Games as good as Thief?

[Lensman]

I enjoyed Thief and Thief: Metal Age no end. Trouble is, they did - end, that is.

Thief - Deadly Shadows didn't grab me to the same extent (oddities like no rope arrows and suddenly being unable to swim didn't help).

I'm not such a fan of shoot-em-ups or hack-em-aparts - I liked the ethos in the thief games where the skill was sneakiness and cunning, rather than brute force.

But having finished T1-3, I'm left alone and bereft. What other sneak-em-ups (if there is such a genre) are there? is there any other fantasy game out there (for the PC, at least) that inherits Thief's crown (or should that be lockpicks?).

Any thoughts?

[warty goblin]

You can play Dark Messiah more or less like a Thief game much of the time. It is much more combat focused, but sneaking is a viable, if difficult (and I mean very) option.

[Tengu]

Metal Gear Solid is a great series of sneaking games - basically, if you're fighting with a non-boss than you probably made something bad. And the plot is awesome.

You can play Deus Ex as a sneak. It's a delicious cyberpunk RPG.

For a different approach, in Commandos and games inspired by it you play as a group of characters. I especially recommend Desperados with its classical spaghetti western feeling.

[Semidi]

Splinter Cell--there's a few of them, and I've only played the first. Assassin's Creed for a more "social stealth" type of game--it's great during some moments and awful others.

[valadil]

You can play Deus Ex as a sneak. It's a delicious cyberpunk RPG.



Seconded. I actually like Deus Ex quite a bit more than Thief. Sneaking around was an option rather than the only way to play. The game is open ended enough that you can sneak by things, assassinate enemies one at a time, or blast your way through everything. I really like that it lets you play how you want to play instead of having a sneaking level and a shooting level.

[hajo]

I enjoyed Thief and Thief: Metal Age ..
What other sneak-em-ups (if there is such a genre) are there?
Hitman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitman_(series)) - if you want to stay in the genre :smallwink:

[Pronounceable]

Hitman series. It's just what you're looking for. Original may turn you off (it's quite old and has troubles), but the rest are golden.

[Cespenar]

I second Deus Ex and Hitman wholeheartedly, but beg to differ by declaring the original Hitman to be the best.

[Hoggy]

Poisonally, I find Hitman: Blood Money to be the only one that plays how the games are meant to. Contracts almost does, but some of the stupid, stupid things that made the suspicion meter flare irked me. HItman 2 was just plain dodgy, and I've not played the original.

Go for Blood Money.