Sneaking

Sneaking has been a big part of some of the most beloved franchises. Classics like Thief, Hitman, Watch Dogs, Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed franchises are some of the most well known. The act of crouching and staying in the shadows is simple to learn, but hard to master. It’s a formula that has been followed in many games with great success.

Thief relied mostly on your ability to sneak around guards and take them out in stealth. Avoiding fights to keep things stealthy was the main point of the game.

Hitman relied on even more varied methods of stealth. If you could sneak around the enemies to eliminate your target it was best, but there was usually an option to wear a disguise to hide in plain sight. Anyone you take out needed to be hidden and you were encouraged to find inventive ways to eliminate your target in a way where they never knew you were there.

Watch Dogs encourages stealth using technology. You can hack your way around locked down facilities without stepping foot inside most times. There are opportunities to hack electronics to distract guards or to shock them. The use of drones allows you to sneak around security systems. There’s even an AR cloak in the most recent title.

Splinter Cell takes sneaking in a more covert operative direction. As a secret agent, you use silenced pistols, cover of dark and a whole lot of climbing on pipes to stay hidden.

Assassin’s Creed games have always relied on the ability to sneak into strongholds to assassinate targets. The old days involved failing missions if you were caught, while more recent iterations just force you to deal with all hell breaking loose.