Annoncering
Why not watch a little something from the VICE video archives: R.I.P. Indie
"On the surface, stealth gameplay is about fictional themes of hiding, evasion, surprise, quiet, light and dark," wrote Tom Leonard, Thief's lead programmer at Looking Glass Studios, for Gamasutra in 2003. "One of the things that makes that kind of experience fun is broadening out the grey zone of safety and danger that in most first-person games is razor thin. It's about getting the player's heart pounding by holding them on the cusp of either state, then letting loose once the zone is crossed."
Annoncering
Annoncering
'Alien: Isolation' emphasised stealth over any other gameplay element, particularly when creeping close to its invincible and deadly beastIn fact, in the case of Thief, it was a conscious decision taken by Looking Glass Studios – and a risky one. Until late in development, the studio had a treasure chest of flashy extras prepped for the game, from multiplayer modes to allowing extra-sensory perception. All this was scrapped, as the conviction that the game represented something new and iconoclastic eventually trumped fears it might be boring for players.It's not to say pure stealth has been permanently consigned to the great curio cabinet of gaming history. 2014's Alien: Isolation channelled the stealth games of old to deliver a refreshing survival horror hybrid, while the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will doubtless place a major emphasis on sneaky play. Indie sneak-em-up Volume is another one to watch, and raises the prospect of small, leftfield titles venturing into the hard stealth territory big blockbusters fear to tread.
Annoncering
While it doesn't fit into my beard-stroking pure stealth paradigm per se, Dishonored also deserves mention for the kick up the arse it gave the genre in 2012. It was arguably more of an heir to the Thief series than the 2014 reboot, and a sequel is on the cards.But, with its sandbox of play styles, Dishonored also sums up my beef with the "more is more" mentality that colours so much big-budget game development. In fact, it was the deliberate minimalism of that first wave of stealth games that made them so special.Previously:Reviewing the Replies to Kate Upton's Promoted 'Game of War' TweetsWe Asked Some Experts About the Sexual Undertones of 'Super Mario Bros.'