Sam Fisher is a Third Echelon Splinter Cell of the National Security Agency (NSA) who after the death of his daughter, Sarah, is offered the rank of a non-official cover operative (NOC) by Colonel Irving Lambert. As an NOC, Sam is tasked with the infiltration of a domestic terror organisation known as John Brown’s Army (JBA) and he’s subsequently sent to Ellsworth Federal Penitentiary. Placed into the same cell as one Jamie Washington, a JBA member, Sam escapes with Washington and is welcomed into the JBA. However, Sam must operate in a way that allows him to maintain the trust of both the NSA and JBA, while juggling the grief he suffers from the news of his daughter’s death.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent is just one of a long running line of videogames which maintain a general theme of deceit, stealth and espionage. In order to remain undercover, the player as Sam Fisher must consistently achieve objectives set by two separate entities; objectives which often contradict each other. Much like the Hitman franchise, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, as well as the other Splinter Cell games emphasise the use of stealth and cunning in order to complete missions given to the player by enigmatic organisations. Both protagonists of Hitman and Splinter Cell: Double Agent are people with troubled pasts, bald-headed mercenaries of death and destruction.

2012. A bartender named Desmond Miles is kidnapped by agents of Abstergo Industries, the world’s biggest pharmaceutical conglomerate. He is forced to participate in trials involving a machine called the Animus, which is capable of translating the genetic memories of Desmond’s ancestors into a virtual reality. Under the guidance of Dr Warren Vidic, Desmond is instructed to relive the early years of a man named Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, a member of the Assassin Brotherhood during the Third Crusade. In reliving Altaïr’s memories, Desmond gains knowledge surrounding the Knights Templar, an organisation seeking to find the Apple of Eden, an artefact said to have god-like powers.

Despite Desmond Miles being the game’s protagonist, the player actually controls Altaïr in Miles’s experience of genetic memories. As Altaïr, the player is tasked with the assassination of various individuals in the year 1191 AD. A game defined by the Assassin Brotherhood and profession, Assassin’s Creed’s greatest similarity to the Hitman franchise is the emphasis on stealth, as well as the concept of assassination. In both games, the player must take control of an enigmatic main character, carrying out missions given to them by even more mysterious organisations.

Due to the two-pronged nature of this title, the plot is complex and long running. 1975. Snake infiltrates Camp Omega, an American black site in Cuba, in order to rescue the Cipher agent Paz Ortega Andrade and a former child soldier named Ricardo Valenciano Libre. 1984. With the Cold War serving as the backdrop to this story, Snake a.k.a Big Boss emerges from a nine-year coma after the fall of Mother Base. In order to find the people responsible for the destruction of the Militaires Sans Frontieres (MSF), Snake forms a new mercenary group known as the Diamond Dogs. Driven by feelings of revenge Snake, alongside his rival Ocelot and a sniper with supernatural abilities named Quiet, uncovers plans by the Patriots organisation to develop a new model of Metal Gear System.

A game franchise that should honestly be seen more as a piece of art and not just a videogame, the long-running and complex Metal Gear Solid storyline sets up fans for a cinematic gaming experience and with the latest iterations, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, there is increased focus on stealth in missions that makes this title similar to the Hitman franchise; however, the Metal Gear games are more focused on having a more open-world experience than the Hitman franchise. Metal Gear Solid V, much like the Hitman games, has a third-person camera view which allows the player to see more of the immediate world around them.

In the industrial city of Dunwall, technology and supernatural forces coexist in the shadows. Corvo Attano, a once-trusted bodyguard of the Empress is framed for her murder and subsequently becomes an infamous assassin, known only by the disturbing mask he dons. With the city suffering heavily due to the plague and the terrible leadership of a corrupt government armed with industrial technologies, supernatural forces grant Corvo incredible abilities. The question is, at what price?

This first-person steampunk title is quite the masterpiece. With an engrossing plot that features a storyline that is murky and convoluted, Dishonoured definitely becomes reminiscent of the Hitman games. Much like Hitman, the protagonist of the Dishonoured games is an assassin, and as an assassin, it goes without saying that there is much emphasis on the skill that is stealth.

Garrett, the Master Thief, decides to step out of the shadows into the treacherous City. The City is under the tyrannical rule of the Baron’s Watch, a group that strikes fear in the hearts of many. Being the Master Thief, Garrett trusts his skills over anything else and not even the most cautious of citizens cannot protect their possessions from him. With the backdrop of an emerging uprising, citizens lead by Orion prepare to claim back their city from the Baron. However, unless Garrett steps in, the impending revolution threatens to cause the City to eventually collapse.

Thief’s greatest quirk is the fact that it allows the player to have a unique approach to playing the game. This is very similar to the games of the Hitman franchise which, despite their emphasis on stealth, end up having several players who go into each mission guns blazing. Thief’s greatest similarity to the Hitman games; however, is the stealth aspect of the game, which dominates the gameplay. The point in Thief is to sneak and outsmart, the difference with Hitman is that such is merely a suggestion. One more similarity that most Hitman fans will notice is the fact that both Thief and Hitman were developed by Eidos.

The year is 2027, an era in which human society is extremely advanced in various spheres and cybernetics now exist to enhance the human body. Adam Jensen is a former SWAT specialist who has been headhunted to supervise the defences of one of America’s most experimental biotechnology firms. His job is to protect company secrets; however, a black ops team breaks in and murders the scientists that Adam was hired to protect. Barely surviving the attack, Adam receives cybernetic enhancements which grant him superhuman abilities. Suddenly, everything changes…

Being the result of immense technological advancement, Adam Jensen is very similar to Hitman’s 47, who happens to be one of many clones bred to create the ultimate assassin. Much like the Hitman video games, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game that prides itself upon stealth and intense shooting. Like Hitman, the game allows the player to dictate their approach to each mission, meaning that no two players play either game the exact same way.