The stealth genre often falls out of public attention – and in vain. Quiet passage, the tension that you experience, almost “burnt out” and being able to quietly do what seemed impossible, there is little that can be compared with anything. And while a few loyal fans of the genre are waiting for the third part of the updated Hitman, Cybersport.ru offers a look at ten stealth games from other series that deserve attention.
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The most successful game of the forgotten studio Ion Storm, once founded by one of the authors of Doom John Romero and his colleague Tom Hall. They were later joined by Warren Spector, who headed the company’s separate office in Austin. The latter created Deus Ex – one of the first immersive simulators with the ability to play the game in any convenient way. The developer dreamed of such a title since the early 1990s and made attempts in other games like Thief and System Shock, but he was able to fully unfold it in Deus Ex.
The game takes place in 2052 after the outbreak of the mysterious “Gray Death” – a disease, a cure for which is extremely difficult to get. Most of the vaccine goes to officials, the military and other members of the financial elite, while ordinary people are forced to literally die on the streets. Against the background of dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in the world, more and more terrorist cells began to activate, trying to overthrow the current government. The player takes on the role of a UN special agent who fights in the ranks of the anti-terrorist coalition.
Deus Ex is based on the cyberpunk style and, as expected, throws the player into the center of the world conspiracy, forcing him to change his attitude towards everything that happens along the way. Formally, the title can be passed without hiding, but the “frontal” approach greatly complicates the passage. It is much easier and more interesting to look for secret paths and eliminate opponents on the sly, especially since experience is given only for completing tasks and studying the level.
The developers made an interesting decision, mixing two genres: stealth and turn-based tactics. As if this was not enough, procedural generation of quests was added to the game, and not only the structure of the levels is changing, but also the tasks of the mission and its complexity.
The plot tells the story of a private intelligence agency of the future, whose position is revealed. Only two agents manage to escape, who took with them Incognita – an advanced artificial intelligence that is unable to exist outside a powerful computer. In this regard, the remaining couple will have to find or recruit assistants in 72 hours and prepare an operation to seize the enemy headquarters.
The mechanics of the game are based on the tactical system familiar from the restart of X-COM with two actions, adjusted for covert missions. At the same time, the structure of the title is built in such a way that successful completion of missions helps in the long term: you can unlock new agents and other bonuses that are available when you replay.
The third (and actually the fifth) game in the Hideo Kojima series offers to travel back in time and take on the role of Big Boss, or rather, Naked Snake, who has yet to earn his legendary title. In the third part of MGS, many new elements were introduced, one of which was the appearance of a third-person camera. Despite the fact that the usual mini-map was gone, it was very useful.
The player takes on the role of one of the series’ key antagonists and is transported to the 1960s, where he will have to rescue Dr. Sokolov, the creator of the Shagohod, a terrible machine capable of secretly launching nuclear warheads anywhere in the world. The task is complicated by the fact that Snake’s mentor, the Boss, went over to the side of the Russians, and now the agent will have to eliminate her too.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is considered one of the best games in the series. And if you can still argue with the plot, then the local stealth definitely deserves special praise. The player must constantly monitor the correct choice of disguise, hide in various types of terrain and hide literally under the nose of the enemy. It will not work forever to rely on a silent weapon, since the silencer has a wear parameter. And killing opponents is punished so gracefully that it would be a terribly rude spoiler to talk about it.
The third game in the series of Sam Fisher’s adventures is still considered the pinnacle of the franchise’s development. The passage of missions pushes to explore the environment, the guards show themselves smarter than many modern NPCs, and the list of gadgets will delight the most discerning gamers.
As with all Tom Clancy games, the atmosphere of Chaos Theory is tense. An information war is going on. Sam Fisher, as before, works for the NSA, and one of the first tasks in the new part is the rescue of a US citizen with classified information. Of course, it will not do without world conspiracies, and the main conflict this time takes place in Asia.
Unlike the first part, where three alarms led to failure, Chaos Theory is softer on the user – or vice versa, as you look at. The more often the player “fired”, the more difficult tasks become. In addition, quests are now dynamic, and the goal, which is not always voiced at the beginning of the mission, will remain until the very end. And sometimes the “tails” of the quest can emerge in a completely different task.
The genre peaked in 2000 with the release of Thief II. Steampunk replaced mysticism, and security systems and surveillance cameras replaced magic. At the same time, there are not so many fundamental differences in comparison with the first part of the series: head-on collisions still threaten almost guaranteed death, the bow remains one of the most useful gadgets, and the shadow is the best ally. Except that the picture got prettier, the opponents became even smarter, and Garrett’s arsenal was replenished with useful items like observation spheres associated with the thief’s mechanical eye.
The plot continues the story of the original. Garrett still trades in theft, but the City managed to change: the cult of the Hammerites was replaced by mechanists, who everywhere introduce their steam inventions like automatons and security cameras. By chance, the genius thief falls under the gun of a new cult, and now he has to join forces with yesterday’s enemies in the person of pagans and Hammerites.
Thief II is able to surprise even today with the elaboration of the atmosphere, a fascinating plot and deep mechanics. Guards can spot Garrett by making noise, missing items, or seeing a thief in the semi-darkness. At high difficulty levels (and it is strongly discouraged to play here otherwise), there are also almost no tips, and you have to navigate the map by touch. Forget about pointers and other perks: you have to explore the entire map yourself, while diligently avoiding conflicts and carefully removing everything that is not bolted to the floor. And what is screwed should be unscrewed and taken away anyway – you are, after all, a thief.
See also:
10 best games similar to Dark Souls;
10 games with an unusual apocalypse;
10 horror games. changed the genre;
10 total conversions of familiar shooters;
10 unfairly forgotten shooters of the 1990s.
