Poll: How do you like your stealth?

[TheDoctor455]

I like my stealth with options.

I like to be able to defend myself or run if caught... to set up traps...

But by 'defend myself', I think I should clarify...

not so that its easy to do it, but so that its as challenging as the stealth itself is without being impossible.

 

[deathbydeath]

This is the Thief, Deus Ex or Splinter Cell (up to Chaos Theory) approach, where you can't really brute force your way through a level, but you have enough tools to creatively get out of a situation if you're caught instead of just getting a failure screen.

In Deus Ex, I brute force all day every day. My three main weapons were the DTS, Assault Shotgun, and the Silenced Sniper Rifle. Just take a rank in medicine and the Regeneration aug, and you don't have to worry about health ever.

OP: Honestly, my favorite example of how to do stealth has to be Dishonored. While it wasn't optimal for those wanting a "sniper stealth" play style, it was certainly very flexible in terms of mechanics and map design.

 

[Hazy]

The greatest (and purest) stealth games are the ones where you can sneak through, without any interaction with the enemy whatsoever. Ghosting is the only way to go.

 

[shrekfan246]

I like it easy, because I'm probably the least stealthy person on the entire planet and the way I play stealth games reflects that (also the fact that I've only really been playing stealth games for about a year and a half or two years, out of twenty years that I've been playing video games).

Generally I like to play as non-lethally as I can, and I'll just reload a checkpoint or quicksave if I really balls it up and get detected by every enemy in the current location, but I like when there's a way to knock out an enemy who has spotted you without alerting every other enemy around.

I don't like being completely defenseless unless it's a survival-horror game, though.

 

[lacktheknack]

The greatest (and purest) stealth games are the ones where you can sneak through, without any interaction with the enemy whatsoever. Ghosting is the only way to go.

This. It irritated me no end that Splinter Cell told me that I would enter, do stuff and "exit without a trace", yet the standard way of playing resulted in a trail of unconscious/dead people.

So I ghosted it, and that was absolutely fantastic.

I want more games that let me do this...

 

[Reaper195]

I like my stealth like I like my Hitman. Sneaky and ghost-like as christ. But if need be, when I pull out my guns, I don't get fucked in my arse after three bullets. Fuck you, DE:HR. Giving me a friggin' shotgun like that....

 

[dekuton]

what would the majority of tenchu games fall under?

 

[recurve6]

I prefer the MGS hard/extreme difficulties that still allow some option of taking dudes out but you can only take 3-4 shots before you keel over. MGS games usually have a myriad of hilarious ways to incapacitate people, too.

 

[redmoretrout]

Hitman:Blood Money is the finest stealth game I have ever played. But by the OP's definition I think Hitman:Blood Money would fit under the "boring" category. What makes a good stealth game is not as simple as hard enemies that can't be fought. What makes a good stealth game are a variety of less obvious design choices like multiple ways of completing a level, atmosphere, actions having consequences (like a body being found changing the AI's behavior) etc.

Most importantly, all combat MUST be optional if you are making a stealth game. If the player finds himself in a shootout or in a chase than he has done something wrong, certainly don't make it a mandatory part of the game.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Depends on the genre, if its survival horror I like to either be defenceless against the enemies and have to purely avoid them (Amnesia) or have the enemies be somewhat difficult to kill. Most other genres I like to have stealth as optional but as equally viable as a non stealth approach.

 

[DanielBrown]

Semi-Pro, I guess. I like how it works in Splinter Cell.
Hate the games though. Trying to complete them on the hardest setting without being spotted... Really testing the little patience I have.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

Semi pro is closest to my preference. I like stealth utilities almost as much as I like stealth itself. This is the Thief, Deus Ex or Splinter Cell (up to Chaos Theory) approach, where you can't really brute force your way through a level, but you have enough tools to creatively get out of a situation if you're caught instead of just getting a failure screen.

You should look into Splinter Cell Double Agent on the original Xbox or PS2. It was actually made by the same team as Choas Theory where as the 360/PS3/PC versions were done by the Shanghai studio. They may share the same plot and locations, but the differences they take are like night and day (both metaphorically, and literally).

 

[Dark Prophet]

Stealthy because there are some games out there which pretend to be stealth games but reaaly are not and optional because well even if the stealth mechanics in a game are solid and I don't fuck up there is still the chance that the game will fuck up, so I would like to be able fight my way through the situation instead of doing it again and again.

 

[frizzlebyte]

This might be a bit shocking, but I don't THINK I have ever played a "stealth" game.

I have played Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls and that has a stealth mechanic, but I am guessing that doesn't count.

I plan to play Deus Ex:HR soon, but I haven't yet. I haven't played any Thief games, Splinter cell games or original Deus ex games..

It isn't that these games don't interest me, I have just never played them yet.

Well then, get to it!

Sam Fisher ain't gonna save the world all by his lonesome, you know...


Yeah but seriously, you gotta at least play Splinter Cell. That game kicks so much butt.

Oh, better get on topic. I'd say a cross between average and semi-stealth. I love the gadgets, but if I get into a scrape, I like to be able to shoot my way out of it quickly.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

It seems to me that the whole point of stealth is to avoid deadly combat and/or give you an advantage in (what would otherwise be) deadly combat. A crucial part of this equation is that the combat has to be deadly, otherwise why bother sneaking? For this reason I prefer to play games like Dishonored and DXHR on the highest difficulty (often with self-imposed DID rules) so that the choice between stealth/escape and combat is a "realistic" one. That said, I do want the choice; in a stealth game, forced stealth and forced combat are equally bad IMO.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It depends on the game. Survival horror for example, I think semi-pro is the best option. But generally apeaking I like to be able to silently kill enemies, I don't like automatic failure when you get caught, but I also don't necessarily like to be able to dispatch everyone in the room easily either. Deus Ex Human Revolution was pretty good in this regard, in that my most oft-used tactic is silent, lethal and methodical. But then again, that was fairly straight in terms of gameplay. I also like devices and traps, and using the environment.

Forced stealth though, not a fan. Stealth should be fun in its own way and chosen on its merits rather than imposed upon the player.

 

[SoranMBane]

I like my stealth games flexible and full of choices. If I feel like trying to go through without killing anyone or being spotted, I should be able to do that. If I want to stealthily murder or knock out every random mook I see (and then place their bodies in suggestive positions), I should be able to do that. If I do get caught, I should be able to fight my way out of the situation or hide again, it should just be very difficult.

So basically like Dishonored.

 

[Full]

I'd pick between semi-pro or boring. Having the option to brute-force gives me freedom to have a fighting style which is usually pretty rewarding. Semi-pro takes thinking to get through levels, isn't that slow paced and doesn't require insane concentration skills.

Every thing should have an option to Ghost, though. That's not a question. If you can't at least have the option to ghost in a stealth game, you aren't a stealth game.