Stealth game

Solid Snake hides behind a tank in Metal Gear Solid, a popular stealth video game.

Stealth games are video games that, unlike traditional action games, revolve around patience, lurking, and avoiding detection (or getting rid of an enemy silently and quickly without calling attention) in order to complete missions. The genre of stealth-based games is fairly old, but there are still few games that fall strictly within the genre. However, since the popularization of the Metal Gear series with Metal Gear Solid in 1998, many recent action games have borrowed elements from stealth-based games.

History

The earliest game to feature stealth elements was Castle Wolfenstein (not to be confused with the unrelated Wolfenstein 3D), released in 1981 by Muse Software. Stealth elements were not used again until Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear, released in 1987 by Konami for the MSX2, and shortly thereafter for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game became a success, particularly in North America, after selling over a million units.

Metal Gear was followed by two independently-produced sequels that were both released in 1990: Snake's Revenge (the non-canonical sequel produced without Hideo Kojima's involvement) in North America and Europe for the NES and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (the official canonical sequel produced by Hideo Kojima) in Japan for the MSX2. While Snake's Revenge offered only minor improvements to the concept, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake expanded the genre significantly, including a greatly improved enemy AI, placing an even greater emphasis on stealth. While the early Metal Gear games were moderately successful, the concept did not develop beyond those few games for almost a decade.

During the development of Wolfenstein 3D, developer id Software experimented with several stealth features, such as sneaking behind the guards or dressing in enemy uniform, but none of these features made it into the final game. The genre didn't expand much further until the release of Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64 in 1997, which involved various areas where either a brute force or stealth approach could be used, with stealth often being safer. Other times stealth was essential for survival- particularly in escape situations. Next came Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (February), closely followed by Metal Gear Solid (September), both released on the PlayStation, and Thief: The Dark Project (November) on the PC, all released in 1998. System Shock 2 also encouraged the player to use stealth through use of respawning enemies, severely limited ammunition and weapons that wear down with repeated firing.

Stealth-based games did not gain mass popularity until the release of Metal Gear Solid. Since then, it was followed by a sequel Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and a prequel Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, along with many more games in this genre, most notably the Splinter Cell, Manhunt and Hitman series. Other games incorporated a stealth approach as an option to players, notably Deus Ex and Bungie's Oni. Many action games, such as Medal of Honor and Syphon Filter, include stealth-based levels. Some survival horror games (Siren being one example) implement aspects of this genre, as well as platform games such as Sly Cooper.

In recent times, stealth games have grown even further in popularity, so much so that some mainstream first-person shooters, such as No One Lives Forever and Goldeneye's spiritual successors Perfect Dark and Perfect Dark Zero, have included stealth and spying elements in their gameplay. Closely related to the intermingling of first-person shooters and stealth games is the first-person shooter subgenre tactical shooters, such as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. Far Cry expanded on this genre by having a lush outdoor environment (the player may hide behind boulders and trees or in shrubs).

Gameplay

The dynamics of stealth games are quite different from first-person shooters or other action games. Players of stealth-based games can die very quickly if they approach problems in the same way as a traditional action game. Stealth games generally emphasize accuracy, planning, keen observation, and puzzle-solving skills, whereas other action games revolve more around quick reflexes. In stealth based games, a player cannot simply walk into multiple enemies pathways, unlike most action games. Stealth based games require that the player eliminates targets silently and without detection.

Whereas the excitement in most action games is the adrenaline rush of combat, the enjoyment in a stealth game is usually (but not always) cerebral in nature. The ability to silently stalk an opponent or be within arm's reach of a potentially dangerous enemy and yet be completely unseen appeals to many gamers. These games also tend to have more emphasis on story, as part of a stealth-based game's impact comes from the ambiance that the game has, emphasizing urgency and the need to remain hidden. Likewise, stealth-based games also tend to contain more visual and sound cues than other games, again to heighten the experience. Fans of stealth-based games often find great excitement in the high-risk, high-tension gameplay and cinematic experience that is typical of the genre, whereas other gamers may find stealth-based games unenjoyable due to the lack of frantic action and occasional frustration at the high finesse that is often required.

Important games and major series

Important Games

Games that contain gameplay mechanics, game structures, or other landmark achievements that advanced the stealth genre as a whole.

• Castle Wolfenstein (1981): First stealth game. First to feature the ability to hold up enemies and frisk them for items, and the ability to sneak in plain sight using enemy uniforms.
• Metal Gear (1987): First mainstream stealth game and first stealth game on a console (NES). First to feature an alert mode where more guards appear once the player is spotted, and the ability to use fists or silencer weapons to knock out enemies.
• Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990): First stealth game to feature the ability to crouch and crawl (to hide behind objects and crawl under objects or into airducts), a radar screen, noise detection on different terrains, the ability to knock on walls, and enemy guards with a wider field of vision (rather than straight lines) patrolling entire areas (rather than a single screen) and being able to hear noises and footsteps.
• Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (1998): First 3D stealth game, and the first 3D stealth game on a console.
• Metal Gear Solid (1998): First mainstream 3D stealth game. First to feature the ability to shoot from a crouching or crawling position.
• Thief: The Dark Project (1998): First 3D stealth game on the PC. First to rely on light and shadow to hide, instead of just line-of-sight. Also the first to use audio, such as hearing footsteps and eavesdropping on conversations, as the primary means of keeping track of unseen foes.
• Syphon Filter 2 (2000): First stealth action game to include versus multiplayer.
• Deus Ex (2000): First game to allow stealth and action to be equally viable means towards completing objectives.
• Hitman: Codename 47 (2000): First 3D stealth game to allow the player to obtain disguises from any enemy, thereby focusing stealth on "hiding in plain sight."
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001): First 3D stealth game to feature a collective artificial intelligence for enemy guards working in squads (where they interact and communicate with each other), and the ability to prevent an enemy guard from calling for backup on his radio after the player is spotted (by knocking him out or destroying his radio).
• Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (2003): First commercial stealth game to incorporate cooperative multiplayer. Its Xbox port, Tenchu: Return from Darkness, released in 2004, is also the first commercial stealth game to incorporate online co-op.
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004): First to incorporate stealth based "hide and seek" gameplay into versus multiplayer.
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004): First stealth game to incorporate camouflage as a means of hiding (another form of "hiding in plain sight").
• Shinobido: Way of the Ninja (2006): First stealth game to offer open-ended mission selection. Missions change based on who you are allied with, how much they trust you, and how skilled you are at stealth.

Major Series

• Metal Gear series: A major pioneer of stealth gameplay, which popularized the stealth game genre in the 2D era with Metal Gear, and in the 3D era with Metal Gear Solid.
• Thief series: Pioneered 'first person sneaking' (as opposed to 'shooting').
• Deus Ex series: Open ended FPS-RPG hybrid, which provides sneaking and action based solutions to objectives.
• Splinter Cell series: Best-selling, critically acclaimed. Pioneered realistic stealth.
• Syphon Filter series: Established as a hybrid containing both sneaking and shooting based levels; in later games the player is often allowed to play the game however they please (although by sneaking through the level the player is better rewarded, and obviously eliminates the risk of dying by enemy gunfire.)
• Hitman series: Open ended game where the goal of each mission is to assassinate a target or targets (with some other sub-objectives).
• Tenchu series: Ninja game incorporating stealth as the main focus of its gameplay. The overall score on each level is roughly determined by how many stealth kills the player has subtracted by how many times the player has been spotted.
• No One Lives Forever series: A stealth-oriented FPS featuring a 60's spy theme.

Other stealth-based games, or games featuring stealth elements

• Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines (1998)
• Aliens vs. Predator (1999)
• Hidden & Dangerous (1999)
• WinBack (1999)
• Drakan: Order of the Flame (1999)
• Project I.G.I.: I'm Going In (2000)
• Gothic (2001)
• Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001)
• Headhunter (2001)
• Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (2001)
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001)
• Arx Fatalis (2002)
• Europa 1400: The Guild (2002)
• Prisoner of War (2002)
• Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002)
• Sly Cooper (2002)
• Drakan: The Ancients' Gates (2002)
• I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike (2003)
• The Great Escape (2003)
• Rogue Ops (2003)
• Siren (2003)
• Beyond Good & Evil (2003)
• Manhunt (2003)
• Aurora Watching: Gorky Zero (2004)
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)
• Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (2004)
• Spy Fiction (2004)
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (2004)
• Batman Begins (2005)
• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2005)
• Cold War (2005)
• Fahrenheit (2005)
• Sniper Elite (2005)
• Stolen (2005)
• Siren 2 (2006)
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
• Call of Juarez (2006)
• Sneak King (2006)
• BioShock (2007)
• Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2007)
• Dark Sector (2007)
• Manhunt 2 (2007)
• Penumbra: Overture (2007)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007)
• Assassin's Creed (TBA)
• StarCraft: Ghost (Postponed)
• Saboteur (TBA)

See also

• List of video games by genre