The stealth in Assassin's Creed sucks, and here's just a few reasons why

"Imagine yourself as a stealthy assassin or thief right now. You’re wearing a hood, you’ve got an impressive arsenal of concealed cutlery under your robes, and you’re athletic enough to give Michael Phelps a run for his money.

Now, imagine being unable to crouch. You also can’t press up against walls in order to hide from enemies. Also, you only have two speeds you can move at; you can walk forward at the brisk pace of a man strolling through the park, or you can sprint for your ever-loving life, making sure your every footstep is loud enough to turn heads at a nightclub. The guards who patrol the installations you regularly intrude upon have the eyes and ears of an owl on crack but the memory of an Alzheimer’s patient. Did I mention they have telepathy and can inform every guard within a mile radius of your presence? Also, those aforementioned installations often have only one door you can enter, which is usually heavily guarded by forces you have no chance of sneaking past or e...

[Root]

You can't even crouch...there's a start

I mean, for example, Far Cry 3 had better stealth and that was a first person shooter.

[SilentNegotiator]

It's "stealth" the same way a zombie shooter gets called "survival horror" by all these young gamers.

Doesn't mean those games are "bad".....just not quite what they're called. It's a shame not to see real strong stealth and survival horror games these days :/

[Bathyj]

Farcry is a fantastic stealth game. Thats how play it. I just cant believe you cant drag bodies.

[arabiensoldier]

You can't believe that for FarCry 3? Cause it is possible

[Vashlion]

It's funny, ever since Jade Raymond stopped working on Assassin's Creed (after Assassin's Creed 2) The series began to suck, like a lot. It was no longer about assassinating or stealth tactics. Damn shame, a series with so much potential lost.

[aLucidMind]

I don't recall AC1 or AC2 being stealth-oriented and I just played through them, and I'm the type who goes out of his way to be stealthy in just about every game I play if I have that option. Brotherhood had more orientation around stealth than any of them but even then, it was not very much.

[bluetoto]

yea, I was just thinking to myself that the series has NEVER billed itself as a stealth game. It's an action game, why would anyone expect anything else?

[Vashlion]

Stealth tactics, not stealth. Two different things.

[admiralvic]

@ Bluetoto

Because when you use the term "Assassin", you expect some level of stealth. There isn't much more to it than that.

[SilentNegotiator]

Jade isn't going to go out with you just because you defend her, Vashlion; you can stop pretending like she was important to AC's development. lol

[bluetoto]

@admiralvic

Assassin-

"a murderer, especially one who kills a politically prominent person for fanatical or monetary reasons."

Didn't know they had added stealth as a requirement to the definition, just sayin.

[Dark11]

Assassin's Creed is overrated anyway so no big loss here.

[jaymart2k]

She's working on the new splinter cell.

[360ICE]

The first Assassin's Creed didn't have any stealth at all. Or Stealth tactics.
In fact, the franchise has been getting more stealthy (with the exception of AC3), it's just that he stealth is too easy and too stupid.

The online mode has some alright stealth though. If you just run around and jump people that hardly gets you any points.

[RickHiggity]

I don't recall AC1 and 2 playing all that differently from eachother.

[-Gespenst-]

I wish these games were a lot more stealthy. I don't think the controls would lend themselves well to it though.

You should be able to crouch though, it's ridiculous.

[Mutant-Spud]

Assassin's Creed wouldn't suffer from a more linear, level based approach like other action games, so much of the present format is just filler anyway. I can see people wanting more stealth options, I personally use a ranged/stealth approach in most games where there's a choice but the best stealth games have that relentless forward momentum Hitman, Splinter Cell even some RPG's and FPS like Skyrim or Crysis and FC3 can be played that way .The AC series lacks that momentum despite it's controls and character development being very much focused on becoming an unstoppable killing machine, there's too much to get sidetracked on and it dilutes the experience.

[Riderz1337]

The stealth has always sucked. It's more of a "run up to target and then hide in a bush till the enemy stops searching for you" type of game. Or you could just sit on a bench and be completely invisible to the guards who are literally right in front of you. That seems logical.

[ChipChipperson]

I agree. I mean, I still enjoy the games, but Assassin's Creed is not the game to define what a stealth game is. It's not like Tenchu, Metal Gear, Splinter Cell, Hitman, etc. A lot of the stealth in the game is very simple or it sometimes just doesn't work well in most situations the game puts you in. The blend mechanic would seem like it would make for a great stealth mechanic similar to Hitman's disguise system, you know, being able to hide in plain sight, but it ends up not being used in any of the major assassinations. Too many times do the sequences end up( like the article pointed out) as 'Chase this guy running from you and kill him with your hidden blade' or ' Big Battle Here, Now You Can Kill The Target'. Just one of the key elements to making a stealth game, that most of the Assassin's Creed games( and most games now with a bad stealth mechanic because you just following an AI's lead) are missing is that element of observation. You should be able to observe your target's patterns of movement and mannerisms and find openings in their patrol routes, defenses, etc.
But look, if the dev's don't wanna change the AC series stealth for the sake of fans or what the series has established then fine, I still enjoy the games. But, if other devs that do consider making a stealth based game, then I hope they make the effort of making a stealth system that does not involve holding your hand, bulls**t AI where they can detect without being in their sights, following an AI partner who does all of the cool stuff and you just watch, stealth mechanics that are useless like dumb abilities that are used in situations you encounter only once during a playthrough, etc. I'm hoping for another Tenchu game, you know a REAL NINJA game, but I doubt that will happen considering how the gaming market is just getting more of the same sh** with every mechanic being borrowed from other games.

[Cam977]

No crouch is a valid start. It took me numerous tries to try and complete the fort mission as Kenway in which the cannons must be disabled because I kept messing up. In addition, thanks to the over simplified control scheme my harsher jumps on everything when I run which also makes me be seen.

[deadfrag]

Just stop milking the franchise!

[EvilFluff91]

Compared to the Classic Splinter Cell games and MGS series yes the stealth does suck, still a good game series though.