Splinter Cell Blacklist deserves your love.
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00:00 With the stealth explosion of the early noughties, we got three incredible stealth games for the rest
00:04 of the genre to build upon. Now that's Metal Gear Solid 2, Hitman 2 Silent Assassin and Splinter Cell.
00:10 Going forward, all three series have maintained high pedigrees, but as the industry slowly started
00:15 to feast on its own tail by pursuing endless military shooters and open-world third-person
00:20 action adventures, one of which Assassin's Creed had a far more stealthy start, the genre as a
00:25 mainstay has become fairly underrepresented. Or has it? Like some of the best shadow-clinging
00:31 heroes of the genre itself, it turns out that a bunch of the best stealth games could have been
00:35 hiding under your nose the entire time. I'm Jess from WhatCulture and here are the 10 most underrated
00:40 stealth video games of all time. Number 10, Tenchu Z. Eight years before Assassin's Creed Unity would
00:47 try and fail at the same concept, Tenchu Z bravely pioneered the idea of group infiltration on Xbox
00:54 Live. By outfitting your custom ninja with all manner of appearance tweaks and ability modifiers,
00:59 you could team them up with people across the globe to take on a huge amount of missions.
01:03 Alternatively, solo play was exemplary too. Customization carried across no matter what
01:08 your assassin was up to, and where Tenchu Z excelled over its contemporaries was through
01:13 a staggering amount of items and animations. With the series' occasionally supernatural bent,
01:18 enemies ranged from standard thugs all the way to mystical warriors, and you were free to cling
01:24 to vertical surfaces, concoct various bombs and distractions, perform in-air kills, and kite
01:29 enemies into kill rooms of your own design. All this while dabbling with innovative multiplayer
01:34 that nobody else would even try their hand at for almost a decade? Just what you'd expect from the
01:39 creators of Dark Souls. Number nine, The Saboteur. Although it remains truly sad that Pandemic will
01:45 never finish their initial version of Star Wars Battlefront III, another consequence that stemmed
01:50 from various mid-tier studios shutting across the start of 2010 was their other projects barely
01:55 getting to share any of the limelight. The Saboteur was one such game, a uniquely styled action
02:00 adventure that mixed Assassin's Creed and Uncharted-style climbing mechanics with a color
02:05 scheme that highlighted elements in the world, all visually arresting explosions, alongside gunplay
02:11 that meant if things went sour, a reliable third-person shooter had your back. Whilst it
02:15 did fall down a little with some driving sections that were a little too arcadey for their own good,
02:20 Saboteur's general setup as a French spy amongst Nazi-occupied Paris was one that had appeal and
02:26 charm for days. Setting up your base HQ out the back of a cabaret club and having a button
02:31 dedicated to lighting up a cigarette in case you ever found yourself looking out over the
02:35 rain-swept city, this one was oozing with style. 8. Alpha Protocol
02:40 Granted, if you really wanted to ditch the shadows and whip out a Beretta instead,
02:44 Alpha Protocol has you covered. But the best way to play this design-your-own-spy RPG was to spec
02:50 in the direction of stealth kills and tactile infiltration, clearing out any area, one guard
02:56 at a time. Obsidian are forever the developer with the best ideas, but some of the spottiest execution
03:02 we're looking at you, Fallout New Vegas. As in the run-up to release, AP was being touted as
03:07 Mass Effect for spies, only for bugs, previous-generation-looking animations, and weightless
03:12 gunplay dragging it down. Those who stuck with it, though, found a truly engaging and unique spin on
03:17 the stealth genre. When you look at the melding of real-world framing and RPG stat training,
03:22 this kind of thing hadn't been attempted again until The Division. Since launch, the various
03:27 issues have been smoothed over, leaving this as a throwback to when mid-tier developers had the
03:31 funds to try something completely unique. And although Alpha Protocol would ape Mass Effect's
03:36 dialogue system, the branching pathways that led to various alternating levels and endings gave it
03:41 a ton of replayability. Number 7. Invisible Inc. From incredible indie devs Clay Entertainment,
03:48 the same people who did Mark of the Ninja and Don't Starve, this game set out to reinvent the
03:52 stealth genre when it came out in 2015. They did this by applying an XCOM-style isometric strategy
03:59 formula to a genre that's formally resigned to controlling characters directly. In doing so,
04:04 like Metal Gear Acid to some degree, it forces you to plan every move accordingly, planting agents on
04:10 doorways as you try to predict enemy movements, hacking into security systems to free up other
04:15 pathways and methods of insertion, deploying special abilities, and hiding bodies. Everything
04:21 unfolds piece by piece, and it's all backed up by the studio's exemplary, forever-gorgeous animation.
04:27 Playing Invisible Inc. is like nothing else, and if you particularly enjoy preempting which enemies
04:32 you're going to take out, when and how, this is absolutely the stealth game for you. Number 6.
04:38 Stix. Master of Shadows. Stealth doesn't always have to mean super-secret agents, gadgets,
04:43 and evil villains in fortified bases. Instead, by taking the base staples of dodging enemy patrols,
04:49 introducing some really cool levels with impressive amounts of verticality that let you
04:53 get the drop on foes, while surveying those ahead and topping it off with great characters and solid
04:58 lore, Stix is the PS2-style throwback you never knew you wanted. Sure, its animations might not
05:04 be as fluid as Metal Gear's and its blade not as impactful as Riddick's, but Cyanide Studios' heart
05:10 gives the lovable little goblin endless charm, thanks to the project being a spin-off from
05:15 humorous cult success of Orcs and Men. The basic gameplay loop of Stix will basically involve you
05:21 studying level layouts and enemy patrol routes. It's a tribute and continuation of every stealth
05:26 title that's emerged across the 2000s, sitting confidently as something that stands alone in
05:32 doing so, especially when compared to the more expansive nature of things like Metal Gear Solid 5.
05:37 Number 5. Volume. If there's one really cool thing about the video games industry being over 30 years
05:43 old, it's that people who grew up playing certain games then sometimes become game developers and
05:48 make the games that they were inspired to make when they were kids. Enter Mike Bithell, who you
05:53 might know from Thomas Was Alone, a really neat Pixar-esque setup that saw a bunch of individual
05:58 pixels get to know each other before getting through levels together. Bithell stated in the
06:03 development of Volume that he'd used all the money from Thomas Was Alone to create a love letter to
06:08 the original Metal Gear Solid, which he'd played and loved as a kid. From the top-down camera to
06:13 deploying a range of stealth gadgets to trying to stay outside of enemies' cones of vision,
06:18 you can see the Kojima-esque elements here. Where it Breaks Away is in a super cool narrative,
06:24 with you playing as live-streaming hacker Rob Loxley as he attempts to break into various
06:28 installations in a bit to show a dystopian public how to reclaim their lost wealth.
06:33 Andy Serkis pops up as the villainous Guy Gisborne, and Danny Wallace, the nerdy guy
06:38 from Assassin's Creed's present-day stuff, contributes as the titular software,
06:42 guiding you through each level. All three have a ton of dialogue that paints a great picture of
06:47 Britain as this run-down, V for Vendetta-style nightmare, and it's through periodic rollouts
06:52 of new abilities and items that keeps Volume fresh throughout.
06:56 Number 4. Gunpoint
06:58 Coded almost entirely by one person, in their spare time, Gunpoint is a side-on pixel art
07:04 showcase that shows what happens when a games reviewer decides to get his hands on the other
07:09 side of games production. By letting you play as a character that has instant access to any
07:13 electrical system in any given building, thereby meaning you can rewire lighting systems,
07:18 locks, and plenty more anytime you like, it manages to walk a fine line between being an
07:24 out-and-out puzzle game, but also rewards quick-fire reactions if you need to deal with
07:28 any immediate danger. That means guards can be leapt on and batted into submission if you're
07:33 fast enough. The game even makes a brilliant "are you still punching them, Bob, if you don't stop"
07:38 and any improvised tactics can be developed on the fly once you get a handle on how the various
07:43 systems interface with each other. The best part, though, might be the fact that you can tackle
07:48 guards through windows if you aim right. And there's nothing better than leaping deftly out
07:52 the side of a high-rise, cushioning the fall with a wayward coon, and strolling back off into the
07:58 night. Number 3. Mark of the Ninja
08:00 From one 2D side-scroller to another, and Klei Entertainment's innovative StealthGo's 2D
08:06 mishmash of styles is more solid than Clash of Clans' sales figures. By applying the studio's
08:11 incredible art design and eye for fluidity in character movement, with abilities and level
08:16 layouts that are a dream to play, you'll rocket through the healthy 15-hour campaign and still
08:21 be begging for more. Your ninja's abilities are upgraded and fleshed out in the coolest way after
08:27 every couple of environments, unlocking everything from spike traps to gliding kills. Even the
08:32 time-freezing teleportation ability lets you disappear into a cloud of smoke if you're spotted.
08:37 If the heart of the best stealth games is in letting you feel like an incredibly powerful
08:41 character, rationing out the pain in short bursts by way of dazzling special abilities and confident
08:47 tactile controls, Mark of the Ninja is outstanding. Number 2. Counter Spy
08:53 Dynamite's Counter Spy is an incredibly slick-looking stealth title that dynamically
08:57 changes to a cover shooter whenever you hop out of the line of fire. As all levels are rendered in
09:02 full 3D, Shadow Complex style, it effortlessly melds the two styles into one, meaning you're
09:09 free to leap fluidly around levels with varying amounts of verticality, taking out guards with
09:13 ease before snapping to cover and engaging in intense firefights or targeted headshots,
09:19 should the need arise. The narrative sets you up as a neutral agent, garnering power for your own
09:24 faction during the Cold War, and everything from the character's slinky animations to the menus
09:29 and backdrops are fully cloaked in 60s spy nostalgia. Sadly, the studio has since disbanded,
09:34 but the game is still available, so you should check it out if you haven't already.
09:38 Number 1. Splinter Cell Blacklist Unlike Metal Gear Solid V, which managed to skirt
09:43 by on franchise reputation alone after losing the veteran voice of its main character, swapping out
09:49 Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher after a couple of fairly average Splinter Cell games only served to
09:55 completely bury Blacklist in the public consciousness. It didn't matter that Sam was
09:59 back to dissolving into the shadows across its duration, it didn't matter that you had more
10:04 gadgets and infiltration options than ever, it didn't even seem to matter that gameplay was
10:09 slicker than ever, and built on everything Chaos Theory so expertly laid out through additional
10:14 animations and kill opportunities. The public turned their nose up at newcomer Eric Johnson
10:19 donning the iconic goggles, and that was that. But it doesn't have to be. Blacklist still remains the
10:25 finest stealth game that side of Phantom Pain, one that comes replete with a 24-style, thrill-filled
10:31 storyline reminiscent of the Mission Impossible movies, setting up a globe-spanning series of
10:36 missions that are all expertly designed, encouraging replayability through sheer experimentation.
10:41 You can play Sam as a gung-ho bullet lover if you like, or you can hang back, pick off enemies one
10:47 by one, charge up a chain-kill special move, and wipe out the remaining group in one fluid motion.
10:52 When it all comes together, Splinter Cell Blacklist is right up there with Chaos Theory,
10:56 and it definitely doesn't get enough credit for that.
10:59 That's the end of our list, but let me know what would make your list for the most underrated
11:03 stealth games of all time. As always, thank you so much for hanging out with me, I've been Jess
11:08 from WhatCulture. If you like it, you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account, where I'm
11:12 @JessMcDonald, but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great gaming lists.