Poll: To kill or not to kill...

[tippy2k2]

I love stealthy games

If I am able to do my job without anyone realizing it's happened, I have done well.

However, once in a while, you have to...take care of guards/cops/civilians/adorable puppies who are in the way and you either don't have time or patience to get by without giving them a little bit of encouragement.

While playing through Hitman: Absolution, I realized something; I don't kill very often.

In many games (Deus Ex, Splinter Cell, Dishonored, Hitman, etc.), you are often given the choice between killing or subduing (or subduing and then killing them you sick bastard) and I, being the curious assassin that I am, was wondering what others do when given the choice[footnote]Note: The poll is in black & white because shades of grey are a pain in the ass with a poll. Answer the poll in general and if you need an explanation (like my "evil guys die" rule), put it in your post.[/footnote].

Personally, unless the opposition I am running into is clearly evil (killing civilians, they're not cops and they're hunting me, I'm bored so I pretend they're evil), I will not kill. For a specific example, I have run from guards rather than kill them if they spot me because I don't want to kill someone who's just doing their job.

 

[Vegosiux]

My favorite jab at "non-lethal" takedowns was in Alpha Protocol, when after you've gathered enough, you get a perk with a description "You neutralized so-and-so-many opponents with non-lethal (but certainly violent and definitely very painful) means." Might as well figure that if you stealth-takedown[footnote]This is a verb currently endeavoring to make it into a dictionary[/footnote] them they'll wish they were dead when they wake up anyway.

I kid, I kid.

I try to always kill only targets. Collateral damage? RELOAD! Got spotted and was forced to kill the pursuers? RELOAD!

 

[-Seraph-]

If I gotta take care of an NPC, I'm going to knock them out if I can. I never go lethal unless it's contextually justified so to speak. Like one mission on either Splinter Cell 1 or 3, there are a bunch of terrorists that at going to execute some soldiers to make some televised example of them. Given the gravity of the situation, I moved fast and capped anyone I saw seeing as it felt like a race against the clock and seemed like the logical thing Sam might have done.

Of course even when i am found out sometimes, I try my best to knock them out and not kill them. Some funny times in Theif where I was just about to blackjack some dude, get noticed, and it turns into a circle strafing bludgeoning fest until he gives out. Or I just reload my quick save....

 

[krazykidd]

I always Kill them. However, i will try to kill the stealthily . 1 shot with a silencer . That's what made alpha protocol and Deu Ex:HR too easy on the hardest setting ( on my first playthrough) . Dumb AI and overpoweredsilenced pistols. One shot , one kill.

 

[RJ 17]

I always Kill them. However, i will try to kill the stealthily . 1 shot with a silencer . That's what made alpha protocol and Deu Ex:HR too easy on the hardest setting ( on my first playthrough) . Dumb AI and overpoweredsilenced pistols. One shot , one kill.

This is my sentiments exactly, only mine comes from a basis in the Tenchu games. You get a higher ninja grade if you manage to take out everyone on the map and do so without being spotted...so I become the shadow of death, slipping through the night to slice the throats of all who guard my prey.

That's why I don't like games that penalize you for taking a pacifist approach. Now, that said, I can definitely see the fun in a pacifist approach (as defined by only killing your target and letting everyone else live). It requires even MORE stealth since you're not clearing out areas of the level as you move on and, from a quasi RP standpoint, I like the notion of there being 30 guards in a building and no one thinks anything is up...until someone goes to check on the boss and finds him/her dead in his/her office. >

Still, I'm a ninja assassin, I punish those who would serve the opposing warlords who threaten my lord's land! I am a shadow in the moonlight, staining the ground in streaks of crimson, leaving nothing but corpses to be found the next morning.

 

[Mithcha]

I do a mix of both, but certainly lean more towards "kill 'em all". I just don't associate NPCs with actual lives and personalities, they're targets or something akin to a door. Were it a virtual reality game, one that's in 3d and shit like a Star Trek holodeck, I suspect I would go non-lethal as best I could, assuming that same level of portrayed sentience.

Pretty much whatever is fastest, if I can shoot the guy instead of four light bulbs and then shuffle a box forward, I'm shooting the guy.

 

[Joffas16]

Pacifist runs are the only true challenge in most stealth games, but I kill guys if I have to because I got spotted or something; usually when you stuff up in a stealth game it's either fight or save-scum, and I think that save-scumming kills the fun in most games.

 

[Fireaxe]

In Deus Ex: HR (and to some extent the original Deus Ex, though it doesn't really have take downs in the same way unless you count the stun gun thing) I mostly went with a mix of non-lethal takedowns (partly to stay stealthy) and lethal silenced sniper rifle bullets in the head. I did break out a few lethal takedowns in HR on levels where knocked out enemies were hard to get away from patrols though (the Picus building being the top example).

Dues Ex: HR had a bit less of a stealth focus though, I found myself using the Revolver a lot -- given the game basically let you be good at everything the Revolver saw a lot of use when it felt easier to fight than stealth it.


So uhh.. contextual best method to meet the objective?

 

[Tom_green_day]

I find that in games like Skyrim and Fallout where the whole world and all the characters are remembered like if they're alive and stuff, I tend to kill them all so it frees up space. No idea if it works, but I need some excuse right?

 

[King of Asgaard]

Kill is my MO.
If possible, I'll do it stealthily, but if I'm seen, I won't reload the save.
I get the job done, collateral damage be damned. It could be security guards or civilians, if they get in the way of my objective, I put them down, no questions asked.
The only time I'll reload is if I really fumble a section. I'm not saying everything must be perfect, but if I can do it better, I will.

Captcha: only way to be sure.
Captcha is a stone cold killing machine.

 

[Hazy]

I enter like a ghost, and if it's possible, I don't interact with the enemy at all. That's probably why Thief is my favorite stealth series.

 

[loa]

Depends on what is more fun.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Depends on what the optimal solution appears to be, if it's easier for me to sneak past undetected, i'll do that. But if it's easiest to remove a couple of guards, then that's what i would do. That's how i play most games, try to figure out the best way to tackle different situations,then do it. I don't think i've ever roleplayed a stealth game, or any other game for that matter.

For some reason i always try to stealth kill every character i see in games like Fallout and TES, the most fun i had with New Vegas was trying to off the starting town without anyone noticing it.

 

[Zhukov]

I invariably play those kind of games either without killing or without-killing-unless-they-really-totally-have-it-coming.

If the game is good enough to warrant further playthroughs then I'll often do a Kill-em-all run for a hell of it and what I call a "pragmatist run", which involves trying not to kill but doing so if the situation goes tits-up.

 

[Brotha Desmond]

In games like Hitman absolution, where they humanize the people that you are taking down, I don't kill. In games like splinter cell, try to do stealth until everything inevitable turns into a shoot out.

 

[MammothBlade]

I have no qualms about just killing some faceless mooks. Though if killing someone will make my situation worse I'll try to knock them out, or better yet, avoid them altogether. Stealth games are all too often stealth action, whereas sneaking past enemies is harder and more fulfilling.

 

[2xDouble]

When playing a stealth game, I will avoid killing whenever possible. That's the point of stealth, to not interact at all; go undetected and leave no trace behind other than your objective. Any idiot can blow up a building and kill everyone inside, but it takes a real pro to infiltrate without being noticed.

Obligatory mention of Mark of the Ninja, which not nearly enough people play/have played.

 

[Foolery]

Mercy. I prefer capturing enemies so they can join my mercenary army and work on my off-shore base. Peacewalker was good fun. I'm hoping Metal Gear Solid V has more of that kind of gameplay.

 

[shootthebandit]

I tend to go clean however the mission in the orphanage in absolution caused me to "take care of" a few guards

Captcha: filthy dirty mess, shhhh capthca those deaths were all accidents