Posts from ‘Stealth’ Category

Gunpoint

By: Derek Yu

On: June 4th, 2013

Gunpoint, by Tom Francis

Gunpoint was released on Steam yesterday. The brainchild of PC Gamer UK editor Tom Francis, Gunpoint is a stealth game where you play a freelance spy who has to steal sensitive data for his clients. To finish your missions, you’ll have a variety of gadgets at your disposal, the foremost of which is a Crosslink device that will let you rewire lights, switches, cameras and doors. The other gadgets are acquired optionally and offer the player more ways of achieving his or her goals.

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GDC Trailer: Depth

By: Derek Yu

On: March 15th, 2012

Here’s a new trailer for Depth, a stealth-based multiplayer game that pits a team of divers against a team of man-eating sharks. Sharks are much more powerful but have limited vision – to catch their prey they have to rely on disturbances in the water and heartbeats. The goal of the divers is to sneak treasure out from the sea floor without being killed.

No release date has been announced.

Alientrap Announces Next Game: Apotheon

By: Alehkhs

On: February 23rd, 2012

Apotheon 1

Alientrap, the two-man team behind last year’s Capsized, has just announced its next project: Apotheon. As an “an open world, action/stealth, 2D sci-fi sidescoller game,” Apotheon sports a unique art style that mimics classical Greek pottery and promises to “have both a sprawling, open-world singleplayer campaign where you climb your way to the top of Mount Olympus, gaining divine power and deadly enemies along the way,  and online multiplayer battles with tactical bronze-age combat (spears and arrows!).”

Apotheon 2

Alientrap has only revealed two screenshots at this point as well as the game’s synopsis:

“Apotheon is a 2D platform action-rpg set on the rich stage of ancient Greek mythology. Hera, the queen of Olympus, has overthrown her husband Zeus, and taken his throne as ruler of the Gods. Bitter and scornful towards the race of mortals, she launches a murderous campaign to scour them from the earth. As humanity’s last champion, you must pass through the land of the dead, infiltrate Mount Olympus, and end the wrath of the Gods. With sword, spear, and shield in hand, you will sneak, conspire, loot, and battle your way through majestic palaces and chthonic depths as you climb towards godhood. Only by stripping the old gods of their powers, and taking control of the elements as your own, can humanity hope to survive the coming oblivion.”

Preview: Merry Gear Solid 2

By: Xander

On: October 13th, 2009

So it’s not quite the season yet, but what would an MGS game be without a little bit of hype? Arthur Lee will be once again providing a swish parody of the famous series, featuring a suprising amount of gadgets/weapons which seem to mix functionality and the funnies quite nicely.

Release date should be fairly obvious, which hopefully will give some time to improving the music which isn’t quite as accomplished as the rest of the game’s presentation appears to be. The puns however are fantastic enough that I will completely ignore that this isn’t ‘The Underside’.

Super Secret Ninja

By: Jared

On: June 26th, 2008

ninja1

I searched for Super Secret Ninja on TIGSource last night and was shocked to discover that it has never been mentioned. For shame!

In Super Secret Ninja, you use a grappling hook to speedily swing past the bad guys and get to the exit (arrow keys to move, up to jump, CTRL to grapple). Death comes if you run out of time or get noticed by too many enemies.

What at first seems like a bland game quickly becomes a frenzied race to the finish as the randomly generated levels get longer and filled with more baddies. Each grapple becomes the difference between a flawless escape and an embarrassing confrontation with the enemy.

PS: Hello everyone! In the (quite probable) event that you have no idea who I am, Derek invited the two writers of Puppy Buckets, Alehkhs and I, to help him out with TIGSource. Hopefully you’ll approve!

You Found The Grappling Hook – PRO EDITION

By: Terry

On: April 14th, 2008

yftgh

Messhof has created a PRO EDITION of You Found The Grappling Hook exclusively for Business Week Arcade, which recently featured the game. In the comments on his blog, he describes the changes:

Much of the gameplay is different. It now involves espionage and national security.

More information

Splinter Source… Redux?

By: Derek Yu

On: February 11th, 2008

WIP Platformer Based on Splinter Source

Zi-Xiao Liang wants me to tell you that he’s working on a new game based on one of his old games. Unfortunately, it’s not a remake of his top-down shooter Scientology PWNED, which ironically got PWNED pretty hard by Scientology. Instead, Mr. Liang is (probably wisely) choosing to base this game on Splinter Source, his side-scrolling 2d stealth platformer.

Hit the jump for five more screenshots of this as-of-yet-unnamed, no-release-date-set platform game which Zi-Xiao is describing as “Super Mario mashed with Splinter Cell, piled on Metal Gear Solid (and if the player chooses to do so, sprinkled with Contra).” Which is a recipe that makes either a Roast Awesomebeef or a Meatloaf of Disaster (hold the TIGERSauce). Let’s hope it’s the former!

WIP Platformer Based on Splinter Source
WIP Platformer Based on Splinter Source
WIP Platformer Based on Splinter Source
WIP Platformer Based on Splinter Source
WIP Platformer Based on Splinter Source

The Art of Theft: Trilby Rank playthrough

By: Terry

On: December 1st, 2007

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been uploading Trilby rank videos of each of the Heists from Yahtzee’s new game. I just Trilby ranked the last stage today, so I thought it would be nice to put them all together along with the introductory texts to each level, as a full Trilby Rank playthrough.

Not shown are the bonus heist (which is basically just a rerun of all the game’s levels), or the awesome minigame you get for completing the bonus heist with the cream suit (which I don’t want to spoil for you).

trilby
Chapow City, 1991.

They call it the city of stolen dreams. It’s the city that your parents warned you about. It’s the city where money is the only thing that matters, where the rich live high above the streets and the poor pick through their trash.

In England, I was strictly small time, picking rusty locks in ancient manor houses. It wasn’t enough for me. So I came here, to America, with only one idea on my mind: to become the greatest thief in the world. To seek other people’s fortunes.

I have been mentored by some of the best criminal minds of their time. I have honed my skills to their absolute peak. In the homeland of the idle rich I will show them just how powerless they are. Because no lock, no bar, no guard, can stop me from going where I want to go.

My name is Trilby.

Be warned, everything after the jump is a spoiler!

Heist 1: Protocorp Secure Records Facility
Objective: Raid the safe, and steal $200 in blackmail material
Par Time: 2:00
Total Loot: $635

It’s an idiom very close to my heart that pride comes before a fall.

Dominic Perota, the wealthy young CEO of the fantastically amoral Protocorp, is a very proud man, long overdue for his plummet. So much so I’ve decided to engineer it.

Perota keeps a secure records facility on the outskirts of the business district, and rumour has it he keeps something very interesting in the safe there. I won’t know how interesting until I steal it, but the safe will suffice for a main objective.

Whatever it contains, there should be plenty of other interesting secrets and tidbits around to make this worthwhile.


Heist 1: 1 minute and 32 seconds, $635 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Heist 2: Chapow City Art Gallery
Objective: Steal $400 worth of art
Par Time: 1:30
Total Loot: $900

Perota is one of those people who really makes this job a pleasure. Turns out he’s fastidious enough to account for all his income, even the less than legal bits.

He’s been skimming off profit he has no claim to for years and laundering it by buying fine art. I could use some conversation pieces to brighten up the workshop.

His collection is currently being displayed at Chapow City Art Gallery. It’s a fairly old, small building but there was recently a cash injection from the council and some new security measures were installed, which should make things more interesting.

I’m not after any pieces in particular, but I should keep in mind that the best bits will be the hardest to get hold of.


Heist 2: 56 Seconds, $900 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Heist 3: Golden Waters Health Resort
Objective: Find Dominic Perota and steal $500 in loot
Par Time: 3:00
Total Loot: $1005

Someone was actually able to get the drop on me. I must remember to send them a letter of congratulations once I steal back that camera. They’re clearly resourceful so I think I’m looking at a conspiracy here. And since the sting was carried out on Perota’s dime, he’s undoubtedly in on it. Right now, that’s my only lead.

Perota is currently holidaying at the unfortunately named Golden Waters Health Resort, by the coast. I don’t like personal encounters, but this is the only way I can think of to shake him down for information. I’m by nature a rather intimidating person to encounter at the dead of night and I’m hoping this will be enough.

Meanwhile I have a reputation to think of, and there should be plenty of rich holidaymakers with unguarded luggage. Perhaps they’d like one of my calling cards as a souvenir.


Heist 3: 2 minutes and 20 seconds, $1,005 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Heist 4: Unknown Building
Objective: Meet with your blackmailer, then exit the building
Par Time: 3:00
Total Loot: $845

Perota having unobligingly died, my options are drying up with alarming rapidity. All I can think of to do now is meet with my antagonist.

The address they gave me is a tall and ominous-looking building in the city centre which all public records seem to indicate has been abandoned for decades. I’ll just go inside, let them say their piece, and figure it out from there. Maybe I can think of a way to wrestle the photos from them on the fly.

Right now I can’t even speculate as to who exactly I’m up against. I don’t like to plan too much when I know so little: if you expect everything you can’t be surprised.


Heist 4: 2 minutes and 51 seconds, $845 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Heist 5: Kroner Avenue
Objective: Steal $600 in loot
Par Time: 5:00
Total Loot: $1165

The so-called Company are extremely powerful, completely amoral, and very very angry. This does not make for a tenable state of affairs, and one of the best qualities of a master thief is knowing when to make a run for it. I think a year in Rio would be nice, or possibly Alaska.

But there’s no reason to rush off in a panic. It could be days before the Company strike. So to pay for my holiday I’m devoting tonight to a little fundraising spree in one of my favourite wealthy neighbourhoods. I’ll stay above street level and cherry pick loot from whatever open windows I can find.

I really don’t like doing this sort of thing because it’s so… impersonal, but it’s a good way for fast cash and needs must as the devil drives.


Heist 5: 3 minutes and 37 seconds, $1,165 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Heist 6: Davenport Farmstead
Objective: Steal the XJ unit and $700 in technology
Par Time: 4:20
Total Loot: $1365

The widow Perota has given me a much-needed injection of faith and a lead on a new trump card. Now all I have to do is steal it.

The address is what seems to be an abandoned farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, but the Company have quietly stepped on any attempt to redevelop the area, so it must be important to them. If the XJ unit is there, then there must be other technology lying around that could fetch a high price on an open market, and I would say these Company jerks owe me.

I’m going into this job knowing absolutely nothing about what to expect. Of course, I work best under pressure.


Heist 6: 3 minutes and 57 seconds, $1,365 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Heist 7: The Company Headquarters
Objective: Steal the Trilby file
Par Time: 5:40
Total Loot: $970

The Company have sent me a note requesting a par-lay at their headquarters, ostensibly to exchange the photos of me for the XJ unit. Sadly, I stopped being a sucker when I outgrew my first dummy.

I’ll go to the Company headquarters but I have no intention of doing so openly, like last time. I’ll infiltrate silently and steal every trace of information they have on me. I don’t know where they keep their records so I’ll have to find out once I get there.

They’re no fools and they’re probably expecting me to pull something like this, so they won’t make it easy. Funnily enough, though, the more I think about the risks, the more I want to do this job.


Heist 7: 4 minutes and 50 seconds, $970 in loot, no tasers or alarms.

Pineappo

By: Derek Yu

On: November 16th, 2007

Pineappo

Picked up Pineappo because I thought an Ikiki game about tropical fruit might be interesting… nope, it’s another overhead commando game!

The “pineappo,” in this case, must refer to the grenades you use in lieu of a gun (press “z”). You can also punch guards by pressing shift (very dangerous), or… perform an action which appears to be spitting (“x”). I think it’s meant to draw the guards’ attentions, but I’m not sure.

It’s fun to see how Ikiki’s designs develop from game to game. This one definitely feels like it comes somewhere between Tetuhau and Hakaiman, when you examine the mechanics involved, as well as the overall polish.

I feel like I just uncovered the missing link, or something.

Trilby: The Art of Theft

By: Terry

On: November 13th, 2007

aot

I posted this over at indygamer blogspot a few days ago when I first came across it; at that stage I hadn’t played very much of it so there wasn’t a lot I could say about it. I’ve since finished it.

Before I say a thing about this game, I really must say something about its creator. Chances are most people reading this have already heard of Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw; he’s created more polished, complete games than most people have walkabout demos, his Chzo Mythos quadrilogy made the fifty really good indie games feature here as an example of indie gaming’s finest, and of course, he’s the author of Zero Punctuation – The best thing ever to hit game reviewing, in my opinion. It’s clever, it’s original, and above all, it’s bloody funny. He reviews Peggle and compares Popcap to the evil team in an 80s sports movie, he rants irrelevantly about American foreign policy for half his Medal of Honour review, he gets his viewers to cripple themselves as punishment for not buying Psychonauts en masse – what a legend!

Although expectations are pretty high when a guy with that kinda track record releases a new game, I’m sure it’ll be no surprise for anyone here to learn that The Art of Theft doesn’t disappoint. It’s excellent.

The concept is great: two years before Five Days a Stranger, Trilby is an aspiring cat-burglar in Chapow City. The Art of Theft deals with the story of his daring heists and how he made his name. Although the writing’s excellent, the focus is on gameplay – it’s a stealth platformer (not a combination you see very often) which demands patience and impeccable timing to get ahead.

I should warn you that the game has some serious flaws though – the difficulty curve ramps up too fast, save points are too infrequent leading to frustrating repetition when you inevitably lose a mission and have to start again, and then there are a few little things: like cutting wires, which is an unwelcome game of chance in an otherwise entirely skill driven game.

But hey, I wouldn’t have written all this if I didn’t absolutely love it regardless! What we have here is one of the most original, well designed and addictive games released this year. Hardly a single room goes by that doesn’t show off some little moment of brilliant creativity; usually a well written note or nifty construct of some sort. It really is superb.

I was going to put this at the top, but it’s a bit spoilerish so I’ll put it here instead: Want to see the game in action? Here’s a video of me making the first level look easy:

You can download it here, on The Escapist.