Stealth

[Gen0cider]

Hello all saw the trailer and after hearing a bit about the older games and the current one picked up an interest. My main concern is stealth as well as re playability. Being a fan of games like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and the original Ghost Recon games, I've always liked having choices and different ways of doing things with different outcomes.

From what I've heard stealth is key in this game for making key shots as well as not getting your head blown off. My question is this, would it be possible to "stealth" through an entire mission without firing a shot unless it's the primary target?

A hypothetical situation might make what I'm asking clearer. Imagine a soviet captain that needs to be eliminated as the missions primary goal, with a good amount of soldiers present in the level. Would I be able to sneak by his soldiers and eliminate him and him alone? Then get out of dodge to complete the mission? Would I also be able to do the same mission by taking out everyone? Would I be able to complete the mission by being an absolute idiot and ignoring my sniper rifle completely using anything without a scope (With extreme difficulty and added stupidity of course).

The main question I have is, how linear is the game, and does it offer different ways of completing certain missions. This is something I love in games and is probably what will decide whether or not I end up getting this game. I saw ghost warrior but decided it seems to linear and consolized for my tastes. Still judging from what some have said I may have been wrong. Still though, I'm curious as to whether or not I'll have to eliminate the same enemies each time I play through a mission every time I get to a certain area, or whether I can approach situations differently.

[Rhoto]

I read somewhere in the official forums that not all levels will be able to completed using only stealth, but some will be able to.
I couldn't find the page anywhere, sorry.

[LennardF1989]

I'm a huge Splinter Cell fan who got extremely let down by the last installment, which is far from the stealth experience of the games before. My playthroughs usually involve not using any weapons, tools and violence and I only use CQB at the critical target(s) - I hugely recommend trying this, only pistol EMP allowed, in DA the Sound Emitter as well - as those give me the most satisfaction when I finished a mission.

That said, while I would like it to be possible, it's certainly not a make or break point for me. I play sniper games because I want to snipe people over extreme distances and try to spot and take out enemies in such a fashion the mission goes as painless as possible, not to hold the finger OFF the trigger :P Just as I play Splinter Cell for stealth.

[SEV2Community]

Some, but not all, of the levels can be completed entirely by stealth. Because of the nature of the story, conflict is inevitable...

[Teh_Saccade]

I think you guys will have to re-invent what you think of as "stealth".

Stealth does not mean Ghosting.

I loved the 1st Sniper Elite [in SP], and still play it online. Formed clans, made mods, ran servers - it is awesome. Online is the best.

One of the key playing points of Sniper Elite was how your shots were ranked.
You would get minimal points for blazing with a PPSH, but higher points for hitting a running target in the head. Masking not only your position, but the sound of the shot too.

There were a few ways to do this. Wait for key events, such as a low flying plane, artillery, gunfire, laid charges exploding... or use line of sight and sneak in for a silent pistol kill or - with the server mods - a knife.

This would make it a Covert Kill - the best snipers would have the whole level performed as covertly and as stealthily as possible.

If you like the idea of ghosting through games (and I do - eg. every SC, all Thiefs) then this kind of stealth will wake you back up to how to react to situations and keep it stealthy when things go South.
Limited saves mean no, "oh whoops i missed that shot and raised the alarm, better reload and do it again" - it just means that you will be glad you laid all those traps on the stairs.

Changing the meta-game from "kill no-one but that guy" to, "try to kill no-one but that guy, but if I have to - i'll do it with style" or even, "everyone is dead already, but I just don't know how neatly I will execute them all; poor sods won't know what's hit 'em..." - it leads to not only a more absorbing type of satisfaction but a fair amount of replayability.

Playing a level in and out in SP and MP modes, then one day finding a spot from which you can pull off a Covert Triple Kill - for me - is better than re-running the ghost path in an average of 10-15 minutes per level on Chaos Theory.

Tho...
If SE v2 doesn't have the leaderboard style score system, you gotta meta-game that too.
Imagine it will though, just like turning off the bullet cam when it gets annoying after the first few maps.

I'm really looking forward to playing it.

[Teh_Saccade]

Mind you, last time I went on about how good a game "may" be - it was RAGE and I felt like a proper nob-head after playing it.

Rebellion are usually pretty good.