Lethal or non-lethal stealth?

[OverdriveOtaku]

***This thread is posted on behalf of Queen Kong, via the Adopt-a-User Thread***

I have been playing stealth games non lethally for years, Splinter cell, Mark of the ninja, Hitman, etc... Note that in most of these games, there are usually available lethal arsenals that would either lower your scores or make you easily detectable.

So even when the developers try to appeal to all the play styles, they would punish you for having fun your way (although you could say it makes the game too easy.) Metal gear solid 5 for example, has a huge list of fun weapons but they punish you in scoring if you choose to use them.

Non-lethal was how I approached Dishonored 2. However, on my second play through, I tried High chaos ghost and I had so much more fun than my previous Low chaos playthrough.

So, how do you play your stealth games? Is there a game that balance both styles without compromising difficulty or punishing you for choosing to play in a certain way?

 

[Strafer]

in Splinter Cell Blacklist I went lethal stealth because the takedowns in that game was so damn satyrfying.

the knife from the corner is my favorite.

 

[xy0]

I'm all about non-lethal. Makes the stakes even higher, I feel. HITMAN does this so well. (Though of course targets you have to kill no matter what)

 

[Chikor]

Kill everyone, pick up their bodies and build a tower of dead people in a closet somewhere is pretty much the only way I can really enjoy stealth games.
Mechanically it tends to be more fun for me, it seems like you're solving the puzzle of how to get around that person once rather than multiple times, and if I get to solve a puzzle with some blood and a cool kill animation, that's even better.

Stealth games that makes that playstyle viable but then punish the player who pursue it annoy the shit out of me, even if the punishment is not all that severe like in the Dishonored 2. And it's especially bother me when the game have a much more fun murderous mechanics than going non-lethal. I'm looking at you MGSV. I'm fucking looking at you with my blood covered demon face.

 

[MiguelBañón]

Well, it depends of the situation for me. I mean, I always like to do the non-lethal approach, but if there is a group of 4 people giving me a tough time I don´t hesitate a goddamn second to group them and blast them away with the biggest rocket launcher I have.

 

[The Almighty Tria]

Both depending on how I'm feeling. Locking myself into one playstyle for the entirety of a 15 to 20 hour game sounds miserable.

 

[Nightside]

Mostly non lethal. Or people simply disappear.

 

[Dervius]

Blacklist balanced this well with the Assault, Panther and Ghost styles.

I find panther the most fun, quick, quiet and lethal. I just enjoy it more, As somebody said the takedowns in blacklist were also excellent.

A friend of mine much prefers ghost, getting the thrill of never leaving a trace.

 

[Luxorek]

Non-lethal most of the time. That's how I played through Dishonored and Deus Ex: HR. That saying it was way too monotone with next to no tools and systems designed for that kind of gameplay when compared to the more standard lethal playthroughs.

I tend to play these games twice, first non-lethally and then lethally to pick up any achievements I might have missed. Also, I would like to say how much I hate how often games tie gameplay to a 'morality' system.

 

[Krypton115]

I'll go with non-lethal because stealth games reward non-lethal stealth more than lethal stealth, except when the context of the story changes drastically (i.e. these guys are just guards doing their jobs vs. oh these guys are pieces of absolute shit who betrayed me and my crew). I'll also go full lethal when I get spotted and have to improvise.

 

[Rhaya]

If possible I try to do a Ghost run in every stealth game atleast once
By which I mean not killing or ko ing anyone and disturb nothing in the level.

Making it seem like I was never there.

 

[lucebuce]

I almost always prefer non-lethal stealth, up close and personal takedowns are my jam if the game allows it.

Only stealth game where I actually tried also doing a lethal approach was the Dishonored series.

 

[Banzai]

Non-lethal is usually more fun because guards can be found and return to patrolling. I like doing ghost-runs when possible though, meaning just staying out of sight and not having any confrontations with the enemy at all.

 

[Zojirushi]

Problem is in my experience most of these games penalize you in one way or the other for killing stuff so lethal stealth is like the worst of both worlds for me: You get none of the fun of just gunning everyone down and use fun weapons but all of the "you killed everyone you monster so now you don't get xyz "

 

[Monogatari]

In MGS I always do non-lethal runs.

I have morals.

 

[Bulebule]

It depends. Metal Gear Solid for GBC I played mostly non-lethal, but Assassin's Creed-games as lethal stealth as possible, since detect system is more annoying.

 

[TheBeardedOne]

I'm not very good at stealth games, so lethal is usually what occurs out of necessity. I prefer it though. Non-lethal is a hassle.

 

[Ikaruga]

It really depends, I love how you could clear a stage in the original Deus Ex without killing anybody and then the cleanup team would act according to what you did, wondering how you, the cyborg killing machine, let everyone of the rebels live, questioning their own image of said cybernetic enhanced humans.

 

[Deleted member 11370]

I tend to do non-lethal if that's the option. More rewarding, IMO.

 

[The Albatross]

In Dishonored I do several play throughs. First is stealthy and I try not to be lethal but I just play through and if I have to kill someone or make a mistake I do it.

Second time I go stealthy but make an kill every adversary in my way. I don't go out of my way to kill someone but I will if I have to.

Third play through is full ghost/unseen and full passive.

If you like stealth games and haven't played Dishonored you're in for a treat.

 

[BuBu Jenkins]

I vastly prefer stealth by silently taking out enemies one by one clearing an area out undetected whether lethally or non lethally. In most games non lethal is just the same as lethal instead of killing an enemy for good they'll simply be unconscious for good

 

[ActWan]

I always go out of my way to use nonlethal when there's an option.
I love it when enemies wake up after a while like in MGS.

 

[Alek]

Depends on the narrative context. Is my character a killer? In Watch Dogs 2, lethal stealth wasn't congruent with my expectations of the characters behaviour (inducing ludonarrative dissonance) so I tried to play the game with non-lethal stealth, which is difficult and restrictive.

 

[xrnzaaas]

For me it's always lethal stealth unless the game penalizes that. I hate leaving people behind and not being sure if they can wake up or be woken up and sound the alarm. ;)

 

[Deleted member 12186]

Most of the time non-lethal.

Going all out lethal usually wastes resources.

 

[Paul]

Generally play non-lethal when possible. I just enjoy "getting into the character" and if I was there, I would try to avoid killing.
That said, sometimes I do go lethal if the situation/target warrants it.

 

[Seep]

Depends what mood I'm in but mostly non-lethal.

 

[Deleted member 5167]

Ghost runs are high stress because theres so little margin for error, but so satisfying when you pull them off.

Its how you know the Thieves Guild has gone to shit in Skyrim, when they've abandoned their no kill penalties.

 

[SmashN'Grab]

Non-lethal is probably a better way to play - and I always start a stealth game trying to do that but I end up falling back on lethal every time. Mainly because I don't want to have to reload saved games when I get it wrong. I just feel I don't have the time for that, what with having so many games to play through. I should be more patient, though. It would be more rewarding.

 

[Gimpy]

Definitely depends on the game for me. Something like Mark of the Ninja is ridiculously fun to play non-lethal, but something like Splinter Cell Blacklist/Dishonored felt a lot more satisfying visually and mechanically to play lethally with stealth. I love good stealth games, but I think the problem a lot of games fall into is that non-lethal stealth is just quite boring - you're taking the same route you'd follow for the lethal/combat route, but you're just waiting in corners for enemy controls to pass by or enemies to turn their back. There's often little in there that makes it satisfying from a gameplay loop perspective, especially when the alternate often has a lot of cool abilities/items you're forsaking using. I think games like Deus Ex made stealth fun because you were carving completely distinct, unique paths specific to stealth - it meant actually exploring and figuring out navigation and timing, etc rather than just going the same obvious route and memorizing rote patrol patterns

 

[Satanael]

Lethal because I kinda suck at stealth and having a guard wake up in front of me always leads to unsubtle genocide.

But MGSV taught me a better way: spare a life, balloon said life, exploit all life.

Thanks, Kojima!

 

[phlpp]

Always the same pattern for me: Non lethal -> fuck up -> lethal -> fuck up -> all out war.
I'm not too good at stealth games.

 

[RookieDood]

Non-lethal while not detected. Lethal the moment a firefight start.

 

[Soj]

I kind of role-play it. I do what I think would make sense for the character and the current mission as it's presented in the story. Sometimes that means ghosting and other times it means everybody just has to die. It's a way of setting additional gameplay challenges for myself and it helps keep games with repetitive objectives interesting.

 

[Deleted member 10234]

If possible I try to do a Ghost run in every stealth game atleast once
By which I mean not killing or ko ing anyone and disturb nothing in the level.

Making it seem like I was never there.

Click to shrink...

I usually try to go for this one. Except I will still steal everything.

Most modern stealth games are ridiculously easy if you kill people.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

It really depends on the context of the story. The only big example I can think of is that I wish Uncharted had non-lethal stealth. All the neck-breaking, especially the sound effect, makes me really queasy because it's The only realistic depiction of violence in the whole game. Non-lethal takedowns would be mechanically identical and better suit the universe.

So I don't strongly prefer one over the other unless the tone of the story really calls for a particular option. I really like how Dishonored does it though, especially the sequel.

 

[GenericJoe]

I usually do both non-lethal stealth and lethal stealth. Non-lethal stealth is more satisfying to pull off, but lethal stealth tends to be more fun in the moment to moment gameplay, especially Dishonored with the Shadow Kill power since you no longer have to worry about hiding corpses.

 

[werezompire]

Siren 2 is rather good in this regard in that different scenarios call for different approaches - some segments require non-lethal stealth, other levels favor weapons, and other levels work with either.

 

[haveheart]

Lethal. The good thing about Dishonored is that you can combine all those playstyles without "failing": Lethal vs Nonlethal and Stealth vs Assault.

 

[tuta]

Blacklist balanced this well with the Assault, Panther and Ghost styles.
I find panther the most fun, quick, quiet and lethal.

Click to shrink...

The panther playstyle was so good. You had to always be on the move and ready to strike. It was even better with a friend.

I start a game with the intention of no-killing, but it takes too many time and effort. Unless I really like a game (Hitman, Dishonored), I would just give up this strategy.

 

[Snormy]

It really depends on the game. Sometimes going nonlethal feels so rewarding. Other times it feels so restrictive and boring.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Lethal, don't like it in some games if you do a non lethal take down they can get back up. When I take you down you stay down.

 

[Dervius]

It really depends on the game. Sometimes going nonlethal feels so rewarding. Other times it feels so restrictive and boring.

Click to shrink...

This is my biggest gripe with Ghost styles, you get all these great toys weapons and gadgets, then are penalised in some way for actually using them.

 

[Navidson REC]

Ah yes, my weekly reminder that I'm craving a new Splinter Cell. Actually, I'd be more than happy with Blacklist on Xbox One BC. Please Ubisoft!

That said, yeah, panther was super satisfying in Blacklist. I wanted to do a ghost run next but it doesn't feel right to play a stealth game on my old jet engine 360...

 

[Noisepurge]

i always start with non-lethal and see how far it takes me. But when those guards eventually see me and attack i just gotta bust out the shotguns :D

 

[Catdaddy]

Always the same pattern for me: Non lethal -> fuck up -> lethal -> fuck up -> all out war.
I'm not too good at stealth games.

Click to shrink...

This is me, like now in ACO - I'll get halfway thru a camp non-lethal ghost and then something goes bad and end up fighting or fleeing.

I did manage a 1 kill Dishonored 2 playthrough - the only kill was the Clockwork guy and that was after a dozen non-lethal tries. But more often than not it ends up bloody. I agree with another poster here, my 2nd Dishonored 2 playthrough was high chaos/lethal and less challenging but more fun (D2 has some brutal kills).

 

[JustinH]

I didn't play much of the game, but I liked the idea that Blacklist was doing where you were graded on how you chose to play. I prefer to play non-leathally first, but after I've already played a game and I'm just farting around in it sometimes I'll like to just go all out and kill everything in sight (like in DIshonored, where it felt satisfying to beat the game without killing anyone, and then more satisfying to go back and use all those cool toys and powers).

 

[CanUKlehead]

Non-lethal, usually. Been doing this for Splinter Cell and Dishonored. I tend to make up a story in my head that the guards aren't to blame :D

Although from time to time, the sick f*** in me will imagine a guard having a conversation in their own head, 'hmm, maybe I shouldn't be doing this anymore, and confess to my wife why I can afford our new stuff all of a sudden. This job doesn't seem--' *headshot*

This is me, like now in ACO - I'll get halfway thru a camp non-lethal ghost and then something goes bad and end up fighting or fleeing.

I did manage a 1 kill Dishonored 2 playthrough - the only kill was the Clockwork guy and that was after a dozen non-lethal tries. But more often than not it ends up bloody. I agree with another poster here, my 2nd Dishonored 2 playthrough was high chaos/lethal and less challenging but more fun (D2 has some brutal kills).

Click to shrink...

My one kill in DH1 was when I accidentally left the electric trap on reverse to kill the baddies, finished the level, but didnt realise the guards were escorting the villain through that same door and zaaaaaap. Took me a while to look around and find out where that kill came from :( :( And then I stupidly moved on to the next level instead of retrying :(

 

[Kickmaster Kim]

I kill motherfuckers.

 

[Deleted member 7450]

Non lethal. Requires more skill to pull off.

My biggest accomplishment was finishing the first Splinter Cell non lethal (except the last shot).
Pain in the ass to do, since the game isn't exacly towards that (especially the late rescue mission), quick saves ahoy. But I did.