Stealth-action game recommendations

I miss the Splinter Cell series. I really enjoyed that particular brand of stealth action, and the flexibility in how to approach engagements.

Not including the Assassin's Creed series and Deus Ex, are there any games out there (for Xbone) that are in the same spirit and genre?

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Styx: Master of Shadows and Styx: Shards of Darkness.

He also appears in Of Orcs and Men (360) but is the stealth missions as that isn't the whole game. It's got that older styled puzzle-stealth stuff that was a lot of how I remember the late 90's early aught's stealth games.

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I also miss Splinter Cell. Chaos Theory is a great game.

Dishonored can get close to that, I think. Big levels with multiple paths and lots of sneaking around. It’s possible to go through the entire game without being seen.

Maybe a bit of a stretch, but the 2016 Hitman is at least in that ballpark. It’s much less self serious than Splinter Cell, and it’s less hiding in shadows and more hiding in plain sight by finding the right disguises. Each level is just a big sandbox with NPC schedules and systems interaction. Truly a great game.

I think the specific type of game Splinter Cell was is unique, and nothing else really replicates it. Those two are the closest I can think of to having a similar feeling.

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I think the specific type of game Splinter Cell was is unique, and nothing else really replicates it.

I agree with you on this point. I might just start with a playthrough of Chaos Theory again since it's been SO long!

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Some of Shadow of War is stealth based, though the game is generally considered an action game, i found the stealth pretty great.

The Metal Gear Solid series is largely stealth based as well.

Sniper Elite is not exactly "stealth" based, but is a sniper game where staying far away from the enemy and picking them off when they can't fight back in the rule, which works out great and has that same Splinter Cell sniper feel. Plus, you know, really disgusting x-ray/millimeter scanner closeups of shooting a guy's balls off.

Thief was a great stealth game that I really loved.

Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

In a different vein, Alien: Isolation is arguably a stealth game, albeit one where you are largely powerless and hiding rather than sneaking around to assassinate someone.

The Persistence is the best VR game I've ever played, and is a zombie horror stealth game where your friends can log in on their phones or tablets and help you out. Or totally blow your cover and draw all of the zombies right to you. I really hope you can trust your friends, for your sake.

Fortnite's battle royale pvp can be played to great success as a stealth game ;)

Large portions of The Last of Us are stealth-based.

Same goes for Tomb Raider. The Tomb Raider reboots are freaking GREAT btw.

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Thief was a great stealth game that I really loved.

hmmm.. I downloaded this when it was free on XBL. I'll give it another go.

Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

I hear good things about this. Can I play 2 without playing the first one?

Fortnite's battle royale pvp can be played to great success as a stealth game ;)

crazymoose117 just got into this game over the last week. I gave it a shot today. My first drop, I glided on top of a roof with a shotgun and missed the spot by a hair. At the same time, an enemy landed on the shotgun, acquired it, and killed me right as I touched down. Game over. "That's it", I asked? Crazymoose117 was too busy laughing to answer me.

Large portions of The Last of Us are stealth-based.

Xbone?

Same goes for Tomb Raider. The Tomb Raider reboots are freaking GREAT btw.

Ok, if I had to get one of the reboots, which one??

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Same goes for Tomb Raider. The Tomb Raider reboots are freaking GREAT btw.

Ok, if I had to get one of the reboots, which one??

I'd definitely start with the first one, just called Tomb Raider. They have a remastered version for Xbox One

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Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

I hear good things about this. Can I play 2 without playing the first one?

You can. The first one focuses on rescuing Emily Kaldwin, the child heir to the throne who has been kidnapped. The very beginning of the second game sees Emily being dethroned, and then you can either chose to play as her or Corvo, the protagonist of the first game. That's really about all the backstory you need. It's a neat world, but the story is not really what makes either game good, in my opinion. I think the first game is better in that regard, though.

That said, I actually think the first one is a better game. Some of the levels in the second game are absolutely incredible, but I liked the first game better still, for some reason that I can't quite put to words.

Both are great games, so either is fine.

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Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

I hear good things about this. Can I play 2 without playing the first one?

You can, but honestly if you're up for stealth, even though Dishonored has that gameplay built in, as Kahzgul has mentioned, the game really doesn't want you to. It is a bleak and bloodthirsty game. If you want to play purely stealth, expect the game to fight you in ever so subtle and not so subtle ways. I, myself, could never get into it because of this.

The mark seems to be very much like the ring of power.

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I guess I just don't get that.

I played through both games almost entirely stealthily. Getting through without taking anyone out is something I didn't manage to do, but it is possible (at least in the first game--I think there's a trophy for it).

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I guess I just don't get that.

I played through both games almost entirely stealthily. Getting through without taking anyone out is something I didn't manage to do, but it is possible (at least in the first game--I think there's a trophy for it).

There's two, actually, in the first game- Clean Hands for a no kill run, and Ghost for never being noticed and never killing anyone. (No alerts by itself is Shadow, I think.)

It is possible, at least in the first game. Never getting spotted is the tougher half, I think.

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You can, but honestly if you're up for stealth, even though Dishonored has that gameplay built in, as Kahzgul has mentioned, the game really doesn't want you to. It is a bleak and bloodthirsty game. If you want to play purely stealth, expect the game to fight you in ever so subtle and not so subtle ways. I, myself, could never get into it because of this.

The mark seems to be very much like the ring of power.

Is that so?

I had a great time with Dishonored, playing it as a stealth pacifist run- granted, my strategy the first time was more pacifist acrobat than proper stealth.

I never felt pushed towards combat, though there were a few times where it would have been the easier solution. But that made those bits more rewarding to solve with cleverer methods?

Plus, the story is pushing more towards stealth.

Oh, thinking back, I can see a few things that might be pushing away from stealth/pacifism, but I think they're easy to ignore? They were for me, at least.

I still haven't done a murder run, although I did fuck around without saving a few times, like when I discovered a maxed out jump in place gets you high enough to drop assassinate someone standing right next to you.

Still have to play the sequel, though.

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Plus, the story is pushing more towards stealth.

Oh, thinking back, I can see a few things that might be pushing away from stealth/pacifism, but I think they're easy to ignore? They were for me, at least.

The game sort of does both. The Chaos system rewards you for not murdering your targets, but almost all of the things you do to the targets is way worse than just murdering them. Straight up kidnapping the one woman and giving her to some creepy ass dude you meet on the street really stands out. Like, sure, I didn't kill her, I just subjected her to god knows what in that fucko's dungeon instead.

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Oh, yeah, definitely.

That one is also the standout because the target deserved it the least, really. Granted, depending on which of the three it gives you, but still.

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Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

I hear good things about this. Can I play 2 without playing the first one?

You can, but honestly if you're up for stealth, even though Dishonored has that gameplay built in, as Kahzgul has mentioned, the game really doesn't want you to. It is a bleak and bloodthirsty game. If you want to play purely stealth, expect the game to fight you in ever so subtle and not so subtle ways. I, myself, could never get into it because of this.

The mark seems to be very much like the ring of power.

There's some truth to this. It's easy to commit acts of violence. I realized this when I accidentally decapitated someone in one of the early missions. But being stealthy even most of the time pays off in terms of the gameplay and the narrative.

Ultimately, Dishonored is a great game full stop however you play it.

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Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

I hear good things about this. Can I play 2 without playing the first one?

You can, but honestly if you're up for stealth, even though Dishonored has that gameplay built in, as Kahzgul has mentioned, the game really doesn't want you to. It is a bleak and bloodthirsty game. If you want to play purely stealth, expect the game to fight you in ever so subtle and not so subtle ways. I, myself, could never get into it because of this.

The mark seems to be very much like the ring of power.

There's some truth to this. It's easy to commit acts of violence. I realized this when I accidentally decapitated someone in one of the early missions. But being stealthy even most of the time pays off in terms of the gameplay and the narrative.

Ultimately, Dishonored is a great game full stop however you play it.

This. There are some very crowded species in the game. It is very easy to kill quickly in a variety of ways. There is even a perk that will have the bodies you kill, but not knock out, evaporate away. It's all aimed towards killing, and quickly.

To be non lethal, you have far fewer options. You have the never-enough knock out arrows, if you can get some height you can jump and quickly knock out people, or you can pick up an object and throw it and hope it knocks out and doesn't kill. Yet most of the time I found that you have to go behind and hold the button for a few seconds. It is unlike every other move in the game, which is generally speedy, as this non-lethal move is a slog. This kills the flow. When I'm being stealthy, I get in and get out as I need to. The game fights that in its design.

Don't get me wrong, it's obviously a stellar game. It's all about your style of play. I enjoy what the most recent Splinter Cell calls "Panther", yet in the Non-Lethal sense. A.K.A - THE BATMAN! I enjoy clearing the board without being detected. Yet if you prefer "Ghost" then Dishonored does allow that in its Gameplay.

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Thief was a great stealth game that I really loved.

hmmm.. I downloaded this when it was free on XBL. I'll give it another go.

Dishonored is a vastly superior game when played as a stealth game, though much of its design pushes you towards murdering everyone.

I hear good things about this. Can I play 2 without playing the first one?

I've not played the 2nd one yet, personally, but I hear that you can. That being said, why would you? Just buy the first one for like $5 used and go to town.

Fortnite's battle royale pvp can be played to great success as a stealth game ;)

crazymoose117 just got into this game over the last week. I gave it a shot today. My first drop, I glided on top of a roof with a shotgun and missed the spot by a hair. At the same time, an enemy landed on the shotgun, acquired it, and killed me right as I touched down. Game over. "That's it", I asked? Crazymoose117 was too busy laughing to answer me.

Hahahahhahaha. And yet you can leave the game and get into a new one looooong before the original game ends. This keeps the better players sequestered in the endgame of their first game, and lets the worse (or newer) players hop game to game to game very quickly as they learn the ropes.

Large portions of The Last of Us are stealth-based.

Xbone?

Ahh, no. Sorry!

Same goes for Tomb Raider. The Tomb Raider reboots are freaking GREAT btw.

Ok, if I had to get one of the reboots, which one??

I would start with the first one because it'll be way cheaper. They're equally excellent games, super fun, and well, exciting in a cinematic way that many games attempt but very very few succeed at.

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Same goes for Tomb Raider. The Tomb Raider reboots are freaking GREAT btw.

Ok, if I had to get one of the reboots, which one??

I would start with the first one because it'll be way cheaper. They're equally excellent games, super fun, and well, exciting in a cinematic way that many games attempt but very very few succeed at.

I whole heartily agree with this. It is so well done cinematically that a buddy and I just played the entire series together trading off the controller because it was almost just as interesting to watch the other play. It was also fun to laugh at them when they messed up :-P

I would highly recommend Tomb Raider. But start from the remastered first one. You might be able to find both in some combo deal.

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Tomb Raider 2013 is just wonderful. I haven't played the sequel yet - I have it, but I've been saving it for after I finish some other things.

But that first game. The story, particularly the development of Lara's character, is extremely well done. You go on a journey with her as she believably transitions from being as overwhelmed and frightened as anyone would be, to finding the grit to pull through where almost anyone else would have fallen. It's done well through the acting in cutscenes, but it's also done through the physicality of moving around and combat. Through some magic combination of animation/mo-cap and sound, every leap, every roll, every time she catches a ledge, you can feel Lara giving it that last bit of desperate effort. Same thing in combat. Lara's never the biggest one in the fight, so every attack has to be done with total savage conviction - but she's never enjoying it. Every time she throws dirt in someone's face or slams an ice pick home, there's a tangible brutality to it that's a little unsettling, even from the detachment of my couch.

It actually reminds me a little bit of God of War in the way it communicates emotion through motion and sound. Maybe an odd comparison to make, I guess.

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Tomb Raider 2013 is just wonderful. I haven't played the sequel yet - I have it, but I've been saving it for after I finish some other things.

But that first game. The story, particularly the development of Lara's character, is extremely well done. You go on a journey with her as she believably transitions from being as overwhelmed and frightened as anyone would be, to finding the grit to pull through where almost anyone else would have fallen.

That first game is really special. It gave me a moment of pause when she hit that turning point, where rather than being hunted, she was feared; where the enemy freaked out as she picked up a grenade launcher, and she shouted out to taunt them. That clueless college girl who was shivering in the cold, desperate to start a fire was long gone.

Issa great game. Shame the sequel wasn't anywhere near as impactful, and her characterization (and pretty much the entire cast) was thrown out the window. Still good gameplay-wise, but that first game stands apart.

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It's a different kind of stealth half the time, but I've really enjoyed the new Hitman game.

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A couple of you mentioned this. Can I skip right to the latest one?

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A couple of you mentioned this. Can I skip right to the latest one?

Absolutely, I never played any of the previous ones.

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Yeah, as Xenos said.

What little story there is in the game is definitely not the reason to play it. It's just a fun sandbox style stealth/action/assassination game. They give you vague reasons to kill the people you're killing, and that's really about as deep as it goes.

This is a very entertaining video that shows the ridiculousness/awesomeness of Hitman 2016.

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I miss the Splinter Cell series. I really enjoyed that particular brand of stealth action, and the flexibility in how to approach engagements.

Not including the Assassin's Creed series and Deus Ex, are there any games out there (for Xbone) that are in the same spirit and genre?

Before Halo had my attention, Splinter Cell was my thing. I must have played the XBOX Magazine Demo of the game 100+ times before I got the actual game. I too really really really miss the Splinter Cell series.

Batman Arkham Knight - Not explicitly stealth, but you can have some great stealth moments.

Mark of the Ninja - A side-scrolling action stealth video game.

Alien: Isolation - Roll reversal. What if you were being hunted by Sam Fisher... and he could spit acid. I do not recommend standing in the light, saying "What was that noise... it was probably nothing" in this one. ;P

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I do not recommend standing in the light, saying "What was that noise... it was probably nothing" in this one. ;P

When has that ever worked well for anyone? :p

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When has that ever worked well for anyone? :p

Me, last night. I thought I heard something brushing against my window, but it turned out to just be the show I had been watching. It's probably for the best that I didn't decide to shoot the window.

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When has that ever worked well for anyone? :p

Me, last night. I thought I heard something brushing against my window, but it turned out to just be the show I had been watching. It's probably for the best that I didn't decide to shoot the window.

Remind me never to check your window to see if anyone is home...

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I had tucked the kids in one night and gone to bed. I heard a single knock on my front door. It was that kind of knock someone would make if they were checking to see if anyone was in the living room. Not a pound pound or a continuous knock, just a single tap. I rolled out of bed, grabbed my pistol, and posted up in the hall where I could see the door and prevent anyone from going towards the kids' rooms.

A few minutes went by and there was no other sound. I eased across the room while covering the door and peaked out of the blinds. There was a police car outside. I open the door and could see one cop in front of my house and another walking to a house down the street. I asked the one out front of he knocked on my door and he said "yeah, wrong house". I was like, man, you really need to announce yourself if you are coming up to doors late at night.

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Alien: Isolation - Roll reversal. What if you were being hunted by Sam Fisher... and he could spit acid. I do not recommend standing in the light, saying "What was that noise... it was probably nothing" in this one. ;P

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It's pretty good. You and a few of your friends find a clearing and a paint can with some rocks.

Put the rocks in the can and the can in the clearing. Now, you play my turn based strategy game recommendation: rock paper scissors. Loser gets to guard the can.

Now the rest of you go hide in the woods for a while, and you sneak around to try to run and kick the can! The guard though gets to keep you from doing it by whatever means necessary, though you can set handicaps like no tackling.

If you kick the can, you win!

It's got that asymmetrical multiplayer like spies vs mercs that's all the rage, plus it's free-to-play. It's pretty trendy honestly, all the kids are playing it.

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I played a game of adult kick the can a few years ago and we had a blast. Our version was a little bit different though.

It wasn't in the woods, it was in town, so we were running all about the neighborhood. My driveway was base, which held the can out in the open. One person was the jailkeeper, and guarded the can.

Everyone else would sneak around and try to run up and kick the can over. If the jailkeeper saw you and yelled your name, you were in jail at the base. The objective was for the jailkeeper to capture everyone through visual sight and yelling their name. But if there are people in jail, and someone can successfully kick the can, everyone in jail gets to go free while the jailkeeper retrieves the can and puts it back in the proper spot. So you have to run away and hide pretty quickly before jailkeeper starts yelling names. The last person alive wins and becomes the jailkeeper in the next round.

Also the prisoners can distract the jailkeeper.

So yes...Kick the Can IS the ultimate sneaking game.

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Every kick the can is so different!

When it was just us boys playing, we used a tackling system for the guard with football rules of being down. If you got properly tackled, you were out and sat in jail. The winner was either the first guy to kick the can or the guard, then the game ended and we played rock paper scissors or shot for it or whatever for the next warden.

If we had girls or younger kids, we did a standard tag system, and if you got tagged you went to jail. If it was a kid or girl who was It, then kicking the can just released a player from jail. The guard of the can lost if he let at least the number of people playing the game out of jail, or he won if he tagged out enough people.

I have not heard of this line of sight variation.

That said, it sounds like our standard hide and seek. You call the kid's name and where he is hiding, and he is out.

Then there was hide and seek tag, where you have to tag the guy.

Then there was hide and seek home base where you call them out, have to tag them, but if they can reach the tree in the center of the playing field, they are safe.

So it seems like a natural variation.

One time me and my friend invented cricket independently.

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Red Robber and I would 1v1 paintball at night. We went out into a big field of tall grass and bushes late at night and stalked each other. Fire and miss and you gave up your location. We would carefully crawl so that the grass didn't move. I remember watching a light by a nearby house for an hour until I saw Red's silhouette pass in front of it. My shot went inches from his head, then it was a mad scramble to fall back while he peppered my location.

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I have not heard of this line of sight variation.

It was as mixture of men and women, at night time, with a small area to protect that was easy to infiltrate, so ocular callouts was the best option. Sometimes all you saw was a flash of color so we resorted to "RED SHIRT!"

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If you see the world through your cynical eyes, you might be tricked into thinking that Stealth games have all lost their way. It's a good thing that Styx is here to bring back classic MGS-esque stealth gameplay.

I got it back when it was free for PS+, and due to space concerns at the time (what a fuss), I didn't put more than a couple of hours into it, but I really liked what I played. It's all about stealth, and making your way through the room with no (surviving) witnesses.
It can seriously get pretty tough, as the focus is strictly on being stealthy.

You can find it pretty cheap during sales if you're not too wealthy (~$10), and apparently it was received well enough that it got a sequel (and often comes bundled with it). Steam user reviews are also very positive, so it seems like the game continues to be consistently fun beyond what I played.

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You can find it pretty cheap during sales if you're not too wealthy (~$10), and apparently it was received well enough that it got a sequel (and often comes bundled with it). Steam user reviews are also very positive, so it seems like the game continues to be consistently fun beyond what I played.

It's available as a bundle with the sequel for $15 if you have Gold.

For those on Playstation who didn't pick it up when it was free, you too can scoop it up with the sequel included for $15!

Also, Titanfall 2 Ultimate Edition for $10...

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Just picked this up!

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Stealth-action game recommendations (Off-Topic)