Splinter Cell Blacklist deserves your love.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00With the stealth explosion of the early noughties, we got three incredible stealth games for the
00:04rest of the genre to build upon. Now that's Metal Gear Solid 2, Hitman 2 Silent Assassin,
00:09and Splinter Cell. Going forward, all three series have maintained high pedigrees,
00:13but as the industry slowly started to feast on its own tail by pursuing endless military
00:18shooters and open-world third-person action adventures, one of which Assassin's Creed
00:23had a far more stealthy start, the genre as a mainstay has become fairly underrepresented.
00:29Like some of the best shadow-clinging heroes of the genre itself,
00:32it turns out that a bunch of the best stealth games could have been hiding under your nose
00:36the entire time. I'm Jess from WhatCulture and here are the 10 most underrated stealth
00:41video games of all time.
00:45Eight years before Assassin's Creed Unity would try and fail at the same concept,
00:49Tenchu Z bravely pioneered the idea of group infiltration on Xbox Live. By outfitting your
00:55custom ninja with all manner of appearance tweaks and ability modifiers, you could team
00:59them up with people across the globe to take on a huge amount of missions. Alternatively,
01:04solo play was exemplary too. Customization carried across no matter what your assassin was up to,
01:10and where Tenchu Z excelled over its contemporaries was through a staggering amount
01:14of items and animations. With the series' occasionally supernatural bent, enemies
01:19ranged from standard thugs all the way to mystical warriors, and you were free to cling
01:24to vertical surfaces, concoct various bombs and distractions, perform in-air kills,
01:29and kite enemies into kill rooms of your own design. All this while dabbling with innovative
01:33multiplayer that nobody else would even try their hand at for almost a decade?
01:38Just what you'd expect from the creators of Dark Souls.
01:42Although it remains truly sad that Pandemic will never finish their initial version of Star Wars
01:47Battlefront 3, another consequence that stemmed from various mid-tier studios shutting across
01:52the start of 2010 was their other projects barely getting to share any of the limelight.
01:57The Saboteur was one such game, a uniquely styled action-adventure that mixed Assassin's Creed and
02:03Uncharted-style climbing mechanics with a color scheme that highlighted elements in the world,
02:08all visually arresting explosions, alongside gunplay that meant if things went sour,
02:12a reliable third-person shooter heard your back. Whilst it did fall down a little with
02:16some driving sections that were a little too arcadey for their own good, Saboteur's general
02:21setup as a French spy amongst Nazi-occupied Paris was one that had appeal and charm for days.
02:27Setting up your base HQ out the back of a cabaret club and having a button dedicated
02:32to lighting up a cigarette, in case you ever found yourself looking out over the rain-swept city.
02:36This one was oozing with style.
02:40Granted, if you really wanted to ditch the shadows and whip out a Beretta instead,
02:44Alpha Protocol has you covered. But the best way to play this design-your-own-spy RPG
02:50was to spec in the direction of stealth kills and tactile infiltration, clearing out any area,
02:55one guard at a time. Obsidian are forever the developer with the best ideas,
03:00but some of the spottiest execution. We're looking at you, Fallout New Vegas.
03:04As in the run-up to release, AP was being touted as Mass Effect for spies,
03:08only for bugs, previous-generation-looking animations, and weightless gunplay dragging
03:13it down. Those who stuck with it, though, found a truly engaging and unique spin on the stealth
03:18genre. When you look at the melding of real-world framing and RPG stat training,
03:22this kind of thing hadn't been attempted again until The Division. Since launch,
03:26the various issues have been smoothed over, leaving this as a throwback to when mid-tier
03:30developers had the funds to try something completely unique. And although Alpha Protocol
03:35would ape Mass Effect's dialogue system, the branching pathways that led to various alternating
03:40levels and endings gave it a ton of replayability.
03:43Number 7. Invisible Inc. From incredible indie devs Clay Entertainment, the same people who did
03:49Mark of the Ninja and Don't Starve, this game set out to reinvent the stealth genre when it came out
03:54in 2015. They did this by applying an XCOM-style isometric strategy formula to a genre that's
04:00formally resigned to controlling characters directly. In doing so, like Metal Gear Acid
04:05to some degree, it forces you to plan every move accordingly, planting agents on doorways as you
04:11try to predict enemy movements, hacking into security systems to free up other pathways and
04:16methods of insertion, deploying special abilities, and hiding bodies. Everything unfolds piece by
04:22piece, and it's all backed up by the studio's exemplary, forever gorgeous animation. Playing
04:27Invisible Inc. is like nothing else, and if you particularly enjoy preempting which enemies you're
04:32going to take out, when, and how, this is absolutely the stealth game for you.
04:37Number 6. Styx, Master of Shadows. Stealth doesn't always have to mean super-secret agents,
04:42gadgets, and evil villains in fortified bases. Instead, by taking the base staples of dodging
04:48enemy patrols, introducing some really cool levels with impressive amounts of verticality
04:53that let you get the drop on foes, while surveying those ahead and topping it off with great characters
04:58and solid lore, Styx is the PS2-style throwback you never knew you wanted. Sure, its animations
05:04might not be as fluid as Metal Gear's and its blade not as impactful as Riddick's, but Cyanide
05:10Studios' heart gives the lovable little goblin endless charm, thanks to the project being a
05:14spinoff from humorous cult success of Orcs and Men. The basic gameplay loop of Styx will basically
05:20involve you studying level layouts and enemy patrol routes. It's a tribute and continuation
05:26of every stealth title that's emerged across the 2000s, sitting confidently as something that
05:30stands alone in doing so, especially when compared to the more expansive nature of things like Metal
05:36Gear Solid V. Number 5. Volume. If there's one really cool thing about the video games industry
05:42being over 30 years old, it's that people who grew up playing certain games then sometimes
05:46become game developers and make the games that they were inspired to make when they were kids.
05:51Enter Mike Bithell, who you might know from Thomas Was Alone, a really neat Pixar-esque setup that
05:57saw a bunch of individual pixels get to know each other before getting through levels together.
06:02Bithell stated in the development of Volume that he'd used all the money from Thomas Was Alone to
06:07create a love letter to the original Metal Gear Solid, which he'd played and loved as a kid.
06:12From the top-down camera, to deploying a range of stealth gadgets, to trying to stay outside of
06:17enemies' cones of vision, you can see the Kojima-esque elements here. Where It Breaks Away is in a super
06:23cool narrative, with you playing as live-streaming hacker Rob Loxley as he attempts to break into
06:28various installations in a bit to show a dystopian public how to reclaim their lost wealth. Andy
06:34Circus pops up as the villainous Guy Gisborne, and Danny Wallace, the nerdy guy from Assassin's Creed's
06:39present-day stuff, contributes as the titular software, guiding you through each level. All
06:44three have a ton of dialogue that paints a great picture of Britain as this run-down, V for Vendetta
06:50style nightmare, and it's through periodic rollouts of new abilities and items that keeps volume
06:55fresh throughout. Number four, Gunpoint. Coded almost entirely by one person, in their spare
07:01time, Gunpoint is a side-on pixel art showcase that shows what happens when a games reviewer
07:07decides to get his hands on the other side of games production. By letting you play as a character
07:12that has instant access to any electrical system in any given building, thereby meaning you can
07:17rewire lighting systems, locks, and plenty more anytime you like, it manages to walk a fine line
07:23between being an out-and-out puzzle game, but also rewards quick fire reactions if you need to deal
07:28with any immediate danger. That means guards can be leapt on and batted into submission if you're
07:33fast enough. The game even makes a brilliant, are you still punching them, Bob, if you don't stop.
07:38And any improvised tactics can be developed on the fly once you get a handle on how the various
07:43systems interface with each other. The best part, though, might be the fact that you can tackle
07:48guards through windows if you aim right. And there's nothing better than leaping deftly out
07:52the side of a high-rise, cushioning the fall with a wayward goon, and strolling back off into the
07:58night. Number three, Mark of the Ninja. From one 2D side-scroller to another, and Klei Entertainment's
08:04innovative Stealth Go's 2D mishmash of styles is more solid than Clash of Clans' sales figures. By
08:10applying the studio's incredible art design and eye for fluidity and character movement,
08:15with abilities and level layouts that are a dream to play, you'll rocket through the healthy 15-hour
08:20campaign and still be begging for more. Your ninja's abilities are upgraded and fleshed out
08:25in the coolest way after every couple of environments, unlocking everything from
08:29spike traps to gliding kills. Even the time-freezing teleportation ability lets you disappear into a
08:35cloud of smoke if you're spotted. If the heart of the best stealth games is in letting you feel
08:40like an incredibly powerful character, rationing out the pain in short bursts by way of dazzling
08:45special abilities and confident tactile controls, Mark of the Ninja is outstanding. Number two,
08:52Counter-Spy. Dynamite's Counter-Spy is an incredibly slick-looking stealth title that
08:57dynamically changes to a cover shooter whenever you hop out of the line of fire. As all levels
09:02are rendered in full 3D, Shadow Complex style, it effortlessly melds the two styles into one,
09:08meaning you're free to leap fluidly around levels with varying amounts of verticality,
09:12taking out guards with ease before snapping to cover and engaging in intense firefights or
09:17targeted headshots, should the need arise. The narrative sets you up as a neutral agent,
09:22garnering power for your own faction during the Cold War, and everything from the character's
09:27slinky animations to the menus and backdrops are fully cloaked in 60s spy nostalgia. Sadly,
09:33the studio has since disbanded, but the game is still available, so you should check it out if
09:37you haven't already. Number one, Splinter Cell Blacklist. Unlike Metal Gear Solid V, which
09:43managed to skirt by on franchise reputation alone after losing the veteran voice of its main
09:48character, swapping out Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher after a couple of fairly average Splinter
09:53Cell games only served to completely bury Blacklist in the public consciousness. It didn't
09:58matter that Sam was back to dissolving into the shadows across its duration, it didn't matter that
10:03you had more gadgets and infiltration options than ever, it didn't even seem to matter that
10:08gameplay was slicker than ever, and built on everything Chaos Theory so expertly laid out
10:13through additional animations and kill opportunities. The public turned their nose up at
10:18newcomer Eric Johnson donning the iconic goggles, and that was that. But it doesn't have to be.
10:23Blacklist still remains the finest stealth game that side of Phantom Pain, one that comes replete
10:29with a 24-style, thrill-filled storyline reminiscent of the Mission Impossible movies,
10:34setting up a globe-spanning series of missions that are all expertly designed, encouraging
10:39replayability through sheer experimentation. You can play Sam as a gung-ho bullet lover if you like,
10:44or you can hang back, pick off enemies one by one, charge up a chain-kill special move,
10:49and wipe out the remaining group in one fluid motion. When it all comes together, Splinter
10:54Cell Blacklist is right up there with Chaos Theory, and it definitely doesn't get enough
10:58credit for that. That's the end of our list, but let me know what would make your list for
11:02the most underrated stealth games of all time. As always, thank you so much for hanging out with me,
11:07I've been Jess from WhatCulture, if you like you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account where
11:11I'm at JessMcDonald, but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great gaming lists.