Mixing stealth and competitive multiplayer seems like such an odd combination but, all things considered, the genre isn’t doing all that bad. One issue that often riddles those games is thelack of a solid multiplayer community. Stealth games are often slow and methodical, but they are also repetitive. Going through an excellent stealth game twice in a row doesn’t seem too inviting; why would that be different in multiplayer games?
The solution to low player numbers is almost built into the genre: stealth doesn’t usually require high numbers. Trying to sneak past two guards as a single thief inOf Guards And Thievesis just as fun as if the numbers were multiplied by ten, making this theperfect genre for a small group of friends.
10Hidden in Plain Sight
Metacritic Score: N/A
Hidden in Plain Sightis a classic indie local multiplayer game about blending in by imitating the movements of an AI-controller crowd. The objective of the game is to dispose of the other players, but patience is the only way to get there in one piece.
That said, a match ofHidden in Plain Sightcan get very chaotic very fast. But even in those cases, it’s often the player that stays blended in with the digital crowd that rises above the others. Even if it’s not what most visualize when they think of PvP stealth multiplayer,Hidden in Plain Sightis a great stealth party game for a small group.
Screencheatis another unique multiplayer game that barely fits the traditional definition of stealth, but it’s certainly a game about walking by unseen and sneaky murder. It’s also plenty of fun with the right group, especially in local multiplayer. Most people who play games, especially those above a certain age, have had the experience of shooting their friends in the local PvP of aclassic shooter.
Those players will immediately understand the appeal ofScreencheat, a game always played in split-screen, including the online multiplayer. All characters inScreencheatare invisible, and the only way to find them is by looking at the landmarks visible on their screen.
Run Prop, Run!is a colorfulprop hunt gamein which a team of hunters must take care of all props, the name given to the players that are hiding. As the name suggests, the prop players can hide not only by finding a good hiding spot but also by turning into a seemingly normal game object, like a carrot, a crate, a coin, and so on.
The job of the hunters in this weird game of hide and seek is then not to look into every nook and cranny. Rather, their most useful skill is to distinguish between real props and human players. The hunters need map memorization and a good level of intuition, makingRun Prop, Run!a very rewarding, replayable PvP stealth game.
Hunt: Showdownisn’t really a stealth game, but playing it as one is almost required in order to survive any encounter. This unique PvPvE extraction shooter tasks players with killing a boss and fleeing the map. It seems simple, except every other player has the same objective and the same incentive to let other players do the work before taking victory from under their noses.
The slow 19th-century guns and the character skills make a stealthy approach vital for success, even if the community seems toenjoy creating chaosa bit too much for the average stealth game enjoyer. Still, even thebest stealth gamesinclude a moment where a guard is alerted or an alarm plays, and every plan is scrapped in favor of a good old panicked scramble.
6SPECTRE
SPECTREis a hybrid of first-person shooters and third-person stealth, just like the classic Spies vs Mercs mode of oldSplinter Cellgames. But the inspirations don’t end there: many fans of the classic Ubisoft stealth series considerSPECTREto be the successor of this now-abandoned multiplayer mode.
In SPECTRE, two players take the role of heavily armed but slow guards, while another two control the fast but near-unarmed spies. But the asymmetrical gameplay reaches even deeper than that. The grunts are stuck in first-person mode, which almost emulates the lack of peripheral vision of most single-player stealth games. WhileSPECTREdoesn’t have a very active multiplayer community, four is the best player count for the game, so filling a server with friends isn’t too hard.
5Of Guards And Thieves
Of Guards And Thievesis a top-down stealth game where sneaking thieves attempt to steal valuables protected by highly armed guards. To help them sneak past the much more dangerous guards, the thieves have a variety of gadgets on their side, while the guards have increased resistance and, ideally, a few more members to their numbers.
Of Guards And Thieveshas been in early access for almost a decade now, and development seems to have stopped a year or so ago. The game will almost certainly never have competent AI bots or new maps, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. Filling those servers isn’t hard: 3v3 matches work great, and strategizing with some friends is the best way to play the game anyway.
4Intruder
Intruderis a 5v5 stealth shooter pitting two asymmetric teams of guards and thieves against one another. While it’s arguably more of a tactical shooter than anything else, it counts more than a few stealth games among its influences. And even if it didn’t, playing it as a stealth game is more than just viable.
In fact,Intruderis a mix of stealth and tactical shooter. Players are advised to use the in-game spatial voice system, meaning speaking into a microphone creates sound for anyone around, and the same goes for using a radio. The alternative to the in-game voice chat is the use of hand signals, which players must learn before using.
3Deceive Inc.
Metacritic Score: 75
Deceive Inc.is agreat extraction shootermixed with social deduction stealth, or at least that’s the idea. In each match, players are tasked with completing an objective and leaving with the package, but only one player can end the game victorious.
Players have plenty of tools at their disposal, but among all the different impossible gadgets, one reigns supreme. In just a handful of seconds, players can take on the appearance of any character in the game, including security or important guests. This is where the social stealth typical of theHitmanseries comes into play, makingDeceive Inc.a unique PvP stealth experience.
2SpyParty
SpyPartyis a great PvP stealth game for just two friends, and it’s best if those players are actually friends. By virtue of its small player count,SpyPartycan be quite an intimate experience, but it’s not just that. Talking to the other players, taunting them, and bringing them into the open is the best way to have fun with this title.
SpyPartyis a simple game: one player takes the role of a guest while the other looks at the party from afar, ready to shoot the spy at the first wrong move. But the first player can’t just hide: they have a list of objectives to complete, like joining a conversation or swapping a book from one library to another, all while hiding in plain sight.
The Spies vs Mercs multiplayer mode ofSplinter CellChaos Theoryused to be almost a legend of stealth multiplayer, but it’s not far easier to actually play. Getting into it might not be as easy, considering many players of the small but dedicated community have been at it for the best part of a decade.
Chaos Theoryis often regarded as the best entry in the series and one of thebest spy games ever made. It’s no surprise that this game’s Spies vs Mercs mode, a game of guards and thieves of sorts, is considered the best of anySplinter Cellgame. Players willing to try this excellent, if dated, game mode would do well to check in with the multiplayer community’s discord servers before trying the (long dead) official serves.
