The 10 Greatest Secret Masterpieces of All Time, Ranked

Stealth games it can be both incredibly rewarding and incredibly frustrating. To get the perfect experience, players must learn patience to get anywhere, from waiting for the coast to clear, to running past guards, to lining up the best. Stealth games can also be diverse and not just about spies and soldiers.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Tom Clancy's Splinter Celland Mark of the Ninja all are good examples. What other games rank among the best stealth games of all time and how do they fare? The following games will consider game mechanics, stories, and overall replay value in a modern context.

10

Mark Of The Ninja

2D killers

Mark of the Ninja it may be a 2D ninja game, but players shouldn't let that fool them into thinking stealth is mediocre. Players can easily disappear into the shadows and come out to take down the guard is brutal, but beautifully animated thanks to the hand-drawn visual style.

Along the way, players can learn abilities from the skill tree, discover new ways to kill, such as from above, or new tools to take down enemies, such as poison darts. Maybe it's been over ten years, but Mark of the Ninja is still impressive and widely available on most platforms.

9

Operative: Nobody lives forever

Beware of Femme Fatales

Operative: Nobody lives forever it is remembered for its humor, sharp-witted spy Cate Archer, and brilliant design of linear mission levels. Players can now think of it as a parody of spy thrillers in the same vein as Austin Powers movies. The game's missions were fairly difficult, but with a reliable quick save, players were free to experiment with certain situations and then reload when things went wrong.

Not every mission required stealth, and most areas weren't exactly lit to fit a normal spy or ninja environment, but they were all still memorable. The only sad thing is that it is difficult to watch 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, proximity alarms, and other gadgets. The game is mission-based, but players have a wide variety of tools to approach the missions however they want.

They can use a water arrow to put out the flames and hide in the darkness, or they can choose to chase enemies in the beams with arrows that shoot ropes to climb instead. Although it looks visually dated now, the skill set is larger than many modern stealth games, which is why it's still fondly remembered by PC fans.

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 smuggler Joel transporting Ellie's package across the US to a hospital in Seattle. The road is dangerous because there are bandits everywhere, not to mention infected people called clickers who can kill and infect them in return.

Most scenarios require sneaking around enemies, stealth killing them, or using things like bricks as a distraction. While it's primarily survival horror, the stealth elements are great, including Joel being able to enhance his hearing to basically outline enemies like Daredevil.

6

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Lights out, guns out

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is the first game in the series and was exclusive to Xbox before being ported to other consoles. The game had a linear mission-based structure involving Agent Sam Fisher, who completed most of the missions undetected.

What stands out about this entry is the lighting. Players could shoot lights to sneak past or fall on enemies, as they had night vision with one of the most iconic pairs of goggles in all of gaming. It's not a fantastic plot like other stealth games, but it was compelling enough to keep players interested in what they were doing during the missions.

5

Dishonored

For the empress

Dishonored is an open-ended stealth game set in a fantasy steampunk whaling town. Accused of murder, players sneak through assassination missions to uncover the plot, and there are multiple ways to approach each kill.

Players can arm themselves with weapons such as knives and guns, but the best feature is supernatural powers. Players can teleport to locations, summon rats, slow down time, possess enemies, and more, making it 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 Agent Adam Jensen, who is also a cyborg. Players can upgrade their bodies with parts to move more quietly, hack into terminals faster, breathe deadly gases, and 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 much more satisfying to take a sneaky approach to problems with cool gadgets and high-tech body mods.

3

Batman: Arkham Asylum

The world's greatest detective

More than the other Arkham games, Batman: Arkham Asylum is where stealth is most useful for survival. Trapped in the titular madhouse, Batman will retrieve gadgets from his belt throughout the game, opening new paths in this expanding 3D Metroidvania.

Bullets kill Batman quickly, so it's best to hide in the vents or up in the beams, then lunge at the enemies and take them out of the shadows. Against enemies up close, Batman will have no problem destroying things with brutal counterattacks. Overall, this is probably the best stealth Batman game ever made.

2

Assassin's Creed 2

We will take Italy back

Assassin's Creed 2 was a big step forward for them Assassin's Creed a series that solved a fundamental problem: starring a likable protagonist. Compared to Altair from the first game, Ezio is much more charismatic and his goal to help his family and brotherhood is noble.

Stealth and upgrade mechanics have also been improved, and the cityscapes of late 1400s Italy are still more than impressive. Stabbing from the shadows, dropping smokestacks, landing in haystacks, blending into mobs and more make this an iconic and timeless game, even if the mission structure is linear and without many open-ended ways to approach assassination.

Camo for every occasion

Each Metal Gear the game, starting with the PS1 generation, could enter the stealth hall of fame, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater it's still a step up thanks 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 base in the jungle to eliminate a nuclear threat.

The landscape is teeming with guards and wildlife that will provide players with ways to survive. For example, capturing a snake could be used to maintain the Boss's stamina, while releasing it could distract a guard. The cloaking index allows Snake to blend in more with the environment, and countless other tools and mechanics make it an incredible stealth game. The narrative, which is a thrill ride, is just the icing on the cake.