Good console stealth games

Speed Racer

Okay, so I love the shit out of the gameplay in MGS, and I really want to play some more stealth games. What are good games to look into? The only series I'm aware of are Thief, which isn't an option for me, and Splinter Cell. I only know a tiny bit about Splinter Cell but I think that some of the games are supposed to be really good and some are supposed to be kinda crappy. What are the good ones to look into? What are other stealth games for consoles to look into?

For what it's worth, I've got all three next-gen systems and a PS2.

solsovly

Speed Racer wrote: »

Okay, so I love the shit out of the gameplay in MGS, and I really want to play some more stealth games. What are good games to look into? The only series I'm aware of are Thief, which isn't an option for me, and Splinter Cell. I only know a tiny bit about Splinter Cell but I think that some of the games are supposed to be really good and some are supposed to be kinda crappy. What are the good ones to look into? What are other stealth games for consoles to look into?

For what it's worth, I've got all three next-gen systems and a PS2.

My recommendation is to get Chaos Theory. But here are my quick reviews (pretty much echo popular opinion).

Splinter Cell - Good
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - Bad
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - Great
Splinter Cell Double Agent oxbox - Good
Splinter Cell Double Agent 360 - Bad

Thief is on oXbox... but I don't know if it is backwards compatible.

I havn't played any of the new Tenchu's but I enjoyed the first couple for PS2.

edit: Havn't played the new Riddick but the original had some excellent FPS stealth elements.

Doobh

Deus Ex, PS2 version could work as a stealth game (though not specifically designed for it).

RainbowDespair

Siren. It's a horror game series with an emphasis on stealth (in many levels, you don't even have a weapon). There's Siren 1 on the PS2; it has a fantastic story & good gameplay, but it's insanely hard. There's Siren 2, also on the PS2 which is much less frustrating in its difficulty but sadly only available in Europe & Asia (never released in the US). Finally, there's Siren: Blood Curse (or New Translation based on your region) for the PS3 which is an alternate universe retelling of Siren 1. I hear it's excellent and much more accessible than the original, but sadly I don't have a PS3 so I can't play it.

KalTorak

Keep an eye on Batman: Arkham Asylum, coming out in June.

Doobh

Shit. Forgot about Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

Speed Racer

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Siren. It's a horror game series with an emphasis on stealth (in many levels, you don't even have a weapon). There's Siren 1 on the PS2; it has a fantastic story & good gameplay, but it's insanely hard. There's Siren 2, also on the PS2 which is much less frustrating in its difficulty but sadly only available in Europe & Asia (never released in the US). Finally, there's Siren: Blood Curse (or New Translation based on your region) for the PS3 which is an alternate universe retelling of Siren 1. I hear it's excellent and much more accessible than the original, but sadly I don't have a PS3 so I can't play it.

Goodness gracious this sounds fantastic.

I thought Arkham Asylum was gonna be more of a brawler?

Strikerkc

As far as splinter cell goes, the first and 3rd are the one's I liked (if I remember correctly). The second one tried to implement a bunch of new stuff and did it kind of poorly, and the third one got all the new stuff right (For sure, I know you should get the first one with co-op play, not just becuase of co-op play, but I remember that one being an awesome single player game).

Try the demo for the Ridik game the previous fellow mentions. I didn't care for it at all, but you might, and the demo is free so you might as well try it.

A game you may want to look into is Assasins creed. It's not so much a stealth game as it is a game of anonimity. Walk unseen in plain sight, work towards comiting one act of well planned blatant violence... then run like hell

Havelock

Speed Racer wrote: »

Okay, so I love the shit out of the gameplay in MGS, and I really want to play some more stealth games. What are good games to look into? The only series I'm aware of are Thief, which isn't an option for me, and Splinter Cell. I only know a tiny bit about Splinter Cell but I think that some of the games are supposed to be really good and some are supposed to be kinda crappy. What are the good ones to look into? What are other stealth games for consoles to look into?

For what it's worth, I've got all three next-gen systems and a PS2.

Well, with regards to the Thief series, the only Thief game for consoles that I'm aware of was Deadly Shadows, but I don't think you'll be missing much if you skip that one. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on the other hand had some pretty good stealth/action gameplay in it, and I know that's out for the console. If I were you, I'd go for Chronicles if possible. I played the shit out of it for the PC version, and it was worth it. It's one of the only games I'm willing to concede that comes close to making stealth gameplay as enjoyable as Thief I and II did.

The only downside I can see for you would be that Riddick was very much First Person pov. Some people don't go for that anymore.

I'm a PC player though, so I have no idea of stealth stuff for consoles outside of those two games. Plus, I sort of cut my PC gaming teeth on the first two in the Thief series, so nothing really comes close to them in terms of stealth gameplay, in my opinion.


Doubtless other people on here have a bigger list than I do.

Fawst

Assassin's Creed. Not the same kind of stealth, but it's there.

I agree with getting Chaos Theory. I never bear it, but the short time I had with it was awesome. And I disagree that Pandora Tomorrow is a bad game. It has its problems, but if you enjoy stealth, you'll enjoy it. The original is an incredibly fun game, too. Haven't gotten around to checking out Double Agent on either oX or 360, other than the 360 demo, which was good enough for me to go out and buy it eventually (still need to snag a used copy).

Tenchu is just trash. The original was good because it was different. Every version since has sucked nuts.

Riddick: EFBB is an insanely fun game. I don't know how the remade version that comes with Assault on Dark Athena turned out, but even if it's just the original with prettier graphics, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not playing it.

RainbowDespair

Speed Racer wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Siren. It's a horror game series with an emphasis on stealth (in many levels, you don't even have a weapon). There's Siren 1 on the PS2; it has a fantastic story & good gameplay, but it's insanely hard. There's Siren 2, also on the PS2 which is much less frustrating in its difficulty but sadly only available in Europe & Asia (never released in the US). Finally, there's Siren: Blood Curse (or New Translation based on your region) for the PS3 which is an alternate universe retelling of Siren 1. I hear it's excellent and much more accessible than the original, but sadly I don't have a PS3 so I can't play it.

Goodness gracious this sounds fantastic.

It is. Oh and I forgot to mention that the series is developed from ex-Silent Hill veterans who left when Silent Hill started to become mediocre. It has a definite Silent Hill crossed with Japanese horror feel to it. I still think that Siren 1 has a better story than even Silent Hill 2.

Seriously, the Siren series is the best old school horror game series around & an excellent stealth game to boot. Sadly, it's Japanese style & very high level of difficulty kept it from achieving mainstream success, but it's developed quite the cult following.

Pancake

Havelock wrote: »

Well, with regarsd to the Thief series, the only Thief game for consoles that I'm aware of was Deadly Shadows, but I don't think you'll be missing much if you skip that one.

Yes he would. Even if it's not as good as the first two Thief games, it's still really good.

But aside from Riddick and Thief: Deadly Shadows, all I really know of is Splinter Cell and Tenchu. The Splinter Cell series is good to great (yes, the entire series, not just the ones people like to cherry pick out as good), but Tenchu's been on a downward spiral for many, many years.

greeble

Fawst wrote: »

Tenchu is just trash. The original was good because it was different. Every version since has sucked nuts.

Don't say that... I'm holding out hope that the newest tenchu coming out on psp will be good. (Stealth on psp can be awesome as proven by MGS: Portable Ops.) I also I think I remember at least one other tenchu being pretty good.

Speed Racer

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Speed Racer wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Siren. It's a horror game series with an emphasis on stealth (in many levels, you don't even have a weapon). There's Siren 1 on the PS2; it has a fantastic story & good gameplay, but it's insanely hard. There's Siren 2, also on the PS2 which is much less frustrating in its difficulty but sadly only available in Europe & Asia (never released in the US). Finally, there's Siren: Blood Curse (or New Translation based on your region) for the PS3 which is an alternate universe retelling of Siren 1. I hear it's excellent and much more accessible than the original, but sadly I don't have a PS3 so I can't play it.

Goodness gracious this sounds fantastic.

It is. Oh and I forgot to mention that the series is developed from ex-Silent Hill veterans who left when Silent Hill started to become mediocre. It has a definite Silent Hill crossed with Japanese horror feel to it. I still think that Siren 1 has a better story than even Silent Hill 2.

Seriously, the Siren series is the best old school horror game series around & an excellent stealth game to boot. Sadly, it's Japanese style & very high level of difficulty kept it from achieving mainstream success, but it's developed quite the cult following.

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to check it out. I'll look into Splinter Cell Chaos Theory too.

I have Assassin's Creed and don't like it very much. The stealth mechanics are just too finicky for my tastes. The idea that running makes the guards catch me but beating up a civilian with my bear hands or conspicuously climbing around on buildings doesn't make them bat an eye is sort of stupid, and unless I'm just awful at the game it doesn't seem like it's possible to sneak in, make your assassination, and sneak out, which to me is what's appealing about stealth in the first place. That and the fact that you can take on like ten guards at once with ease kind of ruins any incentive to be sneaky in the first place.

Fawst

I mean, opinions and all, but I don't think Tenchu ever lived up to the expectations that I had for it. The original was fun, but kinda broken (interestingly enough, in the same way as Assassin's Creed, with being detected too easily sometimes). Maybe the new one on PSP will be good? I dunno, I haven't cared since the PS2 version came out and it sucked.

Stealth ninja action shouldn't be torturous to play. It should kick all kinds of ass.

Unfortunately...

And my wife loved the shit out of Thief 3. I never actually played it, but watching her, it looked enjoyable. If it's not BC, I'll be annoyed, cuz I've always meant to go back and try it.

ShimSham

SC Chaos Theory is the best stealth game I've played. Love that game so damn much.

subedii

What about the Hitman series?

Although I suppose that's more "hide in plain sight" in a lot of ways, I think it could be something you'd be interested in, especially the most recent game. Nailing your target, and just your target is what makes you feel awesome, stealthy and calculating.

Speed Racer

subedii wrote: »

What about the Hitman series?

Although I suppose that's more "hide in plain sight" in a lot of ways, I think it could be something you'd be interested in, especially the most recent game. Nailing your target, and just your target is what makes you feel awesome, stealthy and calculating.

Oh, I thought those were PC-only, or at the least PC games that have shitty console ports. Yeah, that's something else to look into.

Rakai

Definitely get Riddick:Assault on Dark Athena. It comes with an updated Escape from Butcher Bay as well so there's no shortage of shanking people in the dark. The 360 version is only $45 at Amazon/NewEgg at the moment.

Igort

Speed Racer wrote: »

I thought Arkham Asylum was gonna be more of a brawler?

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47538.html

Speed Racer

Oh, oh wow.

Gilder

I'll put in another recommendation for Siren if you want stealth to kick your ass. RainbowDespair, you're forgetting a key point about what makes it so stealthy though. There's no radar and your map doesn't even tell where you are on it. You sightjack the enemy to see what they see and you can tell your position by a blue light that you'll see if they look in your direction. What also makes it hard beyond not having weapons is that 1 or 2 shots from any firearm in the game will kill you and only like 2 enemies can ever permanently die. The rest just get back up after 30 seconds or a minute. Maybe two minutes. So imagine playing MGS on Euro Extreme with no radar, no map, no enemy can die, and there's almost no screen transitions so nearly all enemies are around at the same. At the same time you're also completing objectives to unlock more levels and the true ending for the game. That's Siren.

Speed Racer

Gilder wrote: »

I'll put in another recommendation for Siren if you want stealth to kick your ass. RainbowDespair, you're forgetting a key point about what makes it so stealthy though. There's no radar and your map doesn't even tell where you are on it. You sightjack the enemy to see what they see and you can tell your position by a blue light that you'll see if they look in your direction. What also makes it hard beyond not having weapons is that 1 or 2 shots from any firearm in the game will kill you and only like 2 enemies can ever permanently die. The rest just get back up after 30 seconds or a minute. Maybe two minutes. So imagine playing MGS on Euro Extreme with no radar, no map, no enemy can die, and there's almost no screen transitions so nearly all enemies are around at the same. At the same time you're also completing objectives to unlock more levels and the true ending for the game. That's Siren.

At this point I can only assume that at some point in the future I am going to learn game design and Japanese and go back in time to make this game.

Hotlead Junkie

I'll second the Riddick game/remake. Also, try FEAR. Really, the game doesn't really hint at it but the game can be played just like Metal Gear Solid. You have leathal close combat moves including a slide and a jump kick, the enemies die from a knock in the back of your head with a gun if they don't spot you. Also, you can quickly lean out of/peek around corners in slow mo for a second before the enemies register your presence. I found all this out after I decided to go through the entire game with only using Kung-Fu/close combat (got to the point I describe later in this post). The enemies have great AI, so they do what you expect them to do when you sneak around/distact/run away from them, but they aren't dumb as bricks either. Sure, you will get into gunfights, but you do in MGS games.

Either play the game on hard using no guns (you need to start using range weapons about an hour into the game where you find the guy tied to a chair who dies in front of you before telling you of the bad guy and what he did to him) or just see how sneaky you can be. Stealth is extremley effective in FEAR and I'm really surprised the game doesn't push this point forward more.

Doobh

Fuck, Speed. Play Hitman. So good.

Torso Boy

Seconding Hitman. Blood Money, the latest, is my favourite, and the most stealth-oriented- that is, it rarely forces you into a fight. It's on 360, PC and PS2.

Edit: and I should mention that all three versions are fine, just pick the one whose controller you like more. The graphics are better on the PC and 360, but the PS2 version holds up.

Shadowfire

Igort wrote: »

Speed Racer wrote: »

I thought Arkham Asylum was gonna be more of a brawler?

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47538.html

The same video I was going to post. :^:

UnbreakableVow

Holy fucking SHIT.

I had no faith in the Batman game before but....WOW.

subedii

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

Holy fucking SHIT.

I had no faith in the Batman game before but....WOW.

It helps that a lot of the main characters are voiced from the cast of the 90's animated series. A large part of the Arkham Asylum thread is basically us geeking out about Kevin Conroy and the DCAU.

UnbreakableVow

Yeah, that still wasn't swaying me before. They've fucked up Batman too many times in game form for me to suddenly give a shit because the VAs are now in on it.

Mblackwell

Fawst wrote: »

Tenchu is just trash. The original was good because it was different. Every version since has sucked nuts.

Uh... except Shadow Assassins... on the Wii... it's actually pretty awesome. There's flaws, but they are generally forgivable due to the amount of awesomeness. Awesomeness that can barely be contained.

Tzen

Thief Deadly Shadows is GREAT. It has aged a lot better than Thief TDP or Thief 2. Don't listen to the weirdly obsessed fanboys, DS is awesome. Beautiful game with a good story, too!

Spoit

Tzen wrote: »

Thief Deadly Shadows is GREAT. It has aged a lot better than Thief TDP or Thief 2. Don't listen to the weirdly obsessed fanboys, DS is awesome. Beautiful game with a good story, too!

It wasn't half as bad as DX2 fwiw.

Also, seconding the recomendation of Hitman:blood money, I played it on PC but the interface shouldn't be too horible on consoles

KalTorak

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

Holy fucking SHIT.

I had no faith in the Batman game before but....WOW.

Yup. I wasn't sure if the OP was looking for pure stealth games - B:AA looks to be a hybrid stealth/brawler, since if you're discovered you can beat the shit out of guys pretty well. But from the video it looks like if you want to do stealth and plan out your method of evasion/attack, it's about as smooth as can be.

Antihippy

The PS2 Tenchus are actually pretty fun.

Plus co-op is a bonus.

Rex Dart

Actually, I was going to throw out a recommendation for Tenchu Z on 360.

It's not a good game, but I had so, so much fun with it. The AI is dumb as a brick, but that just makes it that much more fun to screw with it. Also, there's four player co-op on Live, or via system link. Finally, you can customize your ninja character in many different types of clothing.

For me, it's basically the ideal game for dicking around and having fun. Killing some hapless guards and samurais, and feeling awesome while doing it.

LewieP

Beyond Good and Evil has some light stealth elements, and is excellent.

Chaos Theory is the best splinter cell.

Synthesis

Speed Racer wrote: »

subedii wrote: »

What about the Hitman series?

Although I suppose that's more "hide in plain sight" in a lot of ways, I think it could be something you'd be interested in, especially the most recent game. Nailing your target, and just your target is what makes you feel awesome, stealthy and calculating.

Oh, I thought those were PC-only, or at the least PC games that have shitty console ports. Yeah, that's something else to look into.

The Hitman games are good on console...only on the Xbox 360. Unless we're talking about Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which is on the Xbox 1, don't get the PS2 versions. They suck compared to the Xbox 360 versions (as is usually the case with multi-generational games).

Brym

SC: Double Agent is better than the conventional wisdom says it is. But, the series is similar to Call of Duty. Two studios alternate development. Original Splinter Cell and Chaos Theory were developed by the Infinity Ward equivalent, and Pandora Tomorrow and Double Agent were developed by the Treyarch equivalent.

But if you like stealth games, you'll still enjoy the titles put out by the second stringers.