Stealth

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Sexual Themes

Game Description: Metal Gear 3: Subsistence is a PS2 exclusive that redefines the classic stealth gaming experience. It's got all-new game modes, including a new online game mode. Choose "Team Battle" or "Snake vs. Enemies" and carry out missions cooperatively or competitively. The new 3rd-person camera controls gives a controllable, low-angle view of the action for a more intense stealth-action experience.

One of the first things I learned about reviewing videogames was the importance of always reviewing the game I played, rather than the game I would have liked to have played. Every now and then, this is harder to do than it sounds. Sometimes a game is very close to being good, close enough that it almost seems like a tragedy that the developers didn't go the extra mile to make the game just a little bit better—in those cases it becomes nearly impossible to judge the game on its own terms.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, Blood

Game Description: Europe is at its knees, Germans have reached the English Channel forcing the allies to evacuate. A new force is needed to take the fight back to the enemy. On Churchill's order a new breed of super solider is born. Their objective: to conduct strategic missions, disrupting German operations in advance of the main allied assault force. Commandos: Strike Force takes you right into the heart of the action, as you fight to win the Second World War. You'll take control of the three members of the "Strike Force" unit, each with their own abilities. Use your stealth skills to strike at the heart of the enemy.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language

If I was to reduce Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror to a mathematical formula, one way of looking at it might be: Sam Fisher + Solid Snake - Distinct Personality = Gabe Logan. However, in terms of gameplay, it might be more like Kill.Switch + (Splinter Cell - stealth) + (Metal Gear - wackiness) + (Action x 2) = Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror.

I agree with Andrew that Blood Money feels different from past Hitman games, and not always for the better, but I don't agree that it relies less on stealth. Depending on one's perspective, stealth is more important in Blood Money than ever before.

The safety and relative ease with which the player can now experiment robs Blood Money of its predecessors' nail-biting tension and perhaps only in retrospect can we realize how much the unknowability of the simulation made it all the more engrossing.