Summary
- Assassin's games like Cyberpunk 2077 offer open-world environments for executing wetwork missions silently and strategically.
- Ghost of Tsushima and Metal Gear Solid 5 provide freedom for players to choose between traditional combat and stealth assassin gameplay.
- The Assassin's Creed series offers tools like hidden blades and smoke bombs for players to silently take down targets in open-world scenarios.
Although assassination might boil down to killing someone for cash, it takes more than a sniper rifle or a sharpened knife to be an assassin. Besides getting a read on the target and completing the job with minimal exposure, most of the work comes down to navigating the environment to make the drop and then finding a way out.
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While there are plenty of stealth games that put players into the shoes of an assassin, few games give the player the freedom and challenge to plan their attack and escape strategy in an open-world environment. The following games not only allow players to execute their wetwork in an open-sky sandbox, but they also give players the tools and targets they need to feel like a cold-blooded master assassin.
6 Cyberpunk 2077
High-Tech Hitmen Hunt The Neon Jungle
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
Cyberpunk 2077 can be played loud and messy, but its diverse character builds (especially with the "Phantom Liberty" expansion) make it ideal for players who want to roleplay as stealthy or brutal assassins. With dozens of gigs and contracts that involve eliminating high-value targets, Night City offers a dense cyberpunk sandbox where stealth, planning, and cool execution matter.
Optical cloaking and silenced pistols are perfect tools for silent, tech-focused killers who avoid detection altogether, while katanas, mantis blades, and Sandevistan cyberware enable high-speed takedowns for a more aggressive, reflex-driven approach. Quickhacks like Ping or Cyberpsychosis allow talented contract killers to complete a job without as much as getting their hands dirty.
5 Ghost Of Tsushima
Crossing Honor For Shadow-Won Victory
Ghost of Tsushima
- Released
- July 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
While Jin Sakai begins his journey as an armored samurai bound by honor, Ghost of Tsushima gradually opens up the path of the assassin as a necessary evolution. Players can choose stealth over the honorable combat style of the samurai, using tools like smoke bombs, poison darts, and kunai to thin enemy ranks quietly before vanishing into the mist.
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Ghost of Tsushima leans into the sandbox gameplay afforded by open-world games, and as such, the player chooses when to fight with honor and when to kill from the shadows. If the player so chooses, they can embrace their new role as a silent killer, using the Ghost stance, silent takedowns, and rooftop traversal to turn the island of Tsushima into a hunting ground.
4 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Dancing Along To The Music Of Life
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
While Skyrim may have done away with the traditional class system of its forebearers, there are still three "primary" archetypes to choose from for a new character to base their playstyle on. However, as many seasons players will know, most new runs end up with the Last Dragonborn adopting the stealth archer playstyle, and that is no accident. Besides being the optimal way to play Skyrim, sniping enemies from far away is the most satisfying and self-reinforcing game loop.
Besides indirectly coercing its players into this build, Skyrim is home to a legendary guild for assassins known as the Dark Brotherhood, who will cater to killers-for-hire with a satisfying storyline involving the murder of high-value targets, cool assassin gear, and an inexhaustible supply of quests to help line the pockets of those who kill for gold and a love of the murder game. An honorable mention should go out here to The Elder Scrolls' prior entry, Oblivion, which features an arguably better Dark Brotherhood storyline but lacks the juicy mechanics native t o Skyrim's assassin.
3 The Saboteur
Target Elimination For Liberation
The Saboteur
- Released
- December 8, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure, Open-World
The Saboteur drops players into Nazi-occupied Paris as Sean Devlin, a racecar driver turned resistance fighter (and, as an offshoot of his saboteuring duties), an assassin by necessity. The game features open-world traversal, disguises, sabotage, and stealth takedowns. All of Paris is given to the player from the get-go, but they will need to make stealthy kills to liberate the city in the face of overwhelming force.
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Players can silently eliminate targets, plant explosives, and blend into restricted zones using stolen uniforms. While it may not be as mechanically deep as modern stealth titles, The Saboteur puts a special focus on target elimination and delivers a unique setting with a striking black-and-white aesthetic (which lifts as liberation spreads) and the agency to handle missions with precision.
2 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Tactical Wetwork in Its Purest Sandbox Form
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
- Released
- September 1, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action, Open-World
Metal Gear Solid 5 is arguably the pinnacle of open-world assassination gameplay set in the modern day. As Venom Snake, players have a sprawling, enemy-filled map with the freedom to complete objectives however they choose. Most missions involve taking out a member of an occupying force for a hefty paycheck. That can be done through kidnapping (the non-lethal way), brutal force action, or with a sophisticated array of stealth gadgets and predatory muscle memory.
Snake can use decoys, suppressed tranquilizers, sniper rifles, bombs, or even call in airstrikes. Missions reward creativity and stealth, and eliminating a target and successfully exfiltrating without raising the alarm is as satisfying as it gets, and the mark of a professional killer worthy of the title "Big Boss." No two assassinations ever need to play out the same in Kojima’s open-world playground, and few games give as much control over how a job is executed.
1 The Assassin's Creed Series
The Original Open-World Assassination Simulator
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
- Released
- November 16, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M // Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action, Stealth
It should be hardly surprising to anyone that Assassin's Creed should appear on a list of open-world games about assassination. Although they began as open-zone games, the series has been overall focused on delivering gameplay befitting its name, giving players tools like social stealth, the hidden blade, smoke bombs, and more to help them take down targets and serve the light from the shadows.
Besides being a novel way to appreciate grand works of architecture, the open-world parkour mechanics that made the series famous allow for unparalleled planning and escape sequences as the player watches the surroundings for an opening moment to strike before vanishing behind a rooftop. Later entries, like Odyssey and Valhalla, lean more into action-RPG territory, but the option to build toward stealth and execute high-profile targets still remains.
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