Stealth game
Elements of "stealth" gameplay, by way of avoiding confrontation with enemies, can be attributed to a diverse range of games, including Pac-Man (1980).
[1] Early maze games have been credited with spawning the genre, including Manbiki Shounen (1979), Lupin III (1980), Castle Wolfenstein (1981), 005 (1981) and Metal Gear (1987).
[2] The core gameplay elements of the modern stealth game are to avoid combat, minimize making noise, and strike enemies from the shadows and behind.
Modern stealth games often give players the ability to quickly climb or maneuver objects, take cover with hotkeys, or mark a series of enemies for attack.
[21][22] Published as a type-in program for the PET 2001 in RAM magazine in February 1980,[23] it was developed by Hiroshi Suzuki and involves a boy entering a convenience store and attempting to shoplift by stealing "$" symbols while avoiding the line-of-sight detection of the owner.
[27] Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, released in 1984,[28] included some additions to its predecessor, such as a dagger for close-range kills and a greater emphasis on disguising in enemy uniform.
[30] In 1981, Sega released an arcade game called 005 in which the player's mission is to take a briefcase of secret documents to a waiting helicopter while avoiding enemy flashlights and use boxes as hiding spots.
The increased power of the PlayStation console over previous platforms allowed for greater immersion in terms of both story and game environment.
[46] The Hitman series, the first installment of which was released in 2000, allowed this play style,[46] but rewarded the player for stealthy and elaborate assassination of antagonists.
[27] No One Lives Forever, an espionage themed parody also released in 2000, again allowed the player to combine or choose between stealth and overt violence.
[1] A USA Today reviewer found "At the easiest difficulty setting, your character is pureed again and again by an onslaught of human and robotic terrorists until you learn the value of stealth.
Missions are completed by navigating or clearing densely layered enemies patrols with "vision cones", similar to the Soliton radar in Metal Gear Solid.
It featured an array of new abilities, including "leaping over and hanging off of railings, opening and hiding in storage lockers," and sneaking up behind enemies to "hold them at gunpoint for items and ammunition.
"[51][52] Metal Gear Solid 2 holds a Guinness World Record for being the first stealth game to feature collective artificial intelligence.
[1] In 2002, the first installment of the Tom Clancy licensed Splinter Cell series was released, which attempted to add more realism to the stealth genre both in terms of graphics and in-game equipment.
[29] If the player is discovered in Splinter Cell, the guards will often raise a general alarm which can cause a difficulty spike or even result in automatic mission failure.
[8] Clint Hocking, who worked as a level designer for Splinter Cell, noted that this mechanic was in place at this point because the gameplay developers could not easily implement alternative player actions in the case of such detection; for example, on detection, a real agent may react by subduing the agent that found them, but this was not possible to program in at this point in time.
[29] The growth of the genre also led to the production of a number of E-rated stealth platformers aimed at younger audiences, most notably Sly Cooper, a cel-shaded game released in 2002.
Manhunt employed a snuff movie theme and allowed the player to kill antagonists with varying levels of violence, dependent on how much time was spent sneaking behind them.
[27] Set in a jungle, the game emphasized infiltration in a natural environment, along with survival aspects such as food capture, healing and close-quarters combat.
[40] The game was also notable for its infamous stealth battle with a sniper, in which the player confronts the nearly invisible enemy in a boss fight that can take hours to complete.
[63] The following year, the updated version Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence added an online multiplayer mode to the game with stealth elements.
[27] Action and stealth gaming are combined seamlessly by allowing the character to hide, sneak, or fight his way past most situations.
[70] Hitman: Blood Money released in 2006 and introduced a "notoriety" system where the player's actions in missions affect the difficulty of the stealth gameplay.
If Agent 47 is recorded by camera surveillance or witnessed committing a crime, his notoriety will rise and NPCs will be able to spot him more easily in later missions.
[71][72] In 2007, Assassin's Creed employed a social element to the stealth game, where the player is able to hide among crowds of civilians by taking care to blend in.
[40] In 2009, Assassin's Creed II broadened its predecessor's elements of stealth by allowing the player to blend among any group of civilians, rather than specific ones.
[87] The game instead relies on a system of "occlusion-based" stealth, using the vision cones of the enemies, obstacles, and special abilities which determines whether or not the character is visible.
The game's unique play style required users to hack doors and surveillance systems from a bird's eye view in order to navigate their character through the environment.
This has the benefit of providing a "real" stealth experience compared to a singleplayer game and acts as a continuation of the trend pioneered by the multiplayer portion of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
