Shadow Tactics was released in 2016 or so. It takes place in Japan in the 1800’s and your job is to control 5 characters, a loyal Samurai, a skilled ninja, a young thief, an elegant spy and an elderly sniper, through large levels to accomplish goals for the Shogun, who is trying to stop a bloody war.

You have a wide variety of goals. Eavesdropping, assassination, destroying supplies, rescuing captured allies and so on. You are always vastly outnumbered by enemy troops so stealth is a vital part of the gameplay. The average enemy soldiers often patrol in groups. “Straw Hats” are very disciplined guards that are hard to distract and never leave their posts. Enemy Samurai share the same drive as Straw Hats and are heavily armoured, requiring an equally skilled opponent or a firearm to take down effectively.

Each person on your team has unique tools to evade, distract and kill them, slowly chipping your way through the enemy or trying to avoid them and slip by undisturbed. The open levels give you many ways to succeed. Some characters can climb up and down buildings with ease using ropes and vines, while others are restricted to getting to vantage points only by ladders and doorways. Disguises are useful to infiltrate crowded areas, but enemy Samurai know who is supposed to be there and will blow your cover.

The conditions your team finds itself in are a factor too. Mountain snow leaves your footsteps visible for guards to see and follow. Darkness covers your movement in uninhabited areas but entering well lit areas becomes a much more dangerous move. Puddles make silent footsteps draw enemy attention. On the other hand a dozen soldiers training at a target range will cover your attacks if they are well timed.

You normally control one person at a time but the game also has a mechanic to plan and execute actions all at once. For example if two guards face each other you can distract one guard with a rock, just long enough for your sniper to take out the other, and by the time the first notices the fate of their partner he is being silenced by the stab of a bade.

I’ve only dabbled with the Commando’s games and I hear they are great but thanks to more intuitive controls I took to Shadow Tactics first. It’s so nice how almost all the hotkeys are listed in the visual hud! But now that I’ve finished the main story (about 15 levels if I remember correctly, not counting a DLC with more) I’m looking forward to giving them a better look. The genre reminds me of Conflict: Desert Storm from the very early PS2 days and that’s a good thing.