Stealth games are not some of the most readily available modern-day titles, as the genre has kind of died down over the years. They require a little more thinking than the typical FPS game, as trying to take on situations without putting much thought will — a lot of the time — get players overran and killed. Stealth games are like giant puzzles that concern themselves with figuring out how to navigate around or quietly kill enemies.

Some of the games that will be mentioned allow players to take on a more hands-on approach to combat, but, for the most part, these games rely mainly on players figuring out intricate ways to deal with their opponents.

Updated by Stefania Ikeda-Stavridi on the April 4, 2024: We have updated our list to include five more games for fans of the stealth genre: Mark of the Ninja, Assasin's Creed: Brotherhood, Alien: Isolation, Prey, and Thief 2. We have also updated our past entries and added more relevant information to each to deliver a stronger list overall.

15 Mark Of The Ninja

Discover Your True Ninja Self

• Beautiful visuals and an atmospheric soundtrack.
• Innovative mechanics and seamless stealth maneuvers.

Mark of the Ninja is hailed as a classic in the stealth genre, skillfully combining strategic gameplay with thrilling action. While originally released over a decade ago, the recent remastered edition ensures that this masterpiece is accessible to a new generation of gamers. Achieving an impressive Metascore of 90, Mark of the Ninja has firmly secured its position among fans of the genre.

With its stunning visuals, engaging gameplay, and exceptional voice acting, it truly shines. Offering a plethora of options for tackling challenges, stealth remains the primary focus throughout, allowing players to approach situations in their preferred style.

14 Alien: Isolation

Terrifying Space Survival

• Enemy AI learns and adapts to the player's game style.
• An engaging storyline that reveals what happened to Ripley's daughter.

Alien: Isolation emerges as a standout in the survival horror genre, offering a truly immersive and terrifying experience set in the iconic Alien universe. Its stealth mechanics are finely crafted, placing players in a constant state of tension as they navigate the dark corridors of the Sevastopol space station, always mindful of the relentless Xenomorph lurking in the shadows.

While stealth is paramount to survival, the game also allows for alternate approaches, empowering players to adapt to the situation as they see fit. Despite its Metascore of 79, Alien: Isolation delivers a gripping narrative, spine-tingling atmosphere, and one of the best horror game protagonists. It truly immerses players in the heart-pounding terror of the Alien universe.

13 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

A Renaissance Stealth Epic

• Seamless open-world experience.
• Fluid and intuitive combat system; play your way.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood stands out as one of the best titles of the series, thanks to its great missions and gameplay mechanics. Its robust stealth mechanics allow players to approach missions with finesse and precision, blending seamlessly into the bustling streets of Renaissance-era Rome while stalking their prey.

Brotherhood's Metascore of 89 underscores its excellence within the series, showcasing the freedom it offers players; while stealth is a key aspect of the gameplay, you're not bound by it. Whether you prefer to silently dispatch your enemies from the shadows or engage in open combat, the choice is yours.

12 Prey

A Sci-Fi Thriller Exploration

• Immersive sci-fi setting with stunning visuals and open-ended exploration.
• Multiple endings with shocking plot twists.

Prey offers a dynamic stealth experience, but players have the freedom to approach challenges in their preferred style. You can unlock various abilities and skills, from stealth enhancements to combat powers, allowing for diverse gameplay strategies.

Sneak behind enemy robots to hack them or confront the head on — it's your choice. With multiple difficulties and endings to explore, along with shocking plot twists, Prey's immersive world deserves more than its 79 Metascore. Who doesn't love a good alien invasion game?

11 Thief

Take On The Role Of The Master Thief

• The series pioneered the stealth genre, introducing multiple innovative mechanics that still hold up to this day.
• Freedom of choice and engaging storylines.

The Thief series stands as a cornerstone of the stealth genre, pioneering innovative gameplay mechanics that have left an indelible mark on gaming history. Originally released in the late 90s, the first title revolutionized stealth gameplay with its emphasis on light and shadow mechanics, sound detection, and non-linear level design. Despite its age, Thief still holds up remarkably well to this day, showcasing its timeless appeal.

It is Thief 2: The Metal Age, the sequel to the original, that further refined and expanded upon the stealth mechanics and made its predecessor so beloved. This focus on stealth, combined with the series' immersive atmosphere and engaging storytelling, has earned each installment critical acclaim and Metascores consistently higher than 80, with the first game achieving an impressive score of 92.

10 Styx: Shards Of Darkness

Unleash The Goblin

• Beautifully crafted environments with an immersive soundtrack.
• Multiple difficulty settings, hidden collectibles, and a co-op mode available.

Styx: Shards of Darkness took the original, which was a subpar game, and made it a better stealth game. The game has many flaws, but it still gives players exactly what they would want from a stealth game. There are plenty of objects and tools to help players take out enemies, and Styx's skill tree is improved upon heavily.

The game has many problems in terms of its actual combat and the way that combat takes place around the player. The game's environments and stealth mechanics are great for those that love strictly stealth games and can put up with some hiccups here and there. All those reasons, plus some repetitive puzzles, contribute to the perhaps lower than deserved Metascore of 72. If you are new to stealth games, perhaps try another title.

9 Volume

Mastering The Art Of Stealth Heists

• Stealth that focuses on strategy and precision.
• Dynamic level design with multiple challenges to overcome.

Volume is a top-down game that is visually stunning and has a strong, enjoyable story about broadcasting virtual heists to put it all together. It feels like a Pac-Man game, but instead of collecting yellow orbs, players must collect diamonds. There are also various types of enemies that must be traversed around differently.

The gameplay is key, as players can use the surrounding environment as well as the few tools they are equipped with to distract guards and get past them. It's a lot simpler than many games on this list, yet it has a Metascore of 80 and is filled with heist-like adrenaline.

8 Batman: Arkham Asylum

Take On The Role Of The Dark Knight

• Step into the iconic role of the Dark Knight and experience the eerie environment of the Arkham Asylum.
• Fluid combat system, engaging open-world exploration, and multiple stealth options.

Out of all the best Batman games, Batman: Arkham Asylum feels like it focuses on stealth the deepest as there are a lot of areas that absolutely require that gameplay mechanism. If stealth is not used, then brute force will get Batman killed. There are also parts of the game that are heavily focused on combat, but it's still a stealth game that's meant to make the player feel like the real Batman.

Players will also unlock different gadgets along their journey that add to the diversity of combat and stealth mechanics the game places forward. The Metascore of 92 proves how it's one of the best superhero games, even after more than a decade since its release.

7 Dishonored

Shape Your Destiny By Embracing The Shadows

• Multiple different endings and an engaging storyline full of morally ambiguous choices.
• Innovative gameplay mechanics for its time, that still hold up today.

Dishonored made a stealth game that felt heavily inspired by the BioShock franchise and Thief series. Each of the levels feels like a large maze that needs to be stealthily traversed. The game does offer combat options, but a lot of the time, players will have to combine these with stealth elements to take out enemies.

The game allows players to complete its entirety without ever killing anyone. Going with an entire pacifist run adds more challenge and thought to the game. However, it's important to note that killing more people (using stealth) causes some interesting end-game events. It's no wonder it has achieved a Metascore of 88, when it offers so many endings and difficult choices.

6 Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Master Of Stealth

• A variety of missions offering multiple stealth options.
• Intelligent enemy AI.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is probably the best Splinter Cell game in the series. It takes on a true stealth approach. This is not a game that offers the choice of stealth, but that makes the player have to use stealth or risk failing the mission they're on. There are many different ways for players to view the world they travel in, with night vision, infrared, and emf visions. These different modes allow for different stealth options.

This game might not be as large in scale as some other games, but it does everything right in terms of providing a nice variety of stealth options for completing them. With a Metascore of 95, it's evident that Chaos Theory has been widely acclaimed for its excellence in the stealth genre.

5 Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time

Join The Band Of Thieves

• Continue the charming story of the Band of Thieves.
• Time-traveling elements allow you to travel to different worlds and eras.
• Family-friendly fun with a dose of nostalgia.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time continues the story of one of the best platforming stealth series available. The game's iconic characters emerge to drive the story forward in an interesting tale that surrounds itself with different eras that players must explore. The game allows players to play as all of Sly's ancestors that he comes across.

Each of Sly's ancestors has different mechanics that specifically pertain to them, like being able to leap to faraway areas and, in a not-so-stealthy approach, pull out a gun to shoot at enemies. It's a game with a comic-like style and entertaining variety. While it's not as serious a title as the other entries on this list, it has a generally favorable Metascore of 75, showing how this classic series still has lots of fans.

4 Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Entering A Cybernetic Conspiracy

• An immersive cyberpunk world full of moral dilemmas.
• Deep storyline with a strong emphasis on player choice.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution feels like a giant cyberpunk spy mission. The game heavily focuses on stealth and is one of the harder titles on the list. That's because a lot of the levels in the game require players to act perfectly at each moment, as making mistakes will be heavily punished with quick deaths. With a Metascore of 89, it's clear it has struck a chord with both critics and players alike, thanks to its compelling gameplay and immersive world.

The game has a lot of upgrades that augment a player's main character's cybernetic body and allow for new stealth options like the ability to breathe in poisonous gas or sprint silently. The game encompasses everything it needs to live up to the definition of "Cool."

3 Outlast

Diving Into The Depths Of Terror

• Intense survival horror with terrifying enemy designs.
• Immersive atmosphere thanks to the use of night vision and dark environments.

Outlast is a stealth game unlike any other in this list because of its horror gameplay, which provides players with zero ways to fight back against enemies. The game focuses on players needing to sneak around areas while being hunted down by different types of enemies and having to avoid them.

Each of the enemies in the game feels like a nightmarish antagonist as players will spend quite a bit of time navigating around them. Outlast is not for those who are squeamish, as the game is meant to horrify players while providing interesting stealth mechanics. With its Metascore of 80 the game has garnered critical acclaim for its innovative approach to survival horror.

2 Hitman 3

The Ultimate Assassin's Playground

• Immersive stealth gameplay with dynamic environments that offer a freedom of approach.
• Conclusion to an epic series.

Hitman 3's gameplay is very similar to that of its predecessors, but the maps feel a lot larger and more alive in how players are able to take on targets. Each area feels like something that players would see in a big-budget film, but players can experience their own espionage-style hits in these large gorgeous settings.

With a Metascore of 87, the game has it all; well-written story missions, funny surprises, and a huge world to explore. Each mission feels like it has more and more to add to the game's mechanics, and all of this comes together in the game's final mission. The last mission is a lot tighter in scope but still offers several distinct options to complete it.

1 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

Kojima's World-Building Masterpiece

• Unique blend of stealth, action, and open-world exploration.
• Continuation of an epic series, with an engaging story full of political intrigue.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has some of the best stealth mechanics ever added to video games. The game feels as though it is intelligently trying to outsmart the player, as it will make situations more difficult by strategically placing enemies after learning a player's preferred play style. With a Metascore of 93, it's no surprise that Kojima, the mastermind behind the series, has delivered another masterpiece.

It's a game with an open world that allows players to roam through it freely and form their own adventures. It also lets them take on missions in the best ways they see fit, with many players' choice of completing missions being specific to themselves. There is a lot of attention to detail, as even the weather impacts the flow of combat in the game.