Stealth Battle 1998

[Tain]

Seeing the Tenchu Z thread made me think about what happened to the series since 1998, which in turn made me wonder what people thought of the big three 1998 stealth games.

All being released within months of each other, each game had totally different ideas as to how to have the player sneak around and put the player through very different settings.



















I think my vote goes to Thief. They're all fantastic games, but Thief's moody environments and difficult combat (forcing stealth) put it over the top. Metal Gear Solid is a better game than Tenchu, but only barely.

Kinda like NZE's Shinobi III vs. Dracula X thread, only vote if you've played all three, please. The turnout probably won't be nearly as high, but I'd imagine most here have at least played Tenchu and MGS.

[Yoshi]

1. Thief
2. Tenchu
3. MGS

[James]

I always wanted to enjoy Thief more than I actually did, but it's just not my kind of game. Metal Gear Solid was ok, but the one I actually had fun playing was Tenchu.

James

[Bacon McShig]

I want to say Tenchu just for the amazingly bad voice acting.

But I'll go with MGS.

I've... *cough*neverplayedThiefpleasedon'tkillmeTNL.

[Dyne]

played all three so i will chime in.

MGS (at least the first) did it all at the time. the thing is, once you're spotted it's very easy to get the AI off your case.

Tenchu 1 and 2 have horrible draw distance on the ps1. i could have enjoyed them more if i could see more than 5" in front of me. i did enjoy one of them on the ps2 (perhaps the 1st one they made on the system?)

Theif makes you become stealth. while the other two have an emphasis on it, it's not really NECESSARY to proceed, whereas with Theif, once you're spotted you don't have a good percentage of getting out alive.

so for which one uses it the best i had to vote for Theif.

[elfneedsfood]

1. MGS
2. Tenchu
3. Thief

I could never get into Thief. It's a good game, just not for me.

[kingoffighters]

I have never played Thief, and from what I gather, it is heads and shoulders above either choice. For the 2 games I had played, I prefer MGS over Tenchu.

[MechDeus]

In terms of a stealth game? Thief, no question. Actual light/dark detection, guards that would really investigate, combat that could quickly escalate to unsurmountable odds, dragging bodies... there's just so much that Thief did that was so right the other two can't compare.

Now, in terms of an overall package it becomes much harder. Tenchu's stealth kills were exaggerated goodness and the grapple was just cool. Flitting from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally dropping down to slit a throat and then disappearing back into the dark was perfect. MGS was great for its ability to let you play in different styles, where stealth was preferred but balls-out action wasn't frowned on. It also had absolute shittons of style, a fun story, memorable music, and so many quotable remarks made possible by a perfectly fitting team of voice actors.

MGS had the biggest impact on me and was far and away the one I played the most, Tenchu was great so long as I limited myself (only riceballs and grapple allowed for items, being seen is not an option), but Thief had me acting the most like it was intended. I would study enemies and flit from shadow to shadow, usually more scared about being discovered than anything else while trying to steal everything I could.

I remember a guard catching a glimpse of me while I was dashing across a lit hallway and came yelling after me. To my dismay the open door on the other side that I popped into was just a closet and I sat back as far as I could in the pitch dark room only a few feet deep, sword in hand as he ran at me. He shoved his head in the door and yelled for me to come out but I waited for him to make the first move. We must've sat there for thirty seconds like that, him staring into the dark and me crouched and tensed up. Finally he told himself he must've just seen something and began to wander off, which lasted all of no time as I quickly snuck up and blackjacked the asshole. I was later seen out in the open and the dick called for backup which quickly overwhelmed and killed me.

MGS is probably my favorite, but shit like that makes me vote Thief.

[Changeling]

Tenchu with Thief being a close second. Its still fun to go back and play through Tenchu 1 even now.

I'm not a Metal Gear person at all, even though I did somewhat enjoy MGS 3. I think it was more the setting and cast than anything else.

Where are you?

[Kidnemo]

I liked all of them.

Metal Gear was my fave. I finished it a few times.

I finished Tenchu and enjoyed it.

I started Thief a couple of times and could never get into it. I've always been meaning to go back and try it again though.