Contrary to popular belief, not all stealth games are always super intense. Depending on how you want to play, some let you sneak around and take out enemies like a ghost, while others give you tools to quietly cause chaos in smart ways, and some even let you skip it altogether.
Stealth games could sometimes be an annoyance in the past, but with modern gameplay systems and controls, they definitely became a lot more fun. This list pulls together eight great third-person stealth games that really stand out, either due to pure stealth mechanics or how they mix stealth with their narratives in a very compelling way.
8 Styx: Shards Of Darkness
Metacritic: 72
Styx: Shards of Darkness is a sneaky fantasy game where you play as a tiny goblin thief, and what makes it so unique is Styx himself. Most stealth games give you a more upright character, but here, you play as a sarcastic, anti-hero goblin with little remorse for what he does.
The vertical level design gives you a good bit of freedom, with huge towers, platforms, and hidden paths that reward exploring. Styx talks to himself, mocks enemies, and even breaks the fourth wall sometimes.
7 Hitman 3
Metacritic: 87
Hitman 3 is definitely the peak of the modern Hitman trilogy. The level design flexibility is impressive here, and almost every level is like a mini sandbox puzzle. You can dress up in disguises to get into risky areas, and manipulate the environment to assassinate targets in what would otherwise seem to be an accident.
The environments are beautiful too, such as the opening mission’s Dubai skyscrapers and a crowded Berlin nightclub. The game gives you full freedom to figure things out your own way. You can go loud too, but it’s never as satisfying as roleplaying as the actual best stealth assassin.
6 A Plague Tale: Requiem
Metacritic: 82
A Plague Tale: Requiem is more of a stealth-adventure hybrid, but stealth is still a major part of the experience, both the narrative and the gameplay. Being a direct sequel to the first game, you return to play as Amicia, once again protecting her sick brother Hugo, in a plague-ridden France.
The game can get pretty tense, with moments where you sneak past soldiers, light torches to stay away from deadly rats, or use distractions to survive. While the stealth tools are limited, the game builds its systems around stealthy survival, with a lot of focus on the survival aspects too, like prioritizing altogether avoiding enemies rather than taking them out.
5 Ghost Of Tsushima
Metacritic: 83
Ghost of Tsushima gives you the freedom to play as an honorable samurai or a sneaky ghost, and choosing to play completely stealthily can feel just as satisfying and rewarding as its already-great sword combat.
And once you unlock enough stealth tools, upgrades, and skills, going full stealth feels natural thanks to the smoothness of all of these gameplay mechanics. You get smoke bombs, wind chimes to distract enemies, blow darts for poison, kunai for quick kills, and bows for headshots. Clearing out Mongol camps without being seen becomes really challenging and fun.
4 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Metacritic: 82
Splinter Cell: Blacklist came out in 2013, and at the time, fans didn’t really know it’d be the last game in the series for a long, long time. Looking back, it’s easily the most refined and mechanically advanced Splinter Cell game.
Sam Fisher has tons of tools like EMP grenades, sleeping gas, and the classic night vision goggles. You can climb pipes, sneak through vents, and silently take out guards. The stealth options are deep, with a focus on shadows, sound, and planning, and it really makes you feel like an advanced soldier making the best use of modern technology.
3 The Last Of Us Part 2
Metacritic: 93
The Last of Us Part 2 isn’t exactly a stealth game, but the game gives you enough options to go down that route, and it pretty much becomes a necessity when playing on Grounded mode. The combat is brutal and hectic as it is, but some of the most intense moments come when you’re crawling through tall grass and throwing bricks and bottles to distract enemies.
The enemy AI is great, and it can be realistically manipulated by things such as breaking windows and letting loose the Infected on other human enemies. Using the crossbow in stealth feels especially great, and the whole system feels raw and grounded.
2 Batman: Arkham Knight
Metacritic: 87
Arkham Knight finishes Rocksteady’s Batman trilogy on a high note with a huge open-world Gotham and the best version of its free-flow melee combat. But the stealth stuff can be just as fun if you lean into it.
Batman has tons of tools to mess with enemies, such as smoke pellets, silent takedowns, remote hacking, fear multi-takedowns, and more. You get to plan your approach from vents and high perches, and most combat encounters and arenas are well designed with the stealth aspect in mind as a solid alternative. When you pull it off, it really makes you feel like a smart and tactical predator hunting thugs one by one.
1 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Metacritic: 93
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain’s gameplay still feels ten years ahead of the competition. The game might feel limited in its locational variety of just Afghanistan and Africa, but it never feels limited in its stealth mechanics. The sheer amount of freedom and flexibility is so impressive, and you can actually approach missions however you want.
The enemy AI is smart too, and little details like them starting to wear helmets if you perform too many headshots make the whole system feel even more intuitive and alive. The gadgets, weather system, companion choices (like D-Dog or Quiet), and base-building all add so many more layers to the game’s expansive gameplay systems, all revolving around stealth.
