The PS3 had a plethora of legendary stealth games on it and some were even exclusive. Perhaps the biggest example isThe Last of Us. Players had to creep past infected humans or else they would die from getting spores. There were also normal humans to worry about and they could be taken down via well-timed shots or with shivs.
Other great PS3 stealth games includeTom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist,Batman: Arkham City, andAssassin’s Creed 2. What about the unsung heroes of the stealth genre on the system? Are there any AAA or smaller stealth games worth remembering? Well, for a variety of reasons, these ones got overlooked, and whether or not they should be explored.
7Battlefield Hardline
Metacritic Score: N/A
There haven’t been a lot of shooter spinoffs in this series, which is a shamebecauseBattlefield Hardlinehad a lot of potential. Players could get into it as another hectic first-person shooter like the main entries. However, it was best experienced as a stealth game. Players could sneak up on criminals and handcuff them into submission.
It was a passive way to take down enemies which is an option that is nice to see in stealth games. The tranquilizer rounds in theMetal Gear Solidseries are another good example of this. It was reviewed decently, but it never got a sequel which may be because various police units in the news were catching some heat. It was a good game released in a weird time for both PS3 and PS4 fans.
6CounterSpy
Metacritic Score: 68
CounterSpywasa 2D spy gamethat had elements of roguelikes and Metroidvanias baked into it. Players could take on missions as a spy and infiltrate bases for cash, documents, and blueprints for weapons and other gear. The quieter and faster players were the greater the rewards.
While players couldn’t return to maps, they were laid out in a Metroidvania fashion and some were quite sprawling too. There was also a bit of randomization when it came to planning missions. In between missions, players could buy upgrades to make their next go easier with new gear which turned into a fun albeit repetitive gameplay loop.
Everyone remembersMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painfrom around this time as one of the best entries in the series let alone just a great stealth game. However, they may forget that Konami oddly decided to release a prequel to the main game calledMetal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. It could be completed in about thirty minutes and it didn’t have many extras.
It was $30 too which made some fans think it was a bit of a rip-off. The gameplay itself was fun, it looked good, and it had some important story revelations too. It was truly the price mixed with the lack of content that made fans upset though which is understandable given that it had been years since the last main entry was released.
Murdered: Soul Suspectis another game in the cop genre as itstars a detective, Ronan, who gets gunned down while on duty. Ronan doesn’t truly die though as he becomes a ghost. He can interact with reality a little bit and thanks to these newfound powers, Ronan can track down his killer which connects to a series of crimes around the city.
It was an adventure game by nature with a lot of hunting around for clues in the environment. There was some stealth involved too as Dementor-like enemies were always hot on Ronan’s trail. There were a lot of good ideas in the game, and it didn’t review completely terribly either, but Square Enix has yet to return to Ronan’s detective life.
The Saboteurhad a cool concept artistically as the game centered around the Nazis capturing Paris duringWorld War 2. This turned the once vibrant city into a black-and-white husk of its formal glory. As the rebel protagonist, Sean, players could retake the city.
Liberated areas would get color returned to them and the Nazi population would die out. It was like a World War 2 version ofGrand Theft Autowith more stealth involved. Most missions turned into blazing gunfights, but the option to take things quietly was usually there too. It was rough around the edges but it certainly deserves a sequel or at least a modern port.
2Stealth Inc 2: A Game Of Clones
Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clonesis another smaller 2D game likeCounterSpy. It is the sequel toStealth Bastard: Tactical Espionage Arseholewhich played similarly. Both games featured a green goggled hero going through a series of trials to make him into the world’s best spy. The sequel leaned into the clone aspect as some puzzles revolved around using them to get out of sticky situations.
UnlikeCounterSpy,Stealth Inc 2wasa true Metroidvaniawith a sprawling map to explore. There were also trial rooms that players could revisit to test their skills. It’s not the best Metroidvania on the PS3 nor is it the best stealth game, but this short-lived series is still a valuable part of gaming history.
1Thief (2014)
Thiefis another Square Enix game that was released during a time when they were branching out with other companies to help publish more thanJRPGs likeFinal Fantasy. It was a dream for fans to see this franchise return too because the last game,Thief: Deadly Shadows, was released in 2004. Ten years later, the series would get this sequel/reboot but unfortunately, it did not live up to fan expectations.
While there is not an aggregate for the PS3 release, the other platforms were not well-received. It didn’t have that dark magic in the story to keep players engaged and the gameplay seemed to be a bit too simple compared to the more celebrated PC releases. It may be about time for Square Enix to try again in 2024 as it has been another ten years although fans may be happy with just a collection on PS5 of all the old games.
