Stealth games are built for a niche audience, so when they come along, only a select few players are able to play these types of games. The reason being is that they're slow, require much more thought and need the players to be patient. Even though stealth games have proven to have an impact on gaming, they are still rather unpopular, and sadly overlooked. Plus, most stealth games are limited in what they can do, so players will have to play in a certain way in order to beat these types of games. On the other hand, because of these limits, these games become more challenging and make the game they're playing much more immersive.
On top of that, stealth games play much differently than other games, and in turn, these games can be fun, because they often encourage players to try new things in those games. Which can make the whole experience fun for them. However, due to those limits, and harder play style, many of these games in the genre will go unnoticed or will have a smaller player base. These games are just that, they are overlooked because of the stealth, which is quite unfortunate because they are fun to play.
5 Noise Hunter
This game plays very interestingly, where players can't see but rather hear. This makes gameplay in Noise Hunter fun and immersive because players will need to move slowly, and time a lot of what they do. Because just like the name states, the enemies will hunt the player, and if they're making noise, the enemies can see them. A reason why players will not try out Noise Hunter is that it requires players to be patient because the puzzles do take time.
And when they're doing the puzzles, players can make noise, which makes things harder. For fans of stealth games, this is a fun mechanic and makes the Noise Hunter immersive. However, for non-stealth gamers, this can make things annoying. Because when the enemies are coming at the enemy, it's quick, so they'll need to do these puzzles fast. Which can make things a lot more challenging.
4 Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun
When a game mixes two very different styles of games, things may go wrong. Gameplay becomes rather complicated, which may leave players to not play those types of games. However, for Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun , the reason is very different. While Shadow Tactics is a fun game for both playing alone, and with friends, it's also a hard game to play within the stealth genre. Being an RTS and a stealth game, players may have not tried out Shadow Tactics because the two genres are generally for a niche audience.
But when players get into Shadow Tactics, they'll be opened up to a unique experience. The cool part about Shadow Tactics is that the RTS makes things very immersive, players can control small units each with characters that have their own abilities. This allows Shadow Tactics to be dynamic because, from the vast cast of character types, players can do a lot in each stage. Rather than the typical stealth gameplay, these abilities make gameplay fun and help player experiment with each unit type. Overall, this is a unique game that stands out, and more players should try out Shadow Tactics.
3 Volume
This top-down third-person stealth game is quite interesting in how it plays. First, it's a bare-boned stealth game, players don't have many items like weapons to defend themselves. So getting caught is usually never a good idea. However, due to its play style Volume can be really fun to play, even with the limitations. For a smaller game, Volume has a lot going on for it. There are many enemy types, from various different human enemies to ones that are dogs. Each of these alters gameplay a lot and forces players to rethink their approach when trying to complete the objective.
As mentioned before, the player does not have weapons, but instead, they can interact with the environment by flushing toilets, or throwing things at the enemy to distract them. This allows gameplay to be different since the levels are pretty open-ended. The gameplay for the Volume is easy to get into for players, but the main reason why it's overlooked is because of how slow things can get. But once players get used to how Volume plays things get easier.
2 Thief
This franchise has certainly helped modern stealth games become more and more mainstream, while not as popular as it results in modern games, the Thief games are certainly overlooked. Just like the first entry in many popular first-person shooters which were huge and successful, Thief falls in that camp as well. Plus mixing in a steampunk aesthetic made Thief a fun experience. Even though the reboot was slammed by fans and journalists, it still had the core gameplay.
The main gameplay of Thief is dynamic, while players are told they should focus on the stealth aspect, they can fall back on being loud because they may need to fight back. This makes Thief have a more complete feel to it because players won't fail, they just need to adapt to the situation, this makes things immersive. On top of that, each level can be done in many different ways allowing players to get creative with how they beat these levels.
1 Mark Of The Ninja
Mark Of The Ninja is on this list because it's one of the first 2.5 stealth games, and because of that gameplay is pretty fun and easy to get into. One of the reasons why it's adored by many players is that it's a simple game, one that doesn't need any bells and whistles to prove its point. From the art style to how Mark Of The Ninja plays, everything is a well-thought project. The 2.5 aspects of Mark Of The Ninja can make things harder, but because it has a steady learning curve, players can pick up the game very quickly.
Because of that Mark Of The Ninja becomes a fun game for all sorts of players. While Mark Of The Ninja is easy to get into, there are a lot of options that it gives players in order to take down enemies, this makes the gameplay unique for each playthrough. Plus, if players want to put their mark in the game, and create an experience just for them, they get honor for each level. The honor can be used to buy upgrades or other items, making players more creative with how they play Mark Of The Ninja.