Best First-Person Stealth Games

Stealth games can offer players some of the most immersive experiences in video games, thanks in large part to their often unforgiving mechanics that build anticipation and encourage patience on the part of the player. These games cover a variety of perspectives, from the third-person stealth of games such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell to the top-down stealth of the original Metal Gear.

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By  Harry Ted Sprinks

First-person stealth games, however, arguably offer a more immersive experience that's harder to exploit. From stealth-focused immersive sims such as Thief: The Dark Project, all the way to the heist simulator, Payday 2, there is an abundance of high-quality first-person stealth games to experience.

6 Thief Simulator

A Rough-Edged, Pure-Stealth Experience

Thief Simulator can be an unfortunately clunky experience and doesn't feature the smoothest gameplay, but it can also be an incredibly immersive experience when it has players in the zone. The game revolves purely around stealth gameplay, which itself is centered around burglary. Thief Simulator is built on simulated systems that create emergent gameplay and reward patient players, resulting in an engaging and often strategic stealth experience.

For players who enjoy slower-paced games that focus less on action and more on quick thinking, Thief Simulator is a lightweight stealth title that can offer a handful of thrills. However, players that have no patience for clunky games should be warned.

5 Payday 2

First-Person Heists That Allow For Full Stealth

This first-person shooter features a variety of heists for players to attempt in single-player or online co-op. In the game, players can choose their loadout from a variety of options and approach each heist in all manner of ways. This results in a diverse sandbox that encourages all kinds of strategies, including full stealth.

However, Payday 2 is notorious for its rough edges, resulting in a stealth experience that's frequently frustrating. In spite of this, creating a plan and plotting out a route through each location can be intensely rewarding, especially when managing to do it without alerting the authorities.

4 Deus Ex

An Old-School Immersive-Sim That Rewards Stealth

The levels of Deus Ex feature open environments that encourage a variety of solutions to the encounters within. As with many, if not all, immersive sims, one of these options is almost always stealth, allowing players to sneak around levels and take out enemies one by one.

Unlike pure stealth games, sneaking around isn't always necessary in Deus Ex, but it's often encouraged and almost always possible. Deus Ex may be showing its age somewhat, but it's still an experience worth having for players who can get behind its old-school design.

3 Thief: The Dark Project

A Classic Immersive-Sim Stealth Game

Thief is among the first immersive, and features a strong focus on stealth gameplay that's facilitated by its lighting system; stealth in Thief relies heavily on exploiting the stylized shadows of the game, which allow players to hide in the darkness. Thief's sound design and mechanics are both unique and innovative, even by today's standards, providing a truly immersive stealth experience.

One of Thief's most notable mechanics, however, is its variety of utility arrows, which can be fired from the player's regular bow; water arrows to snuff out torches, rope arrows to reach new areas, and even moss arrows to quieten footsteps. Thief does feature melee combat, but attempting to kill more than one or two enemies at a time can be a difficult task and, as a result, combat is relatively discouraged.

2 Gloomwood

A Creative Combination Of Survival-Horror And Immersive Stealth

Published by New Blood Interactive, this remarkably old-school stealth game takes inspiration from classic immersive sims such as Thief: The Dark Project, as well as the survival-horror genre. This results in an experience that's often incredibly tense, and the limitation on the player's resources emphasizes the stealth mechanics, rewarding those who think carefully and plan ahead.

Enemies in Gloomwood are no joke; although their intentions are clearly telegraphed to the player with their traffic-light eyes, they still pose a mighty threat when the player is caught unaware, or low on resources. Melee combat is possible in Gloomwood, and taking out one guard tends to be trivial, but larger groups of enemies and the armored variety can prove more dangerous. Gloomwood also features firearms, but ammunition is heavily limited and, as a result, stealth is almost always the more efficient solution.

1 Dishonored

Supernatural Stealth Mechanics In Intricately Designed Environments

Developed by the prolific Arkane Studios, Dishonored is famous for bringing immersive-sim gameplay into the mainstream with smooth gameplay built for modern audiences. Dishonored gives players a variety of combat tools and even supernatural abilities, which can make encounters relatively trivial at times. However, Dishonored discourages players from killing enemies by threatening them with a "bad" ending for doing so. It's an arguably flawed design, but it allows Dishonored's stealth mechanics to shine where they otherwise wouldn't.

The player's supernatural abilities can also improve the player's chances of survival outside of combat, with the most notable ability being the blink. This ability allows the player to reach all manner of hiding spots, granting players the opportunity to hop about the open environments unseen. These abilities, and the variety of gadgets, drive Dishonored's gameplay both in and out of stealth. Furthermore, each of Dishonored's levels is designed to give players a variety of angles to approach, resulting in an immersive experience that rewards creative thinking.