Best stealth games?

You can't go better for old school sneaky goodness than Theif 1 and 2!

And they're up for grabs on GOG!

I've heard good things about Styx: Masters of Shadow

Thief games are classics in the stealth genre. (Haven't personally played these games, but I heard lots of praise for these stealth games.) Like Zoombie said, Good Old Games has the older ones for cheap. Check out youtube videos for gameplay to see what they're like.

Batman's Arkham Asylum game has some stealth moments, if you don't mind some punch-action-stuff. I remembered having to be stealthy in some stages.

Deus Ex (the original first one, anyway) is another game that has stealth moments, if you don't mind some shooting-RPG stuff. It is a really good game overall, and I highly recommend it.

The newest Hitman game is very good. You knock out NPCs and dress as them, use your environment to take out targets without being spotted, and NPCs can become suspicious of you if you act strangely around them. Right now it's my favorite stealth game.

I will give a quick nod to Metal Gear Solid V though. While I found the locations dull after a while, it plays the best of any stealth game out there. I'd use it as a model for great stealth mechanics, even if crawling around on your belly is a game breaker.

The Metal Gear series, hand down, has some of the best stealth mechanics of all games. The stories went into a weird direction after Solid 2, but the gameplay more than makes up for it. I really recommend them, specially the first one, which has aged quite well, actually.

I have to second the Batman: Arkham Asylum. More than the rest of the games, in a lot of places you had the choice of stealth or brute force, and I always found it way more fun to take the stealth option, popping out of hiding places or around corners to take someone out with an environment attack, then back to hiding, waiting, and watching them all panic when they found the unlucky sap. It was also awesome to just sit back when there was one guy left and he's running around, shooting at random things in a blind panic.

Although that might just be the little bit of sadist in me. :-/

ShaunHorton said:

I have to second the Batman: Arkham Asylum. More than the rest of the games, in a lot of places you had the choice of stealth or brute force, and I always found it way more fun to take the stealth option, popping out of hiding places or around corners to take someone out with an environment attack, then back to hiding, waiting, and watching them all panic when they found the unlucky sap. It was also awesome to just sit back when there was one guy left and he's running around, shooting at random things in a blind panic.

Although that might just be the little bit of sadist in me. :-/

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That's the main part of the fun of playing stealth-y types of missions for me, though (even if I'm terrible at them): To see how AI reacts to dead bodies and missing friends/companions/co-workers/brothers/whatever. I like it when there is some human emotions involved, and I'm not being reminded I am watching artificial digital creations things made up of code...

I usually don't play stealth, but when I do, I do like having some interesting moments while doing it. (I get anxious/restless and/or bored if I end up playing stealth too long, so watching interesting stuff happen can help ease the boredom.)

youngcaptainL said:

Hi everyone,

I'm currently playing through Dishonored and I absolutely love the game so far. I've played Splinter Cell and some of the Hitman games, as I absolutely love the stealth genre. I've also played some of the old Assassin's Creeds, although I heard the new ones were garbage unfortunately.

Are there any other stealth games I should give a try? I was thinking about Watch Dogs...

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It's my favorite genre too! I fell in love with the Thief series. I also love anything that involves sniping. I just posted some of the fun I've had playing Elder Scrolls Online, which is an MMORPG that is not stealth-based, but has stealth-based characters you can play. I play a thief/assassin, and stealth is my main form of movement/attacking/escape. Also, they recently released an expansion (you have to buy it ) called Thieve's Guild, which is all thievery, contract assassinations and the like.

Metal Gear Solid : Twin Snakes on the delightful lilac gamecube was a stellar offering, I always loved the playstation metal gear solid but never got around to finishing it, damn do those cutscenes drawl on and on, it's like watching a movie! Utterly groundbreaking and adrenaline dripping feast of a game though, the GC remake looked beautiful and played smooth as revolver ocelot's stump. I have MGS 2 and snake eater lying around that I've not got onto yet, looking forward to failing at them, I suck at stealth, I have to flail around or panic or go charging in before I get the hang of being patient and sneaky. I even failed about twenty five times on that part in ocarina of time in the courtyard with the guards and that ceaseless whistle!

Tomb Raider 2012 is worth a look.

Both Far Cry 2 and Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl allow you to be very stealthy (ie complete objectives by taking people out without anyone else noticing). Youtube has proof. Of course these are open-world shooters and not designed around stealth as a core feature, so if it's that you want, you may not like them.

I play the Bethesda games (Elder Scrolls, Fallout) in an almost permanent stealth mode.

youngcaptainL said:

Gonna give MGS5 a try! Let's see how good it is!

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The answer is very, VERY good... and very, VERY confusing if you haven't played, at least, Solid 1 and 3. And probably Peace Walker.