History Main / StalkingMission

%%* This is one of the stalwart mission types of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games, as nearly every game features at least one, usually complete with a "Spook-O-Meter." It gets ridiculous in later games how close you must be in order to pursue the target. In several missions it's possible to lose even though the enemy vehicle is still in clear view, leading to situations where you'll fail a mission because the vehicle "escaped" despite the fact you can either still see it, or it's on a one way street or a bridge and therefore nearly impossible to lose track of. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
%%** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' features a couple such missions, during one of which Niko will mention that while stalking a woman in Europe he learned the ideal distance to be from your target when following them in a vehicle is two car lengths. The mission "Shadow" subverts this however, as a phone call from Niko's cousin Roman (to go play pool, no less) can alert the target early, after which the mission devolves into a simple footchase followed by a shoot-out. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' mission "Cutting the Grass", the victim (stalkee?) is meant to be picked up by a taxi. [[CuttingTheKnot You can easily grab a taxi yourself, and the victim will end up in your taxi. Then it's just a pleasant drive to the destination, followed by running him over once you get him there.]] It also has another one where you don't actually need to stalk the guy, just be close to the destination when he arrives, so you can take a shortcut and beat him there.

* ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' features a bunch of tailing missions where Yagami has to follow a target, both as part of the story and optional [[{{Sidequest}} Side Cases]]. If you get too close, or don't stay out of view when the target is looking at you, their Caution Gauge will rise, but you can hide behind walls, signs, cars, etc. to stay out of their sight. Thankfully, the longer ones tend to feature mid-checkpoints you can restart from if you fail, and there are upgrades to help you (such as making the Caution Gauge rise slower, or giving you more time to find your target again if you lose them). The sequel ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'' brings them back but also gives you the ability to [[ArtificialAtmosphericActions do things like check your phone]] to [[BlendingInStealthGameplay blend in with the people around you]] and placate the target.

** One level in ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' begins with Garrett's fence being assassinated right in front of him. Garrett then has to follow these assassins throught the streets of the City to find out who employed them. If those assassins spot Garrett or get too far from him, it's game over.

* Many side missions in ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfDoubt'' entail an extended round of stalking. This usually entails learning the identity of your target first, such as by stealing corporate records or digging up government ID papers. After this, you have to follow your mark without being spotted until you have the opportunity to complete your objective, such as discreetly taking their photo, stealing a valuable item from them, or simply throwing spoiled meat in their face, kicking the shit out of them, and vandalizing their apartment.

Almost invariably a forced-stealth UnexpectedGameplayChange, the Stalking Mission is often [[ScrappyLevel viewed in a negative light]] for a variety of reasons. They may be lengthy and contain no {{Check Point}}s, and if the target takes a difficult-to-follow route to their destination, it may be necessary to resort to [[TrialAndErrorGameplay trial-and-error]]. Finally, the target may walk painfully slow, jarring to players who are [[RunDontWalk used to constantly running]]. This is even worse in driving variations, as the {{NPC}} will typically drive at a normal speed and obey traffic laws, something the player has [[OptionalTrafficLaws hitherto been unbound by]]. Said traffic will sometimes flatten the target, resulting in mission failure.

* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'': ''Tides of Time'' had a deadly version after the final boss battle, where you had to let the Vortex Queen remove a few doors for you, and then squeeze ahead for the last stretch and get to the time machine before she did.

** Given that Sasha drugs the Reapers up to the eyeballs in that funky goo, it is of no surprise that some Reapers will want to protect shiny things.

** Twice in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons]]''. The latter is especially frustrating since you have to avoid being spotted by TWO characters.
** ''[[Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' has an optional one, which gets you an empty bottle. You also get to hear Link [[CatScare meow like a kitty]] [[NobodyHereButUsBirds if you're not completely hidden]] when the target checks to see if she's being tailed, which is a reward in itself.

* ''VideoGame/MafiaII'' has a couple, of course. The driving ones are fairly forgiving, especially thanks to the speed limiter toggle.
* ''[[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Soul Reaver]]'' contains another example of the "you are the stalkee" inversion. In order to defeat Dumah, Raziel must lure him all the way from his lair to a room containing a mechanism that can be used to set him on fire. Get too big of a lead, and Dumah will lose interest and head back to his lair; allow him to get too close, and he'll smack the crap out of you. Also, Dumah is about five times Raziel's size.

* The ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis'' AdventureGame had a number of these, but probably the funniest is in Egypt. You must follow a man through a crowded bazaar, zoomed out so far that everyone is represented by a single pixel. While it is technically possible to follow him by eye, the intended way to follow him is to get a fez and trick him into wearing it, which causes him to appear in the zoomed out shots as a bright red pixel.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has a number of these. "Squeeze up! Hang back! You lost your target!"
** ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'' features these. First being when they identify ex-mercenary Leila Sharon who shot the police convoy with the RPG in the intro and the mission ends when an early game BrokenBridge perceptible only to Tanner prevents him from continuing. A second time when they arrest Krug after the ammonia tanker hi-jacking but let him off on "tainted evidence" and bug his car with a microphone, knowing he would call back Jericho after getting out of prison. Jericho isn't having any of it and someone else calls up on a debt Krug owes, which leads you defending Krug from the mafia's gang before he calls Jericho again (thankfully this temporarily gets rid of the suspicion, as Krug's too busy worrying about his own life). This leads to Jericho blowing up Krug and his car both out of YouHaveFailedMe and since they would release Krug to bug his car. The latter mission is interesting in that the dialogue between Krug and Jericho gets cut-off if you stray out of range. Falling out of range gives you ten seconds to catch up to your target like any other pursuit scenario in the game.

%%* ''VideoGame/SmugglersRun 2'' did this a few times.

* The second half of ''Fallen Angel'' mission in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII''. This is justified, since you are supposed to record the conversations rather than just following the target. It comes just after a more traditional StealthBasedMission, as well, where you have to avoid an automated drone patrolling the streets that will instantly tear you and your squadmate to shreds if it spots you.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/FarCry3''. In the main story mission "Bad Side of Town", after being prompted in a hallucination, Jason must follow the stranger [[spoiler: Willis]] through the streets of Bad Town. He will stop periodically and glance behind him. If you lose sight of him (even if he hasn't moved!) for more than a few seconds, a twenty-second timer counts down to mission failure. Of course, [[spoiler: he's a CIA agent who already knew you were tailing him from the start.]]
* The Neo-Tokyo level in ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters2''. To elaborate, Neo-Tokyo is one of those knife-edge ones where it's game over the moment you get spotted. Combine this with the fact you have to stay close enough to slip through a [[HardLight laser security gate]] before it closes -- but not so soon that you're spotted -- and you have [[ThatOneLevel one of the toughest missions in the series]]. Once you're ''past'' that point, however, it's a normal mission.

* The first level of ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' unintentionally turns into this, as Hat Kid notices Mustache Girl beat up some mafia, and decides to follow her. Unlike most stalking missions, the player ''can'' choose to go right to MG's ultimate destination if they're replaying the game, and there's even a secret achievement for doing this.

%%* ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'' has one.

%%* The otherwise excellent ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}'' has a very annoying one.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' has a short one of these in Pescani/Pescado.

*** Subverted during one quest in which you must follow a specific NPC to a meeting and then listen in on said meeting. [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy The AI is a little on the forgiving side]] in regards to the whole "don't let them know you're following them" thing. In fact, the fact that the mission briefing ''says'' not to make your presence known is really the only attention the game pays to the idea at all. In execution, you're completely free to wear your heaviest armor and illumination rings that glow bright enough to make you walking daylight incarnate, run in laps and circles around the target as he's walking toward his meeting, talk to him on the way (several times,) stand ''between'' him and the person he's talking to when the meeting starts, and more, all without penalty.

* The ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' quest "All By Myself" is a maddening example, as you have to keep your target from dying without him noticing you do it while he fights every damn monster he so much has seen an inch of, aggressive to him or not, ''while capped at level 10''. The usual approach is to [[DefiedTrope cheat]] -- have someone not on the quest, and thus not on his radar and not capped, run ahead of him and kill things.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Thane's loyalty mission has you stalking his [[spoiler:son]]'s target as he walks through the Citadel markets. Helpfully, you're on a catwalk above him rather than on the ground. No matter how obvious you try to be (surely they could have at least gotten you to put on disguises) however, you cannot spook the target, and nobody on the market floor will actively notice you... even if you're running around in evil-looking armour that is ''illegal in Citadel space''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Kolibri}}'' has a downplayed example in the levels Terra Decay, Penetration, and Remission. Kolibri must follow a particular insectoid creature in order to pass through gates that are meant to keep out hummingbirds, but the creature doesn't acknowledge Kolibri at all. The challenge is in keeping up the tail while everything ''else'' is trying to kill you.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'' has particularly annoying examples of these. You are told to follow a randomly spawned NPC ship and find out its destination. This destination is ''prominently displayed in the ship's info window'', but of course you can't just report that to your employers and call it a day. You also can't just jump there with your jumpdrive and wait for it, you have to follow the ship. You can't set one of your other ships to follow it for you or keep track of it on your network of spy satellites, you must do it personally. And of course the ships tend to be painfully slow. At least the game has a hotkey to match speeds with a target...

* The ''Biko'' HGame was made of these missions, stalking young women through the streets of Japan. Because it's possible to take the stalking to it's [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty creepiest possible conclusion]], people tend to overlook that you have the option to simply [[StalkerWithACrush confess your love instead]].
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' also had a variation where you had to track someone by their footprints. The second stalking mission was actually pretty good, because it gave a good reason for the target to be spooked, as well as a justification for being able to single him out easily. Also, it had several check points and you could go where you wanted instead of babysitting him all the time. Getting spotted by him is also not an instant game over or mission ender. If he does spot you, he may draw a pistol and attack you or otherwise run away, but neither of these is a big deal because for the former, his pistol is very weak and he isn't all that accurate, and for both cases, you can get out of his sight pretty easily, and once he loses track of you for a few minutes, he'll return to his normal route, allowing you to stalk him again. You also have to protect him from getting spotted by the PMC guards around the city, however he's pretty good about avoiding most of them on his own, meaning there's only a few guards you actually have to tranquilize or kill, and there's usually a good spot on the map for you to take them out from without being spotted by the guards '''or''' the mark. And, lastly, you don't even really need to keep the guy alive - if he dies for whatever reason (most likely by your hand, just to troll Otacon), all you have to do is take out the scanner again and find another guy to tail. All-in-all, it is a fairly well-done example.

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' has done this at least once, though on one occasion in ''Pandora Tomorrow'' your objective isn't so much avoiding being noticed by the person you're following as it is making sure nobody else she comes across notices you while she leads you to a specific point. [[spoiler: And then once you're where you need to be, your CO radios you and orders you to kill her.]] It also had a subverted example where you're ''supposed'' to follow someone while staying out of sight of everyone she comes across, [[spoiler: but shortly before any sort of stalking happens, one of the guards radios in that she's TheMole, and it instead turns into a defensive shootout as multiple armed guards come after her.]]
* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' also does this often. One of the most irritating was ThatOneLevel late on in the first game, where the objective was to follow a scientist through a series of catacombs to reach the cell containing your partner. The obvious route was to follow him all the way, picking off the guards as he passed them, and then getting to the door, where he would happily stand around and not bother to open it. This was because of an oversight that made the game sometimes get into a situation where the scientist had noticed you but didn't fail the mission; the usual solution was to take an alternative route around, letting him out of your sight unpenalized and meeting up with him later on on his route.
* Mission 16 in ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}} Z'', "Pursuit Of Echigoya" is one of these. On the good side, it's the only one in the game (there's 50 missions). On the bad side, it's by far the hardest to get a Ninja 5 ranking on, as you have to stealth kill every guard in the level, all the while keeping close to Echigoya, which sucks because it's the only level in the game with strict Ninja 5 conditions (in any other level you really have to try to get anything lower). And dear god does he take his time.
* In ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'', the targets can take more than one possible route. In ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'', it's very easy to fail as a result of forgetting just what your target ''is''. [[spoiler:It isn't a person.]]

* ''VideoGame/AlbaAWildlifeAdventure'': Downplayed. You need to follow the mayor [[spoiler:after he turns down your petition]] but if he sees you, he just tells you to go away.
* This is one of the stalwart mission types of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games, as nearly every game features at least one, usually complete with a "Spook-O-Meter." It gets ridiculous in later games how close you must be in order to pursue the target. In several missions it's possible to lose even though the enemy vehicle is still in clear view, leading to situations where you'll fail a mission because the vehicle "escaped" despite the fact you can either still see it, or it's on a one way street or a bridge and therefore nearly impossible to lose track of.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' features a couple such missions, during one of which Niko will mention that while stalking a woman in Europe he learned the ideal distance to be from your target when following them in a vehicle is two car lengths. The mission "Shadow" subverts this however, as a phone call from Niko's cousin Roman (to go play pool, no less) can alert the target early, after which the mission devolves into a simple footchase followed by a shoot-out.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' did have a humorous way to subvert this in the mission "Cutting the Grass". The victim (stalkee?) is meant to be picked up by a taxi. [[CuttingTheKnot You can easily grab a taxi yourself, and the victim will end up in your taxi. Then it's just a pleasant drive to the destination, followed by running him over once you get him there.]] It also has another one where you don't actually need to stalk the guy, just be close to the destination when he arrives, so you can take a shortcut and beat him there.
* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' features a couple of stalking missions, some by foot and some by car.

** Not so much 'stalk' as 'chase'. Taggart is panicking, and trying to break out of the city quarantine to save his own hide. If he escapes, it can ''only'' end badly for everybody in the city.
* Openly mocked in ''VideoGame/RetroCityRampage'' where the player has to regularly drink coffee in order to stay awake.
%%* ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' has one of these.

* ''VideoGame/TrueCrimeStreetsOfLA'' and ''VideoGame/TrueCrimeNewYorkCity'' have stalking missions with its suspicion meter which triggers if you tail too close to their car.
* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': A couple missions in the game feature this gameplay, including at least one example in which you have to track a briefcase as it is passed between different persons.

* ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' Entry 66 plays out exactly like one of these, with Jay and Tim following [[spoiler: Hoodie / "Totheark"]] through the AbandonedHospital.

* Parodied in the Creator/JoelHaver video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP468OEln4U Tailing Missions from the NPC's Perspective]]'', which pokes fun at [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality how much leeway games tend to give you]] in such missions by having the [=NPCs=] shrug off the player's odd behavior:

* A couple missions in ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' featured this gameplay, including at least one example in which you had to track a briefcase as it was passed between different persons.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' features a couple such missions, during one of which Niko will mention the Mafia method of remaining two car lengths away from your target. The mission "Shadow" subverts this however, as a phone call from Niko's cousin Roman (to go play pool, no less) can alert the target early, after which the mission devolves into a simple footchase followed by a shoot-out.

* An optional ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'' mission requires you (as a ''God'') to sneakily follow someone down a mountain. The man repeatedly looks in awkward angles and losing him for a single second makes him disappear (despite the fact he's walking down a small mountain path with nowhere else to go).
** ''Black & White 2'' has a similar quest wherein a guy accuses you of impregnating his daughter. (Your evil conscience's reaction is hilarious.) You can either pay him off with wood, or track her to her ''actual'' lover's house. Thankfully it's much easier than in the previous game, to the point where you can keep one eye on the girl and do your job with the other eye.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' requires the player to stay 2 car lengths away ''at all times'' (including stop lights), which is rather strange when the target doesn't seem to care about any other of the motorists encroaching on the supposed spook-radius. One mission subverts this however, as a phone call from Niko's cousin Roman (to go bowling, no less) alerts the target early, after which the mission devolves into a simple footchase followed by a shoot-out.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' did have a humorous way to subvert one case. The victim (stalkee?) is meant to be picked up by a taxi. You can easily grab a taxi yourself, and the victim will end up in your taxi. Then it's just a pleasant drive to the destination, followed by running him over once you get him there. It also has another one where you don't actually need to stalk the guy, just be close to the destination when he arrives, so you can take a shortcut and beat him there.