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Stealth Design

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During a critical phase of production, it became clear that while combat was hitting its mark, the stealth systems required a total overhaul to meet our quality standards. With only ten months remaining, I was appointed to lead a cross-disciplinary strike team to redefine the stealth experience and ensure mechanical consistency across every encounter in the game.

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This effort culminated in a high-pressure redesign of the Summit Forest level. What was originally a standard fetch quest was transformed into a 'Rambo-inspired' nocturnal hunt. This level, showcased below, served as the ultimate proof of concept for our team’s work, blending atmosphere, predator-style mechanics, and player-driven choice into one of the campaign’s most memorable sequences below:

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My work focused on three core pillars of the stealth ecosystem:

  • Player Mechanics & Feedback: I collaborated with User Research to bridge the gap between player intent and game response. This included tuning sensory thresholds for AI detection and architecting the 'autocrouch' system..

  • AI Systems & Predictability: I designed the logic for AI reaction chains and follow-up behaviors, ensuring that sense-cones and detection meters felt fair and predictable. By refining how AI responded to proximity and cover, we created a high-stakes 'cat-and-mouse' loop that players could finally master.

  • Encounter Redesign: I led a group of level designers through a global audit of the game's stealth setups, retrofitting every encounter to align with our revamped rules.​

Press

“While the critical path is mostly linear, stages are large and have plenty of options for shaping gameplay. Like stealth? The game does an admirable job supporting quiet melee kills, enemy distraction, and distant bow shots that send opponents silently tumbling from cliffsides. “ – Matt Miller, Game Informer

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“There's stealth, too, and thankfully it feels meaningful rather than tacked on. Brawling or blasting away out in the open is never a path to victory for Lara.” – Evan Narcisse, Kotaku

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