Stealth game

Solid Snake hides behind a crate in Metal Gear Solid.

Stealth-based games (occasionally referred to as "Sneak 'em ups"), unlike action games, revolve around patience, lurking, and avoiding detection 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 popularisation 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, 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 sequels that were both released in 1990 and were completely unrelated to each other: Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (the official canonical sequel produced by Hideo Kojima) in Japan for the MSX2, and Snake's Revenge (the non-canonical sequel produced without Hideo Kojima's involvement) in North America and Europe for the NES. 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 didn't develop beyond those few games for almost a decade.

The genre didn't expand much further until the release of Thief on the PC, closely followed by Metal Gear Solid and Tenchu: Stealth Assassins on the PlayStation, all released in 1998. 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 System Shock series 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 and Hitman series. Other games incorporated a stealth approach as an option to players, notably Deus Ex. Many action games, such as Medal of Honor and Syphon Filter, include stealth-based levels. Some survival horror games 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, 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.

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 ambience 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 unenjoyable due to the lack of frantic action and occasional frustration at the high finesse that is often required.