When Was The Last Time We Got A Decent Spy Action Game?

The open-world, RPG, FPS, and strategy genres all continue to receive more iterations year in and year out, furthering their expanse and solidifying their presence in the gaming industry as we know it. Look at Baldur’s Gate 3, a turn-based RPG gone legendary, winning 2023’s Game of the Year award (and several others), Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and heck, even Helldivers 2. 

But what about the exceptionally niche yet high-quality spy action genre?

Why does it continue to get neglected? 

My third and final question: When was the last time you played a good espionage game? There’s no solid answer as far as some of the recent years are concerned, so you’ll have to wind back time to 2018 at the very least, because that’s when Phantom Doctrine came out. The latter is an original IP by CreativeForge Games and one whale of a good time at that.

And if you’d like to count a collection of some older titles packed together, Hitman World of Assassination is a good escape as well. Other than that, however, you cannot rely on any of the mega-hit espionage video game franchises that made a killing back in the day, including the likes of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, and this is what bothers me the most.

The Category Runs Dry In The Ripe Gaming Age Of 2024 

Back in the glory days of the early to late 2000s when titles like Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory — which is undoubtedly one of the greatest stealth action games produced to date — and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ran rampant, the espionage video game genre lived large. These two franchises in particular were kept fairly active by their respective developers, with subsequent iterations every year or so. 

The heydays of these two IPs continued until the mid-2010s, when the shining light in both the Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid franchises started to fade out, starting with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. With the latter being released in 2013, it’s been more than a decade since the world got itself a brand-new Splinter Cell game, which is absolutely wild to me. 

And let’s just not forget the underrated gem that Alpha Protocol is. Coming out almost one and a half decades ago, this spy action thriller holds its ground as a perfectly enjoyable title even in 2024. 

There’s Great Potential Of Remakes In This Department 

And I’m glad Konami has gotten this concept down to some degree. Back at the PlayStation Showcase 2023, the industry giant officially announced the remake of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, finally a new iteration in the long-running MGS franchise after quite a few years. The latter’s scheduled to release sometime later this year, but we’ve yet to stumble upon a concrete launch date for the shooter yet. 

Apart from the Metal Gear franchise, which has a bundle of other remake-worthy games available as well, let’s single out Alpha Protocol for a minute here. This is another relentlessly fun third-person stealth action shooter that put a smile on many a faces back in the era of 2010. 

Lastly, another video game treasure that does not get recommended enough is Arkane Austin’s Dishonored franchise, a game that has managed to turn heads from all over the world thanks to its naturally-seeming stealth gameplay that doesn’t force any action onto the player, nor does it make the stealth seem unnatural in the face of the action.  

Dishonored getting paid a revisit would inarguably hit the industry like a sonic boom, and send shockwaves across the globe, I’ll tell you that much. However, Microsoft’s relatively recent antics has me in fear as to what to expect from the future of that franchise. 

Are Any Good Spy Action Games Coming Though? 

Fortunately, yes. IO Interactive, the makers of the famous Hitman games, are currently working toward a brand-new James Bond game, and it’s been quite a while since the devs made this official. 

Project 007 (working title) is a brand new James Bond video game to be developed and published by IO Interactive. Featuring a wholly original Bond story, players will step into the shoes of the world’s favorite Secret Agent to earn their 00 status in the very first James Bond origin story. IO Interactive is currently recruiting elite talent from around the world to join the team that will build out this exciting and unique gaming title.” 

Additionally, a Splinter Cell reboot by Ubisoft is making headway as well, but I wouldn’t tie a lot of hopes with that one. There’s a chance that the game ends up drifting far away from what the Splinter Cell frachise is known for, so don’t hold your breath just yet. 

What are your thoughts on the current state of the stealth action genre? Make sure to pen down your thoughts in the comments section ahead.