So gunshots can't be heard from a distance so as not to attract attention.
Weapons with "Silenced" in their name are configured to generate only half as much "Noise" per shot as the unsilenced version of the weapon. "Noise" is a game value that is in theory used by AIs to help determine if they detect a nearby player who isn't in their line of sight. Many game actions generate "Noise" values, including walking or running (this is where the noise reduction property of Sneak, and of the new Tabi shoes, is supposed to come into play, for instance).
Rarebit wrote:Still, they look cool and have funky silenced sound effects so hey.
If there are any neighborhoods where you have not tagged the access node, go there and start shooting at some NPCs using a regular weapon, and keep an eye on the agent meter at the bottom of your screen. It should go up a little bit with every single free fire shot.
Now try that again with a silenced weapon. It shouldn't go up at all (unless you do something else which causes it to go up).
Of course, if you're in an area where you have tagged the access node, then silencers are useless, as far as I can tell.