Best stealth games to play in 2024

Developer IO Interactive recently combined all three Hitman titles into Hitman: World of Assassination, which makes it easier than ever before to experience the thrill of these titles. Whether you’re solving a murder mystery in a British manor house or infiltrating a skyscraper in Dubai, this series gets it right. Every single level gives you enough freedom to be replayed in dozens of different ways, ensuring you never get bored of hitting the man.

The Last of Us Part 2 improved on the first game’s stealth mechanics massively by adding in the ability to lie prone and crawl along the ground. Along with more places to hide – under cars and in foliage – it gave you more options for your approach in these more open-ended gameplay spaces. Then there’s the AI, which works together dynamically to hunt you down, sometimes using dogs to sniff you out (and getting really sad when you put an arrow in one).

The balance of power is one of the most important aspects of stealth games. Usually, you die easily if you’re spotted, but you can get surprise enemies if you stay hidden. Not here. Just stay hidden. Don’t move. Don’t even breathe. Stalked by an unkillable xenomorph through most of the game, Alien: Isolation is perhaps the most intense stealth experience you can have.

Adam Jensen controls a bit like an oil tanker by today’s standards. To be fair, he is mostly made of metal. If being prey throughout an entire game isn’t for you, this one lets you become the hunter. Retractable sunglasses, elbow blades, wrist rockets, and metal arms that can punch straight through walls – this is a stealth game with some bite. This was the cyberpunk before Cyberpunk 2077.

Continuing the journey of siblings Amicia and Hugo in search of a cure to Hugo's blood disease, A Plague Tale: Requiem plays similarly to its predecessor, but features an expanded stealth system. You quickly learn that evading fights against the Inquisition's soldiers and plague-bearing rats is often the best option for your survival, as fighting is a dangerous affair and strains your limited alchemical resources. Things aren't over when you're found sneaking around this time, as larger areas now allow you to escape your pursuers and return to stealth mode.

The title says it all. If you’re not into first-person games, Invisible, Inc could be the stealth game for you. A turn-based strategy game like XCOM, you have to break into various facilities, steal stuff, and get out without raising the alarms. The longer you take, the higher level of security you have to deal with.

It isn’t the best Splinter Cell game, but it’s much better than people gave it credit for, and it’s easy enough to play on PC in 2023. Blacklist is still based around light and shadow stealth mechanics, but you can be much more aggressive here than you could in the older games. Sam Fisher is like a panther made of knives and silenced pistols, katamari-ing himself through each level.

Choice is the key to Dishonored 2, from who you choose to play as to how you choose to use them. Both characters come with their own selection of supernatural abilities, then it’s up to you which ones to unlock and focus on. Do you want to be a ghost and remain unseen, never touching an enemy through the entire game? You can. Ripping them apart with demon tendrils is just as viable, but gets a bit messy.

Hideo Kojima’s first step into creating open world games was quite the achievement, even if it remains unfinished. Yes, the latter half might be a bit of drag with a lot of repeating elements, but those first 30 hours or so are just superb. Extracting sheep with the fulton balloon, sliding down sand dunes in a cardboard box, dropping equipment crates onto a sniper’s head – it’s a stealth game full of discovery, which encourages thinking outside the box. Every item probably has a use you haven't even considered.

It's no surprise that this pretty great ninja game is also one of the best stealth games. You jump from shadow to shadow, avoiding the light, stalking your prey from above or behind some objects until you move in for a silent kill. Both lighting and sound are important elements in this 2D platformer, allowing you to hide – or giving you away. The 2D nature of the levels allows you to include every piece of furniture, every lamp, every nook and cranny into your calculations as you approach.