The 10 Greatest Stealth Masterpieces of All Time, Ranked

Silent games Can be both incredibly rewarding and incredibly frustrating. To get the best experience, players must learn patience to get anywhere, from waiting until the coast is clear to running past guards to get the best shot. Stealth games can be different too, and it's not all about spies and soldiers.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Tom Clancy's Splinter Celland The sign of the ninja All are good examples. What other games rank among the greatest stealth games of all time, and how do they all stack up? The following games will consider gameplay mechanics, stories, and overall replay value in a modern context.

10

Mark of the Ninja

2D Assassins

The sign of the ninja A 2D ninja game might be, but players shouldn't let that fool them into thinking that stealth is normal. Players can easily disappear into the shadows, and sneaking 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 through the skill tree, unlocking new ways to kill, such as from above, or new tools to eliminate enemies such as poison darts. It may be a decade old now, but The sign of the ninja Still impressive and widely available on many platforms.

9

Operative: No one lives forever

Beware of Femme Fatales

Operative: No one lives forever It is remembered for its humor, sharp-witted female detective Kate Archer, and brilliant level design of linear missions. Players can now think of it as a parody of spy thrillers Austin Powers movies. The game's missions were very difficult, but with a reliable quick save, players were free to use them in certain situations and then reload when things got rough.

Not every mission required stealth, and most areas weren't exactly lit to accommodate typical spy or ninja environments, but they were all still memorable. The only sad thing now is that it is difficult to check due to its lack of online availability.

Shadows and magic

Thief 2: Metal Age It might look like a medieval fantasy game starring a literal thief, but this sequel has a steampunk twist, involving a metal-loving cult that can build robots, proximity alarms and other gadgets. The game is mission-based, but players have a wide range of tools to approach missions as they wish.

They can use water arrows to put out fires and hide in the dark, or they can choose to stalk enemies in the rafters using arrows that ignite ropes for them to climb. While it looks visually dated now, the skill set is greater than most modern stealth games, so 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 begins in Boston and features a smuggler, Joel, taking a package across America, to Ellie to reach a hospital in Seattle. The journey is dangerous as there are bandits everywhere, not to mention infected people called clickers who can kill them and infect them in return.

Most scenarios require sneaking past enemies, sneaking them up, or using things like bricks as a distraction. Although it's primarily a survival horror game, the stealth elements are great, with Joel being able to upgrade his hearing to essentially create a Daredevil-like outline of enemies.

6

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

The lights went out, the guns went off

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell This is the first game in the series, and was an Xbox exclusive before getting ports to other consoles. The game had a linear mission-based structure involving an operative, Sam Fisher, with most of the missions undetected.

What stands out about this entry is the lighting. Players could shoot 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 fantasy plot like other stealth games, but it was compelling enough to keep players interested in what they were doing while on a mission.

5

insulted

For the queen

insulted is an open-ended stealth game that takes place in a fantastical steampunk whaling town. Guilty of murder, players sneak their way through assassination missions to uncover the conspiracy, and there are multiple ways to approach each assassination.

Players can equip themselves with weapons such as weapons, knives and pistols, but the best feature is the supernatural powers. Players can teleport to locations, summon rats, delay time, enemies, and more, so it's fun to replay the game and try new ways to complete missions.

4

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Play your way

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a cyberpunk masterpiece featuring an agent, Adam Jensen, who is also a cyborg. Players can upgrade their bodies with parts to make them move more smoothly, hack into terminals faster, breathe in deadly gases and more.

How players build Adam is up to them, and even building in each mission or game often 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 to, but using cool gadgets and high-tech body mods to take a gritty approach to problems is much more satisfying.

3

Batman: Arkham Asylum

The world's greatest spy

More than others Arkham game, Batman: Arkham Asylum Stealth is most useful for survival. Trapped in the titular asylum, Batman will retrieve gadgets from his belt throughout the game, thus opening new paths in the expanding 3D Metroidvania.

Bullets will kill Batman quickly, so it's best to hide in the vents or in the rafters, then just grab the enemies and take them out of the shadows. Against melee enemies, Batman will have no problem clearing things with brutal counterattacks. Overall, this is probably the best stealth-focused Batman game ever.

2

Assassin's Creed 2

Taking back Italy

Assassin's Creed 2 was a big step for Assassin's Creed series, which fixed one major issue: starring a likable protagonist. Compared to Altair from the first game, Ezio is more charismatic, and his goal of helping his family and brotherhood is a noble one.

Stealth and upgrade mechanics were also improved, and the cityscapes of Italy circa 1400s are still impressive outside. Stabbing from the shadows, throwing smoke bombs, landing on haystacks, mingling with mobs, and much more make this game iconic and of all time, even if the mission structure is linear and without many open-ended ways to get kills.

Camo for every occasion

every metal gear The game, starting with the PS1 generation, may make it into the stealth hall of fame, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater There's one more step up because of a core mechanic: camouflage. As Naked Snake aka Big Boss in his early years, players are sent on a mission to infiltrate a Soviet jungle base to eliminate a nuclear threat.

The landscape is filled with guards and wildlife that provide players with ways to survive. For example, grabbing a snake can be used to maintain a boss's stamina, while taking it out can distract a guard. The camouflage index can make the snake blend in more with the environment, and countless other tools and mechanics make this an incredible stealth game. A story with an exciting joyride is just the cherry on top.