I've taken a liking to the Batman Arkham games, and I'm enjoying Rise of the Tomb Raider. Some similarities that I've noticed about them:

  • more or less metroidvania
  • semi open world (side quests, hidden things to find for exp and/or flavor)
  • on rails linear through portions of the game
  • sections in which you're rewarded for maintaining stealth, but it's not required
  • puzzle solving
  • gameplay doesn't get extremely bogged down by plot

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.


I've, for the most part, stopped replying to individual posts. I'm still whitelisting people, though. Thanks again!

6 years ago*

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Do you enjoy games like this?

View Results
I do
I do not

Contrast/Bioshock Infinite/Dishonoured comes to mind....

6 years ago
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I tried the first Bioshock way back when it came out and I wasn't huge into it. I did like Dishonored and will try Dishonored 2 at some point.

Contrast is one I have and will move further up the list due to this answer.

Thanks for your insight! Have a whitelist :-)

6 years ago
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I completely forgot to ask: how does Infinite compare to the original Bioshock in terms of what I described above?

6 years ago
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I'd say it has a better story, especially ending.
In terms of exploration there isnt really much, although there are some nice screenshot opportunities if you take the time to explore.
Not sure what you mean by on rails, but there is what you call skyline in game for you to zip around (new to the series).
no stealth elements (at least none that im aware of)
puzzle - you can set up traps, some simple puzzles are present as well (if im not mistaken)
mostly run and gun, but the plot is pretty interesting.

6 years ago
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By "on rails" I mean pretty much the opposite of the original Deus Ex, where you have multiple ways to do just about everything. "Fight through this compound to save your friend," but there are literally 0 choices to make. You ARE going to go through this hallway. You MUST climb this box to get to the rafters. Exactly one way to do it.

6 years ago
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If I understood IncoherentLight's explanation and you are asking about if the game is linear or not, then it is. There isnt much choices that you can really make like in dishonoured

6 years ago
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"On rails" or "rail shooter" usually means you don't control character movement, only aiming. If you have ever played one of the newer Call of Duty games where you man a helicopter gun turret, that's essentially it: the vehicle's moving along as if on a rail, out of you're control, and you're just along for the ride, in that respect. You can have whole games that way (Blue Estate, which I've just won), but it's often used as a mini-game or break from running around in a conventional FPS.

The way scuazamooq is using it is a little different - I'd cal that "linear." You have full normal control of your character, but there's just one path and one way to unlock it. In Bioshock Infinite, but you move from area to area in a specific order (picture a design schematic / flow chart - it would look pretty linear since you move from A to B to C rather than having an open setting where you can backtrack from F to C or A or have multiple lines linking A to B showing different ways to get there). Half-Life 2 and the new DOOM stand out as ones that were very linear this way. HL2 may make it a little less obvious, but in the airboat sequence, for example, the maze of canals you're in is an unbranching one (thank goodness).

Bioshock Infinite promised multiple solutions early on with the 'tear' system, but compared to the way things were hinted at pre-release, it was underdeveloped. Very minor spoilers for Bioshock Infinite: A tear is an opening to an alternate reality, where something can be brought through from the other side. This was supposed to be a significant part of the game but just became a pickup system in combat: you could use it to get a health cache, a turret, a decoy, a hook you could jump to, etc. However, it didn't affect how you solved a problem (no more than DOOM's decoy grenades), which was always to clear a locked-down area of enemies, and it didn't have any effect outside of that.

6 years ago
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Ah, I get it. Thanks for the clarification.

6 years ago
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I'd cal that "linear."

D'oh, you're right. My mistake.

6 years ago
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Believe it or not, Skyrim fits this perfectly.

6 years ago
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I played Morrowind back when it came out, tried Oblivion a couple times. (Never beat either of them, but put a lot of time into them.) Neither of them seemed to me to fit this description, and it never would have had you not pointed it out. Thanks for the response! I'd whitelist you, but you're already there ;-)

6 years ago
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Far Cry 3 (maybe Blood Dragon and 4 too (didn't play the last)), Murdered: Soul Suspect, Beyond Good & Evil, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, Outcast.
You can also check Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 1-2 and Viking: Battle for Asgard.

6 years ago
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I played the first Far Cry when it came out, but haven't played any since. I forgot that they've kinda started to fit that mold in the later entries.

Believe it or not, despite being old enough when Castlevania came out way back in the day, I've never played a game in that series, despite it being in the name of the genre. Thanks for shining a light on the obvious! I'll check into those other games, as well. Welcome to my whitelist!

6 years ago
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4 more more better than 3. u absolutely play it

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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I loved Shadow of Mordor way more than I thought I would. I'll look into The Surge.

Thanks for the reply! Welcome to the whitelist.

6 years ago
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Mad Max? Rage?

6 years ago
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I've had my eye on Mad Max, but RAGE is one I'd written off. I'll look into it. Thanks!

Already on whitelist <3

6 years ago
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Mad Max was awesome. I did not expect to like it as much as i did. One of the best optimized games i ever played aswell! Rage was not bad but it did make me nauseous quite a few times and it was not that good with optimization. But still a fun game to play through once.

6 years ago
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I'd say the early Assassin's Creeds with Ezio fit this. Black Flag too, to a degree.

6 years ago
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Was going to suggest AC 1, nice:)

6 years ago
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me too :)

6 years ago
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Believe it or not, I've never played an AC game, but I know that there are some in the series to avoid.

One day...

Happy whitelist :-)

6 years ago
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I might be in the minority, but although the Ezio trilogy is visibly improved technologically and very good games of their own, AC1 was the closest to the "Assassin" feel. Yes, it has its problems, but if you have the patience you'll enjoy it.

6 years ago
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I think I can understand what you mean. I also prefer the first over the second one when it comes down to atmosphere. If only it wasn't that repetitive. Basically when I had finished about one third of the game it felt like I was playing the same third two more times from that point on. Exactly the same missions and objectives. In that point the second one really did a great job in oliterating the first one's flaws.

I did not play any AC game after those two btw.

6 years ago
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What also bugs me is that I basically have to click "yes, exit dammit" for times to exit the game. :-(

6 years ago
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent ;)

6 years ago
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o_O

6 years ago
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Have you played Tomb Raider yet?

6 years ago
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Nope, but it'll happen in the near future. I completely wrote off the series back in the PS days because it just looked awful to me (graphics and gameplay). A while back, I saw one of the newer TR games on Conan and realized it was a stark contrast from the earlier ones.

I recently won Rise and have been playing it. Love it.

WL :-)

6 years ago
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Congrats for winning Rise of the TR you lucky one ;) But I agree with you, I love the newer TR games, they're totally awesome <3

And thanks for whitelisting - maybe you should try if you're able to enter my current WL-GA ;)

6 years ago
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Done! My kids are a fan of Lightning McQueen, so I think they'll enjoy the Cars one :-)

Thanks for the tip!

6 years ago
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Oh ok, that's cool, too but I ment you should take a look here ;)

6 years ago
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Oh! I didn't see it because I have that game already. Thank you <3

6 years ago
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The new Tomb Raider games are a delight and, yes, absolutely nothing like the older games. To be brief, if you already felt you wouldn't like the older games to start with, then you almost certainly wouldn't like them in actuality. That said, the new Tomb Raider series isn't actually the first Tomb Raider offering to stand out (in a manner not involving Lara's chest): Tomb Raider and the Guardian of Light, just prior to the new series, was a delightful, albeit buggy, co-op experience. Unfortunately, its sequel was both unplayably buggy and lacking the charming design of the original game. Still, GoL is worth a shot if you're at all into co-op gaming.

If you absolutely get a hankering for the style of earlier TR games, the Legacy of Kain series is basically a direct upgrade of them- they avoid the collection-platforming of TR, favoring a deeper emphasis on both puzzling and combat. Atmosphere, story, and mechanics are all appealing. The Syphon Filter games were stealth games rather than platformers, but they could also be considered an upgrade of certain elements of TR's formula. Finally, if the collection-platformer component is the desired focus, basically any Nintendo or Playstation platformer of the era would likely function as a more appealing alternative, and there have been enough Mario 64 tribute games added on Steam by this point that you should have no issue finding a more modern option on PC, as well.

Really, that the TR series went from one I had a deeply low opinion of, to one which ranks at the very top of my gaming appreciations.. that's a pretty incredible shift in direction. At the very least, the approach taken with the franchise certainly seems to have worked somewhat better than turning Lara into a lyrcanthrope presumably would have. :P

6 years ago
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Wow, very detailed answer. I was marginally aware of most of the second paragraph, but you included some good information there.

I had a PS late in the cycle and mostly got it just to play FFVII (I'd been a fan of the series since the original and it tore me up that I wouldn't be able to play it since I was always a Nintendo kid). I've played all of the main series ones (save the MMO ones) and VIII remains the only one I never finished. Got to the last disc and just needed to do the final dungeon and never did for some reason. Looking forward to FFXV coming out on PC :-)

I'll keep an eye out for some of the platformer games similar to Mario 64. I've gotten a few platformers that looked good, but most of the ones I've played felt...I don't know how to describe it...hollow, maybe? Like "why am I playing this?" There was little charm to it, controls were loose, and it just felt pointless. Like I was doing it just to do it. I don't know. Can't explain it.

Thanks again for the information :-)

6 years ago
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I did the same thing with FF8 back then - the final dungeon was a bit of a complicated one compared to the other games, plus I'd levelled my party inefficiently and that made the battles far more difficult than they were meant to be. Ended up playing on Steam a couple of years ago and it was a breeze since I kept Squall at minimum level for the achievement.

6 years ago
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levelled my party inefficiently

Games where that's a possibility make baby Jesus cry.

6 years ago
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First game comming in mind is NIER: Automata... :P

6 years ago
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It's on my wishlist :-) One day.

Have a WL.

6 years ago
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I have it, but haven't been able to play it yet cry I get the dreaded white screen of death about 10 minutes in :(

6 years ago
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sorry to let You down :(
I'm still wondering why this white screen tragedy happened so many ppl while mine's not :'(

honestly I'm not play it on my own Notebook (crap-tier GPU), but I still can play it even I must struggle with fps below 20
I usually play it on some rental gaming center, thos I got to pay for it :(

6 years ago
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Deus Ex HR

6 years ago
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I enjoyed the first one. Haven't played any of the others.

You're already WLed ;-)

6 years ago
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Deus EX HR was my first thought too based on your OP post, is an awesome! game... awesome! (start a lil slow but give it a chance)

6 years ago
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Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain may not fit this description perfectly (more or less open world, no puzzles), but it's a perfect game nonetheless :)

Ground Zeroes can be easily skipped gameplay-wise, but it does shed a lot of light on the overall plot for newcomers to the series.

6 years ago
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So I've heard mixed things about the MGS games. Some is that they're convoluted cutscene factories, but other that they're legit good games. I've never played one. Is MGS 5 worth just jumping into? (I typed it before seeing the part about Ground Zeroes, but I'll still ask anyway.)

Whitelisted.

6 years ago
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That's what I did, I just jumped into The Phantom Pain without ever playing an MGS game previously. I experienced a prolonged WTF moment during the entire prologue, and then the actual game started and I fell in love with it :)

6 years ago
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Remember Me

  • Melee combo system is reminiscent of the Arkham games.
  • Good looking game and I like the scifi setting.
  • Bundled under the two previous Capcom Humble bundles so you might be able to get it on SteamTrades cheap as a gift link.
  • Not open world/more linear than, say, Arkham City.

I recall hearing Mirror's Edge moved to a more open world approach in the sequel, though it was usually brought up as "Why did they make this open world when it didn't need to be?"

LagiNatoRRR mentioned Far Cry 4, which is more of a shooter than the games you mentioned, but has that open world element. I don't recall any puzzles, but there's crafting and hunting (a bit like RotTR, from what I've played of it). If you've got a PS4, Horizon Zero Dawn was well received and it seems like it could fit that mold, too.

6 years ago
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Remember Me is another one that people have mentioned that I collected along the way but simply haven't played yet. Thanks for the heads up. Enjoy the whitelist.

6 years ago
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don't .
The story is good, but the gameplay sucks. It's very linear

6 years ago
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Clandestine BUMP for more ideas!

6 years ago
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lol, I've actually played that! It was funstrating <3

6 years ago
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I've been playing Remember Me for the past week. I should finish it tonight or tomorrow. Despite its faults, I've enjoyed it. Thanks again for the suggestion :-)

6 years ago
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Third-person action-adventures are my favorite kinds of game, too.

Probably the best one that meets your criteria is Psychonauts, with the exception that only the hub is really open-world/Metroidvania as the levels mostly have to be played in a specific order, but that was pretty much true of Arkham Asylum and Tomb Raider.

The Darksiders games are very Metroidvania, lots of platforming and puzzles, but also very intense combat.

If you can stand older graphics, you might like Beyond Good and Evil, Outcast (much more shooting than in the other games) and Rune Classic (melee combat and very linear).

If you like Star Wars, you could try the later Jedi Knight games and the first Force Unleashed game, which is pretty good.

Prince of Persia and Alice games are fun but very linear, not Metroidvania, puzzles are not quite as meaty as in some of the others.

6 years ago
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I played Psychonauts ages ago. Loved it :-)

I have the first Darksiders and gave it a try recently, but my save got corrupted...sorta. Luckily I wasn't very far into it, but I didn't feel like starting over, so I put it back in my "new" stack. Some day soon.

I've never played the PoP games, but they looked fun. I played the first Alice game my...freshman year (?) in college. I liked it for what it was.

Thanks for the many suggestions! Have a whitelist :-)

6 years ago
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I played ROTR for a few minutes at a friend's and loved it (I hope to either scrap enough to buy HB monthly or win it).

On the other hand, I played a Demo of Arkham and didn't like it at all.

So, I don't see any similarities in the experience, but every person sees it differently.

If you haven't played Dishonored, I think you'll love it.

EDIT: Also Murdered: Soul Suspect might interest you.

6 years ago*
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I snagged Dishonored during a sale around Christmas, I think. I very much enjoyed it, though I was terrible at it.

I have Murdered and plan to give it a shot soon. Thanks! Whitelisted :-)

6 years ago
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:-)

6 years ago
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P.S. I always thought metroidvania applied to a genre that I really don't like, something like that http://store.steampowered.com/app/525380/Demon_Peak/, so I'm curious, do I have my tags mixed?

6 years ago
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That and games like Hollow Knight, Hyper Light Drifter, Shantae, and of course the original Metroid and Castlevania games are how I typically interpret it: side-elevation, large maps, hidden or out-of-reach areas, new tools/upgrades that let you access those areas and backtracking to them. Also, bosses tend to big a big gating factor for you to advance, and you beat them by getting a pattern down.

Now that it's been mentioned, I can see how the Arkham games fit the mold, except having a third-person perspective: as you progress through the game, you beat a boss, unlock a new gadget, then have access to an area of the map you might have seen but couldn't reach before, with the claw, line, explosive gel, hacking tool, etc. I wouldn't expect to see a "Metroidvania" tag under the game description in Steam, but now it's really obvious looking back at Arkham Asylum, with it having been pointed out to me. Rise of the Tomb Raider, I'm not seeing it, but I haven't gotten through the whole game.

6 years ago
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I see your point, but I thought the tag also (mostly?) applied to the aesthetic of the game.

They seem completely different genres to me, but then again I never delved deep into categorizing games (I'm a "do I enjoy this or not?" simpleton), so I can't argue on the subject. Large maps, unlockable areas, upgrades and bosses seem too wide and metroidvania too narrow a tag, though.

6 years ago*
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I imagine mileage varies. To me, it's always been about the mechanics of the game. Inaccessible areas you can reach later with a new item or technique, etc. Metroid (specifically thinking Super Metroid or Metroid Prime) has this way more than any of the games I mentioned. But seeing things in the game that you can't reconcile immediately, but you remember about them, then get a gadget and think "Aha! I can do that now!" is what I was gearing toward.

6 years ago
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I see what you mean.

P.S. I don't WL anyone because I don't do WL GAs, it's not that I don't reciprocate because I'm snobbish or anything. :-)

6 years ago
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I'm not worried about getting any back. I just like handing them out 😆

6 years ago
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Rise of the Tomb Raider, I'm not seeing it, but I haven't gotten through the whole game.

Yeah, this game fits the description less than the Arkham ones. But I really like to explore and I've found a lot of things I couldn't access on the first pass through an area, but have been able to when I wrap back around with a new skill/item. I'm specifically thinking of a couple challenge tombs I approached and it was all "lol, Lara, you're still a newb. Come back when you have [item]."

6 years ago
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Maybe you'd enjoy X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I'd say it mostly fits the bill. You might also take a look at Thief.

6 years ago
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Which Thief are you talking about? The newer one(s) or older ones? I've not played any of them, so I don't know the difference, I just know that there is a difference.

Looks like Wolverine's not on Steam. Bummer. Happy whitelist.

6 years ago
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Yeah I looked for it on steam too, bummed I couldn't find it. When I read all of your bullet points it was the first thing that came to mind.

Although I've played some of the older ones and newest one I don't remember the older ones very well--I was thinking of the newer one. They are more stealth based games but you can get away with less stealth in the newer one.

6 years ago
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Metro 2033

6 years ago
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I have that one, thanks. Whitelisted.

6 years ago
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View attached image.
6 years ago
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That's silly :-)

6 years ago
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FarCry 3/4, original Deus Ex, and obviously the Tomb Raider remake. Maybe even The Witcher games?

6 years ago
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Thanks for the suggestions! Have a whitelist.

6 years ago
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Thank you, kindly.

6 years ago
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This comment was deleted 5 years ago.

6 years ago
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Red faction guerrilla shoud fit more or less your requirements.

6 years ago
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Rage might be a good choice. The harder difficulties encourage stealth and it's not plot intensive. Parts of it disappointed me though.

Maybe System Shock 2?

6 years ago
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some not mentioned:

deus ex: mankind divided
mgs 5: the phantom pain
prey

styx, but it IS stealth. it has some stuff to explore if you're interested.

6 years ago
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You tried sleeping dogs fam?

6 years ago
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1) The Witcher 3
Not really any stealth in it, but it has everything else! :D
It's also just a great game in general.

2) Sleeping Dogs
Another guy mentioned this one, but I'll mention it as well to get it on your radar.

3) Red Dead Redemption
This one you can only get on console (I think it is only on 360...), but it is an amazing experience.

Now those are just open world games... Witcher 2 has a semi open-world though!

6 years ago
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RDR is also available on PS3.

A shame that there is no PC version though. I'd love to play that game. But than again I already got heavily spoilered for it. :/

6 years ago
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Actually, old good S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat fits your description rather good. :)

6 years ago
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