Four Reasons the Pacifist Run Is Always More Fun
We’re just getting started with the new Deus Ex game and we’re already enjoying it. It’s not the great leap forward that Human Revolution was, but sometimes more of the same (done well) can be a great way to spend an afternoon. Like many games today, Deus Ex offers you many ways to play through levels. You can sneak through, con your way through, or just blast your way through most levels. But us? We’re always focusing on sneaking. In fact, games increasingly offer us a variety of ways to play through levels but we seem to always choose the passivist route. We knock people out rather than kill them. We sneak past enemies rather than engaging them. And we’re not alone, everyone is choosing pacifist run these days. Given all the choices we have, why are we always choosing the pacifist route? Here are four reasons we came up with.
I’m not gonna kill you. I’m just gonna hurt you real bad.
YOU GET A BETTER ENDING
Like it or not, we’ve all been trained to avoid killing unnecessarily in games. Games like Undertale, Metro, Second Sight, and Dishonored all give you better endings if you avoid killing enemies. Dishonored, in particular, makes the game more difficult the more people you kill. Killing people affects the chaos level in the city, which leads to more plague rats and plagued citizens in your way. Playing peacefully can be difficult, particularly if you haven’t unlocked the ability to teleport short distances and quickly disable guards. It’s worth it though to achieve the happier ending once your rescue the princess at the end of the game. Undertale also is a game with a considerably better ending if you play as a pacifist; heck, Undertale’s pacifist ending is one of the best endings we’ve seen in recent years. Whether it’s keeping the game world easier to navigate or allowing us to find the best possible ending, games have been training us to play pacifist for a while.
It’s a fun ending either way, but it’s the most fun when everybody’s here.
IT’S MORE FUN
Deus Ex’s non-lethal gameplay is a lot more fun than the lethal gameplay. Gun fights in these games are never anywhere near as much fun as watching Adam Jensen sneak up behind and brutally take down a guard. Stacking bodies in hiding places gets almost comical after a while; we still remember leaving the police station in Human Revolution with every single member of the force stacked in the air vents. Other games like Undertale are WAY more fun on the passivist route. Figuring out whether a creature needs to be hugged, or not hugged, or teased, or frightened, or whatever, is a lot more fun than simply hacking at whatever you come across. Undertale is always a cute story with classic and beautiful graphics, but it becomes truly hilarious when you explore the options you have for disabling your enemies and befriending them.
Some of these guys can be won over in some weird ways.
IT CAN BE SURREAL AND SILLY
I still remember playing through the Battlefield Hardline, a serious story about fighting drug dealers in downtown Miami. Despite its Battlefield heritage, the game involved fighting criminals in a suburban setting and often gunfire could be avoided in favor of arresting enemies. We found that playing this way was considerably more fun. You had to isolate your enemies and hold your gun on them until they surrendered. Then you needed to tie them up before anyone else arrived but once they were secured, they were secured. It got a little ridiculous as you could stack dozens of disarmed criminals on the floor of a crime scene while you stalked the remaining few. Stacking a ridiculous amount of bodies has been fun ever since we played through Splinter Cell and worked to keep our fatalities down. Tracking your enemies past stacks and stacks of their unconscious allies made the game that much more fun.
You guys sleep tight. Don’t worry about getting cold, I’m gonna stack about six more guys in here.
THE BATMAN EFFECT
In our hearts, we all want to be Batman and Batman never kills. No matter how heavily armed his enemies are, he always finds a way to take down his enemies without resorting to fatal means. It just takes a bit of thought and planning to make it work. Playing these games – games like Splinter Cell, Hardline, and Deus Ex – as a pacifist is a challenge but figuring out a way to take them all out is that much more gratifying. I remember clearing out a nuclear reactor thick with armed guards in one of the coop levels of Splinter Cell. I knocked out my target and then climbed way up into the scaffolding to watch my buddy take out the last one. Survey the damage, a room of armed guards all sleeping blissfully, made me feel like we didn’t just beat the guards, we beat the entire situation. Those moments make you feel like Batman. Sure, there’s always the easy way out, but finding the non-lethal (but still crazy violent) way is always immensely satisfying.
Alright, take it easy. I have enough non-lethal takedowns for all of you.
