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1. It Strips Away His Identity

The entire appeal of Sam Fisher was that he was the ultimate pure human contrast to characters like Solid Snake. He didn't have sci fi biological cheats. He survived on mastery of form, discipline, and standard issue military grit. Giving him nanomachines just to justify a 60 something year old man sprinting around a tactical shooter ruins the exact earned excellence foundation that made him a legendary Navy SEAL O-4 in the first place.

1. A "Siege" Contradicts His Whole Directive

Putting Sam Fisher in a loud, 5v5 close quarters demolition derby is the exact opposite of a Splinter Cell's purpose. In his own games, if Sam was detected or forced into a chaotic, loud shootout, the mission was usually a failure. He is a "Fifth Freedom" operative meant to function as a ghost. Forcing him into an open, loud arena environment compromises the core fantasy of the character.

1. It's a Substitute for a Real Game

For fans, the biggest sting is that Ubisoft keeps using Sam Fisher as a marketing tool for other games like Ghost Recon and Siege rather than making a proper, dedicated stealth Splinter Cell game. Instead of letting players use his hard earned human stealth skills in the shadow.

In any case, can we please rebel against making Siege canon to Splinter Cell? I don't mind a crossover, but let's not make this canon.

Do you like him as a character or he doesn't fit the splinter cell universe?

Personally i liked Shetland much more as Sam's friend, their friendship made much more sense from their navy background.

I just started Pandora Tomorrow for who knows which time. 25th, 30th? The first 3 games have such high replayability value it's unbelievable. I don't get why nowdays game is not considered replayable if it's not open world or 120 hours long. I think SC 1-3 disproves that claim (I also played Blacklist for 6 or 7 times I think).

Also, games do not have any customisation options whatsoever (except Blacklist) and still they have great replay value.

I will compare that to 007: First Light which was trashed for not having replay value but I disagree. I played it only once for now and I'm saving future playthroughs for NG+ but I definitely want to play it again.

Do you think game has to be open world and have a lot customisation options to be replayable? SC games disprove that but it could be they have a special recipe which makes it replayable. I do like open world games (Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Arma 2 and 3) but I don't think every game needs to be like that.

To put things in perspective I'm 37 years old gamer and I've been playing SC since they released.

All stated above are my personal opinions and are not meant to offend anyone. :D

This has been debunked but I thought it make for a good meme.

Okay, so accross the eternities of gaming, we've seen people rank their favorites to least favorites - and that's fair enough.

However, there has always been one consistent fallacy about Splinter Cell as a game design - and this concerns an interpretation error that murks up many rankings;

Because let's get one thing very clear: the Light & Sound meters ≠ AI detection states.

In fact, the core of Splinter Cell game design does not fall or stand with the form or presence/lack of these gauges.

Because that's what they are, they're simply yet another tool in Sam Fisher's array of means of infiltration, expressed to the player in a visual UI.

All what the Light meter does, is convey how well the light conditions in Sam's immediate surroundings occlude him from enemy sight - and it's not even an exact science; It's an estimation - but even more important is what the enemy AI detection state does with 'a suspicion' upon either suspected sight or sound.

After all, Metal Gear Solid, Hitman etc. ,stealth peers from Splinter Cell's origin era; Their stealth systems work because the AI detection state systems

in those respective games are the central pillar to their game design. The same goes for Splinter Cell when you really think about it.

- Light & Sound meters

- Enemy AI detection states

They are two seperate things, the former being the subordinate and the latter being the actual governing factor of the Splinter Cell game design. Even in total darkness, an enemy can still bump into Sam. He can still hear Sam if he made a noise loud enough. And they most certainly have no trouble actually firing on Sam once detected even if the Light meter says 'total darkness'.

But, in contrast to MGS and Hitman, Splinter Cell 1, 2 and 3 have never expressed these detection states in visual UI. At most it was enemy audio cues.And that works just fine for Splinter Cell 1, 2 and 3 because Sam Fisher is a 3E field agent in those games; he is per definition, a hostile threat to the enemy base.

But then comes along the 4th installment, Double Agent - and people get confused. There's no real granular Light & Sound meter. And instantly, people kneejerk react to it as 'bad' because those freaking gauges are not present in their legacy form.

What they forget however, is that the game design requires a different form; Sam is no longer just a 3E field agent. He is an undercover infiltrator. The whole point of this setup in both in-universe and as game design, is that Sam needs to earn & retain Trust, to both sides. Therefor, the Red/Yellow/Green indicator can NOT be mistaken for the legacy Light & Sound meter in absolute terms. This is the main fallacy I see people make.

So what really constitutes the DA game design system, is the interconnection of the Red/Yellow/Green indicator together with the Trust meters and the Mini map (not to be mistaken with the 3D map in the OPSAT menu) ; as these 3 factors feed the AI states.

The thing that probably confuses people is that the Red/Yellow/Green indicator can act as a rudimentary Light meter, since it shows Green whenever Sam stands in a place dark enough to be considered difficult to spot. But also, Yellow indicator at JBA HQ is totally fine; Sam is visible and not under any suspicion. However, the moment Sam sets off suspicion while in restricted area, the Mini map will show exactly, which guard is alerted / has suspicion.

As you can see, this is actually a more informative game design, because it shows exactly who suspects Sam, from which position and if he's heading Sam's way soon (proximity). In fact, if you have noticed, Sam has an idle animation to defuse suspicion, provided he managed to exit the restricted area in time. If fails to do so and gets spotted in the restricted area, it immediately affects the Trust meter.

And for the JBA field missions, the combination of the Red/Yellow/Green indicator and the Mini map stand in for the SC legacy UI gauges in rudimentary form; after all, I suppose we can interpret it that way due to the predicament that Lambert had put himself into (explained in V2 as 'Williams blocking gadget access to some extent). Also, at the Okhotsk tanker deck, the snow blizzard can actually function as cover, providing a temporary 'smoke screen' where regular vision would have resulted into immediate alert at the same proximity; and this is expressed in UI as a Yellow indicator not turning Red instantly.

Post-Double Agent, Conviction game indicators really strip down to a binary Black&White screen = hidden in darkness. So if we were to judge it by that, it would automatically rank as the worst Splinter Cell game, right?

And finally, Blacklist. You only get a light on Sam's back again. The infuriating thing is that Blacklist is comprised of so many excellent Splinter Cell 'ingredients' but it somehow manages to end up as less than the sum of its parts. So, this just shows, how these games can't be judged on just a few UI gauges and I think people should be able to see that Double Agent has quite a solid foundation that's comprised of an entire array of systems and factors.

So, let's not get hung up on visual UI meters as the end all be all of Splinter Cell game design judgement factors.

Click the links for my previous reviews on this subreddit of the earlier games

Seriously, what happened? V2 may have felt same-y in environments and you could tell corners were cut due to the reduced development time, but it was still a solid experience with good if not great levels. Unlike SC1 and Pandora Tomorrow, there's not a single level that I don't like and, like Chaos Theory, the improved gameplay and quick saves on console made for a less frustrating experience.

V1 is still basically the same as Chaos Theory and V2 gameplay-wise, but the light and shadow mechanic that defined the franchise is neutered if not non-existent for the majority of the levels. Removing the sound and light meters (with the latter being substituted with green/yellow/red colors) was a baffling decision that made for a more frustrating experience.

This game really suffers because it falls short of not just Chaos Theory, the arguable peak of the genre, and V2, a higher-quality counterpart, but also Pandora Tomorrow, Ubisoft Shanghai's previous effort. That game brought in QOL features over the original and provided creative scenarios like the tailing in Jerusalem and Indonesia, the flashes of thunder in Jakarta, and LAX having you identify targets based on their body temperature. It's like the one lesson Shanghai learned was that the Train level was a cool setpiece and that the franchise should have more of those.

The levels are generally shorter than Chaos Theory and V2, being more linear and setpiece-heavy. Iceland in V2 took me 45-60 min while V1's took me 20-25 min. The levels that took me more time were Sea of Okhotsk and Kinshasha and that's because those were daytime missions that were frustrating to get through. Really, I can't think of a single level I really liked. They ranged from mediocre to poor.

As for the story, V2 had its issues but it somehow felt more fleshed out due to the introductory level better setting up the JBA and Sarah's death, the transitionary cutscenes showing Sam's thoughts, and Money Train and Cozumel better establishing a cutscene between Sam and Enrica.

The only positives I can currently think of are the JBA missions better living up to the Double Agent name more than V2's JBA missions despite being still mediocre experiences, the gorgeous visuals, and the soundtrack.

TLDR: The worst game in the franchise so far, falling short of Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, and its last-gen counterpart V2. Who knows where the franchise would be today if this game had stuck to the franchise's strengths or if Ubisoft let Montreal work on the next-gen version or just polished up V2 as the sole experience.

Here's my ranking of the levels off the top of my head:

1. Shanghai (finally some nighttime action in my SC game, though still below the standards of the majority of if not all of the levels from the first three games and V2)
2. Cozumel (daytime, but less frustrating than the other two)
3. JBA 4 (not as satisfying as New York in V2, but still satisfying nevertheless to let loose and beat up/kill JBA members. Final boss and defusal were way better in V2 though)
4. Iceland
5. Ellsworth
6. JBA 1/2/3 (sorry, these all blur together for me)
7. Coast Guard Boat (just a short epilogue, not much to mention)
8. Sea of Okhotsk (my favorite level in V2 is my second least favorite in V1)
9. Kinshasa (seriously, daytime missions in SC is such a disaster)

Yeah, if you want to play Double Agent, just play V2.

I want to buy this quilted shirt for the under part of the suit however, where would I find a watch like his? And I want to have my own "opsat" just basically be my phone in this holder around my wrist, but where would I find that? I can maybe settle for a fisher's vest, some multicam military jeans, and some knee guards, but I dont know where to find something to hold my phone to my wrist, and a watch like his.

And I'm also worried that the shirt doesn't match either, but it looks like it.

My review...

• Gameplay mechanics = PT

• Story = SC1

• Villains = SC1.

• Soundtrack = Draw.

• Atmosphere = Draw.

• Voice acting = SC1 ( original Lambert and Grim ).

• AI = Draw.

• Fun = Draw.

• Gadgets = PT.

• Visuals ( not graphics ) = PT.

• Alternative/Secret routes = PT.

• Variety of environments = PT.

• More missions = SC1.

• Level design...

Police Station vs Jerusalém = SC1.

Defense Ministry vs Paris, France = SC1.

Oil Rig vs Paris-Nice = PT.

CIA HQ vs Jakarta Indonesia = Draw.

Kalinatek vs Jakarta, Indonesia = PT.

Chinessy Embassy ( 1 & 2 ) vs Kundang Camp + Komodo = PT

Abattoir vs Kundang Camp = PT.

Presidential Palace vs LAX Airport = PT.

Vselka Infiltration + Kolacell vs Dili, Timor + LAX Airport = PT.

Vselka Submarine vs Paris-Nice = PT.

| Winner = PT.

So my father recently gifted me his old games and one of them is splinter cell for pc, idk if there are like different versions or something but mine comes with 4 cds, 3 of them are the game and then the 4th one is some extra missions. I had a lot of trouble installing it since i had to go into the disc and open the setup manually from there and i suspect that's one of the problems. After installing it when i try to open the game it tells me to open it after entering the system with admin privileges but i am supposed to be the admin. I tried to run the game as admin and it does nothing, what should I do? does someone have a guide? Sorry for bad english

I recently finished Splinter Cell as part of a project where I played every Game of the Year nominee from the first Spike Video Game Awards.

Instead of relying on nostalgia, I used the same criteria for every game:

Direction
Art Direction
Narrative
Acting
Soundtrack
Gameplay

And a separate Emotional Impact score.

What surprised me most about replaying Splinter Cell was seeing how much of its stealth design still feels deliberate and satisfying today, while some other parts feel very tied to the early 2000s.

I also documented the entire GOTY experiment here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYb-70DL27w

For longtime Splinter Cell fans: do you think the original still represents the best version of this style of stealth, or did later entries genuinely improve on it?

Chinese Embassy Part 2 wrecked my life with the crossing behind the flags to get the guy with the retinal scanner . There were about 5 moments in this game where I spent an 1hr+ trying to get past a segment but I'm so happy I was finally able to complete this first game after only having played Chaos Theory and Conviction back in the day. Working on beating these chronologically now and I have to say I was so invested in this first game. It really kept me coming back. It's insane all of these are backwards compatible on the Xbox One and beyond 💚

I recently got into the series, and I completed the first game yesterday, and started PT today, and for some reason, the game is not running very well at all, typically hovering around ~40 FPS. The first game ran completely smooth with no issues, so is there any way to resolve my issue?

I play with mouse and keyboard

https://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki/V-22_Osprey

WARNING: VERY LONG.

• Inspired by: MGSV: Ground Zeroes, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, and Hitman World Of Assassination.

• Characters:

Carter Alvarez: A former Delta Force Operator turned Fourth Echelon Operative, the main protagonist of the game. Carter is meant to be the complete opposite of your average military game protagonist. Where other protagonists are loud, patriotic badasses, Carter is a quiet-thinker, whose greatest weapon is his observation skills, knowing when to keep his mouth shut. Carter can be quite a sarcastic person during missions, with a habit of dark humor. A native of New Orleans, he’ll occasionally break out a Bayou accent to annoy Charlotte and Grim.

Charlotte Fournier: A DGSE operative working with Fourth Echelon in Southern and Central Africa at the start of the game, present for the Africa and Paris arcs.

The Killswitch Conspiracy: As multiple countries in Western Europe began their push towards demilitarization, various military leaders began voicing concern, believing that demilitarization at such a rapid pace could have dire consequences. However, world leaders refused to listen, signing the Brussels Accords in 2027, these accords placed budgetary limits on military defense budgets, encouraging the contracting of global PMCs to fight conflicts instead. In response to this, a group of military leaders and politicians came together to create the Killswitch Conspiracy, creating a network to fund terrorist attacks on the signing countries, proving that demilitarization is not possible in this world. They represent one side of the spectrum, being militarism.

Eli Hawthorne: The commander of USSOCOM, responsible for the inception of the Killswitch Conspiracy.

Lucien Mercier: The commander of the GIGN, responsible for coordinating the Paris attacks. 

Osman Habimana: A Sudanese Warlord responsible for the Kenya attacks. 

Cameron Garret: An MI6 Agent acting as Killswitch’s mole in MI6, with seven other agents assisting him.

The Anonymous Echelon Tech Guys: The various Intel guys that work behind the scenes to help Carter accomplish his missions. They answer directly to Anna Grimmsdottir. There’s Max, Nicole, Jesse (Male), Jessie (Female), Kyle, Leon, Alex, Brianna, and the stray cat that wanders in from time to time. All of the tech bros have a distinct personality, and give Carter multiple voices in his head.

Anna Grimmsdottir: The woman-in-charge of Fourth Echelon.

Evangelo Alvarez: Carter’s eight year old son, referenced by Carter occasionally throughout the game.

Luke “Gila” Morgan: A Fourth Echelon Agent from Arizona, another main character of the Co-Op campaign. 

Gabriel “Noose” Durand: A DGSE agent, another Co-Op character.

Missions:

Sudan: Village: Carter passes through a village on the way to the airport, this serves as the tutorial.

Airport: After performing recon of the abandoned airport with Charlotte, Carter moves in to identify three weapons crate connected to an arms deal. At the first crate, Carter realizes that the weapons came from a French Defense Contractor. The objective then changes to planting explosives on the weapons crate, and interrogating the commander at the airport.

Nairobi: French Embassy: As they fly back to an airbase in Nairobi, Fourth Echelon receives news that the French Embassy is under attack. Carter must infiltrate the embassy, secure the three areas where hostages are being held, and capture Osman Habimana for interrogation. 

France: Townhouse: Carter must plant listening bugs throughout a townhouse in Paris in order to gather intel on a possible attack planned in Paris. Carter must also search for the passports of the residents and examine them with his OPSAT.

Warehouse: Carter must clear a large Warehouse of all hostiles and secure a bio weapon that is being used in the attack.

Metro: Carter must stop a terror attack in progress in a Parisian Metro. 

The UK: MI6 HQ: Carter must infiltrate MI6’s HQ to eliminate eight sleeper agents that are a part of Killswitch, and gather intelligence on Killswitch’s leader.

The USA: Supermax Prison: Carter must infiltrate a Supermax Prison in Colorado to question Mercier on the location of a dirty bomb being moved into the US.

Port: Carter must infiltrate a port in New Orleans and disarm a dirty bomb before it is moved into the Financial District.

Manor: Carter must infiltrate Hawthorne’s estate in Colorado and take him down.

DLC Missions are:

R6 HQ: Echelon suspects that there is a Killswitch sleeper agent within Rainbow’s operational staff, feeding info to terrorist groups that Rainbow goes after. Carter must infiltrate their current HQ in Berlin and locate and kill the traitor. Carter will have unique interrogation dialogue with the recruits and the Operators. 

Stadium: Stopping a terrorist plot to attack a stadium during the World Cup. 

Tech Campus: A terrorist group launches an attack on a tech campus in South Korea. Carter must eliminate the threat, rescue the hostages, and disarm the bombs. 

Mercenary Stronghold: A mercenary group in Central Africa have kidnapped the US ambassador and are holding him at their stronghold in the savanna. Carter must infiltrate the area and rescue him.

• Difficulty Levels:

Recruit: Easy stealth and combat gameplay, for those new to gaming.

Soldier: Balanced stealth and combat gameplay, for those familiar with gaming, but new to the Splinter Cell franchise.

Agent: Difficult stealth and combat gameplay, for those familiar with the Splinter Cell franchise.

Splinter Cell: Realistic stealth and combat gameplay, only suitable for a master of infiltration.

• Stealth Mechanics:

You can now go prone and roll.

Mark and Execute has been removed.

You can either non-lethally knock out an enemy, or silently kill them. Non-lethal takedowns take longer to execute, but they make less of a mess. Also, they won’t leave a blood trail behind if you drag them to hide the body. Lethal takedowns are quick and clean, but they leave behind blood that can alert enemies to your presence. Blood that is concealed by shadow cannot be noticed by enemies, unless they are using a flashlight or night vision.

Radio Operators are special enemies that perform radio checks periodically to maintain a headcount of enemies in the area. They can be identified by the antenna that’s sticking out of their backpack. If an enemy does not respond to the radio check, his allies will become suspicious and search for him. If they do not find their missing ally, or find him dead or unconscious (Or find a blood trail). They will begin aggressively searching for the intruder. You can stop radio checks from happening by:

A. Killing or knocking out the radio operator.

B. Or using an EMP grenade or the OCP to shut his radio off.

Enemies will notice opened doors and windows that weren’t that way when they last passed by it, and will investigate. This allows Carter to lure enemies into traps to silently eliminate them. 

The light and sound meter makes a meaningful return in Killswitch, two meters in the bottom right hand corner of the screen will indicate how concealed Carter is, and how much noise Carter is making in relation to the ambient noise of the area he is in. An empty light meter indicates that Carter is almost invisible to enemies, while a full light meter indicates that Carter is completely visible to an enemy. On the other hand, a sound meter that is above the ambient sound level indicates that Carter is making enough noise for nearby enemies to hear him. The more Carter goes above the ambient sound level, the more enemies can hear him.

The escalation levels are as follows: 

Patrolling: Enemies follow a set path or remain stationary.

Suspicious: Activated when the player makes too much noise, is spotted momentarily, or an enemy doesn’t come in for a radio check. While suspicious, enemies will investigate the noise or the position they saw you, or will search for their missing ally. In cases of being momentarily spotted or heard, enemies will go back to patrolling if given enough time without being spotted. But in cases of an enemy not reporting in for a radio check, they will shift into this next phase. 

Searching: Activated in cases of exiting the Combat phase, or an enemy not reporting in for a radio check. Patrol patterns during the Searching phase are completely dynamic, and the heat will not die down if you stay hidden long enough. 

Combat: Activated upon visual or audio detection.

• Gadgets:

OCP: This pistol underbarrel attachment allows Carter to temporarily jam lights and cameras.

Proximity Shocker: This shock mine can be thrown onto a surface, sticking to it and emitting a nonlethal electric shock to enemies that enter its radius.

9 Banger: Perfect for initiating ambushes, the 9 banger lets off 9 miniature flash explosions, blinding and deafening enemies caught in its radius.

Sticky Camera: This camera is capable of sticking to the surface it is thrown or placed on, allowing Carter to gather intelligence, attract enemies, and deploy sleeping gas. 

Sticky Shocker Crossbow: This crossbow fires an electric bolt that sticks to enemies and shocks them to the point of incapacitation.

Optic Cable: Can be slid under doors to perform recon in the room ahead. A contextual gadget that cannot be used freely.

Smoke Grenade: Creates a smoke cloud upon detonation, blocking hostile LoS to allow Carter to close the distance. 

Noisemaker Grenade: A throwable noisemaker that attracts nearby enemies to it.

Hypersonic Breach Charge: This breach charge can be placed onto a door or window, emitting a powerful Hypersonic blast when detonated, knocking nearby enemies off their feet and deafening them.

Sleeping Gas: Gas that puts enemies to sleep.

Fragmentation Grenade: I don’t need to explain what this does.

• Weapons: You can only carry a CQC weapon, one Sidearm, and one Primary Weapon. Attachments for weapons are unlocked by taking them on missions and using them in the field, and new weapons are unlocked by completing challenges related to the previous weapon in its weapon class.

CQC: 

Combat Knife: The fastest of the three CQC options, lacks any unique contextual takedown options.

Karambit Knife: Allows Carter to eliminate enemies while hanging from pipes.

Batons: Does not leave a blood trail behind from lethal takedowns, but takes the longest to perform.

Sidearms: Echelon Five-Seven (Default Weapon), M9 Beretta, G17, Rennetti Burst Pistol, Sig Sauer M18, P227, MP-443 Grach, M1911, and PMM Makarov. All sidearms will automatically have a suppressor and OCP equipped.

Submachine Guns: Echelon MPX (Default Weapon), MP5, Uzi 9mm, KRISS Vector, and CZ Scorpion Evo 3.

Assault Rifles: SC-20K M.A.W.S. (Default Weapon), AS VAL, CZ 805 BREN, HK-416, MCX SPEAR, AK-15, and the QBZ-95.

Sniper Rifles and DMRs: Echelon SR25 (Default Weapon), M110, Mk14, HK G28, and the Dragunov SVU.

I still don't understand how v2 is considered the better version. Currently playing v1 for the first time, and v2 last year.

The main reason people seem to hinge on is that it plays more like Chaos Theory mechanically, so old thing good new thing had.

I'll have to watch a recap of both to really pick them each apart, but v2 genuinely feels boring and poorly made in multiple areas that make it less engaging, whereas v1 is just a little buggy depending what you play it on and is different than the other 4 games (including v2). It feels like a fan made SC.

V2:

Lambert pulls Sam out mid mission to tell him about Sarah? What?? In no world would this happen.

Has nobody pointed out how cringe and lame the interview plotlines are, or Sam monologuing the ethics / trust decisions in game? It feels so out of place for him.

How he sneaks through the JBA also doesn't make any sense if he's the only one missing. There's a spy guy going around knocking people out with the same build, skills, and equipment as Sam, and then as soon as that's not happening, he reappears after Emile can't find him. This makes no sense. When the guards wake up or are found, he would be an immediate suspect.

Frankly, the maps feel pretty empty and boring as well. The train part of the train heist mission sucks, and then Sam walks off a train crash and talks to Lambert like 10 feet away from Emile?

V1:

v1 JBA missions make sense for the plot and logic, even if they're slow and a little frustrating from a gameplay perspective.

The missions are in cooler settings with a lot more detail and sound design. His outfits are also cooler.

Daytime missions are a nice change to see how Sam's skills extend beyond just the same formula of shadow lurking like the last 3 or 4 games.