General News - The Evolution of Stealth

Gamespot talks to Warren Spector (Thief, Deus Ex), Harvey Smith (Dishonored) and Patrick Redding (Splinter Cell) to dsicuss in what way stealth in video games has evolved over the years.
More information.

kinda sad. Thinking that there are no stealth specific games anymore, just mashed potatoes.
These guys only think about selling as many copies as they can.. they know that there is no way that they have enough resources to make a flawless experience for all types of gameplay, but still chose to take the money way and flawed design

Stealth is boooring !

Loud explosions, crying everywhere, the stakkato of machine guns, the BOOM of some tanks, the sound of whole crumbling blocks of buildings interwoven by cries of some hitherto unknown aliens is much, much more exciting !!!

I think that there is still hope with the new Hitman game, as all previews and annoucements indicate the same play style of the previous games in the series. They also recently announced that purist mode (where all HUD and instinct stuff are removed) will be available from the start.

As far as money making is concenred, they are correct - I wouldn't imagine a trigger happy teen who is used to one shot kills in CoD with hyper fast shooting studying a map or learning the pattern of a guard patiently just to knock them silently and hide their body!

Personally - but I'm heavily biased, mind you ! - I count the Hitman series as shooters, not as stealth games. Because it is about killing, after all. Thief - as the title suggests, is more about thievery.
But - well, I'm biased …

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Personally - but I'm heavily biased, mind you ! - I count the Hitman series as shooters, not as stealth games. Because it is about killing, after all. Thief - as the title suggests, is more about thievery.
But - well, I'm biased …

That's the nice thing about the Hitman games, you have the option and playground to be stealthy, Rambo or a combination of both. The playground is quite large which encourages exploration, and there are many many ways to assassinate your targets. Also Hitman is an assassin, so it also suggests being stealthy!

Originally Posted by SpoonFULL
That's the nice thing about the Hitman games, you have the option and playground to be stealthy, Rambo or a combination of both. The playground is quite large which encourages exploration, and there are many many ways to assassinate your targets. Also Hitman is an assassin, so it also suggests being stealthy!

I purchased a complilation of Hitman games on Steam awhile back. I've only played the first one so far, but there didn't seem to much in the way of stealth involved. It was also one of the most ridiculously difficult games I've ever completed.

I've been meaning to get back into the series as I've been told the other titles are much better than the original.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I purchased a complilation of Hitman games on Steam awhile back. I've only played the first one so far, but there didn't seem to much in the way of stealth involved. It was also one of the most ridiculously difficult games I've ever completed.

I've been meaning to get back into the series as I've been told the other titles are much better than the original.

That is true. I am currently playing blood money and it is way much better than the first. You still have to explore the environment and pay attention to the map to be stealthy and keep an open mind on how to kill your targets.

There is nothing left to call "stealth" in new games. Stealth is a genre IMO and has its own independent elements but today it is apparently considered as a type of gameplay added to modern games as a useless optional way to achieve objectives.
Splinter Cell: Double Agent was my favorite stealth game and all its levels were based on sneaking actions. Fingerprints scanning, eavesdropping, whistling, hiding behind objects along with the smart AI that would always keep tab on you… all were really fun but SC: Conviction was unfortunately a disaster in terms of stealth elements.
Is there anyone here to be fond of Splinter Cell?

Originally Posted by Vahid
There is nothing left to call "stealth" in new games. stealth is a genre IMO and has its own independent elements but today it is apparently considered as a type of gameplay added to modern games as a useless optional way to achieve objectives.
Splinter Cell: Double Agent was my favorite stealth game and all its levels were based on sneaking actions. Fingerprints scanning, eavesdropping, whistling, hiding behind objects along with the smart AI that would always keep tab on you… all were really fun but SP: Conviction was unfortunately a disaster in terms of stealth elements.
Is there anyone here to be fond of Splinter Cell?

Only played Chaos Theory and that was brilliant, the flexibility on approaching targets is good, and PC optimisation helped alot. I have heard that double agent was full of bugs on PC and that put me off getting it.

I still prefer the Hitman games, as I think that you have many more options for tackling your objectives (not to mention the cold blooded character of Hitman).

If Dishonored is very successful (always challenging with a brand new IP), perhaps it will influence the development of more stealth games in the future.

Originally Posted by SpoonFULL
Only played Chaos Theory and that was brilliant, the flexibility on approaching targets is good, and PC optimisation helped alot. I have heard that double agent was full of bugs on PC and that put me off getting it.

I still prefer the Hitman games, as I think that you have many more options for tackling your objectives (not to mention the cold blooded character of Hitman).

Your comment gives me temptation! All my friends propose to me to play Chaos Theory. Seems I've to play it as soon as I have a bit of extra time.
As for Double Agent, as long as I recall I didn't notice any bug or technical issue but it is up to you if you want to buy it or not.

i remember playing mgs 1 and just "getting it"

you're not meant to get into firefights thats why the controls suck for it- its immersion- you'd get owned in a real situation

then mgs 2 refined it and it was still amazing but the story was complete bullshit- kojima has good ideas but for every 1 good idea he has 10 bad

mgs 3 is a shooter- with stealth elements- the fact that "fans" say its the best one tells you how dumbed down this call of duty generation is- it lost so much compared to 2- the story overall was better though

mgs 4…… is the worst piece of shit i ever had to play- and finish- and watch the worst possible ending-

no interest in mgs 5