Stealth Games I've Played
Stealth games are categorized by a primary gameplay loop of doing your best not to be seen or caught. I've played 9 games in this genre so far.
You can also go back to all genres.
Dishonored 2
I think the story was a little less tight and emonitonal as compared to the first, but the level design continued to be great. I like that they rewarded exploration. Still don't love the way they do endings, but I suppose it adds nice consequence. Also, the non-lethal takedowns for story characters were well thought out.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Really cool! Pretty tough (even on normal mode), but a lot of surveying, trial/error, and coordination made it work. I really liked how there were multiple ways to do each objective and the levels had a lot of ways to move around them. It was a tight story and the characters were pretty good (except the accents, which didn't make any sense). Camera didn't bother me much. Overall very enjoyable.
The Last of Us
An unparalleled story held back by dated and repetitive gameplay. One minute you're exploring love and loss with fully realized characters and the next, you're killing 6 generic dudes in yet another clearing full of chest-high walls. The stealth is clunky, the puzzles are generic, and the story is better told than maybe any other game, ever. It was a great candidate for a TV adaptation because they could focus on what make the game great: the story. The gameplay moments that are directly serving the story bring immersion that only games can provide, and it gets credit for that. Violence hits different when you're enacting it with your own controller, something the show couldn't capture in the same way. It also has great zombies- clickers go down in history as an all-time creepy enemy. But, lackluster collectibles and pacing problems (the first half of the game is _slow_) left me wanting overall. There's this gorgeous, atmospheric world wrapping a lot of generic 3rd person shooting that doesn't do it justice. It's ultimately worth playing, but I wouldn't begrudge anyone for just watching the show instead; it elevates the narrative without any of the filler.
Prey
Very interesting. Great worldbuilding and setting. Gameplay was pretty good, if a little imbalanced. I liked the open aspect of it, but not as much as their more tightly-designed and smaller levels in dishonored. I thought that some of the systems worked against each other- namely careful exploration and the nightmare. But, there was a lot to do an find, but not in an overwhelming way. That part felt impeccably well-designed.
HITMAN 3
Basically only wanted to play the murder mystery level. It was fun! This is definitely a style of game. I enjoyed the idea of having a very self-directed investigation, which some good twists and all. Glad I played the mission.
HITMAN
Pretty fun! Story ends on a cliffhanger. The levels are very well designed. They really want to sell DLC though. It's not always clear what the consequences of actions will be and the AI can be pretty dumb. Some funny writing and I liked the variety of locales. Gameplay loop was surprisingly repetitive for such an open ended game- knock someone out, get their better costume, repeat, eventually kill targets. Definitely some neat mission stories. Overall decent.
