There is a litany of different stealth games in the world, from Metal Gear Solid to Splinter Cell to Hitman. Yet, no matter how much they differ in tone and style, a lot of them share similarities. After all, certain features and mechanics are universal to the genre.
Over the years, these staples have also heavily influenced player behavior. Of course, not everyone plays stealth games in the exact same way, as each player has their own style. However, there are specific actions that pretty much everyone does when playing a stealth title. Here are some of the most notable ones.
8 Wait Forever For A Guard To Complete Their Path
Generally, in stealth games, guards will have little patrol routes they follow. And if you're a pro, you will study their path to figure out when you should strike or sneak past.
However, sometimes, the route is large, and guards walk slowly. Therefore, you often have to wait a long time for them to get into the position you want. Even if you just need them to pass, it still takes a while as you likely wait until they've literally just passed you before proceeding.
7 Get Nervous When Sneaking Up To Somebody
While playing through a stealth game, you will probably take out several people along the way - unless you're going for a full pacifist run where you ignore everybody. Often the stealthiest way to achieve that is by using a takedown of some sort.
If you're lucky, you can knock out or kill a guard from a hiding place. Sometimes, though, you have to leave your safe spot to creep behind someone and take them down. Slowly walking up to them is usually a nerve-wracking experience, as there's always a feeling they can turn around at any moment.
6 Always Stay Crouched
Nobody stays well-hidden while running around aimlessly. Thankfully, most games in the genre offer you the chance to crouch or crawl. Crouching is the preferable of the two as it's often faster. Yet, it isn't an incredibly quick form of movement.
Even so, stealth players will commit to crouch walking throughout a stealth game. After all, it makes you harder to see, and your footsteps are typically quieter. However, when there's nobody in sight, it's probably okay to stand up.
5 Lose Patience After Multiple Failures
Stealth requires patience, as you must slowly make your way to the next objective. Going through an area at a snail's pace to remain undetected is fine the first time.
Yet, if you keep failing at the same section and repeatedly get brought back to the same checkpoint, your patience starts to thin. As a result, you begin to be more reckless and start rushing a bit. This often leads to even more failures, which makes for a vicious cycle.
4 Be More Patient When Sneaking Into A Building Than When Sneaking Out
Having to sneak through a heavily-occupied building makes for an exciting challenge. So, you put on your sneakiest stealth suit, make sure you have all your equipment, and enter the building. While inside, you take your time and make sure not to be seen. After the usually lengthy infiltration, you finally reach your objective.
At this point, there's usually a cutscene or something. After it's over, you must leave the place. Since you've just spent so much time getting inside, the idea of sneaking all the way out again is tiresome. You may still try to be stealthy on the way out, but you probably don't have the patience or aren't as committed to staying undetected.
3 Make Use Of Manuel Save System
Autosave systems aren't generally great in stealth games. This is because, like in most games, they typically account for the progress you've made instead of how long it took. Because of the nature of stealth games, this can be a problem. After all, you move so slowly in these titles that it can take some time just to make it through one room, which might not be enough progression for an autosave.
This situation can be fixed by a manual save system. And when the feature is included, it's easy to overuse it, which stealth players often do. Pass from one hiding spot to another? Save. Takedown a guard without altering everyone else? Save. It's nice to always have that safety net.
2 Either Restart Checkpoint Or Kill Everybody
There's no worse feeling than getting detected in a stealth game, as you know all your plans are about to be thrown into disarray. Typically when you're caught, alarms start ringing, and people start going after you. Stealth players usually respond to the situation in one of two ways.
They either immediately restart the checkpoint or ditch the stealth and kill everyone in sight. Neither option makes you feel good. Restarting a checkpoint feels like quitting. Whereas, getting past a section by loudly killing everyone makes it feel like you're playing the game the wrong way.
1 Panic After Missing A Shot
The stealth genre is home to some of gaming's best sharpshooters. Yet, they can't hit every shot, especially when they're being controlled by a human player.
Missing with a bullet in an FPS is fine. However, in stealth games, a miss can be disastrous, as the guard getting shot at can alert everyone of the situation. Next thing you know, all the guards are hunting you. As a result, everyone has the same reaction to missing a headshot: they panic and unleash a full clip at the guard to hopefully kill them before they call back up.