Metroidvanias have seen a resurgence in recent years, with games such as Hollow Knight and Owl Boy gaining cult status. This subgenre, reminiscent of classic franchises like Metroid and Castlevania, typically involves 2D platforming across an open world, gathering the necessary equipment and abilities to revisit earlier areas.
While these games often emphasize combat, some carve out a niche by prioritizing stealth. They demand players to cautiously navigate their maps and devise creative strategies to tackle the challenges they present.
9 Necrofugitive - A Unique Blend of Stealth and Horror
Experience the Thrill of Stealth and Horror
Despite being unreleased, Necrofugitive promises a stealth-action experience intertwined with horror elements. Described as a stealth-centric take on Castlevania, this game is poised to captivate enthusiasts of both Metroidvanias and stealth games.
Players must stealthily navigate a dark world map, eliminating and consuming enemies using traps, weapons, and malevolent powers. They can then employ their shapeshifting abilities to blend in or turn their adversaries' weapons against them.
8 Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - Complex Stealth Gameplay
Immerse Yourself in Intricate Stealth Challenges
The Arkham series is renowned for its sophisticated and gratifying stealth mechanics, and Blackgate continues this tradition in its side-scrolling format. It expands on the Arkham: Origins storyline through comic book cutscenes and 2.5D gameplay.
While featuring numerous combat sequences, the game also presents puzzle levels that necessitate strategic use of the environment, Batarangs, and incapacitating moves to cleverly navigate through Gotham's adversarial landscape.
7 Aerannis - Stealth in a Pixelated World
Embrace Stealth in a Pixelated Universe
Embracing a pixelated aesthetic, Aerannis transforms the gameplay of titles like Metal Slug and Mega Man X into a stealth-focused experience. Players must skilfully maneuver, set traps, and outsmart enemies to evade detection.
While the side-scrolling perspective limits the stealth dynamics, the game introduces diverse strategies for almost every mission, from classic hiding maneuvers to the more sinister tactic of using a human shield to navigate through levels.
6 Mr. Sun's Hatbox - Unconventional Stealth in a Roguelike Setting
Unleash Your Stealth Skills in a Roguelike Adventure
Mr. Sun's Hatbox is a beloved roguelike that offers players numerous approaches to every scenario. Players can enhance their headquarters and assemble a diverse team of diminutive, pixelated entities, each possessing unique abilities.
While engaging adversaries with firearms or blades is an obvious choice, players can opt for a stealthy approach, orchestrating intricate and often chaotic plans to incapacitate enemies without being detected. Additionally, they can pay homage to the stealth classic Metal Gear Solid V by subduing foes and transporting them back to their base.
5 Rain World - Survival and Stealth Amidst Strange Creatures
Survive and Stealthily Navigate an Enigmatic World
In this atmospheric 16-bit adventure, players assume the role of a slugcat, a peculiar hybrid capable of slithering, leaping, sprinting, and if necessary, combat. The game's setting comprises a surreal industrial wasteland teeming with diverse creatures, forming a fully functional ecosystem.
While some creatures can be outpaced or hunted, numerous predators pose a threat, compelling players to skilfully maneuver and conceal themselves as they explore the vast procedurally generated world of Rainworld.
4 Carrion - Unleash Stealth as a Monstrous Entity
Embrace Stealth as a Formidable Monstrosity
Even while embodying a colossal tentacled creature, it's feasible to adopt a stealthy approach. Carrion places players in control of a rogue scientific experiment reminiscent of the creature from The Thing, navigating a sprawling facility undetected.
Players must exercise caution and utilize hiding spots to evade vigilant guards. However, as they progress and consume more humans, the creature undergoes a terrifying transformation, diminishing the emphasis on stealth.
3 Mark Of The Ninja - Master the Art of Stealth
Perfect Your Stealth Techniques
While its classification as a Metroidvania is debatable, Mark of the Ninja is acclaimed as the quintessential 2D side-scrolling stealth game, sharing enough mechanics with the Metroidvania genre to entice its fans.
Players utilize swift movements, heightened senses, gadgets, and their katana to silently eliminate enemies across a multitude of challenging missions, each offering multiple approaches.
2 Metroid Dread - Redefining Stealth in a Classic Franchise
Experience Stealth in a Classic Franchise
The sole entry on this list from one of the two namesake franchises, Metroid Dread, boldly returns the Metroid series to its 2D roots. This decision paid off, as the game emerged as a standout success in 2021.
Dread introduces stealth elements, requiring Samus to evade the relentless E.M.M.I., an unstoppable robot tasked with hunting her down. In contrast to the formidable Samus iterations in the Metroid Prime series, this portrayal accentuates vulnerability, making stealth an indispensable tactic.
1 Stealth Inc. 2 - A Fresh Perspective on Stealth in Metroidvania
Uncover a Unique Stealth Adventure
In Stealth Inc. 2, players assume the role of an escaped clone navigating 60 interconnected levels, enabling exploration in any sequence.
The game melds stealth mechanics with a myriad of innovative gadgets and the grim necessity of sacrificing clones, culminating in a distinctive stealth-focused Metroidvania experience.