I’ve been trying to find one throughout the Steam summer sale and come up dry, and now I’m out of money until the 15th. Hopefully y’all can help me find a good one before the winter sale. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve tried so far and what I’ve liked and dislike about them:
Arkham series
Positive: I played through Arkham Knight a few years ago, and it made me fall in love with the genre, or at least what I wish it were. My ideal game is an endless series of well-built, challenging Arkham-style stealth puzzles I can just binge like sudoku with no brawling and no plot. I’ve now resigned myself to just trying to get through the rest of this series again before I spend more money. My wife also likes watching it.
Negative: I made the mistake of playing the last game first, and now the others feel disappointing and half-baked. The series got harder as it went, and Arkham Knight was still a little too easy, even on the hardest setting. Brawling scenes are monotonous and make my hands hurt. I’ve heard bad things about Gotham Knights, so I’m not about to spend that kind of money.
Alien: Isolation
Positive: Almost as close to what I want as Arkham, but in the opposite direction. Still should probably give it another chance.
Negative: Instead of padding it with combat, they padded it with tedious walking simulation. Also too dark. The glare on my living room screen makes it hard to play during the day.
XCOM series
Positive: XCOM 2 is another of my favorites. I’d like to know what recent turn based tactical games in this genre are good and emphasize stealth. And maybe local multi-player? Although those are kind of at cross purposes.
Negative: Once again made the mistake of starting at the end of the series with War of the Chosen, and now I have trouble getting into the earlier games. Chimera Squad was also very underwhelming.
Bioshock series
Positive: You know, I should probably just get back to Bioshock, come to think of it. Don’t know why I didn’t quite finish the first game.
Negative: I guess the only thing stopping me is that I’d want to finish the first one before getting to the sequels, and I’m not sure I still have my old save, and if so I’m dreading jumping back in at the end when I’m rusty. But no, I need to just finish Bioshock. I’d like to do a “good” playthrough, anyway. Are the sequels as stealth-oriented as the first one, though? I’ve heard you play as a Big Daddy in the second game, and that doesn’t sound stealthy.
Hitman series
Positive: So close. I got the pre-reboot Hitman bundle on sale, and the overall playstyle seems like exactly what I want in theory.
Negative: Yet so far. First off all, the earliest titles are just too clunky and old fashioned for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a graphics snob, I can still enjoy an NES game. But that era between Doom and Portal or so, when they were fumbling around trying to figure out how to make a 3D game, I just don’t have the patience for that.
I tried Absolution and it was tantalizing but obviously flawed. I looked up some reviews to see if it got better or worse, and it turns out it definitely got worse.
It appears that what I’m looking for is the 2016 reboot. Problem is, IO Interactive doesn’t want my money. They took the first two games off of Steam, folded them into the third installment, and charged $69.99 for it. This makes me feel morally obligated to pirate these games and see how good the “Peacock” experience is. So now I have it torrented and I’m waiting for another ten+ hour window when no one else wants to use the computer and I can devote every single clock cycle of my long-suffering i5-2500k to decompressing Hitman, and hope it doesn’t have a random error eight hours in like it did last night.
Deathloop
Positive: Runs surprisingly well on my old rig, even with a video playing on the second monitor. The graphics on reduced settings still look way better than what I’m used to.
Negative: I had such high hopes for this based on the reviews, but it’s been my biggest disappointment so far. How is this even a stealth game? I try sneaking around, but then someone spots me, and instead of that being game over, I can just Doom my way through the rest of the encounter, and that works out more or less fine. Does it get better? I’m afraid to see for myself because I don’t want to put on so much playtime I can’t return it. My wife also hates it because it’s too violent. I was intrigued by Dishonored and Prey, but they’re from the same studio as this garbage, so now I’m leary of trying them.
Assassin’s Creed series
Positive: Seems too obvious not to include. I don’t think I’ve ever actually laid hands on a controller when it was playing, so I don’t want to be too hard on it.
Negative: Every time I’ve seen it played, it just strikes me as dumb. The Da Vinci Code shit is dumb, the puzzles are boring, the gameplay is gimmicky and dumbed down in all the worst possible ways. They’re obviously similar to Arkham and Hitman games, but I’ve never heard someone say they were better or harder, so I’ve never bothered giving them a chance.
Conclusion
I gather that designing good, challenging stealth puzzles is an extremely difficult feat of game design. So what developers tend to do is spend as much time as they can afford on stealth puzzles, and then fill in the rest with action, exploration, and plot when the deadline looms. But there’s so much out there, I’m sure there are hidden gems I can track down before winter.
This is going to sound snobby, but until you’ve played metal gear I don’t think you’ve experienced the pinnacle of stealth. That series basically defined (access arguably perfected) the third person stealth action genre.
If you don’t want to play them all, I highly recommend metal gear solid 3 and V. But the “demo” ground zeroes game is a great way to get a feel for the series in a more contained experience
Runner ups in my mind that others mentioned:
- Splinter cell
- Thief
- Deus ex (you can choose stealth in this game but it isn’t specifically a stealth game imo)
- Dishonored (superb)
- Prey (essentially dishonored meets system shock)
You gotta go grab some metal gear, though. Oh how I wish I could experience those games for the first time again.
Thief Deus ex (you can choose stealth in this game but it isn’t specifically a stealth game imo) Dishonored (superb)
Was surprised to not find these games in the main list. Thief and Deus Ex (I play it stealthy as much as possible) have been my go to stealth games. And no matter how you try to play Skyrim it always ends with stealth archer. 😅
I fucking love those games to death, Thief was so fucking dark and gritty when it first came out and I was so scared when the guards walked past me as I was hiding in the shadows after water arrowing a torch, lol.
And Deus Ex I with it’s multiple storylines, choice making and takes on philosophy was mind blowing.
However, they’re easy to cheese by modern standards which might be to their detriment when it comes to new players. You can easily blackjack your way through Thief I.
Thief III: Deadly Shadows probably holds up the best gameplay wise, though Thief II has the best storyline imo.
Deus Ex I also has some very unfortunate voice acting choices (incl. white people putting on Asian sounding accents), which I, in the 90s, was ignorant about, but now as an adult it’s a cringy struggle to listen to, tbh.
Yeah, you should reconsider Dishonored and Prey. Especially at how cheap they are on sale.
Dishonored was the first thing that came to mind when I read the title, too. OP, if you haven’t played it, check it out!
As for others…
- Skyrim and Fallout aren’t exactly deep stealth games, but stealth is hands down the most popular and arguably most fun way to play. Sneaky archer is a freaking meme.
- Far Cry games all favour stealth as well. While you’re totally allowed to go in guns a blazing and it’s frankly more effective sometimes, the game does reward stealth and is clearly designed with it in mind. Silencers are magic, you can distract enemies, can lure wildlife to attack, smoke bombs, knife combos, “death from above”, etc.
- The Metro series isn’t entirely stealth, but a lot of human enemy sections are meant to be done with stealth and I recall it being actually very difficult if you’re not stealthy (you die fast). I also recall the stealth feeling more realistic in terms of detection time. Finally, there’s something extra fun about being stealthy in a very dark post apocalyptic subway tunnel. Much better atmosphere for it!
As a final side note, the way OP described assassin’s Creed sounds like the older games. They might like some of the “middle” games like Unity more. The games that came just before Origins (Origins and later are very fun games, but the stealth is no longer the focus).
I also thought of Dishonered first when I read the title. Love how you’re given the flexibility to complete each level however you feel like playing.
I’m pretty sure it’s possible to completely beat the game without killing a single NPC as well.
There’s an achievement for it.
Seconding Far Cry, specifically 3 through 5. I haven’t played 6 yet so I can’t comment on it, but 3, 4, and 5 (as well as new dawn) are all pretty much built for stealth. You can always go guns-blazing but you’re punished a lot more for it, and silently killing all the guards is incredibly rewarding both in terms of mentality and gameplay-wise.
I don’t quite remember how I played Metro 2033, but I do know that I played so much with Metro Last Light to get that stupid ‘kill no humans’ achievement that whenever I play it now I can practically zoom through most areas with stealth. Same way with Dishonored. Both great games, I love revisiting them from time to time.
I disliked Dishonored because the game tells you not to kill too many people or bad things will happen and then proceeds to make most of the items and abilities for killing people. You can kill some people, but it’s not clear exactly how many each level. I wasn’t really interested in spending tens of hours playing a game only to be told that I was a bad person who gets the bad ending. As a result I kept killing to a minimum and missed out on or barely used a huge portion of the items and abilities. Seemed like questionable game design.
Prey was great though. Not sure if I’d call it a stealth game, however.
I love Dishonored, but I agree that it’s unfortunate more fun abilities aren’t compatible with Low Chaos.
It makes the High Chaos second playthrough more satisfying though, when you can finally unleash the whole arsenal.
The game doesn’t really want you to spare enemies. It’s just that there are 3 different ways to play the game and 3 different flavors of the story : low, mid and high chaos. I think you should feel free to massacre everyone, and then maybe start over a new game and try lower chaos !
I felt like this was the intention. Play through it having fun learning the mechanics and then follow up with a replay to challenge yourself.
Dishonored 2 remedies that problem significantly, playing non-Lethal is a lot more fun there than in the first game.
With dishonored I wanted to be the ultimate ninja that leave no trace and had a lot of fun doing a clean hands ghost run. So challenging though, since I didn’t know if I had been detected until the end of each stage when they show you your performance.
Mandatory Dishonored 1 and 2 recommendation, but Prey is also very good
I need to add to the dishonored pile here. Deathloop is a much more doom-able game. Dishonored can be played in a fast way, but you can play the entire game with killing anyone, or being seen by anyone, or both. I highly recommend it, they scratch the itch.
Adding onto that, Dishonored 2 feels way more fun when playing non-lethal. Dishonored 1 kind of handicaps you if you decide not to kill enemies, whereas Dishonored 2 gives you a few more Options.
Both are incredible games though, definitely worth playing.
Yes, Dishonored is really fun. Having a good saving system (with quick save and load) makes it even better. I love to have the option to just fool around.
Very disappointed nobody here has mentioned Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The only MGS game on PC (so far) without emulation and definitely one of the most fun stealth games I’ve ever played. It is pretty hardcore, but it’s also got a lot of sandbox elements meaning you can complete every mission in a multitude of ways. Don’t like sneaking up on dudes? Maybe try sniping. Don’t want to infiltrate a literal prison? If you’re quick about it and smart about it you can intercept the prisoner’s convoy before he gets there. The buddy system also means you don’t have to keep track of every little thing and can let your buddy do at least a little bit of the mission for you. The story is regrettably pretty batshit insane and kind of hard to understand, which is kind of normal for Kojima, but the gameplay is top-tier.
It appears that what I’m looking for is the 2016 reboot. Problem is, IO Interactive doesn’t want my money. They took the first two games off of Steam, folded them into the third installment, and charged $69.99 for it. This makes me feel morally obligated to pirate these games and see how good the “Peacock” experience is. So now I have it torrented and I’m waiting for another ten+ hour window when no one else wants to use the computer and I can devote every single clock cycle of my long-suffering i5-2500k to decompressing Hitman, and hope it doesn’t have a random error eight hours in like it did last night.
Having played all three IOI games, this is actually not as bad as you’re making it seem. Beforehand, if you wanted all three games it was probably around $120 considering the first two were heavily discounted after a couple of years. The Steam bundle was cheaper, but what 90% of customers ended up doing was buying Hitman 3 and then buying the levels from the previous two hitman games and playing those that way. Hitman 3 has far better graphics, controls, UI… you name it and they improved on it. Plus, each game is only between 5 and 7 levels long and is around 7 hours to beat.
So the developers saw that basically nobody was buying the first two games and said, well, here’s all three games in one and kept the price basically the same as it was before. I would understand buying it and then being disappointed that you spent $70 on 12 more levels you won’t play, but at the same time I think it makes far more logical sense to just treat it as one game.
Imagine my disappointment when I bought the first Hitman back in 2016 and discovered it was an episodic 5 level game for $60 fucking dollars. I think $70 for like 18 levels is a pretty damn good discount.
Adding on to this I heartily recommend MGS V. It is the culmination of the MGS formula in a mostly open world. While I love Kojima’s bullshit, the previous MGS games had deep mechanics that you rarely got to play with because most the games were movies with an occasional game.
The story is kind of all over the place but the gameplay more then makes up for for it.
yeah I love the open world aspect of it, too. The ability to approach a mission from literally any angle just adds so many possibilities.
MGS1 is available on GOG, but it’s definitely got that early 3D vibe that OP doesn’t seem to like. I think it’s aged pretty well, considering it’s a PS1 title.
+1 vote for the Dishonored games. If you want a quick showcase of what’s possible in this title or the whole series, StealthGamerBR is probably one of the best people to watch.
Shadow tactics
Mark of the ninja
That’s all you need. Those games literally taught me how to play stealth.
Mark of the Ninja is the best 2d stealth I’ve played, and also better than lot of 3d ones. The way the game used visual cues made steathing feel really fun to do.
I just scrolled through to see if anyone shouted out Mark of the Ninja. I hate stealth games, but absolutely loved that one.
I’ll add Desperados III for a Western spin on Shadow Tactics.
To add a bit more about Shadow Tactics, it is a top-down 3D game where you control a crew of characters with different abilities (ninja, samurai, sharpshooter, etc.)
It is real time but you can plan actions to happen simultaneously, so it feels really cool to solve the stealth puzzles by combining the characters’ different abilities.
Also good atmosphere, voices, story, etc. Just a very good game.
Here are a few suggestions. Cheap, great stealth and action, and quite fun.
Dishonored 1 and 2 (and their expansions), Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, The Plague Tale series, and Mark of the Ninja
+1 for Mark of the Ninja. The gameplay is so polished, great art direction, and simple but satisfying. It is a staple Klei Entertainment game. Not to mention the good story, at least as I remember. It’s not a new game, released originally in 2012, however there’s a remastered version on Steam.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided can be played as stealth games, and I really liked them. Note that they aren’t “pure” stealth games, there are some encounters where you cannot avoid fighting.
Also DE:MD kind of ends in the middle, so if you are a story player you will be frustrated to know that there seem to be no plans for the next sequel.
DE:MD was great, I really hoped for them to finish the story. With all the horse-trading of the companies and IP, who knows if we’ll ever see one.
you should be able to do the entirety of MD including the final boss with stealth or bypassing it entirely
Oh thank you, I could not remember what exactly was in each game. The bosses I’m thinking of must have been in HR then.
Yeah HR had unavoidable combat bosses in its original release. The Director’s Cut modded them all to allow for dealing with them by alternative means, such as hacking, robot/turret control and such. But because they weren’t originally designed that way it’s not the most organic, and you can’t pure stealth bypass them like the original Deus Ex.
What about Splinter Cell? Generally well regarded and though they got more actiony, the first few were very Stealth focused.
Another contender, though you’d have to self-impose stealth, Deus Ex series, you can stealth your way through like every game.
Maybe the real stealth has been finding the stealth games .
It’s stealth all the way down.
‘Metro 2033 Redux’ and ‘Metro: Last Light Redux’ are my favorite stealth games.
Good atmosphere and setting.
Splinter Cell! 😎
Check out the Sniper Elite series. The most recent games have a good, challenging, and engaging Stealth mechanic to them.
I recently played through all three Thief games. Start with Thief: The Dark Project, then Thief 2: The Metal Age. Finally, Thief: Deadly Shadows is a bit controversial but i still think its worth a playthrough. Don’t bother with Thief (2014). They are old but IMHO some of the best stealth games made to this day. If you check them out, highly recommend looking up some mods. Tfix for the first game I think, and there are even some HD mods if old graphics bother you.
Also, I’ve never played them but heard the Splinter Cell games are fantastic stealth games. Might be worth a look.
To follow up on what was said above, Thief: Gold/The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age are easily two of the best stealth games out there, especially with all the work fans have done to keep the games playable and fantastic on modern hardware. Between the phenomenal level design, a unique and pretty engaging story, and all around fun game play offering tons of ways to approach situations, they’re always worth a recommend from me for at least a single playthrough, easily netting 15-30 hours of game time per game. The wide variance in time spent with each is partially due to the freedom you have, but also since each difficulty step up changes your objectives for each mission, giving you further reasons to explore and have fun with the world.
Thief: Deadly Shadows is harder to recommend due to it being built with consoles in mind, but once again, with some fan patches it becomes a much better experience and can definitely be worth the time, particularly when they’re all on sale for so cheap. Each of them is currently just under $1 on steam, one of the best deals you can get.
Coming from someone who bought Thief 2014 at launch (and enjoyed it), I’d recommend a skip on that one. It’s not a bad game by any means, but it doesn’t feel like it’s nearly as good as the original 3 for a variety of reasons.
Splinter Cell also are fantastic games in the stealth genre, but I’m not familiar enough with them to speak at length on them like the Thief series.
