's hitman + WWII with vehicles

Played those games a lot, not sure I would classify them as Clancy -esque. I guess the third in the series more so, since it takes place later during the cold war from what I remember... but it was pretty poor.

Spoiler

Love those pileups.

And one from Alekhine's Gun.

 

[Avonaeon]

Don't you need to play that with a buddy for optimal fun? One on cameras and one playing the spy?

It can be played single player just fine. Cameras, door codes and stuff like that can be disabled/hacked without having to switch to the hacker (Like a request for the hacker to do it, and he helps you out over the radio). Not a requirement to play coop. Sometimes you'll need to switch to the hacker, but there are plenty of spots to hunker down while you do.

 

[Wunderbar]

Call of Duty Black Ops 1 and 2 (Cold War conspiracies, Vietnam, Afghanistan, MKULTRA, James Bond / Manchurian Candidate / Rambo 2-3 mashup).

Modern Warfare fits the bill technically.

 

[Kalin]

KGB aka Conspiracy is pretty good.

 

[User was nabbed fit]

Oh man, mentions of Winback got the nostalgia flowing. Shit by today's standards, but I remember it being fun at the time in 1999 (mostly for the weird story).

That being said, it probably did spawn popamole.

 

[Alienman]

Tried the Soldier Elite game MotherMachinae mentioned, and while the game has pretty good graphics, a cool setting, charming but a bit clunky controls... the AI is just... brutally disappointing. First off I have no idea how you are supposed to do stealth in this game. Enemies sees you from across the map through a foggy window in a snowstorm and they will hunt you down until you are dead and buried but to their big disadvantage they forgot about everything after a minute or two. So you can pop a guy and after one minute his friend will just go back to his normal routine not giving a shit. This inconsistency in the AI was just too much for unfortunately. I would actually preferred just have brutal AI that shows no mercy than fighting dudes with severe Alzheimer. This issue took me out of the game and it saddens me because I do want to experience more of the story. It seems like cheesy fun with some real world conspiracy "politics" spliced in between - like having Russian oil oligarchs having a direct connection to the military, murdered journalists that dug a little too deep etc.