Deus Ex-like stealth-action games

[The Glyphstone]

During the last Steam Sale, I finally got around to picking up Deus Ex: Human Revolution (and the rest of the series) and absolutely adored its style of stealth-action gameplay, rewarding me for prowling around every corner of the map for secrets and for taking out enemies in non-lethal fashion in a more direct fashion than the elusive end-of-game pacifist achievement.

Before the current sale ends, are there other franchises (relatively modern ones, preferably) with approachably similar game experiences?

[rooster707]

I don’t have time to give you a full sales pitch right now, but check out the Dishonored series and the new Prey. Both are by the same developer; Prey is more Deus Ex-ish, but they’re both excellent IMO.

[Winthur]

Try Hitman Blood Money and HITMAN 2016, they're most enjoyable for the allowed variety of approach and give you a lot of different challenges. They also mostly reward keeping lethality to a minimum.

No, they're not exactly like Deus Ex. The "immersive sim" genre hasn't picked up since Deus Ex and you will have a hard time finding something that is close to Deus Ex.

I guess you could try The Dark Mod, which is basically Thief 2,5. Looks pretty on the Doom3 engine and is free to play.

[Resileaf]

I was going to suggest the Thief series for a great stealth-based game (less on the action side), but you said relatively modern, so I don,t think that will fit your desires.

[The Glyphstone]

Thief (at least the originals) are going to be a bit primitive for me, yeah. The Thief reboot might be worth looking into?

[Ebon_Drake]

Thief (at least the originals) are going to be a bit primitive for me, yeah. The Thief reboot might be worth looking into?

Eh, I've not heard good things about the reboot. YMMV of course, and it might actually help if you're not familiar with the previous games. Still, I'd probably recommend Dishonored over it.

Alpha Protocol might be a decent option. It's heavier on the RPG side and very impressive for how flexible the story is in changing based on your choices. However, it's very much a rough diamond so it'll depend on how willing you are to look past its shortcomings. I consider it a game that I admire more than one I actually enjoy playing.

On the more linear stealth-action side, there's also the Splinter Cell series. Chaos Theory is an older entry, but has aged decently well and is considered a high point for the series.

[rooster707]

Thief (at least the originals) are going to be a bit primitive for me, yeah. The Thief reboot might be worth looking into?

The reboot... isn’t great, IMO. As a Thief game or just as a stealth game. It tries to be like Dishonored in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t do it nearly as well. Also the sound is almost completely broken, which is not something you want in a stealth game.

[huttj509]

Eh, I've not heard good things about the reboot. YMMV of course, and it might actually help if you're not familiar with the previous games. Still, I'd probably recommend Dishonored over it.


That reminds me, I need to continue my playthrough of Death of the Outsider (and nobody else).

[Psyren]

+1 Dishonored
+1 New Thief Sucking

You didn't specify it had to be a FPS, so I would also recommend Mark of the Ninja for solid stealth play.

Also, if I can briefly quote Yahtzee on this topic: "To every game that has tried to do stealth and ****ed it up: Clear indication of whether or not we’re currently visible, and a brief delay between being spotted and the alert being sounded. There! That’s the secret. Now you’ll never **** it up again."

[The Hellbug]

A couple of suggestions here:

I haven't played the original Thief, but I can say that, at least in my opinion, the sequel (not the reboot) actually holds up pretty well. The graphics are bad and all, but I think that the gameplay is still tight enough for my taste at least, and it is an excellent game.

Alpha Protocol: I adore this game. Basically everything negative ever said about it is rightly deserved, but you can definitely play as a mostly-stealth action-y thing if you want to (put points in pistols though, you'll thank me later). That said, the story's relative mutability and the writing sell me on it every time.

Dishonored: Probably the most 'what-you're looking for' of any games I can think of.

I'll also double down on the Hitman suggestions (particularly the ones Winthur mentioned, some entries in the series are...less good). They do a good job of the 'here are the blocks, discover how you want to knock them over' kind of gameplay.

And here's my new suggestion: have you looked into Batman Arkahm Asylum and sequels? It kind of sounds like the stealthy-Predator-like sections might scratch that itch for you, and I actually enjoy the rhythm-game-ness of the other combat. Arkham City is probably the high point of the series.

[The Glyphstone]

I downloaded the demo of Dishonored 2, and dang was it just about perfect for what I wanted it to be. Only thing I missed was Deus Ex's personal radar to let me track nearby guards I couldn't see without moving into their line of sight. Got the full Dishonored complete collection, so I'll play through the first game and all its DLC before going back to 2 and enjoying the improved gameplay.

[Inarius]

Thief (at least the originals) are going to be a bit primitive for me, yeah. The Thief reboot might be worth looking into?

The new Thief isn't bad on a few missions but overall it rates a big meh. If its dirt cheap maybe get it but really the one redeeming thing about it is all of a sudden it made "people" now consider Thief 3 to be decent/kind of good game as opposed to an awful game, funny how that works out right?

Speaking of Thief 3 its not that bad graphically and while it isn't up to the standards of the prior games I've always thought it was pretty good.

Other than that I can only say Dishonored 1 and 2 are pretty much spot on for what you're looking for. I only just picked up Prey, the other Arkane game mentioned, so I can't comment on it personally though I've read its gameplay is similar enough.

[The Glyphstone]

I also played the Prey demo, and while it was interesting, it didn't scratch the same itch as well as Dishonored appears to. Hard to enjoy sneaking around as much when the coffee cup on a nearby table might suddenly become a monster eating your face.

[Cespenar]

Also, if I can briefly quote Yahtzee on this topic: "To every game that has tried to do stealth and ****ed it up: Clear indication of whether or not we’re currently visible, and a brief delay between being spotted and the alert being sounded. There! That’s the secret. Now you’ll never **** it up again."

Though he was probably being funny to make a point, there are more fine points to stealth than just those two. But yeah, they are a good start.

[Drascin]

If you don't need it to be specifically in the first person stealth Deus Ex style, Mark of the Ninja is a really good stealth game and it's on sale for peanuts until this evening.

[Cespenar]

Prey is more for the System Shock itch, rather than Deus Ex, by the way. Excellent game regardless.


If you don't need it to be specifically in the first person stealth Deus Ex style, Mark of the Ninja is a really good stealth game and it's on sale for peanuts until this evening.

Also, this. Mark of the Ninja could always be appreciated more.