Stealth Game Recommendations

[Jolly Co-operator]

I bought Mark of the Ninja on the Steam sale, and I absolutely loved it. It's definitely got me hungry for more sneaking. I have a few preferences:

1.) Multiple approaches to solving problems and traversing obstacles.

2.) A decent array of non-lethal options, and suitable reward for non-lethal tactics.

3.) Smooth controls. I know this one sounds like a given, but I can tolerate somewhat clunky controls in most other genres. However, nothing annoys me more in a stealth game than getting caught because of a sluggish and unresponsive player character.

4.) Large levels, allowing for exploration and collectibles.

5.) Preferably not in a first-person perspective. I am willing to at least consider a game with a first-person perspective if it's been received well enough, but I usually prefer the higher FoV of third-person / sidescrolling.

6.) Indicators of your visibility and how much noise you're making.

Thanks to all who offer their recommendations.

EDIT: I should probably list some that I've already played (sorry I didn't do this earlier):

1.) Metal Gear Solid franchise

2.) Deus Ex: Human Revolution

3.) Dishonored

4.) Hitman: Absolution

5.) Batman: Arkham franchise

 

[Lennie Briscoe]

Great find. Mark of the Ninja is a real treat, indeed.

OT: I'm no great connoisseur of stealth games, but here's a few off the top of my head:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution makes most of your checkmarks, although it's mainly in first person.
Beyond Good & Evil is largely a stealth game, unless I'm remembering it incorrectly. It's been a few years, ok?
On the subject of well-received first-person games, I can also point out Dishonored.
I'm sure the Metal Gear games could all be here as well, if you don't mind waiting it out during the times they pretend to be movies.

I'm sure there's more, but I'll leave 'em for the experts.

 

[Cilisien]

Have you played Dishonored? I know you said you don't really like 1st person games but the stealth gameplay on this is very fun! Multiple ways to do the levels and there is even an achievement for not killing a single person if you are really up for a challenge. It also has symbols above the guards to show if they are alerted or not so you can tell if you are making the right choices.

I guess you can also play the Batman Arkham series stealthy also, this is one of my favorite games and I love how there is so many different ways to do things.

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, if you have a PS3 the obvious recommendation is Metal Gear Solid. The first is on the PSN, 2/3/Peace Walker (originally a portable one) are in the HD Collection (also for the Xbox 360), and 4 is PS3 exclusive.

They're heavily narrative-driven and it's... quite the story, indeed, but really they're some of the most satisfying stealth games I've played. 1 and 2 are rather dated now, with their fixed camera angles that do create some control oddities, but I still found them both quite enjoyable and 3, 4, and Peace Walker play rather well. ... though they're still not free of a few oddities of their own. The standard view is third-person, but there's a first-person aiming mode that's heavily emphasized because it's the most effective way to land headshots. The first game doesn't have non-lethal options unless you play the Gamecube remake, but all of the ones after it offer tranquilizer guns in addition to the normal ones, and they add in CQC (Close-Quarters-Combat) moves that let you incapacitate targets as well. They don't have large areas, but do heavily encourage exploration and occasionally require it in order for you to actually progress.

The third one is where they start providing more tangible feedback for your visibility and all, but the first two have radars that help compensate anyway.

I will give you all warnings about the control scheme though. I find it rather elegant in its simple complexity, but it is easily one of the biggest things that might potentially put somebody off of the franchise, and it's the sole reason I'd recommend not playing any of the games on anything above 'Normal' your first time through, no matter how confident you are.

Other than that, though they're first-person I'd still highly recommend Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dishonored. They do both have excellent FoV sliders, but it's still a bit more restricting than being in full third-person. They both provide ample opportunity to be lethal or non-lethal (though DE rewards being non-lethal more, while Dishonored encourages being lethal by making it much more interesting and then slaps you down for it), have excellent level design and movement mechanics, really tight controls and great feedback providing you all the information you need to stay out of sight (honestly, they can provide enough feedback to trivialize all of the challenge if you upgrade enough).

EDIT: Human Revolution does switch to a third-person view when you've stuck yourself to cover, though, and it works better than it sounds like it would.

Also, Gunpoint. Its scope is pretty small, but it's an excellent stealth/hacking game with the same Mark of the Ninja-style of requiring you to stay out of sight or else you're dead. It gives you a lot of tools to work with and then lets you loose to choose how you want to approach the situations you're presented with.

 

[deleted139124]

DELETED

 

[Corven]

How about gunpoint and monaco, and the upcoming payday 2(although this one is a FPS)

Gunpoint is primarily about infiltrating buildings to get to your objective, and then getting out to the extraction point on the other side of the map, the main campaign is fairly short and depending how perfectionist you are about stealth it can last maybe 4-5 hours, luckily it seems you can download user created levels so there's extra longevity in the title.

I own moanco but have only played it enough to know that it is best played with a group preferably friends so you aren't screwed in a pub game.

The first payday had some great ambitions on being a heist game, but it primarily devolved into a shoot-fest with wave after wave of police officer. Recent dev interviews point to payday 2 being a more true heist game, in that if you and your partners do well you can accomplish your objectives without ever alerting the cops, but the devs said that is would be very, very hard to do.

 

[The Madman]

Thief 2: The Metal Age is the best stealth game ever made, you're doing yourself a disservice if you want to get into the Stealth genre and don't play the Thief series. And while 2 might be the best, all the games in the Thief series are spectacular with some of the best atmosphere and level design in the entire gaming genre, not to mention an awesomely unique setting and story plus a fun protagonist.

What's not to love?

 

[ItsNotRudy]

I bought Mark of the Ninja on the Steam sale, and I absolutely loved it. It's definitely got me hungry for more sneaking. I have a few preferences:

1.) Multiple approaches to solving problems and traversing obstacles.

2.) A decent array of non-lethal options, and suitable reward for non-lethal tactics.

3.) Smooth controls. I know this one sounds like a given, but I can tolerate somewhat clunky controls in most other genres. However, nothing annoys me more in a stealth game than getting caught because of a sluggish and unresponsive player character.

4.) Large levels, allowing for exploration and collectibles.

5.) Preferably not in a first-person perspective. I am willing to at least consider a game with a first-person perspective if it's been received well enough, but I usually prefer the higher FoV of third-person / sidescrolling.

6.) Indicators of your visibility and how much noise you're making.

I can't believe you haven't played Splinter Cell then! The first one I like the most and provides you with all your needs. Stages are divided in missions, taking place in large areas as you move through sub-sections of these areas. You can use your weapons to distract, hack turrets, disable cameras, throw beercans, shoot stunning rounds or choose to be lethal (however, this is difficult as the damage taken from even a single bullet costs you a lot of your health, which doesn't regen by itself. You can hold people in a stranglehold, get info from them, then choose to knock them out or choke them out.

Watch this I suppose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2KdytF_eEw

Great find. Mark of the Ninja is a real treat, indeed.

Found it to be rather samey after a while. The stages all offer similar ways of stealthing and the AI doesn't get much smarter as it goes.

 

[Able Seacat]

Splinter Cell is a great stealth game. I particularly recommend Chaos Theory. Lots of gadgets, lethal and non-lethal approaches and optional objectives make it a lot of fun.

EDIT: Bah! Ninja'd!

 

[daveman247]

snip

I recommend looking into the splinter cell games and hitman blood money

And the thief games.

 

[Kingjackl]

You've covered pretty much all the greats there. I'd strongly recommend Hitman: Blood Money. It's certainly the best Hitman game in the series, even if it is a bit big on trial and error. Open-ended levels, plenty of ways to plan and strategies, optional 'accident' kills, the works.

 

[elvor0]

Yeah I'll stick another point up for Thief 1/2, 3 isn't as good as the first two, but it's still fun, and has a special place in my heart because of THAT level(if you've played it you know damn well which one I'm on about), and also Hitman:Blood Money too.

 

[floppylobster]

Tenchu Z. There are a lot of Tenchu games and not all of them are that good. But Tenchu Z recaptured what made the first one so enjoyable (but these days the first one is unplayable due to being so dated).

Going for a perfect on a hard difficulty is great fun and real challenge if you like slowly chipping away and have a lot of patience. (And if you're playing stealth games then you should have a lot of patience).

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

Thief seems very popular with most people (I'm downloading it now based on recommendations), and it's on sale for only £4.41 for the entire series. Definitely worth a look.

 

[SquidVicious]

It's already been recommended but I'll second it. Gunpoint.

Minimalist in the graphics department, but it's very aesthetically competent with everything being immediately identifiable. While it's more about infiltration than stealth kills and takedowns, there are some really creative ways to get rid of enemies, and some funny results.