The Splinter Cell Franchise

[Xprimentyl]

I?m ready for a new Splinter Cell. More importantly, I?m ready for the franchise to be treated once again with the respect it once had and still deserves; it hurts my heart to think that a despite being so ripe with potential, it might have peaked 12 years and two console generations ago.

The gap between SC: Chaos Theory (2005) and SC: Blacklist (2013), 3 games across an entire console generation, was lackluster to say the least. They tried to change too many of the franchise staples and ended up losing some of what made the franchise stand apart. IMHO, Blacklist is arguably the best of the series except? they replaced Michael Ironside?!? I was concerned at first, but ended up not minding at all because Blacklist was such a great, back-to-form Splinter Cell, but the choice ended up biting them in the ass because a lot of SC fans DID care and never took Blacklist seriously, so it never got a fair rap. I honestly feel that had they left Ironside behind those iconic three green lights, that fatherly whisky voice of death, Blacklist could have been the game to reinvigorate the franchise.

Now I hear talk that Ironside might be back in the role for the as yet unannounced ?Splinter Cell 7.? I sincerely hope this is a move from someone at Ubisoft that finally said ?enough of the bullshit; first, get Ironside on the phone, apologize and hand him a shit-ton of cash. Then call the fire department so we can get Ubisoft Montreal?s heads pried out of their asses so we can do this like we did it back in 2005.? I?ve got plenty of Action/Shooter games with ?stealth mechanics,? but a lot of them have the supernatural/sci-fi bent; Splinter Cell is the only franchise I know of that sports quasi-realistic covert military operations at center stage in the same way countless games have tried to tackle military combat. Sure, guns and explosions are sexy and is all but guaranteed to sell a game, but there?s plenty to be said shooting out light sources and hanging upside down to choke a guy out five feet from where his buddy is standing none the wiser.

How do you feel about the Splinter Cell series? Do you have a personal favorite? Looking forward to the next one? What features/mechanics would you like to see included/re-introduced?

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

The First 3 were masterpiece. especially chaos theory the GOAT stealth game. then double agent came in and it become worse. then conviction and blacklist were incredibly dumbed down arcade action games.

if next game will happen. it need to be like chaos theory.

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Splinter cell did stealth better than MGS. not clitche animu story and boss fights and tons of action. Chaos theory is still better than all MGS games combine.

 

[Saelune]

I've only played one, Double Agent, but I really liked it. I kept wanting to get the newer ones, but other games kept popping up. Fuck the multiplayer though, that sucked.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Metal Gear is too sci-fi for me. Not bad by any stretch, just doesn?t scratch the itch when I want feasible realism. Also, I haven?t followed the Metal Gear story since MGS on PC back in 1998; by the time I was interested in stealth again, Splinter Cell and my Xbox had stolen my heart while MG was on PS2, so I was never really interested in trying to catch up.

The First 3 were masterpiece. especially chaos theory the GOAT stealth game. then double agent came in and it become worse. then conviction and blacklist were incredibly dumbed down arcade action games.

if next game will happen. it need to be like chaos theory.

I'll disagree slightly. I agree Chaos Theory was brilliant and that Double Agent and Conviction left quite a bit to be desired, Blacklist brought it back home really well. While they did give you options to be a little more lethal with the Panther and Assault play styles, Ghost was still the more rewarding option and really reminded me of the early SC series; it really just needed Ironside back.

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Splinter cell did stealth better than MGS. not clitche animu story and boss fights and tons of action. Chaos theory is still better than all MGS games combine.

100% agree though I will qualify that this is my opinion.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Splinter cell did stealth better than MGS. not clitche animu story and boss fights and tons of action. Chaos theory is still better than all MGS games combine.

Chaos Theory is overrated. The gameplay was never that great. Having accuracy and speed dependent on the mouse wheel wasn't very functional. You'd have to roll down the wheel as fast as possible to get a good shot and then, so that Sam doesn't walk like a snail, roll it up again fast as you watched the meter. Made it feel too mechanical. Sam is the worst shot in the world. He must have Parkinson's Disease. The use of darkness was always kind of silly. A light bulb would illuminate much more space. The levels were a lot more linear than in MGS3 and didn't offer as much experimentation. The story was dull. The keypad hacking was convoluted. The objectives were sometimes obtuse.

LOL. come on my friend. Chaos theory was pure stealth simulator. hiding and sneaking in shadow never get old and no one make games like this anymore. if anything is overrated its metal gear. claim to be stealth series end up action and boss fights. each and every level in chaos theory is well and clearly design. especially that bank mission was so amazing.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Metal Gear is too sci-fi for me. Not bad by any stretch, just doesn?t scratch the itch when I want feasible realism. Also, I haven?t followed the Metal Gear story since MGS on PC back in 1998; by the time I was interested in stealth again, Splinter Cell and my Xbox had stolen my heart while MG was on PS2, so I was never really interested in trying to catch up.

The First 3 were masterpiece. especially chaos theory the GOAT stealth game. then double agent came in and it become worse. then conviction and blacklist were incredibly dumbed down arcade action games.

if next game will happen. it need to be like chaos theory.

I'll disagree slightly. I agree Chaos Theory was brilliant and that Double Agent and Conviction left quite a bit to be desired, Blacklist brought it back home really well. While they did give you options to be a little more lethal with the Panther and Assault play styles, Ghost was still the more rewarding option and really reminded me of the early SC series; it really just needed Ironside back.

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Splinter cell did stealth better than MGS. not clitche animu story and boss fights and tons of action. Chaos theory is still better than all MGS games combine.

100% agree though I will qualify that this is my opinion.

I dont like blacklist. in fact its worst in series thanks to sam fisher our of character and replace legendary michael ironside to becoming a generic american hero.

the level design in blacklist was horrible with invisible walls. plus forced and badly done FPS section in splinter cell game??? what the hell they were thinking? the mark and execute ruined splinter cell once for all.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I've only played one, Double Agent, but I really liked it. I kept wanting to get the newer ones, but other games kept popping up. Fuck the multiplayer though, that sucked.

Wow, if you enjoyed the universally agreed upon worst game of the series, I really wish you?d check out the others! Certainly Chaos Theory and Blacklist, then maybe the first two (Splinter Cell and SC: Pandora Tomorrow,) then Conviction for grins.

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Splinter cell did stealth better than MGS. not clitche animu story and boss fights and tons of action. Chaos theory is still better than all MGS games combine.

Chaos Theory is overrated. The gameplay was never that great. Having accuracy and speed dependent on the mouse wheel wasn't very functional. You'd have to roll down the wheel as fast as possible to get a good shot and then, so that Sam doesn't walk like a snail, roll it up again fast as you watched the meter. Made it feel too mechanical. Sam is the worst shot in the world. He must have Parkinson's Disease. The use of darkness was always kind of silly. A light bulb would illuminate much more space. The levels were a lot more linear than in MGS3 and didn't offer as much experimentation. The story was dull. The keypad hacking was convoluted. The objectives were sometimes obtuse.

If you?re going to indict Splinter Cell for its unrealistic rendering of lightbulbs, I shall indict Metal Gear on its use of the infamously silly cardboard box! XD

 

[stroopwafel]

I played Chaos Theory, Double Agent and Blacklist which I all enjoyed. Blacklist is by far my favorite. They really smoothened the gameplay in this one compared to the previous games which were all a bit rough around the edges. The story also flowed better. SC Blacklist was a really slick spy thriller. Shame they haven't made another one since. It's been like..4 years now or so? Though I remember reading somewhere a while ago that Ubi did still have plans for the IP.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I'm with Ezekiel on this, I was REALLY into stealth games back when the 1st Splinter Cell came out and was touted as revolutionizing the stealth genre. I played the game as soon as it got released on PS2 and it was just fine, disappointing as I expected more. Just hiding in shadows and waiting for the right moment just isn't very hard or much fun IMO. I got a lot more out of both the MGS and Hitman series with regards to stealth than Splinter Cell. I just don't get the people that think old-school stealth games are hard and these last/current-gen stealth games are "casual", it's was only ever hard if you're not patient. The whole point of a stealth game is to avoid conflict and avoiding conflict is easier than actually engaging in conflict. Sure ghosting a level takes more time, but more time doesn't equate to more difficult. I find the best stealth games are the ones that give you the most ways of basically "messing" with the AI because it gives the player the ability to be creative and express themselves vs just hiding and waiting. If you haven't seen a StealthGamerBR Dishonored video, I think you'd see Dishonored in a very different light afterwards.

Anyways, back to Splinter Cell. After not playing any Splinter Cells since the 1st game in the series, I played Blacklist after seeing a walkthrough of a level before release. I really enjoyed Blacklist a lot, the controls were a lot smoother, I love cover systems with cover swapping. The level designs were pretty good along with being quite varied in both design and putting the player in different situations. I did like the Mark and Execute system because it allowed for some cool moments. Sure, it's basically the game shooting guys for you, but how is that any harder than you hiding in shadows, waiting for an enemy to stop moving, and lining up a simple headshot with a silenced pistol?

I think the trick to a good stealth game is giving you the ability to basically fast-forward past most of the "waiting". One of the Sly Coopers had a gadget that literally fast-forwarded guard patrols so you don't have to wait for the enemy to come back around or just to give full sense of all the patrols of a given area faster. Hitaman's fast-forward mechanic is the disguise system, Dishonored's is the your movement with blink/teleport, etc.

 

[Xprimentyl]

LOL. come on my friend. Chaos theory was pure stealth simulator. hiding and sneaking in shadow never get old and no one make games like this anymore. if anything is overrated its metal gear. claim to be stealth series end up action and boss fights. each and every level in chaos theory is well and clearly design. especially that bank mission was so amazing.

^This. If you want action, there are myriad shooters out there that provide just that. Splinter Cell fills a different niche where the fun is in covert guerilla warfare. Each level is a carefully designed puzzle, and the sneaking, hiding, misdirection and subterfuge are how it?s figured out. Personally, if I spend 2 hours on a mission, get in and out with 0 kills and 0 detections, that?s an awesome feeling. I?ve ?dumbed-?n-runned-?n-gunned? enough baddies in my day; it?s fun from time to time to eschew brute force, use wit and intellect and have objectives other than ?kill all the mens.? I know the patience required isn?t for everyone, which is why I like how they implemented a rewards system for a variety of viable playstyles in Blacklist, ?Ghost? is traditional SC, pure stealth, ?Panther? is a mixture of stealth and lethality (closest to Metal Gear,) and ?Assault? is full on ?I bought Splinter Cell but wish I was playing Call of Duty;? the game rewards for each separately instead of penalizing for anything other than stealth.

Just sayin?, I?m hope Ironside does come back as Sam Fisher and that Ubisoft Montreal and/or Toronto both take an honest look back at the series? highlights and focus on capitalizing on what worked best. I think each iteration added something, but at the expense of something(s) else; I think there?s a lot between them all to make for one HELL of game that could truly put Splinter Cell back up there with the big boys. Like B-Cell said, they don?t make games like this anymore; everyone wants to have stealth ?sections? or steal ?options;? we?re due for a pure stealth ?GAME,? and SC is poised perfectly to fill that void if they do it as well as they?ve shown they can. I just hope they don?t fall into the modern microtransactions and iterative content trap; the LAST thing Sam Fisher needs is to show up late to the party with a 6-pack of Natty Light and a warm cheese tray he picked up at the corner store on his way there. One more bad showing, and he?ll likely never see the light of day again and Ubisoft will fall back on 48 more Assassins Creeds and no one wants that, science FACT.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Blacklist was my fave too. And yeah it was a bit off-putting at first with no Ironside voicing him, but the rest of the game more than made up for it. It's not a popular opinion but I rather liked the antagonist with their particular motivations. Though the actual terror plot was a bit typical - perhaps some form of obligated T.Clancy staple I would imagine - but all the connecting fluff around it was pretty great. The co-op mode and asymmetric versus game were appreciated additions. Pity not many gave it a chance really.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Blacklist was my fave too. And yeah it was a bit off-putting at first with no Ironside voicing him, but the rest of the game more than made up for it. It's not a popular opinion but I rather liked the antagonist with their particular motivations. Though the actual terror plot was a bit typical - perhaps some form of obligated T.Clancy staple I would imagine - but all the connecting fluff around it was pretty great. The co-op mode and asymmetric versus game were appreciated additions. Pity not many gave it a chance really.

Right? I?d say Chaos Theory and Blacklist share the throne for my favorite Splinter Cells, though Chaos Theory is likely more nostalgia and rose-colored glasses as I remember thinking it was the Second Coming of Christ for how gorgeous it looked and felt? on the Original Xbox.

But when Blacklist came out, after Double Agent and Conviction where I felt SC had lost it focus a bit, I was shocked at how good it was. I finished it, and the first question on my mind was ?why isn?t EVERYONE playing this?!?? It was incredible, everything I loved about Splinter Cell, all in one box, FINALLY. Dropping Ironside from the voice was the biggest misstep (I hope someone was fired over that brilliant idea,) though like you, I forgave it almost immediately. And don?t get me started on the multiplayer. When I first saw footage of 3rd-person spies with versus 1st-person mercs (can?t recall which iteration it came out in,) I was all in, ready to do multiplayer again because it was finally something DIFFERENT! Alas, none of my friends played Splinter Cell let alone were they about to go out and buy it for multiplayer, so sadly, I never got to really enjoy it. The concept is still awesome, giving opposing sides their own objectives beyond just ?kill the other team.?

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I've only played one, Double Agent, but I really liked it. I kept wanting to get the newer ones, but other games kept popping up. Fuck the multiplayer though, that sucked.

Wow, if you enjoyed the universally agreed upon worst game of the series, I really wish you?d check out the others! Certainly Chaos Theory and Blacklist, then maybe the first two (Splinter Cell and SC: Pandora Tomorrow,) then Conviction for grins.

Not a fan. I found MGS more fun, before the other writers left and Kojima lost his marbles.

Splinter cell did stealth better than MGS. not clitche animu story and boss fights and tons of action. Chaos theory is still better than all MGS games combine.

Chaos Theory is overrated. The gameplay was never that great. Having accuracy and speed dependent on the mouse wheel wasn't very functional. You'd have to roll down the wheel as fast as possible to get a good shot and then, so that Sam doesn't walk like a snail, roll it up again fast as you watched the meter. Made it feel too mechanical. Sam is the worst shot in the world. He must have Parkinson's Disease. The use of darkness was always kind of silly. A light bulb would illuminate much more space. The levels were a lot more linear than in MGS3 and didn't offer as much experimentation. The story was dull. The keypad hacking was convoluted. The objectives were sometimes obtuse.

If you?re going to indict Splinter Cell for its unrealistic rendering of lightbulbs, I shall indict Metal Gear on its use of the infamously silly cardboard box! XD

Double Agent is the last good Spinter Cell game, Conviction is the universaly agreed upon worse game in the series.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Double Agent is the last good Spinter Cell game, Conviction is the universaly agreed upon worse game in the series.

I'm calling "troll" on this one. XD

I don?t mean ?worst? as in ?bad;? I certainly enjoyed it; it was Splinter Cell-y enough to keep me entertained from start to finish. Maybe I should have said ?least acclaimed??

 

[Mcgeezaks]

It's 2017 and people still bother with Bcell.

Anyway, Blacklist was the best game in the series gameplay wise. I enjoyed the story and Sam Fisher more in Conviction, to replace Ironside was a mistake and it lacked good reasons to do so. When people compare it to changing the VA for Big Boss in MGSV I can't help but chuckle at the comparison.

If you?re going to indict Splinter Cell for its unrealistic rendering of lightbulbs, I shall indict Metal Gear on its use of the infamously silly cardboard box! XD

But he didn't indict the unrealistic rendering of light bulbs, he just said that it was a silly mechanic that could've been left out.

 

[Xprimentyl]

If you're going to indict Splinter Cell for its unrealistic rendering of lightbulbs, I shall indict Metal Gear on its use of the infamously silly cardboard box! XD

But he didn't indict the unrealistic rendering of light bulbs, he just said that it was a silly mechanic that could've been left out.

The use of darkness was always kind of silly. A light bulb would illuminate much more space.

Pointing out that a [real] lightbulb would illuminate much more space is an indictment of their realism, and not one I'm arguing; save simulators, every game bends natural rules to suit their purposes. I was simply lobbing the ball back to his court by pointing out that the use of a cardboard box in MG is equally silly. No basically trained guard would fail to notice a man-sized cardboard box moving around of its own volition. Furthermore, neither would a highly trained and specialized soldier carry a cardboard box around for hiding purposes.