Go it alone
Playing a game solo has its benefits. You get to go at your own pace; you don't need to worry about maintaining an online connection, and no one's screaming in your ear over voice chat. Games like Doom, Portal and Sid Meier's Civilization VI are great for letting the hours fall off the clock without the pressure of keeping up with someone else in an online environment.
Playing on a gaming laptop with no Wi-Fi connection? Perhaps you're a busy person who needs to be able to pause a game and take frequent breaks to address some real-world stuff? If either of those apply, then these are the games you need to know about.
Credit: CD Projekt
Stealth games occupy a curious niche in PC gaming. Occasionally, the best stealth games are their own thing, a result of a developer channelling all of the mechanics of a game into the suspense and satisfaction of killing, stealing, and infiltrating unnoticed. Most of the time, though, stealth is just one of several means by which you can navigate a game, as you consciously opt for the path of the shadowy rogue or incisive assassin over more forceful approaches.
Any game that features stealth is eligible for our best stealth games list, but it needs to do it damn well (sorry Skyrim, you had your chance. Sorry Assassin’s Creed, you had about 20 chances).
The best stealth games highlight that neat joy of entering a space and leaving it unchanged except for the briefcase you were told to extract, or that one person who was your target now laying dead without anyone having noticed – the alarms going off at the precise moment you coolly walk away from the scene undetected. Nothing beats the thrill of doing things on the down-low.
The best stealth games are:
Dishonored
Some of the best stealth games can feel turn-based – even those that are not Invisible, Inc. They are the ones that have you marking targets, mapping patrol routes, and mentally solving problems – all before uncloaking and triggering the action when you’re ready. The Dishonored series is the epitome of that style and, as an added bonus, is just as good for combo-slinging predatory combat when you’re spotted. No wonder Arkane picked up a Dishonored staff game of the year award from us.
Beyond that, Arkane’s games are a ghoster’s dream, with mission stats screens that track not only how many civvies you have killed, but also whether you’ve been detected, raised any alarms, or left bodies in plain sight. Kdt web history tracker cracked. Perhaps most enticing of all for stealth game purists is the opportunity to refuse the magical powers offered to you by Dishonored 2 and approach the game as a contemporary Thief sequel. Only, er, a good one. It remained good when it came to its DLC, too, as you can see in our Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall PC review.
Better still, if you have completed the first and second Dishonored and still want more of the best stealth games going then the standalone follow-up is brilliant, as you’ll find in our Dishonored: Death of the Outsider review.
Invisible, Inc.
Remember that thing about some of the best stealth games taking well-established game mechanics and dedicating them all to creating the quintessential sneaking experience? Well, this is precisely that.
Related: Get these excellent sniper games in your crosshairs
Invisible Inc. is instantly accessible thanks to its turn-based mechanics. And there is almost endless challenge to be found in its randomised levels and permadeath design. It is a stealth game of sci-fi gadgetry, hacking, and slinking to and fro as you attempt to steal things from tightly-guarded bases, creating untold moments of weighty decision-making. Do you haul your incapacitated buddy to the extraction point, knowing that if you do not you will lose them for the rest of the campaign, or do you use that precious time to try and steal a power-up that could make the rest of the campaign much easier?
Even though we associate the best stealth games with real-time suspense, Invisible, Inc. still captures that thanks to cleverly implemented time limits. This is a game for the tinkering stealth tactician.
Hitman: Blood Money
The bald barcoded one known as Agent 47 has had a consistently solid career in stealth games – taking us on globetrotting, sprawling missions of slick, clinical killings since 2000 all the way up to his excellent latest outing – which you can find out more about in our Hitman 2 review. He hit his stride with Blood Money, with fantastic level design that was believable while offering some of the most entertaining, diverse ways to carry out hits.
There is a twisted comedy to taking out a target by shooting out the glass bottom of his outdoor hot tub during a Christmas party. Or dressing up as the shiftiest clown since John Wayne Gacy to garotte a Mafioso snitch in his comfortable suburban home – making assassin games fun is no mean feat.
Just as with every Hitman game, Blood Money rewards stealth, encouraging you to get in, dress up in 100 disguises, kill your target, and get out. It also has one of the best end-of-level features, where you would read newspaper stories about your hits, describing how much evidence and bloodshed you left in your wake.
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
The Splinter Cell series has always been inspired by Thief’s extreme focus on light and sound in levels. And with Chaos Theory the series mastered it, even taking into account details like your noise relative to the environment.
Chaos Theory is ripe with innovative stealth game mechanics that still feel good today. You can extract information from enemies by holding knives to their throats (and relishing the startled looks on their faces), pull them over edges, hang upside-down from rafters to break necks, and phht-phht them with a silenced pistol. With his night-vision goggles, Sam Fisher is a master of the game’s nocturnal, shadowy environments, and it is great fun shooting out lights and tormenting your disoriented enemies like a less ostentatious Batman.
It’s also one of the few stealth titles that also works well as a co-op game by letting you take on dedicated missions with a buddy – complete with co-op stealth moves like holding a cable while the other player reels down it and hurling each other like cannonballs into enemies.
Commandos 2
Few people have ever been any good at Commandos but everyone respects is as one of the best stealth games going. The grizzled WW2 game puts you in control of a squad of elite soldiers, each with their own skills, and chucks you into gruelling puzzle-like levels to sneak and sabotage your way through.
Each mission takes a long time, and ‘taking things as they come’ is the worst strategy you could possibly adopt. You always have to plan several steps ahead, monitoring enemies’ lines of sight, patrol patterns, and notable hiding spots. One wrong move, and you won’t be able to click your mouse fast enough to get out of it. Fail to control the situation and it’s a swift execution.
With its pre-rendered backgrounds and isometric perspective, Commandos 2 is one of those stealth games where you can grumble that ‘they don’t make ’em like they used to’, and ponder wistfully about what a faithful modern rendition of it would look like.
Hitman
When Square Enix announced the next Hitman game would be episodic, there were few believers. But six wonderfully crafted levels, an endless stream of special Elusive Targets, and plenty of quirky challenges later, Hitman became one of the best games of 2016, not to mention one of the best assassin games of all time – find out more about how much we loved the whole first season in our Hitman PC review.
In a way, it makes perfect sense. This reimagining cuts out much of the story nonsense that damaged its predecessors, offering almost endless combinations of assassination challenges across six of the best-designed levels in the series so far. Alongside the standard mission targets, you get the absurd Escalation challenges, which demand that you do things like kill a chef using a pan while wearing a magician’s outfit in five minutes without being spotted, in addition to player-created missions and the one-try-only Elusive Targets.
Alien: Isolation
It might be regarded as one of the best horror games – and one of the best games of 2014 – but what do you actually do? You hide in lockers, you hardly ever stop crouching, and you stay out of sight, desperately trying not to attract the attention of an insta-killing xenomorph. Sure, Alien: Isolation’s atmosphere evokes pure horror, but mechanically it is also one of the best stealth games around.
Our Alien: Isolation review shows that what makes it special is that, unlike many of its peers, your enemy is volatile and unpredictable, and there is no way to anticipate its patterns other than by tracking that foreboding blip on your radar. Noise is both your best friend and your worst enemy. An ill-judged sprint can result in an alien tail through the stomach, but a noisemaker chucked into an enemy patrol can lead to their swift deaths and your equally swift getaway.
Metal Gear Solid V
MGS V is many things: an open-world adventure with one of the maddest gaming stories of 2015, an explosive action game, and a sandbox game packed with fantastic systems that you can toy with to your heart’s content. Despite all this, we found in our Metal Gear Solid V review that it does not forget its roots and remains the best Metal Gear yet. That’s provided you can resist the urge to open fire with an MG when skulking through an enemy base.
Snake’s movement flows smoothly between crouching, diving, and crawling, as you infiltrate outposts from any angle using knives, heavily customisable firearms, and the classic cardboard box that MGS enemies still have not grown suspicious of after all these years. It is a joy to sneak up on an enemy and interrogate him for valuable information, before dispatching him into the cosmos with the devilishly fun Fulton Balloon.
Encouraging the silent approach is the new Reflex Mode, which grants you a couple of slow-mo seconds after you have been spotted to take out your enemy and continue your mission undetected. After all these years, Snake’s repertoire of moves keeps him among our most beloved stealth games protagonists.
Mark of the Ninja
Those versatile folks at Klei Entertainment make their second appearance in this list – clearly, they have got more than one hidden blade in their sheath. While Invisible Inc. is an indie game that focuses on tactics and big decisions, Mark of the Ninja ingeniously squeezes mechanics from stealth games into the form of a 2D platformer.
Lighting, sound, and hiding spots are crucial, as you stick to the shadows and leap between vantage points before swooping down on your prey with shurikens, blades, and smoke bombs. It is mechanically simple stuff, allowing you to plan out and focus purely on concise kills and swift 3-4 step combos – jump down, kill, roll through shadows, and kill some more.
The 2D plane makes the stealth gameplay feel wonderfully focused, letting you fully assess all available means of dealing with obstacles, and in the quietest possible way. Mark of the Ninja transcends stealth games and 2D platforming, managing to be a unique masterclass of both.
Thief II
It may be old, but at least its better than the reboot: our Thief review shows our disappointment at the game’s anti-open world. At points it is as creaky as the Mechanist Sentinels patrolling its later levels, but Thief II is peerless among pure stealth games – others only dare to borrow elements from it, rather than try to replicate it wholesale.
That is because Thief II does not pander to the cheap thrills, slick action, and bloodshed that we modern gamers crave. It is almost stark in its stealthiness, as you wander around the seminal, sprawling levels while staying out of sight at all costs. It remains one of the few games to utilise lighting as a viable stealth mechanic, and your ideal conditions are those in which you can hardly see a thing, because that means your enemies cannot see you either.
Its open levels are brilliantly designed, set around grand mansions and cathedrals that you do not feel the least bit guilty about robbing blind. But you will not be exploring them using radars, x-ray vision, or fancy abilities à la modern stealth games like Splinter Cell and MGS; it is just you, your senses, and your blackjack if you really need it.
Read more: Catch all the devious crims in these police games
There we have it: 10 of the very best sneak ’em ups available to play on your stealthy PC. Wait, no, not yours: you need to calm down your GPU fans a bit. You won’t get by undetected with all that whirring going on. Anyway, if you’ve had your fill of murder all on your lonesome, take up arms as part of a massive fighting force with the best war games on PC. But for now, we must disappear into the shadows. And so should you…
- Read More
- Dishonored 2 release date
- Dishonored 2 character choice
- Emily in Dishonored 2
Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.
The Rundown
- Best First-Person Shooter: Call of Duty: World at War at Amazon, 'Re-enacts historic battles such as the Malkin Island Raid and the Battle Stalingrad.'
- Best for Star Wars Fans: Empire at War Gold Pack at Amazon, 'Gives players three game modes: a story-line based campaign, skirmish mode and a galactic conquest'.
- Best for Historical Setting: Rome: Total War at Amazon, 'Everything from its large-scale warfare to its soundtrack and voice acting makes it a standout.'
- Best for Nostalgia:Command & Conquer: First Decade at Amazon, 'Takes the best games from the first ten years..and bundles them all on a single DVD.'
- Best Online Multiplayer:Battlefield 1 at Amazon, 'Includes usual online multiplayer modes..but the real fun comes with its chaotic conquest mode.'
- Best Open World Environment: Metal Gear Solid V at Amazon, 'Choose whether you want to stealthy incapacitate enemies..or unleash carnage.'
- Best Large Scale Battles:Gary Grigsby's War in the East at Amazon, 'Engage in large-scale dramatic campaigns with roughly 4,000 individual units.'
Our Top Picks
Best First-Person Shooter: Call of Duty: World at War
You won't find a better first-person shooter war game experience than in Call of Duty: World at War, the fifth game in the best-selling series. A fan favorite among the Call of Duty franchise, the game takes place in the hectic Pacific and Eastern Front theaters of World War 2.
Call of Duty: World at War captures the intense battles between the United States, Empire of Japan, Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Play as a Marine Raider and a Red Army soldier across a dynamic single-player campaign that re-enacts historic battles such as the Malkin Island Raid and the Battle Stalingrad in gritty detail. The cinematic action, combined with open-ended environments, are a draw for any fan of FPS games, especially games with thrilling single-player campaigns. The accurate usage of real-life settings, military technology at the time, unique enemies, and combat variety will delight any war buff. World at War is an immersive PC war game experience that still beats out any contemporary Call of Duty game.
Best for Star Wars Fans: Star Wars: Empire At War Gold Pack
Star Wars: Empire At War impressively captures the Star Wars universe in a real-time strategy (RTS) war game that fans of the series will love. Players can choose to control either the Galactic Empire or Rebel Alliance in epic battles taking place across space and land while commanding fleets of Stormtroopers, X-Wings and even the Death Star.
Set a few years before Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, Star Wars: Empire At War gives players three game modes: a story-line based campaign, skirmish mode and a galactic conquest. Galactic conquest features sandbox elements where you take over planets, build defenses and research new technology as you attempt to take out the enemy's leader. Command key heroes and villains like Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi who have special abilities that can swing any battle. Over 40 memorable ground and space locations are playable, including some unforgettable battlegrounds from the movies such as Yavin IV, Tatooine and Dagobah.
Best for Historical Setting: Rome: Total War
Rome: Total War is an incredibly immersive historical PC war game with a lavish presentation reminiscent of an epic historical movie. Everything from its large-scale warfare to its soundtrack and voice acting makes it a standout in the Total War series and a favorite among critics.
Rome: Total War features gameplay with real-time tactical battles in a turn-based strategic campaign that takes place across Europe, North Africa and the Near East. Up to 10,000 soldiers can appear on the screen at once under your control. These legions are each categorized into infantry, cavalry, archers and artillery. Your army can take on other armies and invade villages in a battle system reminiscent of a complex game of rock, paper, scissors. As you strive to take over the world, you'll need diplomats to negotiate trade routes that help build your economy and spies to scout out cities and armies to get the upper hand in battles.
Best for Nostalgia: Command & Conquer: The First Decade
Before Starcraft became a dominant force in RTS games, Command & Conquer was one of the most beloved PC war games around, introducing action-packed real-time strategy. Command & Conquer the First Decade takes the best games from the first ten years of the timeless franchise and bundles them all on a single DVD.
Command & Conquer: The First Decade comes with 12 classic games that still hold up today. The compilation includes the series' first iteration, 1995's Command & Conquer, ranging to the evolved 3D gameplay of Command & Conquer: Generals. The gameplay is simple with various missions that have you start off building a base, collecting resources, and amassing an army. You utilize the usual types of RTS combat units — spies, tanks and helicopters — and can harness the power of futuristic cyborgs, rocketeers and more. If you’re having trouble playing the older classics like Tiberian Sun and the other games, you’ll need third-party patches and to tweak some settings in order to enjoy the experience at its fullest.
Best Online Multiplayer: Battlefield 1
Battlefield 1 is a visually striking, first-person shooter that is at its best in its phenomenal online multiplayer mode. Players partake in large-scale theatrical battles (featuring up to 64 players at once) that can last up to an hour in wide open maps with destructible environments.
Battlefield 1’s includes usual online multiplayer modes like deathmatch and domination, but the real fun comes with its chaotic conquest mode. You’ll start in a squad with four other players, selecting one of four base classes like a medic or scout, each with their own unique weapons and abilities. Once you start securing positions across the map, the action ratchets up another level. Imagine resuscitating teammates while explosions engulf you or riding horses past tanks in the Sinai Desert while avoiding a spray of bullets from airplanes above. That's just a taste of the amazing action you'll find in Battlefield 1.
Best Open World Environment: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Set in an open world, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain takes place during Cold War conflicts and has a robust blend of action-adventure and stealth gameplay. The year is 1984 and you're in the middle of the Soviet-Afghan War and the Angolan Civil War. The enthralling plot has your character seeking revenge while rebuilding a mercenary unit in the midst of war.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain offers a multitude of options for how you approach missions. You get to choose whether you want to stealthy incapacitate enemies with a tranquilizer gun or unleash carnage by calling in an airstrike. Part of the game’s charm is its real-life portrayal of pivotal Cold War moments at the time, like overhearing Soviet soldiers arguing about Stanislav Petrov’s decision (a lieutenant colonel who prevented nuclear war) or discussing the stinger missiles given to the Mujahideen by the CIA.
You can enjoy Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in many ways, from the gameplay to the rich storytelling expected of the MGS franchise. Though the story is fictional and features more fantastical elements — such as levitating psychic child soldier and a nuclear-armed bipedal tank — the game's big ideas will resonate with anyone. Throughout Metal Gear Solid V's expansive campaign you'll confront themes of nuclear proliferation and conflict caused by the difference of language and customs that help give the game a larger than life feeling.
Best Large Scale Battles: Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War
Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is a turn-based strategy PC war game played on an epic scale that simulates World War 2’s Eastern Front. The game takes place on a giant map of 25,000 hexes, each representing 10 miles that span from Berlin to the Ural Mountains.
Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 allows you to engage in large-scale dramatic campaigns with roughly 4,000 individual units. The game features unforgiving realism in its historical terrain, weather, logistics and more. Every detail can be the difference between victory and defeat on the front line. The types of leaders you choose and their attributes play a huge role in these intense battles. Keep an eye on your supplies, fatigue, morale and the skill of your division to come out on top. Any gamer who wants unparalleled details, scale and strategy with the ability to edit data and scenarios with a CSV export and import function will fall in love with just how much this game has to offer.
Note: Article was updated in August of 2018.
2018 is fast approaching and as such there’s a slew of new video game titles slated or expected to launch during the upcoming year. If you’re looking for what video game titles are worth checking into before they make their way onto the market then let us lend a hand. In this particular list, we’re going over our top picks for the third-person video game titles launching in the coming year. Take a look at our picks below and as always, let us know if we missed a title by dropping us a comment!
Find More Upcoming 2018 Video Game Lists on Gameranx:
Monster Hunter: World
- Developer: Capcom
- Publisher: Capcom
- Release: Jan 26, 2018
- Platforms: PS4, XBO, PC
The Monster Hunter franchise is consistently growing and with each new installment a number of new gamers explore the monster filled worlds development studio Capcom has crafted. Monster Hunter: World will mark as the fifth main installment to the franchise and as you can expect, there will be a number of notable updates.
For instance, Capcom has placed larger maps, a more seamless experience between zones and what’s a Monster Hunter video game without the ability to hunt with friends? Outside of the offline campaign, the game will allow a four-player online co-op opportunity.
The gameplay will be for the most part the same from past installments, but this is also a great starting point for newcomers. With that said, the game is still fairly deep with the mechanics and as a result you’ll find a massive collection of helpful guides and tips from the fan base.
A Way Out
- Developer: Hazelight Studios
- Publisher: EA Originals
- Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO
- Release: March 23, 2018
A Way Out is an action-adventure journey from Hazelight Studios. This will be the second video game to be directed by Josef Fares who you may be familiar with from his previous title, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.
This is a unique action-adventure video game as it will require two players with the display being split-screen regardless of playing the video game locally or through online. All-in-all, the narrative is based around two prisoners who must survive and escape a prison. Their stories will be told simultaneously and while one character may be in a cutscene, the other will be able to freely move and execute their tasks.
Gameplay is more based around puzzle solving along with a big focus on cinematics. You could almost categorize the game as a walking simulator, but again there’s plenty of actual gameplay involved.
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Developer: Rockstar Studios
- Publisher: Rockstar Games
- Platforms: PS4, XBO
- Release: October 26, 2018
Rockstar Games has crafted up a number of incredible pieces of work. Their beloved long-running series Grand Theft Auto, the single IP release of Bully, and of course their old western series, Red Dead Redemption just to name a few. Red Dead Redemption has a massive following and gamers all over the world are undoubtedly waiting for new information to trickle down from Rockstar for their upcoming installment, Red Dead Redemption 2.
This third person western will follow an outlaw named Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang as they roam the country fleeing the law as one of the last few gangs roaming the west. We’re still waiting to see just what extra features are tossed into this upcoming installment.
We imagine that there will be shootouts, shady card games, horse racing, among several other random events that could sway your outlook to the general public. From the few trailers we have seen of the game, there appears to be a few familiar faces making an appearance from the original Red Dead Redemption title.
Vampyr
- Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
- Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
- Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO
- Release: June 5 ,2018
Dontnod Entertainment has crafted up some popular titles so far. Their debut title Remember Me sparked the highly beloved Life is Strange IP. Following up the release of Life is Strange is Vampyr, a vastly different IP then what the developers have worked.
Vampyr takes place during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic in London where players take the role of a doctor Jonathan Reid. Our protagonist is in a predicament as he is a vampire with a bloodthirsty nature, but is battling his condition with his Hippocratic Oath.
This upcoming title will give players not only the ability to unlock new abilities and skills but dialogue options to help steer the narrative. Gameplay is also more in line with an action RPG with gamers having the ability to unlock new abilities and upgrades to your supernatural abilities.
State of Decay 2
- Developer: Undead Labs
- Publisher: Microsoft Studios
- Platforms: PC, XB1
- Release: May 22, 2018
State of Decay 2 is an upcoming zombie survival game set in an open world environment. The game takes place one year after civilization fell thanks to the zombie pandemic. Now only small groups that band together survive in the world.
During your journey, you’ll be able to gather survivors who can help in your makeshift community as you battle for life instead of battling against the dead. Overall, the title sends players out to explore the open world and gather resources in order to grow your community. However, the larger your community gets the more resources it will need.
You’ll also find that the game does contain a storyline and you’ll have options to take on additional side quests from NPCs in the world. One of the resources you’ll likely find yourself checking on more frequently is your weapons as they too can get beat up. While this game has not received the greatest reception since its release, players who are an Xbox Game Pass member should give this title a go as it’s completely free.
God of War
- Developer: SIE Santa Monica Studio
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Platforms: PS4
- Release: April 20, 2018
What can we say about God of War that you probably are not already fully aware of? The video game franchise got its start back in the days of the PlayStation 2 and is still going strong today. However, this upcoming title, in particular, is more of a soft reboot to the franchise.
Players will be controlling Kratos in a whole new world. This time around, Kratos has a son to watch after and while he had slain the gods featured in the Greek mythology, players will be up against a new Norse mythology.
While adding a son into the mix does change the storyline of revenge, we’re still fully expecting a hack-and-slash action-adventure title. This franchise has been one of the most popular third-person video games exclusive to the PlayStation library and this installment continues that very trend. If you own a PlayStation 4 console then this is one title you need to include in your library.
Darksiders 3
- Developer: Gunfire Games
- Publisher: THQ Nordic
- Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO
- Release: November 27, 2018
The Darksiders franchise continues on with developers Gunfire Games launching the third main installment sometime in 2018. This franchise is an action RPG with a ton of hack-and-slash goodness.
So far, what we know about the video game is that the title will take place in a parallel world of events from the past video game installments. In this war-torn Earth, our protagonist, Fury, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is in a quest to destroy the Seven Deadly Sins.
Developers over at Gunfire Games have not shown off too much for the storyline but it looks like we may see some callbacks to the original Darksiders title. Gameplay will also rely on players exploring the open world and solving puzzles. Currently the game is slated to release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC platforms this year but we’re still waiting to hear if we’ll see Darksiders III launch on the Nintendo Switch. This could potentially happen as we did see Darksider II on the Nintendo Wii U.
Detroit: Become Human
- Developer: Quantic Dream
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Platforms: PS4
- Release: May 25, 2018
Set in Detroit, Michigan, and developed by Quantic Dream, gamers who enjoy choice-driven narratives will want to keep tabs on Detroit: Become Human. This is a futuristic neo-noir thriller that’s based off an old 2012 tech demo from Quantic Dream that became viral online.
Players will take control of three different characters, all of which are androids. You will have Kara, a female android that has escaped the factory from where she was made. There’s also Connor, who is a male android that is tasked with hunting down deviant androids. Lastly, there is Markus, another male android who has begun an android revolution against the human race.
This is a third-person adventure that plays out similar to past video game releases by Quantic Dreams such as Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls. Players will be left searching around the levels for clues and items. Gameplay will also be based around quick time events and story narrative choices that will have an impact on how the rest of Detroit Become Human’s storyline plays out.
Spider-Man
- Developer: Insomniac Games
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Platforms: PS4
- Release: September 7, 2018
Spider-Man is an upcoming video game title under developers Insomniac Games who are previously known for their Ratchet & Clank and Resistance video game franchises. Their latest upcoming title will breathe some new life into the Spider-Man story as this video game title will not be linked to any past comic books or cinematic movies.
Furthermore, we’re not going through some origin story of Spider-Man, instead, the video game will be focused around Peter Parker, eight years after he has established the role of being the famed hero. From what we know so far, this is an open-world title where the narrative will follow Peter Parker graduating college while keeping up as protector of New York City.
It looks like most of Spider-Man’s biggest enemies are in the works together in order to stop this hero once and for all. Being an open world video game players have the freedom to swing throughout New York City while helping innocent civilians during random criminal attacks, whereas combat seems to be a mix of melee and quick-time events.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
- Developer: Sega
- Publisher: Sega
- Platforms: PS4
- Release: April 17, 2018
For those familiar with the Yakuza series, the seventh main installment of the series is slated to launch worldwide in April of this year. Of course, if you’re unfamiliar with the series, you may want to go back and play through some of the past installments as Yakuza 6: The Song of Life picks up the story from the previous game.
The game had already released in Japan where it has received a positive reception. Gamers can still expect a brawler type gameplay set in an open world environment. Within the narrative, players will step into the shoes of Kazuma Kiryu once again who is on a mission to learn what has happened to Haruka after being locked away for three years.
Gameplay can at times be a bit wacky as there’s always a group of gangs wanting to give a beat down to our hero. Progressing through the game and winning fights will give players EXP that can later be used to upgrade aspects such as strength or agility while players can also use a variety of items around you against an enemy such as signs, chairs or even traffic cones.
Ghost of Tsushima
- Developer: Sucker Punch
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- Platforms: PS4
- Release: TBD
From the developers who brought up the Sly Cooper and Infamous series comes their latest IP, Ghost of Tsushima. Sucker Punch has yet to unveil too many fine details about the game and we’re not necessarily positive we’ll see this game launch within 2018 so that may mean a future post update to note that the game is launching in the following year.
Ghost of Tsushima is a singleplayer narrative that takes place in 1274 Japan. Samurai were once the greatest warriors to defend Japan, though that reign has ended after the ruthless Khan marches through terrorizing the island.
In the game, players will follow Jin, one of the last battered samurai who may be Japan’s only hope against Khan. Even with your armor, katana, and longbow, players will be against the odds of survival, that’s why Jin will have to forget the traditional ways.
Instead of the old ways, players will need to rise up and become a ghost, using unconventional war tactics to free Japan.
Left Alive
- Developer: Square Enix
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Platforms: PC, PS4
- Release: 2018
Left Alive from development studio Square Enix is an upcoming survival action shooter and there are already gamers online suggesting that this could be the next Metal Gear Solid franchise. Not too many details are available with the upcoming title other than that players will be taking the role of three different protagonists.
It seems that these protagonists are set to tell the story of human survival during the war-torn Novo Slava in 2127. From what we can also gather so far about the game is that players will have more freedom on how to complete objectives such as opting for a more guns blazing approach or sneaking your way around danger.
As you progress through the narrative, it seems that there will also be a series of choices available that will give big consequences to the storyline. Currently, the game is slated to launch at some point this year.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Developer: Crystal Dynamics
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Platforms: PS4, PC, XBO
- Release: September 14, 2018
When Tomb Raider received its big reboot back in 2013, the series received a massive revival with new and veteran players enjoying the latest big adventure featuring Lara Croft. In 2015, a sequel to Tomb Raider landed into the market and much like the reboot, Rise of the Tomb Raider was a big hit.
Now gamers are waiting for the next big release known as Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This will be another grand third-person adventure title you won’t want to miss out on. Lara Croft is back in action as she faces against the Trinity organization along with stopping an apocalypse that could kill off modern civilization.
Currently the game is slated to release in September of this year for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms.
Strange Brigade
- Developer: Rebellion Developments
- Publisher: Rebellion Developments
- Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO
- Release: August 28, 2018
Strange Brigade is an upcoming cooperative third-person shooter filled with both puzzles and survival horror elements. What we know so far is that this is a video game based in the 1930s, where the British Empire has established a fearless group known as the Strange Brigade.
Players are then tasked with seeking out the strange and supernatural areas to uncover untold riches just waiting to be claimed.
This third-person shooter has a variety of weapons to choose from that can be customized and upgraded throughout the game matches. Developers have also mentioned that special prototype weapons can be found within treasure chests. These particular weapons will be more powerful than the standard weapons that can be purchased or upgraded. Outside of gunning down enemies such as mummies and minotaurs, players will have to explore the area and solve puzzles.
Just Cause 4
- Developer: Avalanche Studios
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO
- Release: December 4, 2018
Just Cause 4 was officially announced during Microsoft’s E3 press conference this year and as such players can expect to step back into the shoes of Rico Rodriguez. The game will still be a third-person action-adventure title set in an open world environment while being set in a fictional South American country called Solis.
The overall journey for Rico is to fight against a paramilitary group known as the Black Hand but in order to do so, players will have other hostilities to worry about. One of the biggest aspects that developers Avalanche Studios is pushing for this upcoming installment is weather conditions. Players will have to avoid downpours, lightning strikes and tornadoes when maneuvering around the country.
As a result, this game will be action-packed. Gameplay footage unveiled so far has showcased massive tornadoes ripping through the environments leaving nothing but destruction. All the while Rico has to fight against the paramilitary group.
Find More Upcoming 2018 Video Game Lists on Gameranx:
September 2016 Update: We’ve added quite a bit more games to this list and moved some things around. Check it out.
3rd person shooter games aren’t as numerous as their first person counterparts, but they remain no less visceral despite the detachment from the character’s point of view. If anything, the third person viewpoint lends more familiarity to the characters under your control—by giving you a tangible character with whom to relate.
In a third person shooter, you see your character from over the shoulder, directing their movement from a viewpoint outside of their own. The perspective allows players to have a full view of the character’s surroundings and works particularly well for games in which stealth is a key element, and any game with climbing or platforming. It’s a lot less disorienting to watch a character scale a wall from behind than it is to view something like that in first person, where all you can see is the wall directly in front of you.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the greatest games in the third person shooter genre of all time.
Upcoming: Crackdown 3
Crackdown 3 promises to be everything the previous game in the series wasn’t. It offers fully destructible environments and devastation on a level like no other game before it. Entire structures can come collapsing down in a way that we haven’t seen since Red Faction Guerrilla, which is also further up on this list.
2016 Entry: Mafia 3
Take on the role of a Vietnam war veteran, who returns from the war only to find his hometown of New Bordeaux in control of the mob, as he picks up a gun and rises through the ranks of his own “family,” eradicating all of the gangsters in his way and plunging the city into the worst chaos it’s ever seen.
2016 Entry: Gears of War 4
Gears of War 4 is the fourth main installment of the series. Rod Fergusson, head of The Coalition, has stated that Gears of War 4 will take players back to the feeling and tone of the original Gears of War video game. Developers are also playing around with a more morally ambiguous narrative where the world in Gears of War 4 isn’t just black and white. Choices will be available allowing players to decide their own interpretations of right and wrong. Gamers can get their hands on Gears of War 4 sometime during the holiday season of 2016.
2016 Entry: Quantum Break
Quantum Break by development team Remedy Entertainment is part third-person shooter and part live-action series. The story of Quantum Break revolves around a fictional university within the United States. After a time travel experiment goes awry three present witnesses become stricken with time manipulating abilities. Their abilities provide them with The Matrix-like bullet time. We think it looks neat.
2016 Entry: Tom Clancy’s The Division
Tom Clancy’s The Division from Ubisoft is promising to take the third person shooter genre to new heights by introducing MMO role-playing game mechanics into the whole set up, in very much the same way how Bungie and Activision’s Destiny did so with the FPS genre. As an online RPG and third person shooter, The Division promises high octane gun battles and a leveling system that’ll encourage players to invest their time in their characters while playing online with friends.
Ghost Recon Future Soldier
The Tom Clancy gaming series has a problem and that problem is called “Call of Duty” who successfully out-Tom-Clancy’d Tom Clancy. With Future Soldier, Ubisoft is trying their best to get back at the big guns from Activision, and well they do manage to get closer at least. Future Soldier is a solid squad based military shooter that has a little simulation aroma added for taste without being too heavy on it really.
It works quite well though. Sneak towards the enemy positions, scout out the area ahead with an UAV drone, mark enemies and overwhelm them quickly without a big firefight. It’s a surprisingly well working formula most of the time. Also it’s a pretty game with a lot of different environments and the obligatory russian extremists that want to re-ignite the cold war. Every military action game seems to need those these days, though I hear the new trend goes towards South American tyrants in the coming season.
Tomb Raider
Well look what the cat dragged in. Lara Croft. Long time no see. Well actually that’s not true, there were a lot of Tomb Raider games over the years. This one is just the first that goes for a full makeover and oh my what a makeover that is. The new Tomb Raider is structurally more reminiscent of Batman’s first stint at Arkham, as in that there is a relatively large, relatively open environment of which new sections can be explored with new gear. Also this game is rightly featured as a third person shooter, because that’s most of what Lara does now. Shooting dudes with bow and arrow.
And she’s very good at it, the game is a great reinterpretation of what Tomb Raider can be. There could have been a few more actual tombs to raid, but let’s not get picky. It’s one of the best games of last year, and also the best selling Tomb Raider game to date. The latter of which is of course no indicator of inherent quality, but it is a really fun third person manshoot. With not a single endangered animal harmed this time around.
Saints Row 4
The antithesis to last year’s uber epic GTA entry was Saints Row 4. Where Rockstar takes their series closer and closer to interactive movies, Volition takes the things that GTA lacks mostly, namely every mechanical video game trope ever invented, and put them into their games.
Sadly the character customization is no longer quite as powerful as it was with Saints Row 2. But still it’s quite a lot of fun to create your gangster. Also the head of the Saints is now the President of the United States. Until aliens arrive and abduct the president with all staff and trap everyone in a virtual world and uh yeah the story is irrelevant, it’s all about gameplay. Open world superheroic gangster goodness. This is the proper sequel that Crackdown never got, and that is damn high praise coming from me.
Binary Domain
Shooting faceless dudes in the face gets old quick, which is why Binary Domain pits the player against faceless robots to shoot. Many many faceless robots to shoot in their faceless metal faceplates. It’s a great game with great shooting and very satisfying scrap metal simulation mechanics where you can shoot the robots figuratively to bits.
Tactical dismemberment is the name of the game. Shoot their legs of, and they slowly crawl towards you. Shoot their heads off, and they start shooting each other. Oh and the story is also pretty neat, there’s a French gentleman robot sidekick and huge bossfights and nothing that’s not to like really.
Max Payne 3
Poor Max. Lost in Brazil where few people speak his language, he’s tasked with protecting a rich guys daughter and fails terribly and then does what he does best. Hitting the bottle hard. And then what he does second best: Going on a big ass rampage all through beautiful Sao Paolo.
What makes Max Payne 3 interesting is the stunning presentation. Rockstar outdid themselves with detailed environments and sound design, the soundtrack by LA indie noise band “Health” is spot on and the number of bullets zipping through the air still puts all John Woo movies to shame. While the mechanics can feel a bit outdated at times, it is still a perfect modern addition to the venerated series.
Syphon Filter
Released in 1999 on the Sony Playstation, many will tell you that Syphon Filter is their favorite game of all-time. While it is labeled as a stealth game, the actual ‘stealth’ part of it seems to fall to the wayside as the action starts to take over throughout the course of the game.
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Guerrilla is on this list for two reasons: Bringing destructibility and absolute fun to consoles. ‘Strategic destruction’ is what sets this game apart; Being able to put explosives in one part of a building and watch it crumble because of your expert placement is more fun than you know. Oh – The story is good too. Hah.
Warhawk
One of the few launch titles that the Playstation 3 can say it had, Warhawk was a multiplayer-only fragfest. Anyone who tells you they have picked up a controller, played this game with three other people, and not had a marginally good time is lying – right through their teeth.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
The first of the series, Extreme Condition did not score that impressively from a critical standpoint; However, that did not stop it from selling a large amount of copies and delivering one of the more visceral experiences on platforms to date. Not only was the combat fast-paced and action-oriented, but the graphics were above par for its time.
Watch Dogs
Players take on the role of Aiden Pierce in the story of Watch Dogs. Set in the near future and in the city of Chicago, Watch Dogs is a story about a highly skilled ‘grey hat’ hacker who can hack into any device within the city, taking hold of the entire city’s infrastructure, and using it to his own ends to perform vigilante actions and stop the criminal element that hurt his family.
SOCOM: 2 U.S. Navy Seals
Perhaps one of the most innovative games on this list, SOCOM 2 brought use of the headset to single player and in essence – to multiplayer as well. Issuing commands through the headset and not having to interface with the controller created a new level of immersion between gamer and game. While the first game did all of this as well, the second did it all better.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
Advanced Warfighter ushered in a new era of video games in and of itself. Raising the bar far above its competitions’ heads, this game was and will always be seen as Tom Clancy’s medal among medals. Since then, the franchise has evolved into one of the largest in the industry.
Stranglehold
Another game held in the lineage of John Woo, 2007 saw the return of what we thought was a dying breed: Bullet-time shooters. Endless amounts of enemies, bullet-time power, and gunplay all attribute to why this game is simply too fun to be ignored. Next generation technology plus slow-motion bullets equal an awesome experience.
Jet Force Gemini
Jet Force Gemini was released back in 1999 on the Nintendo 64. With its release the spark igniting third-person shooters into mainstream media was created. While not as popular as Rare’s other games of the era, Jet Force Gemini did just as much for the industry as games like Banjo Kazooie or Goldeneye 007.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
While there are two predecessors to this third installment in the series, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was the iteration that pushed the franchise into international acclaim. With an almost unbelievable amount of positive reviews and innovation of the stealth genre in nearly every aspect backing it, this game will go down in history as one of the very best.
Sleeping Dogs
Though more of a third-person martial arts game than an actual shooter, this action game belongs on this list namely because it’s just that good, and there was nowhere else to put it . The game puts you in the role of Shen, an undercover cop gone rogue criminal agent who rises through the ranks of the Triads as he takes down the Chinese mob.
Just Cause 2
Developed by Avalanche Studios, Just Cause 2 is an open world third person shooter in which players take on the role of Rico Rodriguez, a super secret agent with an arsenal of gadgets and weapons at his disposal. His mission is to take out the dictator of a fictional South East Asian island nation and blow up a whole mess of things while he’s at it.
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Resident Evil: Code Veronica went above and beyond what fans came to expect from the RE series. Set after the events of Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica centers on the story of Claire Redfield, who continues her search for her missing brother, Chris. It is arguably one of the best titles in the RE series, thanks to its logical puzzles and polished gameplay.
Code Veronica flew under the radar of many gamers due to its release on the Dreamcast. Thankfully, the game has since been re-released XBLA and PSN.
Gears of War
If you haven’t heard of Gears by now you have probably been living under a rock. Possibly one of the most controversial titles to be released this generation, Cliff Bleszinski and his band of cohorts at Epic Games have made sure to deliver us one of the most gory, primal, and satisfyingly brutal games to ever hit the market.
Dead Space
When Dead Space was first announced, many did not give it a second look; upon its release however, it turned the horror genre on its head and made everybody ask themselves the question, “What is scary in video games?” While it still suffered from the tank controls synonymous with horror games, the problem was to a much lesser degree than other games.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
Vegas was considered by many to be a first-person shooter inside a third-person shooter’s body. However, this is not a bad thing; Vegas gave us some of the most engaging third-person gameplay the industry had ever seen. This game is one of the many reasons Tom Clancy still reigns supreme in squad-based military shooters.
Tomb Raider (Original)
While cited for having some minor technical issues, the ways in which this game revolutionized gaming are abundant. In 1996 graphics like this were unheard of, female leads were scarce, and no one had mixed 3D platforming with fun gunplay.
Resident Evil 4
Coming in off an already strong fan base, Resident Evil 4 pleased its then current following and gained popularity with others. While it was criticized by some for the ‘tank controls’, as they have come to be known, the review consensus for the fourth iteration was largely positive.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Don the mantle of the world’s greatest adventuress, Lara Croft, once again, as she seeks to uncover her father’s secrets and discover the ancient relics held deep within the mountainous Caucasus region, where old Soviet bases lie. With a mercenary group hot on her heels, Lara must ensure that they don’t find what she’s looking for, first.
Max Payne
Awesome for a number of reasons, Max Payne could have not been released at a better time. With its emphasis being on bullet-time fighting, the fact that it nailed the formula better than any game to date, and that The Matrix franchise was at an all-time high all contribute to the game’s success.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
This game was the first out of few to nail the stealth-action category in third-person shooters. Beautifully animated with a great story, this game deserves all the praise it can get. Plus, ‘47’ was a cool change of pace from the bashing of James Bond we were receiving in 2002.
Uncharted 4
Nathan Drake’s story comes to an explosive conclusion as he reunites with his older brother and uncovers the treasures of the lost pirate colony of Libertalia, the quest that set him on his path to becoming one of the world’s greatest adventurers.
Grand Theft Auto 3
While many would argue that Vice City should be in this spot, the third installment of the series is where it really began to take off. Being the first 3D iteration of the franchise, groundbreaking new sandbox tools, and its breaking of the mold in terms of what is and what isn’t right in video games all contribute to its high status on this list.
Hitman (2016)
The latest iteration of the Hitman series is better than all the previous titles combined. With new-gen graphics and gameplay options that fans requested in each subsequent new version of the franchise, the latest Hitman is everything a would-be digital assasssin could ask for.
Red Dead Redemption
Best 3rd Person Games Pc 2018
Perhaps the strongest example of classic storyboard work, Red Dead Redemption tells the story of John Marston, a man on the hunt for his wife. With plenty of plot twists, and gameplay that is simply astounding, there is no reason this game should not have won Spike’s annual Game of the Year award for 2010.
Grand Theft Auto V
Three main protagonists, three times the fun. Rockstar’s fifth main installation to the series introduces seamless transitions between three main characters that allow the player to constantly stay in the midst of the action. Also there is everything else you’d expect from a GTA game. Heists, gunfights, fighter jets, the stockmarket, a colorful cast of characters and much more.
Also there is a multiplayer mode powerful enough to provide electricity to a small developing country. And of course the main story which is epic and tragic and funny as ever. And way too much to do, and nobody I know has ever finished it. Or if they say so I refuse to believe them. Whoever finishes GTA games anyway?
Mass Effect 2
The second entry to the wildly popular Mass Effect franchise, this game scooped up Game of the Year awards across the board and scored perfectly at a majority of media outlets. Most often cited for bringing action-packed shooting mechanics to the RPG realm, Mass Effect 2 is a true revolutionary in the gaming world.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
The end to Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece, MGS4 tied up all the loose ends of the series as well as giving us the strongest iteration of the series to date. While the game received some flak for its focus on cinematics, the amount of gameplay still amounted to a good eight hours – eight hours anyone who has played the game will never forget.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
MGS V: The Phantom Pain is the fifth main entry in the long-running Metal Gear Solid series of games by Hideo Kojima. The fifth game puts players in the shoes of the Big Boss as he wakes up from a nine-year coma in 1984 to investigate a paramilitary organization known as XOF. It’s the first open-world title in the series, and Kojima’s final contribution to Konami.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Why is this game at the top of the list? Because Nathan Drake and his adventures have given the industry more than just an all-star gameplay experience; He’s given it the definitive cinematic experience as well. From battles held on mobile trains to trekking the Himalayan Mountains, Uncharted 2 never fails to amaze the player.