Stealth game
A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses stealth to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. Some games allow the player to choose between a stealthy approach or directly attacking antagonists, but rewarding the player for greater use of stealth. The genre has employed espionage, counter-terrorism, and rogue themes, with protagonists that are special forces operatives, special agents, secret agents, thieves, ninjas, or assassins. Some games have also combined stealth elements with other genres, such as first-person shooters and also platformers.
Elements of "stealth" gameplay, by way of avoiding confrontation with enemies, can be attributed to a diverse range of games, including Pac-Man. Early maze games have been credited with spawning the genre, including Manbiki Shounen, Lupin III, Castle Wolfenstein, 005, and Metal Gear. The genre became a mainstream success in 1998, with Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, Metal Gear Solid, and Thief: The Dark Project. They were followed by later releases, like Hitman and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.
Definition
Unlike most action games, stealth games challenge the player to avoid alerting enemies altogether. The core gameplay elements of the modern stealth game are to avoid combat, minimize making noise, and strike enemies from the shadows and behind. Completing objectives without being detected by any enemy, sometimes referred to as "ghosting" is a common approach to stealth games. Avoiding detection may be the only way to successfully complete a game, but there are usually multiple ways to achieve a goal with different pathways or styles of play. Players can hide behind objects or in shadows, and can strike or run past an enemy when the enemy is facing the other way. If the player attracts the attention of enemies, they may be able to hide and wait until the enemies abandon their search. Thus, planning becomes important, as does trial-and-error. Some stealth games put more emphasis on physical combat skill when the player is spotted. Some games offer a choice between killing or merely knocking out an enemy. When ghosting is optional, or not well-supported by a game, players may still attempt to avoid combat for moral reasons or as a demonstration of skill. Early on in the development of the stealth genre these games were referred to as sneak 'em up games.Game design
When hiding in the dark is a gameplay element, light and shadow become important parts of the level design. Usually the player is able to disable certain light sources. Stealth games also emphasize the audio design when players must be able to hear the subtle sound effects that may alert enemies to their actions; noise will often vary as the player walks on different surfaces such as wood or metal. Players who move recklessly will make more noise and attract more attention.In order for a game to include stealth gameplay, the knowledge of the artificial intelligence must be restricted to make it ignorant to parts of the game world. The AI in stealth games takes into specific consideration the enemies' reactions to the effects of the player's actions, such as turning off the lights, as opposed to merely reacting to the player directly. Enemies typically have a line of sight which the player can avoid by hiding behind objects, staying in the shadows or moving while the enemy is facing another direction. Enemies can also typically detect when the player touches them or moves within a small, fixed distance. Overall, stealth games vary in what player actions the AI will perceive and react to, with more recent games offering a wider range of enemy reactions. Often, the AI's movements are predictable and regular, allowing the player to devise a strategy to overcome their adversaries.
One staple of many stealth games is an alarm phase or an alert phase, in which enemies more aggressively seek out the player character. Players can evade capture or engage in combat. This mechanic can also be used to increase difficulty over the course of the game, with missions that end immediately when the alarm phase is activated.
Players are often given limited methods of engaging opponents directly in stealth games, either by restricting the player to ineffective or non-lethal weapons, equipping adversaries with far superior equipment and numbers, or providing the player with a limited amount of health that makes most combat scenarios extremely dangerous. Stealth games sometimes overlap with the survival horror genre, in which players are forced to hide from and evade supernatural or occasionally mundane enemies as they attempt to track down the player.
While early stealth games relied on small maps and simple hitboxes, 3D stealth games have introduced more complex environments. 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.
History
Early developments: 1979–1997
According to Retro Gamers John Szczepaniak, the first stealth game was Manbiki Shounen, published in November 1979. Published as a type-in program for the PET 2001 in RAM magazine in February 1980, 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. If caught, the player is led away by the police. Suzuki presented the game to developer Taito, which used it as inspiration for their similar stealth arcade game, Lupin III, released in April 1980. In November 1980, Suzuki developed a sequel, Manbiki Shoujo.Castle Wolfenstein, originally available in 1981, employed stealth elements as a focus of the gameplay. Players were charged with traversing the levels of Castle Wolfenstein, stealing secret plans and escaping. Players could acquire uniforms to disguise themselves and walk by guards undetected. Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, released in 1984, included some additions to its predecessor, such as a dagger for close-range kills and a greater emphasis on disguising in enemy uniform. id Software's updated 1992 remake Wolfenstein 3D was originally going to feature some of the original's stealth gameplay, such as body hiding, but this was cut to make the game faster paced. As a result of these changes, Wolfenstein would instead pave the way for later 3D action games, specifically first-person shooters.
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. 005 holds the Guinness World Record for being the first stealth game. Mindscape's Infiltrator, released in 1986, combined a flight simulator with a stealth-based "ground mission". In this ground mission, the protagonist attempts to sneak into enemy territory using false IDs to avoid detection and knock-out gas to incapacitate enemies. The goal of this mission is to photograph secret documents while avoiding alarms.
Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear, released in 1987 for the MSX2 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, utilized stealth elements within an action-adventure framework, and was the first mainstream stealth game to be released on consoles. Since the MSX2 was not available in North America, only the NES version was released there. Metal Gear placed a greater emphasis on stealth than other games of its time, with the player character Solid Snake beginning without any weapons and having limited ammunition for each weapon. Enemies are able to see Snake from a distance and hear gunshots from non-silenced weapons; security cameras and sensors are placed at various locations, and a security alarm sounds whenever Snake is spotted and causes all enemies on screen to chase him. Snake could also disguise himself in enemy uniform or a cardboard box, and use hand-to-hand combat to fight enemies. In 1988, Infogrames published Hostages, sometimes known as Rescue: The Embassy Mission. One of the game's three main segments required players to evade searchlights by rolling and ducking into doorways. GameSpot has observed that the game "set important grounds and ideas for future stealth/tactical shooters," noting the game's use of time limits, cover mechanics, and tests of reflexes.
The sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was released in 1990 for the MSX2. It further evolved the stealth gameplay of its predecessor and introduced most of the gameplay elements present in Metal Gear Solid, including the three-dimensional element of height, allowing players to crouch and crawl into hiding spots and air ducts and underneath desks. The player could also distract guards by knocking on surfaces and use a radar to plan ahead. The enemies had improved AI, including a 45-degree field of vision, turning their heads left and right to see diagonally, the detection of various different noises, being able to move from screen to screen, and a three-phase security alarm. The game also had a complex storyline and improved graphics.
Establishing a genre: 1998–2002
Although stealth gameplay had appeared in previous games, 1998 is seen as a turning point in gaming history because of the release of Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, Metal Gear Solid, and Thief: The Dark Project. The ninja-themed Tenchu: Stealth Assassins was the first 3D stealth based-game. Months later, the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid transformed its modestly successful franchise into a mainstream success. The increased power of the PlayStation console over previous platforms allowed for greater immersion in terms of both story and game environment. Metal Gear Solid has been credited with popularizing the stealth genre. Thief: The Dark Project is also credited as a pioneer of the genre. It was the first stealth game using the first-person perspective, dubbed a "first-person sneaker". Among its contributions to the stealth game was the impact of light and dark areas, the latter which could be used for concealment, and the sound design approach that allowed players to track the movement of unseen enemies, while at the same time making the player-character's movement across certain surfaces louder, such as on stone, than on other surfaces, like carpetting, and helping in their stealth.With further releases, many games in the genre drifted towards action by allowing the option of direct confrontations. The Hitman series, the first installment of which was released in 2000, allowed this play style, but rewarded the player for stealthy and elaborate assassination of antagonists. Hitman: Codename 47, the first of the series, was the first 3D game to employ the genre's device of disguises. The Operative: 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. In 2000, the first-person action role-playing game Deus Ex also allowed the player the choice of taking a stealth approach. 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."
1998 also saw the release of Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, a real-time strategy game with heavy stealth gameplay. Players control a team of several soldiers, each with different limited sets of abilities. Missions are completed by navigating or clearing densely layered enemies patrols with "vision cones", similar to the Soliton radar in Metal Gear Solid. The game is recognized for its difficulty, demanding precision and memorization of hot keys. Commandos gave rise to other sequels along with third-party clones such as the Desperados series and Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, released 2001 for the PlayStation 2, further evolved the stealth gameplay series. 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." Metal Gear Solid 2 holds a Guinness World Record for being the first stealth game to feature collective artificial intelligence. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty sold 7 million units in sales, followed by Metal Gear Solid with 6 million units.