Stealth games can both be incredibly rewarding and incredibly frustrating. To get a perfect experience, players have to learn patience to get anywhere, from waiting until the coast is clear to running past guards to lining up the best shot. Stealth games can be varied, too, and aren’t all just about spies and soldiers.
Best First-Person Stealth Games
Few FPS games provide thrilling stealth action as good as the following titles. Here’s what stealthy FPS fans should try for their next game.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and Mark of the Ninja are all fine examples. What other games rank among the greatest stealth games of all time, and how do they all stack up? The following games will take into consideration the gameplay mechanics, stories, and overall replay value in a modern context.
Click or tap on the games that match the category
10
Mark Of The Ninja
2D Assassins
Mark of the Ninja may be a 2D ninja game, but players shouldn’t let that push them into thinking that the stealth is mediocre. Players can disappear into the shadows easily, and coming out to take down a guard is brutal, but beautifully animated thanks to the hand-drawn visual style.
Players can learn abilities along the way from a skill tree, unleashing new ways to kill, like from above, or new tools to take down enemies, like poison darts. It may be over a decade old now, but Mark of the Ninja is still impressive and widely available on most platforms.
9
The Operative: No One Lives Forever
Beware The Femme Fatales
The Operative: No One Lives Forever is remembered for its humor, sharp-witted female spy Cate Archer, and the brilliant level design of the linear missions. Players can think of it now as a parody of spy thrillers in the same vein as the Austin Powers films. The game’s missions were quite difficult, but with a reliable quick save, players were free to experiment with certain situations and then reload when things turned out badly.
Not every mission required stealth, and most areas weren’t exactly lit to accommodate normal spy or ninja environments, but they were all still memorable. The only sad thing now is that it’s hard to check out due to its lack of availability online.
Shadows And Magic
Thief 2: The Metal Age may look like a medieval fantasy game starring a literal thief, but this sequel has a steampunk twist, including a metal-loving cult that can make robots, proximate alarms, and other gadgets. The game is mission-based, but players have a wide array of tools to approach missions how they want.
They can use a water arrow to douse flames and hide in the darkness, or they can choose to stalk enemies in the rafters by using arrows that fire ropes to climb instead. While it does look visually dated now, the skill set is greater than that of many modern stealth games, which is why PC fans still remember it fondly.
7
The Last Of Us
Click, Click, Boom
The Last of Us is a linear post-apocalyptic horror game that starts in Boston and features a smuggler, Joel, taking a package, Ellie, across the U.S. to reach a hospital in Seattle. The journey is perilous as there are bandits everywhere, not to mention infected humans called Clickers who can kill and infect them in return.
Best Stealth Horror Games, Ranked
Sometimes it is better to run and hide than fight, and that is especially the case for these stealth horror games.
Most scenarios require sneaking past enemies, stealth killing them, or using things like bricks as a distraction. Even though it is primarily a survival horror game, the stealth elements are great, including Joel being able to upgrade his hearing to essentially create a Daredevil-like outline of enemies.
6
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Lights Out, Guns Out
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is the first game in the series, and it was an Xbox exclusive before getting ports to other consoles. The game had a linear mission-based structure involving an operative, Sam Fisher, completing most missions undetected.
What stands out about this entry is the lighting. Players could shoot out lights to sneak past enemies or get the drop on them, as they had night vision with one of the most iconic pairs of goggles in all of gaming. It’s not a fantastical plot like other stealth games, but it was compelling enough to keep players interested in what they were doing while on missions.
5
Dishonored
For The Empress
Dishonored is an open-ended stealth game that takes place in a fantastical steampunk whaling city. Blamed for a murder, players stealth their way through assassination missions to uncover a conspiracy, and there are multiple ways to approach each kill.
Players can arm themselves with weapons, like knives and pistols, but the best feature is the supernatural powers. Players can teleport to locations, summon rats, slow time, possess enemies, and so much more, which is why it is fun to replay the game and try out new ways to complete missions.
4
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Play Your Way
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a cyberpunk masterpiece starring an agent, Adam Jensen, who is also a cyborg. Players can upgrade their bodies with parts to make them move more quietly, hack into terminals faster, breathe in deadly gases, and so much more.
How players build Adam is up to them, and each mission or even building in the game usually has multiple ways to approach it, making this another great open-ended stealth game. With cover shooting, players can play Deus Ex: Human Revolution as an action game if they want, but it’s so much more satisfying to take the sneaky approach to problems using cool gadgets and high-tech body mods.
3
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The World’s Greatest Detective
More so than the other Arkham games, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the one where stealth is most useful in surviving. Trapped in the titular asylum, Batman will regain the gadgets from his belt throughout the game, thus opening up new pathways in this expanding 3D Metroidvania.
9 Hardest Stealth Games Ever Made, Ranked
In a plethora of stealth games, these remain to be the hardest ones ever made.
Bullets will kill Batman quickly, so it’s best to hide in vents or up in the rafters, only to then grapple down to enemies and eliminate them from the shadows. Against melee enemies, Batman will have no problem taking down things with brutal counterattacks. Overall, this is probably the best stealth-focused Batman game ever made.
2
Assassin’s Creed 2
Taking Back Italy
Assassin’s Creed 2 was a big step up for the Assassin’s Creed series, which fixed a major issue: starring a likable protagonist. Compared to Altair from the first game, Ezio is so much more charismatic, and his goal to help his family and brotherhood is a noble one.
The stealth and upgrade mechanics were also improved, and the city landscapes of Italy circa late-1400s are still beyond impressive. Stabbing from the shadows, throwing down a smoke bomb, landing in piles of hay, blending in with crowds, and so much more make this game iconic and an all-timer, even if the mission structure is linear and without many open-ended ways to approach assassination.
Camo For Every Occasion
Every Metal Gear game, starting with the PS1 generation, could make it into the stealth hall of fame, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is still a step above due to one core mechanic: camouflage. As Naked Snake, aka Big Boss in his early years, players are sent on a mission to infiltrate a Soviet Union jungle base to eliminate a nuclear threat.
The landscape is teeming with guards and wildlife that will provide players with ways to survive. Capturing a snake, for example, could be used to keep up Boss’ stamina, while unleashing it could distract a guard. The camouflage index can make Snake blend in more with the environment, and countless other tools and mechanics make this an incredible stealth game. The narrative being a thrilling joyride is just the cherry on top.
9 Games With Stealth Mechanics Better Than Any Modern Assassin’s Creed
For stealth fans craving more options than modern Assassin’s Creed games can offer, these titles deliver superior sneaking, gadgets, and tactics.
