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One of the best things about video games is that they let you experience things that you may never, or can never, experience in real life. Epic fantasy battles, intense gunfights, space exploration, and more are all possible.

One of our favorite things that games can let us experience is what it feels like to be a secret agent, to stealthily complete missions, to stop the bad guys without ever making a sound. It’s a feeling that you’d be hard-pressed to replicate in real life (without serious risk to yourself!), which makes stealth games all the more appealing.

With the release of classic Metal Gear titles on GOG.COM, we thought it would be the perfect time to look back at some of the classic and most amazing stealth game series to ever grace our screens. Check them out below!



Hitman
There are not many video game stars more recognizable than Agent 47. His pressed suit, his bald head, his barcode tattoo. The Hitman series has been going strong for two decades, and for good reason, it’s an amazing stealth video game!

As Agent 47, you have a variety of weapons and gadgets at your disposal, and you can don the outfits of unsuspecting people you take out, letting you into places that would be impossible otherwise. And don’t forget, hide those bodies! Any old freezer or closet should do just fine. Let’s just hope the maid doesn’t have to go in there for any reason.



Thief
If donning business suits and guns aren’t your style, then maybe it is time to dive into the Thief series. This first-person stealth title has you playing as a trained thief through a variety of different settings.

You’ll have plenty of gadgets to help you on your journey, so get creative while staying silent. And while you may not have a gun, your bow will certainly come in handy for taking out guards and water arrows will help you extinguish lights that may give your presence away.

The Thief series has been praised for its unique gameplay, moody atmosphere, steampunk-inspired world, and mature story.



Dishonored
Another gritty stealth game, the Dishonored series takes place in a plague-ridden industrial city where you play a person that has been framed with the murder of an important political figure. You’ll have to use a variety of tools to prove your innocence.

One thing that helps set Dishonored apart from the other titles on this list is the use of magical elements. With your newly found magical powers, which you can unlock and upgrade as you progress, you’re sure to find countless ways to solve problems and rid yourself of your enemies.



Splinter Cell
You are Sam Fisher, an expertly-trained secret agent that utilizes the shadows to stay undetected. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and you definitely should!), is to stop a war from happening.

Splinter Cell is all about tech gadgets and, possibly more important, the use of shadows to stay hidden from your enemies. The game uses a unique light meter that lets you know if you will be detected or not, and there is something especially thrilling about lurking in the shadows while others around you are oblivious to your presence.



Metal Gear
You can’t have a stealth games list without including this classic title. The Metal Gear series literally changed the game and brought players into a world of stealth and espionage, all wrapped up in an engaging story.

It is also a great example of a game that lets players play as they want. Many missions could be completed in a variety of ways, whether that meant blasting your way through, or hiding in a cardboard box waiting for guards to pass, the choice is yours in Metal Gear.

If you like solid gameplay, a deep story, and memorable characters, there’s not much to dislike about this classic stealth title.

What are some of your favorite stealth titles? Let us know down in the comments!
I sure would like to have Cold War here.
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Swedrami: Microsoft has a 7.5 billion hole in their finances to fill, it wouldn't make any sense to pull those games from any of the storefronts.
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nightcraw1er.488: It would if it drags thousands of customers from steam and other stores. 7.5billion is the tea chest in the office for those guys, thousands more monopolised customers tied into their subscription services then that 7.5billion will be recuperated in months.
Nah, it will take years but money is not even the point. Tech companies don't think in quick profit, but market shares. They are in no hurry if they can permanently tie you to their platform eventually. So let us take a moment to appreciate DRM free game stores like gog.
Dishonored definitely became much more fun when I committed to full stealth. Felt much more satisfying to find a clever way, especially given how strong the character is. Also played MGS and MGS2 but in a semi-aggressive fashion.

I did play the first Bioshock largely in a stealth fashion combining that invisibility perk with a melee focus.

However, Thief is just something else. I only remembered it from some demo back in the days, but when I played Thief Gold through for the first time 2 years ago or so, it just blew my mind how good a game can be and despite having played some other stealth game, it still feels like non has reached the level of thief (also Dishonored comes close at times).
Would love to see the Tenchu series make its way to GoG somehow, especially Tenchu 3 and Tenchu Fatal Shadows.
Reads thread title.

Does not see Styx: Master of Shadows listed.

*- visible confusion -*
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i_hope_you_rot: Since when Dishonored became a classic ?
Since Microsoft bought Bethesda ;)
Just kidding.

I would like to see, that GOG gest other stealth games like the Thief game from 2014 and the many missing Splinter Cell games, like Double Agent...
Don't forget NOLF...
I'm surprised no one mentioned it yet.
I've got to disagree a bit, MGS and Dishonored are sudo stealth with Dishonored being the lower rung. They're not even in the same tier as Thief, Splinter Cell. Hitman is a great game but isn't about skulking in the shadows stealth as it is more about disguises and misdirection aspects.
There's also the Penumbra series and A Plague Tale: Innocence.

My favorite stealth series is probably Deus Ex. There are so many different routes and options.
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Swedrami: As far as other stealth-oriented titles are concerned:
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Shadwen
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A game of Snowden should be rather modern.
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Ocelittle23: My favorite stealth series is probably Deus Ex. There are so many different routes and options.
The best part is that you don't even need to sneak, you can just run up to them and whack everyone in the face with a crowbar (then sword then dragon's tooth).
Post edited September 28, 2020 by clarry
GOG needs more Splinter Cell games.

Especially Pandora tomorrow. It doesn't run nice on modern OSs and instead of bothering to fix it, Ubi just pulled it from all digital stores.

I am counting on CDP's techno-wizards to come up with a fix and convince Ubi to let them sell it to the masses. In exchange for also getting Double Agent and Chaos Theory here to complete the original series before it weld wildly off the rails with Conviction.
Favorite stealth titles? Thief - The Dark Project. Period.

My other favorite stealth title often overlooked: System Shock 2. Why? Because it uses Thief's Dark Engine, so whatever stealthy hijinks you can pull in Thief, you can pull in Shock 2 as well (hide in the shadows, sneak up on enemies, watch those floor surfaces because too much noise will alert enemies).
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GOG.com: The Thief series has been praised for its unique gameplay, moody atmosphere, steampunk-inspired world, and mature story.
Don't forget the (to this day!) second to none sound propagation system and the still impressive AI.
I'm not mad that nobody mentioned Mark of the Ninja...I'm just disappointed.

Also, while not a stealth game per se, The Saboteur had a pretty decent disguise/stealth system (for an open-world action game, anyway). It's a pity that most of the people I've seen play it on YouTube or Twitch just ignored the sneaky option and went guns blazing all the time, for every mission, regardless how obvious it was that stealth or disguise would be more effective or how poorly the Doom approach was working out after several attempts. DX

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roguehelix: I've got to disagree a bit, MGS and Dishonored are sudo stealth with Dishonored being the lower rung. [...]
It's spelled pseudo-, dude. Sudo is a Linux command. ; )
Thief and Thief II are those kind of games you install again ad again when someone is talking about them.
Definitively I consider them unique, and unsurpassed. Pure classics. Lenghty, big, hard and immersive missions, replayable and complex in their simplicity and barebones gameplay. Even the amount of fan missions is overhelming

When the series were overworked, overconsolized and overpolished It failed. Something was lost in the last Thief.

Greetings