Thief™ II: The Metal Age
This is going to be a long one! As my name entitles, this is probably one of THE best stealth game ever made! I will go in depth why it is and why you should be playing it:
Let’s start off with a list. What makes a stealth game one of the greats? In my own personal opinion it is: Have engaging, functional, and consistent stealth mechanics. Provide the player with alternate routes and methods of completing an objective. have interesting, unique levels. Have said levels progressively provide harder challenges to overcome. little to no combat, and have an engaging story and setting that makes the player want to progress. Every stealth game I have ever played usually doesn’t have all of these things checked marked on the list. MGS has forced combat and has a questionably written story. The first two Splinter Cell games were far too linear and also forced combat at times. Not to mention the sub par stories. Conviction tries way too hard to un-check every thing on this list. Dishonored’s story is cliche and is WAY too easy any way you play it (Yes, even the non lethal no powers run is too easy). The list goes on. That’s why everyone’s favorite stealth games usually are Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, the Hitman series, Death to Spies, and other games that manage to check the checklist. What about Thief 2?
– Real player with 238.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Classic Steampunk Games.
Intro
Thief II The Metal Age is easily one of the best games of all time and the pinnacle of not only stealth in video games, but level design and story telling. I may be in the minority in saying that I prefer both the original and Deadly Shadows more, but goddamn if this isn’t a worthy successor in every way, continuing the series and building upon the world that you helped shape by the end of the last game.
The Great:
++The sound design in this game is phenomenal. The propergation engine, the voice acting, the ambient effects… it’s totally unique (to this day!), and hugely innovative in its connection to gameplay, etc. Everything is just at the highest standard possible, which is to say, totally unmatched.
– Real player with 237.4 hrs in game
Thief™ Gold
I can’t believe I played this game 20 years ago and it’s still a blast. Well, it’s my number one game, just look at my avatar.
Technology:
The way this game is meant to be played is with TFix + HDMod. I repeat !!!TFix!!! (not TGTool). I can safely say that now the game looks better than ever, even compared to its original release back in 98. The reason why is pretty simple - the hardware limitations at that time were quite significant. TFix patches the game with the unofficial New Dark Engine lifting the limitations imposed by the original Dark Engine. There are many improvements: support for higher resolution, the in-game objects have significantly more polygons, bugfixes, HD textures.
– Real player with 71.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Classic Steampunk Games.
It is amazing how as computing technology improves and new tools such as VR are introduced that consumers continue to pine for ‘better’ and ‘more immersive’ games, as though immersion is some ideal we may hope to one day achieve once the graphics are good enough and the gadgets we attach to our forehead become more effective. However, one need only look back to the late 90’s, when a developer known as Looking Glass studios was already forging the path for immersive simulators decades ahead of time.
– Real player with 61.2 hrs in game
Hitman: Codename 47
Hitman: Codename 47 is the game that started a whole franchise and presented one of games' most recognizable characters: Agent 47. This game has great ideas impaired by technical limitations, both from the technology of the time and the budget, but counters it by having fun gameplay and a flawless story.
It is amazing how intelligent games were back then, detailing storylines and interesting characters displayed with an easy-to-follow presentation. At the beginning of every mission you go to a briefing where you learn about your target and the details surrounding the hit you are going to perform. This is presented all in text and all you have to do is read it. One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the video of the target filmed by an ICA agent - which gives us an idea of how organized the Agency is.
– Real player with 50.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Classic Third Person Games.
Codename 47 is certainly an interesting nut to crack. I’m playing the Hitman series for the first time and doing it in order, so I can’t compare to later games in the series yet, but I think this game is an experience worth having, even if it’s not something I’d say everyone should rush out and buy.
The game’s best and worst feature is that you can’t save. In some levels, the more medium-sized ones that are more along the lines of “here’s the level, here’s your weapons, kill this target”, this can make for a very tense, suspenseful stealth experience and you can find yourself resorting to some interesting tactics to just try and survive a minute longer, but as the levels get longer and longer, and as you experience levels that have certain things to be done in a specific order, it becomes incredibly tedious and frustrating. It definitely comes from the 80’s school of game design that wants you to die over and over again until you get it exactly right, so think Cuphead if some of the levels took 3 times as long to master and you’re on the right track for this game’s difficulty. You do get two “lives” but the enemy’s suspicion of you doesn’t reset so you’re still in a bad spot if you died.
– Real player with 38.8 hrs in game
Bonanza Bros.™
Bonanza Bros is a 2 player sidescrolling action game originally released in arcades in 1990 by Sega of Japan. And what Sega Genesis got was a port in 1991 on usual-at-that-time 4 Megabit ROM cartridge, a bit cut here and there, but still keeping 2 player mode. Though, I heard that this conversion ITL. Or maybe Sega of Japan was involved as well. Who knows. Not me.
It also came out for SMS and PC Engine CD thing. I think. And computers. And Ages 2500 rerelease on PS2.
The game that you have here is nothing more than emulation of Sega Genesis version. Well, European-Japan one, but it’s english and 60hz, no worries.
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory®
–-{ Graphics }—
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
—{ Gameplay }—
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It’s just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don’t
—{ Audio }—
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I’m now deaf
—{ Audience }—
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
—{ PC Requirements }—
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
—{ Difficulty }—
– Real player with 50.8 hrs in game
The enemy AI is so god damn smart, they can smell Sam Fisher’s stinky farts and instantly find you
– Real player with 23.8 hrs in game
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell®
Splinter Cell is Ubisoft’s response to Metal Gear Solid, and boy did they deliver! The game has amazing graphics for 2002, with light and shadow environments, cloth physics and movement caption, with the epic voice of Michael Ironside as the ex-Navy SEAL, and now NSA agent, Sam Fisher. You are helped and guided by a team of specialists from the Third Echelon, a super secret branch of the National Security Agency (NSA). The controls present some neat flexibility to the player, giving the stealth genre much needed maneuvering space. The game is set in the Clancyverse, so you can expect the usual high-class military-political intrigue coupled with the rough military guys surrounded by state-of-the-art tactical gear; the green googles being the trademark of the Splinter Cell series.
– Real player with 80.4 hrs in game
Splinter Cell is a stealth title that was created as a “Metal Gear Solid 2 killer”; a MGS2 killer it is not.
A good game it is.
Rather than the MGS formula of using enemy line of sight as the danger, Splinter Cell uses light as the catalyst to all stealth play. At the bottom right you have a small bar that shows how visible you are; light sources shoot this bar all the way up and any enemy looking in your general direction will be alerted to your prescence. Sound also plays a role in this, as you can adjust Sam’s move speed by 6 or so degrees. Different floors (wooden, grates, concrete) make different sounds, but the general idea is that in addition to staying out of sight, you must also stay out of sound.
– Real player with 69.0 hrs in game
Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition
The narrative of this game is absolutely frightening. When I first played it some years ago, I was blown away by the attention to detail and twists and turns of the story. When I replayed it more recently, I instead felt that I was looking out my bedroom window, as though the writers had seen the future. I don’t know where Warren Spector is hiding his time machine, but I’d love to have a chat with him about it.
As for the game itself: if you’re willing to deal with some truly awful gunplay and some questionable controls, this is easily one of the greatest games ever made. It’s extremely difficult for me to describe the amazing feeling that comes from playing a good immersive sim; being able to hack specific ATM accounts because you read someone’s personal notes, reading newspaper articles that describe and flesh out the world just like a good book, the choices you have when it comes to conversations and interactions with both main characters and side characters; it all feels so real. I’ve truly never felt anything like it. I realize how cheesy that sounds, but I simply don’t have the talent for putting into words how incredible this game is underneath the dated exterior.
– Real player with 37.9 hrs in game
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– Real player with 36.6 hrs in game
F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0
Absolute belter of a game. Played this and F19 and the original Gunship! back in the nineties on a Commodore Amiga 500 then on a 1200 Amiga. (also played Gunship! and F19 on a Commodore C64 complete with wire frame graphics!) Later played on a PC not as good as on the Amiga’s. but then no PC is as good as the Amiga.
The game still is one of the best OK I am lucky I still got the original manuals, maps and keyboard overlays etc. which makes the games much more enjoyable for me than for those who do not. So here I am a 68 year old playing these games from decades ago which says a lot about the standard of gameplay from Microprose. In fact I am still playing my Microprose collection Gunship!, F19, F117A, Pirates!, Red Storm Rising, etc. on the Amiga 1200 (how many pc’s form the eighties are still going strong?) but well done to those involved in bringing this and other classics to a new generation.
– Real player with 28.1 hrs in game
If you are experiencing crashes with this game, load through Steam instead of your desktop shortcut and select “Play F117A in DOSBox Daum”. This should clear up your problems.
Sid Meier has always made amazing games in any genre he turns his hand to, and this was a great simulator in it’s day. Like all early 3D games, it hasn’t aged well superficially, but the gameplay is still very much enjoyable today. I’d love to see a modern remake with improved graphics and physics, and a more in-depth & cinematic career mode (but retaining the random mission generator).
– Real player with 25.2 hrs in game
F-19 Stealth Fighter
F19 Stealth Fighter is a gem from Microprose of late 1980s.
Early Microprose released several fight simulators which gradually became better and better, especially from gameplay perspective. F19 is the top Microprose game before Civilization and it has the last Sid Meier’s flight simulator gameplay, the endpoint of Sid’s flight evolution if you will.
F19’s gameplay is a brilliant mixture of flight simulator and stealth. To my knowledge, currently it is still unique. In other words, you will not find a similar gameplay in modern games.
– Real player with 179.8 hrs in game
Sweet merciful crap. It’s back! It’s really back!
One of my earliest memories from when I was a tiny micro-kid back in ancient times was going to my grandpa’s house and seeing this game on his computer. He had a tendency to earn distinguished flying crosses and then die horribly before he could get back to base. … Anyway. I naturally sank about 11 billion hours into this game before the advent of things like graphics and operating systems that weren’t DOS came along and drew me into other things.
– Real player with 175.9 hrs in game
Hitman: Blood Money
Classic Hitman! There’s a reason people say this is the best Hitman game so far, and I totally agree.
I used to play this game in my early teens, and bought it again so I could have it on Steam (yeah, it is THAT good).
The missions are well thought-out, and take place on very unique locations. Each level is completely different from the other, and you never get the “I think I’ve done this before” feeling, because this game completely ditches the “Just go there and kill that guy” mechanic. The methods you choose to kill your target (or targets) really do feel unique, and the same thing will never work twice. You have to analyze your surroundings, the relationship between your targets and think about what will happen if you do X (this is one of the few games I ever played where the mission briefing REALLY is worth reading, because it gives you very important insight on the targets).
– Real player with 74.6 hrs in game
To start off, this game is awesome, and surprisingly good considering its age. I’ve never played a Hitman game before this one, it was cheap and had higher reviews than the other older games in the series, and I would now definitely consider myself a fan of the series.
This game is a “social stealth” game, meaning that you hide in plain sight, utilizing disguises, subterfuge, and clever tricks of your environment to take down your targets, and walk away nonchalantly from either the chaos (if you like a more comedic high profile approach), everyone’s lack of awareness that any killing happened at all (if you want to be a ninja), or from everyone’s shock that a chandelier “accidentally” fell on the party host’s face RIGHT when his wife blew up from a faulty BBQ propane tank (the best, most difficult, and rewarding way to do things).
– Real player with 33.8 hrs in game