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'Alien: Isolation' emphasized stealth over any other gameplay element, particularly when creeping close to its invincible and deadly beastIn fact, in the case of Thief, it was a conscious decision taken by Looking Glass Studios—and a risky one. Until late in development, the studio had a treasure chest of flashy extras prepped for the game, from multiplayer modes to allowing extra-sensory perception. All this was scrapped, as the conviction that the game represented something new and iconoclastic eventually trumped fears it might be boring for players.It's not to say pure stealth has been permanently consigned to the great curio cabinet of gaming history. 2014's Alien: Isolation channelled the stealth games of old to deliver a refreshing survival horror hybrid, while the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will doubtless place a major emphasis on sneaky play. Indie sneak-em-up Volume is another one to watch, and raises the prospect of small, left-field titles venturing into the hard stealth territory big blockbusters fear to tread.While it doesn't fit into my beard-stroking pure stealth paradigm per se, Dishonored also deserves mention for the kick up the ass it gave the genre in 2012. It was arguably more of an heir to the Thief series than the 2014 reboot, and a sequel is on the cards.But, with its sandbox of play styles, Dishonored also sums up my beef with the "more is more" mentality that colors so much big-budget game development. In fact, it was the deliberate minimalism of that first wave of stealth games that made them so special.