The original four Splinter Cell games, all the way. Blacklist is also great stealth fun, but less enjoyable in terms of the characters/lore (Conviction… no comment…).
Other than that:
MGSV (only played that and MGS1 out of the series so far)
Dishonored (only played the first one so far, second runs like shit on my PC)
Chameleon
Commandos 2 (1 and 3 as well, but 2 is the best)
Shadow Tactics
Death to Spies 1-2 (third one is crap, but still ok if you have nothing else to play)
Alpha Protocol (clunky gameplay but still good stealth fun)
Honorable mentions:
No One Lives Forever 1-2 (if you choose to play stealthily)
Stealth missions from OFP/Arma series
Deus Ex HR (still haven´t finished it…)
Far Cry 3 I guess (same problem…)
Far Cry 2 can offer nice tense stealth
Metro 2033 and Last Light (when they don´t force you into combat)
Fallout 3 and New Vegas with stealthy assassin builds
Cold War maybe? (been ages since I played it, so I don´t really remember how good it was…)
Ummm, Silent Hunter III counts as well, right?
To play:
Sniper Elite III and IV
Thief Trilogy (waaay overdue)
IGI 1-2
Desperados III
Alien: Isolation
Batman Arkham Trilogy
The other Deus Ex games
Ghost Recon Wildlands
I feel ya. I´ve always been in the SC camp and avoided MGS mainly for their techno-fantasy/anime/whatever vibe (the SC realism is more appealing to me) and wonky stories, but also because I´m on PC, so most MGS games are unavailable (outside of emulation) and/or crappy to control. Only played MGSV (which is great fun) and MGS1 (which is a great piece of art but honestly felt quite rubbish as a stealth game to me). Gonna play MGS2 when I´m able to buy it on GOG, and would love to play MGS3, cause I´m a fan of Cold War settings.
Oh yeah, this is true indeed. When I was going through T-Bug’s stealth training program for the first time, I laughed because of the dumpster, which immediately remined me of Hitman. I didn’t find that many of body-hiding crates in hostile areas, tho. Turning off security cameras also feels good, which allows me to bypass many enemies.
I forgot to mention one more game I like, and it’s Mafia III. Yep, quite a notorious one because of its poor quality and repetitive gameplay. However, I like its somewhat stupid AI, which can’t resist of investigating Lincoln’s whistle sound. There’s a little trick I enjoy which is firing a loud gun and waiting til all enemies coming to your location, then corner subduing every single one of them.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Splinter Cell: Double Agent (PS2 last-gen variant) Hitman: Blood Money Hitman 2016 and 2018 Splinter Cell Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain Splinter Cell: Double Agent (PC & PS3 next-gen variant) Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
From top (best) to bottom (least favored).
Splinter Cell: Double Agent was basically an entirely different game on last-gen and next-gen back then, but last-gen felt more like a proper Splinter Cell. Due that, the game is twice in there.
I know people might judge me for getting MGS4 first and MGS3 last, however, I just think MGS4 is such a big blockbuster, even games today have a hard time competing against it. Kojima made that whole thing like a Hollywood blockbuster, just that Hollywood mostly consists of bad stories the last two decades (personal opinion).
Also Double Agent and Blood Money kinda share the second place, quite difficult for me to choose between both.
i guess now i know what i’ll do after hitman iii. i’ve had both the dlcs and the second game lying around for ages but for some reason never bothered to finsh either
I even found the Clock Work Mansion to be tiresome, however I can recognise that it’s brilliant level design. That said ‘Crack in the Slab’ was incredible to play. I might revisit the second game again, in the coming year.
i can understand that. the beauty of clockwork mansion (for me) is how flexible it is as a location. three people can have three different experiences with it.
and yeah, a crack in the slab is mind blowing. weird that it came out at exactly the same time as titanfall 2’s effect and cause level
Gameplay-wise it’s exactly the same, but I don’t think it’s way more difficult (quite the opposite actually - I think they toned down the individual difficulty levels). If anything, quite a few of the levels are more intricate and Hitman-esque. The Bletchley Park one is a particular stand-out.
If you like the first one, I strongly suggest giving this one a go as well.
That’s my plan too. I went with Emily for my first run because she nails so many of my needs in a protagonist but I’m curious how a voiced Corvo will interact with the Outsider (not looking for spoilers lol)
Manhunt. the stealth is pretty standard stuff, hide in shadows, distract with noise etc. but the horror elements and sheer brutality really sell it, the longer you hold down the action key the more gory the kill.
the sequel Manhunt 2 is great too and I really dig the MK-ultra mental patient themes it had going on.
Splinter Cell Series - I enjoy all but the 2 most recent outtings
MGS Series
Thief Series (original, not the remake)
Mark of the Ninja
and… (This one isn’t brought up much, which is a shame):
The ORIGINAL Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (not the Id Software 3D versions). Tons of folks mistakenly attribute the “birth of stealth” to Kojima, but it’s really the classic Apple II/C64 Castle Wolfenstein the really brought stealth to video games. Castle Wolfenstein had DISGUISES - just like Hitman. These two games are unsung heroes in gaming.
oh, man. the first three games in that series were so damn good. apparently sekiro started life as tenchu. haven’t finished it yet, but i enjoy it immensely. very different kind of game, mind.
