Play Mark of the Ninja.  It has perfect stealth mechanics.

The two games that come to mind for stealth is Alpha Protocol, and the Batman saga which has that heavy stealth like attitude to the game. Sure you can go all guns blazing but it also takes forever to get through those times instead of quick stealth takedowns.In alpha protocol - the more armor you have the louder you are so for stealth, you really need to carry light.The AC series (except for the latest because I haven't played it yet) has been a more amateur. Seriously it is ridiculous on how you takedown a few posters to remove your notoriety, and then as guards come up just jump in a haystack. 

Also love Metal Gear and Deus Ex - great stealth games.

It's all about controlling your environment and experience.

Problem is most games that have stealth elements are much easier played the old fashioned way. I disagree on AC being easier in stealth for istance, if the objective was just "kill that guy" and not "kill that guy without being spotted" I think nobody would have problems to just run through the enemies and shoot a bolt in his head since the player is basically invincible. Also in Skyrim you can take the sneaky path, and get a 32x damage multiplaier which kills a dragon in 1 hit, but if you are spotted you instantly die, while if you take the warrior path, even on the highest difficulty, by level 25 you take basically no damage at all and still deal a lot.

Great blog. The adrenaline rush of trying to get through an area by not being spotted and achieving a goal is brilliant and is even better than using overwhelming force in a shooter

I like going un Guns Blazing :p but I do like a few "hide-n-seek" style games too.

Good blog dude. I played stealth for the first time with splinter cell. Loved it and hittman drived me to the limit. Trying to succeed every mission without beeing seen once was the goal. Besides those games stealth is verry rewarding in other games to.

Stealth gameplay ... reminds me of past  times spent sneaking around in games hiding under cardboard boxes and barrels etc. - timeless :D

Excellent write up dude. Described why I love stealth games almost down to a t.

Arkham Asylum and Arkham City had some pretty good stealthy missions.  Though to me, Arkham City was tougher with the whole 'you get caught once and they may shoot down your vantage points' ordeal.  That sucked.

Stealth Mode in Crysis 2 isn't enough.

As soon as your cloak ran out... BAM. They straight away turn around and shoot the shiz out of you. Less alarmed NPCs would have been good.

Stealth was Farcry2's most enjoyable element.

I love games where I have the option to be stealthy. There is a certain thrill from stealthily sneaking up behind someone and executing them silently, then sneaking around and doing the same to all their friends who were unfortunate enough to be my enemies.

I would, however, hate playing games where it's "you got spotted, GAME OVER!" I'd get so frustrated I'd stop playing.

as a splinter cell fan, i am used to those games where you stick in the shadows, kill or engage only when needed or spotted and try to escape using many maneuvers once alerted anyone. assassin's creed isn't a solid example for a stealth game, the stealth elements are lacking reducing it to walking slowly and staying out of sight yet the game will never forbid you from going head to head with 10+ foes at the same time in which you could mow easily. games like the far cry and crysis series gave us very impressive options  in combat, you can always lead a full strike without hiding or you could go in, take out your enemies quietly, plant an "EOD" and slip out watching the explosion and feeling the satisfactions of being a total badarse. the CoD 4 mission all ghilied up was one of the most impressive missions in an FPS game. the stealth wasn't very...it was scripted and once broken the only way to retrieve it is by killing all the foes which is sloppy but the mission does pushes you to be as stealthy as possible much like the black ops game mission where you take control of a SR-71 black bird and guide your team through the snow and for each scripted result you end up in the ground taking care of the foes, a few segments later introduces you to a  crossbow with metal shafts as the best stealth weapon that can be used but always gave you an alternative such as the explosive bolts, not so stealthy when caught but moreover a very nice experience. also many people complain that the splinter cell series is losing face but as a fan of the series, i loved all the games, i read all the books and i played all the games enjoying each of them. conviction was something new, Level design is my only complaint about it, not many classic camera dough or wrecked areas that you need to tangle through but it was a turn out story breaking a more civi and less operational life. great post mate, keep it up. 

Thief series for life baby. Not to mention splinter cell. Nothing like executing tactical success in stealth environments. That Ghillied mission was awesome.. if that was near the junk cars stacked and your in the grass?

kfjl makes a great point. When stealth is an OPTION, it's especially rewarding and Skyrim did a pretty good job with that. But sometimes it can also work when it's scripted. The sniper mission "All Ghillied Up" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was (and is) my favorite mission from a first person shooter (remember when the tanks rolled past you?). And it is a great example of how stealth gameplay can be incorporated into almost any genre.

I've had stealth experiences I loved and some I didn't. I feel it's kind of easy to get it wrong, but when done right it is fun. I would prefer if stealth was an option rather than a necessity; two games I think of recently where you can stealth all of it or none of it is Deus Ex HR and Skyrim. Both games had a problem with the intelligence of enemy AI when stealthing (especially Skyrim), but I loved being able to make the choice of how I wanted to play. Sometimes stealth can be boring to me, like when I'm just sitting there doing nothing while waiting for a patrol to pass or a camera or spotlight to pass, but using stealth to get through a situation strategically can be rewarding.

I prefer stealth games over straight-up action.  I know that was one reason I loved Deus Ex - there were times it could have been better, but overall, it was a great game to be stealthy!