Stealth games are a mainstay in video games in this day and age and offerings range wildly, but it always wasn't so. Ten years ago, an independent game studio released an interesting title called Mark of the Ninja on the Xbox 360. The game was a true stealth game at heart, but it offered something new in an unforeseen package.
The stealth genre has long roots and people attribute the origins to a lot of games. Early stealth game ideas can be found in Pac-Man, where players try to avoid getting hit by ghosts, and a more complete implementation was created in the late 80s with the release of Metal Gear. However, it wasn't until the late 90s that the modern stealth game genre was fully realized. After the massive success of games like Metal Gear Solid and Thief in the late 90s, the stealth genre seemed to have a blueprint.
Mark of the Ninja Broke the Stealth Game Template
The legacy of these games continued to the aughts where Hitman and Splinter Cell adopted stealth almost identically, although with varying degrees of violence and skill. Stealth games seemed to have a nearly set-in-stone formula. During the 2010s, the genre had gained even more momentum, but it was largely similar game mechanics within different cultural and narrative contexts. This changed with Mark of the Ninja in 2012.
Microsoft Studios published Klei Entertainment's Mark of the Ninja exclusively on Xbox 360. The game was inspired by legendary ninja games, of which there are many. However, the lack of stealthy ninjas and focus on killing in games like Ninja Gaiden perplexed the developer. While popular stealth games didn't include ninjas, it wasn't the only revelation in Mark of the Ninja.
The game's predecessors and inspirations in the stealth genre had one striking similarity. Whether it was the cloak-and-dagger Thief, the hired killer aspect of Hitman, or the medieval characters in Assassin's Creed, they all were serious and dreary. Mark of the Ninja offered a more light-hearted style that was refreshing and didn't take itself too seriously. The cutscenes combine well-crafted styles of Saturday morning cartoons with visual novels, and the animations are slick but slightly comical.
Mark of the Ninja was one of the few games that at the time veered away from the classic blueprint, but many others have followed suit since. While the game is purely a side-scrolling 2D experience, at the core, it is as much stealth as any of the aforementioned 3D titles. The combination of platformer-like simplicity with environmental actions makes it easy to pick up but non-trivial to master. The players have to navigate light and sound while avoiding or eliminating enemies.
There is no killing the enemies if the ninja is spotted, which makes it the ultimate stealth game. Hitman-like emptying a building with a hail of bullets is out of the question. Not having the extra dimension means that the player has less room to maneuver. The player is forced into a situation where they have to be precise and rely on their reflexes. It's the simplicity that also makes it addictive, which is why games like Undetected are now recapturing the magic of early stealth games.
In the footsteps of Mark of the Ninja, many others have offered their unique takes on the stealth genre. Alien: Isolation is a role-play forward stealth game in a massively popular movie franchise setting, Little Nightmares offers animated horror, and the recently released Stray is an adventure of a lost cat in a beautiful rendition of a Cyberpunk-themed city.
Further breaking the mold seems to be Lord of the Rings: Gollum, due later this year, in which players assume the role of one of the most famous creatures in the shadows. Stealth no longer requires cloaks, daggers, and deadpan hitmen, and Mark of the Ninja, celebrating its 10th anniversary today, was certainly a part of that change.
Mark of the Ninja Remastered is available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.