Batman: Arkham City marked a highpoint for the series when it came out in , since it took all the awesome stuff from its predecessor and perfected it by introducing a number of other fantastic aspects.
You are presented with all kinds of different gadgets which can be used for solving crucial mysteries that take the story forward. Set in the year , it revolves around the pirates who ruled the Caribbean waters during that era. Providing you with an incredible blend of stealth, close quarters combat and traditional Metal Gear combat, it adds a large number of small but effective elements which never fail to get you totally involved in the game.
A dazzling contender for all GotY awards this year, The Last of Us set new benchmarks for effective storytelling through video games. The Last of Us is cinematic brilliance, and its gameplay too is perfect. The intelligent AI which has been granted to the enemies only makes its dynamic stealth elements all the more interesting.
This game too is a PS3-exclusive. Hitman: Absolution was one of the finest games that came out last year. The game is largely open-ended and allows you to choose from a number of different ways in which you can kill your targets, thus also encouraging re-playability.
Developed by Arkane Studios, Dishonored lets you assume the role of a supernatural assassin named Corvo, who is wrongly accused of killing an empress. Set in the beautifully imagined plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, this game presents you with great liberty to choose whether you wish to tackle your missions stealthily or with combat, or with a combination of both. Stealth is yet another such aspect of Far Cry 3 that blends seamlessly with its overall gameplay.
You can indulge in your missions either by going all guns blazing or by completing your job without anyone even noticing. Riddick was Batman before Batman was Batman. In one memorable sequence, Riddick, who has just spent hours stalking and killing his way through the shadows of Butcher Bay prison, is forced to blast away at mutants who bleed fluorescent goo.
Suddenly his strength is a weakness. Since the release of its first entry in , the Hitman series has been synonymous with stealth. Hitman 2 represented a leap forward in level design, presenting Agent 47 with multiple paths to accomplish each mission.
Although many players prefer Thief II: The Metal Age for its refined level design and removal of the controversial supernatural enemies, the original Thief set the standard for what a stealth game can and should be—and revolutionized the first-person shooter in the process.
Grant is a Boston-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in Gamers With Jobs and other outlets. He blogs about games at Infinite Lag and is also on Twitter. Grant February 24, pm. That allows for some tricky design but the game is rarely punishing, usually providing escape routes as well as weapons and tools that can put guards out of action. If that involves unleashing a plague of flesh-eating bugs to dispose of a corpse, so be it.
Where can I buy it: Steam. Not as impressive as Mark of the Ninja but worth a look. Anything else by Klei is worth your time and money as well. We thought Dishonored might play out like Thief. That reality requires a very different approach to stealth. Dishonored is a kinetic stealth game, in that it is movement rather than lack of movement that is most likely to help you go undetected. Where can I buy it: Steam , disc and most other download services, though all they'll give you is a Steam code.
What else should I be playing if I like this: Thief: Deadly Shadows if you want more, and still relatively accessible fantasy-stealth, or there's the third-person Shadow of Mordor if you want something with more blood and more magic.
No other game has embedded such elaborate and exquisite stealth mechanics into an open world environment. Even though seemingly incomplete, which ties into the development and launch disputes covered in the notes below, The Phantom Pain is a ridiculously generous game. Or creating one of your own. The least important part of that is the kill itself. These are not particularly violent games, for the most part, and the best players take a certain pride in the cleanliness of the kill.
A good hitman does not cause a commotion or attract attention. Each level is packed with possible death sentences, environmental triggers and weapons that can put paid to the unaware, but there are also onlookers and guards to contend with.
At its best, Blood Money presents its levels both as credible places that feel authentic — remembered either from cinema or from life — and as intricate puzzles.
As you attempt to make your way to the target and then back to the exit, perhaps hiding a body or two along the way, the solution to the puzzle becomes messier and messier. Every new variable introduced, whether it be the sound of a gunshot or the wrong disguise in the wrong area, dilutes the clarity of the original setup.
Agent 47 is the poison in the system that prevents everything from working as it should — your job is to leave before the system recognizes that it has been compromised. Read more: Jim remembers the best of Hitman. Our Preview of the upcoming Hitman game. What else should I be playing if I like this: Blood Money is the series at its peak but there are decent levels in every game, even the subpar Absolution. That the studio have created an even more inventive, intelligent and enjoyable stealth game already seems preposterous, but Invisible, Inc.
If the translation of familiar mechanics into a side-scrolling environment seemed bold, the reinvention of the sneaking and stealing genre as a game of turn-based tactics deserves a medal for outstanding bravery. Invisible, Inc. Everything from the brief campaign structure to the heavily customizable playstyles has been designed to encourage experimentation and create maximum tension.
Like Mark of the Ninja, this is a game that believes that information is power, and the screen will tell you everything you need to know to survive. The genius of Invisible, Inc. How about slowing the security systems that come online the longer you're on-site?
Notes: Revealed under the working title Incognita — retained as the name of the in-game AI — Klei switched the title to Invisible, Inc. A rare example of a clear focus testing triumph. Read more: The marvel of Invisible, Inc. Where can I buy it: Direct from the developer or Steam. What else should I be playing if I like this: Mark of the Ninja, which is both precursor and prototype for Invisible, Inc.
You should play them both, of course, and in the right order because the story that runs through the original trilogy is superb in and of itself. Thief II just about pips every other game to the podium for several reasons, however. Most of them can be found in the level design, which is yet to be surpassed. And Receiving, which is as fine an example of economic worldbuilding as anything outside Dark Souls, The Metal Age is consistently fascinating, in its mechanics and elsewhere.
Thematically, the development of conflicts and the religious schism that has formed since the first game are all natural developments. The world feels like the natural conclusion of the first game's steam-gothic rather than a forced change of palette or pace, and it moves both Garrett and the City forward rather than rehashing ideas. To say that nothing in the fifteen years since its release has surpassed Thief II might seem a little disheartening but so many games have taken the stealth genre in new directions.
Thief is a foundation, a relatively basic interpretation of stealth as sight and sound, elevated by the talent with which those elements were twisted and hammered into place across such a variety of levels and objectives. All of those ideas can be reshaped and the beauty of the game is also in its influence.
Notes: While this was to be the last Thief game from the much-missed Looking Glass, who were not long for this world at the time of release, huge mod project T2X: Shadows of the Metal Age is a continuation of the Dark Engine games in the same style.
What else should I be playing if I like this: Start with the original and do move on to Deadly Shadows. In drawing up the final rankings, I was surprised by how little I had to cut down my longlist. There were only 34 games to choose from.
Far Cry is a stealth series to some and any game that forces you to trail an NPC without being spotted has elements of stealth in its makeup. There does seem to be a resurgence of a purer form of stealth gaming, however. A game with optional stealth, of course, but not a stealth game.
With all that said, let us know what your favourites are and why, and take a look at these notes about the list:. Distribution: The vast majority are available to buy digitally but only one is free. Sort of. Developers: Klei are the standout studio, with two entries, both of which are in the top ten and both of which came out in the last three years.
Robbing And Killing: Six of the games are about stealing things, five are explicitly about killing certain individuals. Points of view: Only nine are entirely or predominately seen from a first-person perspective. Creepy in more ways than one: Three of these games also appeared on our Best Horror Games list, showing the connections between the two genres. And perhaps also showing that certain games will appear on all of my lists.
Hitman: Blood Money 4. Dishonored 6. Mark of the Ninja 7. Deus Ex 8. Alien: Isolation 9. No One Lives Forever 2 Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Neon Struct Gunpoint Desperados Batman: Arkham Asylum Monaco The Saboteur Styx: Master of Shadows Manhunt Hidden and Dangerous 2 Commandos 2: Men of Courage The Evil Within The Swindle Payday 2 The greatest PC games of all time The best free PC games to play right now Or try our genre-specific lists, if you want a particular kind of great game to play:.
The Settlers has finally emerged from development hell, and it's fighting fit. We've been hands on with the upcoming closed beta ahead of its release in March. In defense of Cyberpunk 's constant phone calls.
0コメント