The Best & Worst Stealth Gaming Mechanics

What Makes A Great Stealth Game? Well probably stealth mechanics. So let's look at some of the best and worst stealth mechanics in modern gaming.
We'll take a look from basic bare bones mechanics like the ones from Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA Online. To moderately improved systems in games such as: Watch Dogs and Cyberpunk 2077. To games who've made stealth their upmost priority like Hitman 3, Batman Arkham Knight and Assassin's Creed. We will break down their different systems and explain what makes some better than the rest.

[@zarrebi4366]

I never thought we'd get a face reveal. Holy shit, best moment of the week

[@leanardonundesifresi1257]

He is real chad man so charismatic

[@swartalfguy6277]

this mf looks like a mastermind evil genius

[@majorblitz3846]

He got that HITMAN Elusive target look

[@MikeHawk-zd6qq]

Nice to see your face, but you forgot about Splinter Cell. The shadows are a great mechanic. Hope you'd see this, since you like stealth games and all.

[@clips118]

Yea splinter cell chaos theory is the best pure stealth game ever made

[@yehiakhaled826]

Shadows are a great mechanic however it’s not like the rest where it has multiple varaition or forms and sometime you gotta make the environment viable for it

[@sombodythatyouusedtoknow9046]

Manhunt also does that ,but it feels a bit bullshit standing in darkness while there's an enemy activly trying to find you a few centimeters from you

[@yutro213]

Even before that, "Thief" games already worked with Shadows as a stealth mechanic, starting with Thief: The Dark Project (1998)/Thief: Gold (1999).

[@Moonerang]

Nice to see the face behind this great channel, keep up the good work brother.

[@adrianveseli3379]

Makes a stealth game video without mentioning splintercell is something else.

[@Nicolo0139]

Batman Arkham Series does good on the stealth, in my opinion I think the stealth in Batman is realistic because as soon as someone sees you, everyone gets alerted because that’s the number one thing someone would do

[@Basisreallycool]

Yeah i agree, i think not having a meter works if it feels realistic for teh situation. Obviously in a crowded public space it makes sense for a guard to get suspicious first; but, in a city full of criminals, being found wearing a bat suit is pretty conspicuous. Given the enemy ai intelligence, multitude of archetypes, and variety of gadgets in the arkham games, i think it was a consious choice to not include a meter.

[@cjallenroxs6239]

Yeah this guy was on bullshit when he talked about Batman and used terrible ass clips

[@Basisreallycool]

@@cjallenroxs6239 tbf he did praise it in some parts but where he said it was bad was just poor.

[@Nicolo0139]

@@Basisreallycool and also basically everyone knows batsy so it’s probably logical to call everyone so it’s easier to defeat a man who has multiple records of kicking thugs asses

[@Kokoale2.0]

This dude is pretty handsome ngl

[@geteriking4865]

Alriiiiiiight

[@Bernie91]

He's a lil too majestic ngl😅😅

[@jayyy1677]

I agree

[@jayyy1677]

I like his style yoo😢

[@uchenna8885]

That’s what your thinking about 😂 instead of the video

[@flobama7200]

My personal all time fav stealth is Hitman WOA + MGSV the phantom pain, 2 completely different approaches to the genre each with probably the best gameplay & room for creativity. Big special mention to the Last of Us games as well

[@LarryTheTugaGamer1511]

If you liked TPP, Ground Zeroes is more of the same, apart from a couple of control changes. It kicks ass and the side content is fairly nice, too.

[@simonstaub9870]

i would also recommend Alien isolation

[@LarryTheTugaGamer1511]

Everyone's talking about how handsome he is, but can we just take a look at the man's drip for a second?

[@jonathangrant480]

True it is pretty immaculate

[@milton5609]

Oh wow, face reveal I fell backwards in amazement

[@JoeMama-dt6sw]

fascinating to see a stealth game video not mention dishonored (aside from a single clip) or splinter cell. in fact, while a bit of a knit pick. The selection of games used as examples felt alittle narrow. always nice to see the Arkham games acknowledged. I prefer vision cones with the ambiguous peripheral sight. It makes me respect the AI more as the radial sight indicator makes it too clear what I can get away with. Especially in games like Dishonored and Arkham that have fun action alongside great stealth. In my eyes ideally it wont even be a problem in a stealth game either way if the game gives you enough tools or paths to deal with the enemy without needing to know exactly how quickly they can see you. for example dishonored giving many routes and tools. Same with Arkham another point I think this video could have mentioned if the intent is to highlight important aspects of a successful stealth game, is satisfaction of using these elements. Games like cyberpunk had some decent stealth mechanics, but I simply never wanted to use them because I'd either be shooting them in the head with a silenced pistol or choking them from behind with the same animation for the 70x time that session. good examples are Arkham, Dishonored, and Splinter cell conviction. Arkham and dishonored reward the player with satisfying animations and a verity of tools to accomplish a task all of which has variation to the result that can be used to your advantage. Splinter cell conviction has once again satisfying animations and when killing an opponent even if you are just shooting them, it gives you a charge to use a powerful and once again satisfying ability (headshoting an entire room).

[@JoeMama-dt6sw]

worth noting that despite all that. great video, underrated and well put together as always

[@Mr.TwoFaceGuy]

This is one of your best videos. I wish it got more attention

[@Noone_1111]

To be honest, just like Hitman, this channel deserves more love and attention

[@devilzgaming8006]

My personal favourite stealth games: 1) Assassin's creed unity and syndicate 2) hitman WOA 3) splinter cell chaos theory and Blacklist 4) metal gear solid V 5) watch dogs 1 and 2 6) far cry 5 7) ghost recon wildlands 8) sniper elite 4 and 5 9) dishonored 1 and 2

[@GoogleUser000]

Bro been hiding his face for all this time just to suddenly unfold how handsome he is for whatever reason. Best face reveal ever xD

[@Core2TOM]

Would have been great to mention Mark of the Ninja, which explains it's stealth mechanics perfectly. I'd also like to know what do you think about Sniper Elite's stealth aspect. Thanks for your hard work on the video! Followed and hope to see more videos about my favorite genre ❤

[@AutoDFensa]

Exceptional video, WildGold -- very thorough evaluation of the key aspects that figure into a successful stealth title. The linearity of Hitman: Absolution was always a point of frustration for me, as it could have been a much more enjoyable game with expanded approaches for completing objectives and assassinations.

[@laputanmachine7033]

The king of stealth will always be the Thief trilogy. You get all the information you need by the sound design alone, and Garrett has all the tools you will ever need to circumvent them.

[@RipVanPlan]

Face reveal nice suit btw

[@giulioguatteri7849]

Nice video and suit as always. It's amazing how much quality you bring to the table compared to your subscribers count. You really are an underrated yourtuber. Keep up the good work, there aren't many great, passionate youtubers left.

[@sleepyfrank6359]

The stealth meter, i had a thought abt that. I think the best system would be something like in splinter cell chaos theory. Now before anything else i am a hardcore stealth fan so i like it when its challenging so i dont like metres. I do like a instant detection system better but in splinter cell chaos theory we can get both. Theres a light and sound meter. Say you are in your enemy's cone of vision in bright light its an instant spot and alarm however if they see you in a dim setting even in the same position they'll "investigate" the area and wont be sure of your presence. This makes it better in my opinion. You can use darkness either as a comfort to avoid easy detection or you can use it to lure guards in the dark areas. But even the guards are smart if they are investigating a dark area they'll come with flares or flashlights so attacking them in the dark isn't easy

[@Freelancer837]

I think an issue comes in that not every stealth game is made to be the same. Like, yes Batman's AI learning is really good, but it's only good because it's an action game with stealth elements, not a full stealth game. It works because the goal is to take down all the bad guys, and the punishment of getting caugh t is fighting them while they all know you're there, but the game is meant for that. In many full stealth games like the older MGS games, older SC games, and Hitman games, the goal is to not interfere with the guards at all if at all possible. You're meant to be a ghost who leaves no evidence you were ever there, including never messing with any of the guards. Completing your objective should be the only thing you do. If you get caught, it's possible to make it back to stealth, but that's the point, you should be trying to get back into stealth because the game is not designed for you to have at all much of a chance of winning an open fight, and even if you do, you come out with punishments that make the next moves harder. It's easy for a non-stealth game to have stealth mechanics, because they're just extras meant to add more substance, but they can be completely ignored and be fine. A real stealth game compared to an action shooter is the difference of playing an action fighting game to a soulslike game.

[@jaysupe1268]

Love these long well documented videos !

[@clauseable]

watchdogs 1 had a mechanic where npcs would react to gun shots near them. made stealth playthroughs much easier as enemies would investigate the shots, using a silenced pistol u can lure them...

[@NamesAreForFriends-ki8oi]

Or you can just, y'know, craft a lure

[@clauseable]

@@NamesAreForFriends-ki8oi i seem to have an issue with using resources, Like id have them. BUT NOT USE THEM. (A voice in my head says "save them for later")

[@Zeg-eh5ik]

What about Aragami and Ereban?

[@VectorM]

Wild gold uploaded & gave a face reveal 🔥👌

[@R01dr4geR69]

Wild gold if you like stealth games i recently started sniper ghost warrior contracts 2. Another surprising good stealth game i just picked up is far cry 5. The only thing i like more than a good stealth game is random games with good stealth mechanics. GTA 4 actually has interesting also funny police search mechanics. In the low star heat levels when you evade their line of sight yet haven't escaped and the stars go dark but not flash, though still in the search area which is the flashing circle on the map, The cops actively search your last known location in the search area and alleys as well as call back up and patrol around in their squad cars while the other cop goes on foot and search, deep and dynamic mechanics. makes for really fun dynamic gameplay were you have to think about choices also makes it more immersive with no mini map so you don't know where the cops are or how far it is to escape

[@John-996]

Level design games like Hitman Blood money, Dishonored 2, Gameplay systems like being able to using a cardboard box in MGS games or Disguise in hitman or Night vision in Splinter cell. being able to avoid killing anyone games like Dishonored 2 Lastly unique stealth kills Manhunt is one of best stealth games when comes to stealth take downs there so many ways kill enemies and each Weapon has white, Yellow and Red kills which adds more depth to act of killing an enemy from behind hitman also has many ways to kill a target using the environment or differing up close weapons.

[@michealtheevilhero2340]

Looking good, My man.

[@Desher_ER]

You look so good

[@zine_eddinex24]

The intro exactly 💯 ✅ 😅

[@Swlore]

Damn bro got that Leon from resident evil look 🔥🔥

[@LunarMARAUDER]

did not expect bro to look like that

[@Arad_Shams]

I think it would have been better if you mentioned cayo perico heist and Spider-Man

[@ammz30]

Finally seeing your face ❤

[@Michael-hm8fg]

I love Arkham and old ac stealth

[@speeprun]

OH GOD HES HOT

[@EziosBladez]

Did i just watch a video about stealth and not see my boy Sam Fisher? O.o he's been missing in action for a long time but wow.

[@AetherNoble]

Thank god the face reveal isn’t cringe. I mean he is wearing leather gloves, but it IS a hitman channel 😂

[@civilwarfare101]

Not a bad vid, and pretty sound arguments but it feels weird to see no mention of the Edios Montreal Deus Ex games, Thief or Splinter Cell. I get the older Thief games but the other two games are pretty modern.

[@gamelover1779]

First video ever seen by him, SUBSCRIBING 👍🏽 I would like to see his stealth gameplay.

[@zine_eddinex24]

Good video keep up

[@Attila19_]

Shadow of Mordor offers literally all of them.

[@SebastianWasserberg-dk3bs]

I think whistling is also a good techniqye

[@thirupathig4027]

I recently played Spiderman, Spiderman Miles Morales and Ghost of Tsushima I feel they have pretty good stealth mechanics, you should try these games yourself I am currently waiting for Spiderman 2 on PC.

[@zine_eddinex24]

Underrated 😢

[@chanople]

I think the last of us 2 its a game that flies under the radar in the stealth genre, but it truly its a game that excels in it with a few known but well implemented mechanics

[@lilautistico1635]

Dishonored does stealth very well

[@John-996]

Manhunt would have been better to use then RDR online and GTA5 online as they are not designed around stealth.

[@Smallvac52]

Can you make a video on new elusive target

[@GrumpyCat97]

what, no Splinter Cell?

[@thejonkler69]

ArkhamKnight is the best stealth game i think

[@TheJonkler177]

I agree, but I'm the original Jonkler.

[@thejonkler69]

@@TheJonkler177 i already met u once in a comment section, i think it was the man ham knight video

[@thejonkler69]

@@TheJonkler177 also ur just joe kerr im jonkler

[@thejonkler69]

@@TheJonkler177 i'm realising now how rare this is

[@TheJonkler177]

@@thejonkler69 I know, that's why I commented in your comment :)

[@Idkoscar1]

God damn looking good Wildgold

[@justinmercado1185]

Aside from Hitmon, how do you talk about stealth with games that use it as secondary approaches? Stealth as a secondary approach does NOT make a game a stealth one. That’s a giant misconception (& probably why the stealth genre is dying). Where are the examples where stealth is primary and fundamental? Thief, Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell ? There is no mention how light, camouflage, and difficulty settings can greatly influence the interaction btw player and npc.

[@MCGREGORO18]

Face reveal goes hard

[@1whospeaks]

Bros... I lost 50k Merces, my Collector's Coin, Collector's Sieker, Collector's Tranq, Collector's Lockpick. Is it over? I finished 2 Campaigns but I don't think I have the coom to go on...

[@That_Honda_Civic]

you should make a video about crime boss rockay city, its actually really good now

[@LeviKeinAckerman]

OMG WildGold leak

[@jkallday7179]

Wait till bro hears about ghost recon

[@strangesyringe4559]

Batman Arkham Asylum came out in 2009

[@Nine9005]

Awesome video and a surprised face reveal 😱

[@alexwise-]

Great video!

[@maofria1452]

The best stealth games are still the venerable Thief 1, 2 and 3. Nothing modern can compare to these old games, not even Dishonored.

[@yutro213]

Actually Dishonored CAN compare to Thief, I think of it as a "spiritual successor" to Thief 1 and 2. more than the 2014 Thief (failed) reboot.

[@Meysamkm]

Wow finally after years rey mysterio show his face /and im not gonna lie face it like real pro

[@tylercouture216]

No mention at all of the last of us 1 or 2

[@lawrencesmith6]

Lovely video.

[@jakkuhl6223]

But Wilgold, many 'tubers eager to convince me how smart they are tell me that Hitman isn't a stealth game!

[@theseeper422]

Bro looks like Leon Kennedy from Europe

[@Jacobinks]

You look completely different to how I imagined. Nice face reveal

[@DarkGhostHell]

I’m a Hitman fan

[@jonathangrant480]

Squidward:"OH NO HE'S HOT"

[@zalansafarlaszlo4502]

Thats why I play Hitman

[@leanardonundesifresi1257]

I don’t think Assassins Creed, Far Cry and other ubisoft games are stealth games. All you do is just repeat the same thing again and again. And there AI is so terrible. Dishonored and Hitman series are perfect examples of what a stealth game should be. Especially Silent Assassin mechanic on Hitman and Clean Hand achievement on Dishonored. For me, a stealth game must allows players to feel ghostly. Like killing only targets and don’t touch other npcs(even the knockouts)

[@Noctuam734]

Assassin's Creed Unity is literally perfect for ghost stealth.

[@yes2462]

Just because you do the same things doesn't mean they aren't stealth games

[@leanardonundesifresi1257]

@@yes2462 You really think they are ? I mean all you do is just hide in grass, whistle and kill :D or take cover a wall and do the same. Maybe they are. But it is a shame that they have "stealth game" tag when Hitman and Dishonored exist. Sorry mate. Ubisoft shit

[@zine_eddinex24]

Deserve 💯K

[@akhonamaduna6763]

Why use Red Dead Redemption 2 Online as an example? It’s neglected and it sucks though 😅

[@nikov.1044]

rdo is very fun

[@akhonamaduna6763]

@@nikov.1044 i meant it sucks because it’s neglected 😅if it had more it would be very fun

[@nikov.1044]

@@akhonamaduna6763 yeah it had amazing potential but rockstar wanted money more than anything so they focused on gta online instead of

[@corvoattano4544]

Is this the face reveal 🤔

[@nomic655]

I kinda have to disagree with what you said about player perception. While yes, having to see through cameras and drones to mark your enemies is more realistic and challenging, having an instant method of seeing enemy positions can help you do so much more in terms of traversing the environment (whether you want to be silent and unseen or kill everyone with no regard) and your opportunities to take out targets (such as lining up difficult shots, like the haybale in Hitman's Colorado map). It should also have to do with just how capable enemy AI is. Imo generally a good stealth game is a game that makes player powerful enough, such that their only limitations are their imagination and their current equipment. Forcing further limitations on a player who must already act like a one man army can just end up making the game unfun.

[@thedraft115]

I wonder what you would think about thief4 🤣

[@Trafficone77]

Bro so zesty

[@ValanxWF]

would

[@Janko-o5e]

Bro, where is Far Cry stealth?

[@thegunlikdude]

i mean man hunt uses most of these but i find it boring unlike the games we mentioned

[@gabrielribas6766]

I miss the balaclava

[@Lovvkeyy]

I WOULD!!!!

[@DrSoftman]

Yikes, you look good.

[@damiano-l1n]

Hi

[@WOMFT]

A great puzzle game

[@KateDavenport-nq2lr]

Face reveal!

[@zine_eddinex24]

✅

[@Gflan55]

Where’s the accent from bro

[@nikov.1044]

bulgaria

[@supersillyusername]

ong, i can already see the comments "(insert number) views in (insert number) seconds, bro fell off" "first" "(insert comment) OMG IM FAMOUS!!!!!!?!?!?!🎉🎉"

[@yes2462]

There's none of those comments

[@DlightTheBright]

Oh no he's hot!

[@docrock3234]

The excuses they put in for stealth these days is unexceptable. You have ask yourself, do these devs even play games. Rockstar, who should be ahead of the curve, is the most shameful.

[@Honcat_ru]

You look like Ислам Ганджаев

[@MANOFKILLER]

OMG he's HOT!

[@HelmetGlue]

Daddy:3

[@ELDERS357]

First comment but i wont get likes 😢

[@abhi.dx2345]

Don't worry you won't 😊

[@TheKirBoi]

Absolutely not :)

[@thejonkler69]

U don't deserve likes :)

[@AhmadReslan-ls1yw]

@wildgold i remember when you were at 5k subs you came a really long way,i was on an account called Gold_wheels,now i am on a different account as my phone broke i hope you remember me ❤

[@ItsTheAleeex]

I love a good chess metaphor ♟️

[@mrstudent9125]

Hi