And then the Splinter Cell franchise shortly went off the rails, crashed and burned as soon as they decided that some of the most fundamental of those rules should just be abandoned, for the sake of basically more broad appeal via making the game easier.
Its honestly kind of shocking that someone has not just made an indie, more graphically simple version of some kind of melding of Splinter Cell and MGS core game mechanics, perhaps without the relatively costly voice acting and grandiose, superbly animated cutscenes.
Im waiting to live somewhere with an actual internet connection, and I am convinced I could put together a proof of concept build in UE 5 in 6 months, a comprehensive level.
Stealth Action games seem to be highly regarded and in great demand, but for some reason no one really makes them in 3d anymore, unless there are some hidden gems I’ve somehow not heard of.
PS: Assassins Creed doesnt count, the AI is braindead when it comes to stealth, takes turns attacking you… using modern terminology its just a 3d ARPG.
They both bring their own ideas, but the modern hitmans and sniper elite are both big 3D games built around stealth as a core part of the gameplay loop.
Sniper elite leans into the sniper part as the primary gun (you can get a lower power
lower rangehigher bullet drop silenced version, or you can gun and move before they triangulate you, or you can use other loud sources of sound to avoid triggering alerts), but you can do most to all of it with a pistol and knife if you want.Hitman does the costume thing, but every level is designed with the intent of a “no extra kill, no alerts, no bodies found, suit only” challenge being possible.
In both cases the enemy AI (what makes a stealth game IMO) has a nice level of reaction to sounds/things they see, without just categorically abandoning their post to chase shadows, and once clearly sighted enemies can really swarm and escape gets super messy.
The most recent Hitman games are best in class. Three games worth of levels, rogue-like mode to string them together randomly with random objectives if doing the story again isn’t your thing.
I’m excited to see what IO does with the James Bond franchise too. Even if it’s just a reskinned Hitman, it’d be worth it.
I like the gunplay of Sniper Elite better, but I’m a big stealth fan and they’re both fantastic stealth engines. I’d love to put MGS5 in that same category because I think the engine is there, but the actual world just never got filled in. After Ground Zeroes the scales of the bases in the main game just felt like a disappointment most of the time.
It’s not quite “full 3D” but Shadow Tactics and Desperados 3 can certainly scratch that stealth itch. They have clear consistent rules that utilize traditional stealth mechanics like vision cones and sound radiuses but improve on it by having a squad with multiple different skills and abilities that allow you to plan and execute elaborate takedowns with the press of a button. The best part is they usually go on sale for dirt cheap, especially now.
