Splinter Cell
Encyclopedia
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels. The protagonist, Sam Fisher, is presented as a highly-trained agent of a fictional black-ops
sub-division within the NSA
, dubbed "Third Echelon". The player guides Fisher, who usually has the iconic trifocal goggles at his disposal, to overcoming his adversaries in levels based on Unreal engines that were extended to emphasise light and darkness as gameplay elements. All the console
and PC games in the series were critically acclaimed, and the series is commercially successful.
in North America on November 19, 2002. It uses an Unreal Engine 2 that was modified to allow the light-and-dark based gameplay.
platform. Through a series of flashback missions, the player learns more about Sam Fisher's back story. The game was critically received much worse than the others in the series: While the graphics were considered high-quality for the PSP, the multiplayer was almost unplayable. The game was also criticized for not being able to be played on the go, because it requires a dark environment.
At E3 2009, the developers confirmed that the "new" Conviction had been in development since early 2008, commenting that "the gameplay has evolved a lot" and "the visual direction is simply much better". The game's release date was pushed back several times. On March 18, 2010, the demo was released for Xbox 360.
Ubisoft wanted to make the fifth game more accessible. so Conviction was designed around the new core elements "Mark and Execute" and "Last Known Position", while stealth elements present in the previous games were de-emphasized. Conviction uses a cover system and adds simple interrogation sequences to the series.
under the pseudonym David Michaels
. The plot follows Sam Fisher
as he investigates a terrorist group called "The Shadows" and a related arms-dealing organization named "The Shop". Members of "The Shop" use inside information to attempt to kill "Third Echelon" members, including Fisher. Shortly after its publication in December 2004, it spent 3 weeks on the New York Times list of bestsellers. It also made it to the list of Wall Street Journal mass-market paperback bestsellers.
took over as author behind the David Michaels pseudonym, Benson having declared that he was "finished with Splinter Cell". Unlike the first two books, Checkmate is not written from the first person
perspective of Fisher, nor does Checkmate continue the running subplots that were established in the previous. This novel was released on November 7, 2006.
The book starts off with a ship by the name of trego sailing towards the American east coast. Sam Fisher is called in from a training mission to disable the ship. After Fisher stops the ship from disemboweling the American west coast with nuclear waste he is informed that a town by the name of Slipstone has just been radioactively attacked and 5,000+ people are dead. All these events lead to more questions which eventually leads Fisher to Ukraine, Iran, Dubai, and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. This book is known for its many spelling mistakes and spontaneous scene changes.
-type unit of single covert operatives (such as Sam Fisher) who are supported in the field by a high-tech remote team.
In the first three games (Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory), terrorists are planning attacks, usually by use of information warfare
, which Sam Fisher, an operative for Third Echelon, a secret branch of the NSA, must prevent. The missions range from gathering intelligence to capturing and/or eliminating terrorists.
In the fourth game, Double Agent, Fisher assumes the identity of a wanted criminal in order to infiltrate a terrorist ring.
The fifth game, Conviction, starts after events in the conclusion of Double Agent: Sam has abandoned Third Echelon. When he discovers that the death of his daughter Sarah had not been an accident (as had been purported at the beginning of Double Agent), he strikes out on his own in search of those responsible.
) were impossible to make. The creators argued that having two separate sets of goggles would have made for awkward gameplay and convinced Clancy to allow it. This also gave the Splinter Cell series a recognizable signature, a desirable feature. Conviction allows a third module to be accessed, a sonar module that can scan through walls for interactable objects, such as weapons, people, and consoles.
The trifocal goggles however, didn't remain completely fictional. In 2004, Northrop Grumman
produced and delivered one such device. The device, called Fused Multispectral Weapon Sight (FMWS) was capable of combining thermal and intensified imaging. Later in 2007, ITT Industries developed another such device, designated AN/PSQ-20
.
. The main recurring ones are:
version of Double Agent parallel those of Sam's actions in the single-player modes, letting players act on information he obtained or provide support in the field.
Double Agent introduces a morality factor: Fisher may now encounter conflicting objectives between his superiors and the terrorists. For example, the terrorists may assign a mission to assassinate someone, while the NSA simultaneously instructs the player to prevent the assassination. This creates a delicate balancing act between gaining the trust of the terrorists and fulfilling the mission assignments. In addition, Fisher must not do anything to reveal to the terrorists that he is a double agent (such as let himself be seen with an NSA gadget), otherwise he will lose instantly.
Conviction utilizes a much faster and more violent form of stealth action gameplay than previous games in the series. It retains the cooperative multiplayer mode of the two preceding games.
The weapons that Sam Fisher uses are based more accurately on current real-world weapons which behave accordingly and all weapons can be upgraded by a points system. This points system is secondary to the main storyline and is achievement based. For example, if you perform 50 total headshots without alerting other enemies, you will be awarded 500 points. These points may be used to add silencers, sights, upgraded ammo, laser targeting and other upgrades, with up to three upgrades per weapon.
This game provides an interactive mission update sequence that is built in to the levels themselves. Instead of getting an objective-bar popup, the objective may appear in bold white text on the side of a building or infront of a barricade. This adds to the immersion and keeps the HUD clutter free. The stealth element of the game allows you to hide in shadows and become almost invisible and if there are no shadows, feel free to shoot out the lights and create them. Guards may be assassinated by silenced weapons, gadgets or hand-to-hand combat or the player may simply go for all-out war - though this method is faster it is much harder. After the player successfully completes a hand-to-hand kill, they are provided with an 'execution' which allows the player to tag two to four enemies (depending on the weapon selected) and trigger the execution animation. Fisher will then dispatch all targeted enemies within seconds in extra-ordinary fashion making this very useful for taking out small crowds of armed guards.
Interactive interrogation cutscenes where Fisher beats up a target for information do not require the player to do anything other than press [Interrogate]. Though if the player happens to be near an interactive object like a television or table, Fisher may use that to alter the standard animation.
, the original game was developed so that Ubisoft's Montreal studio could demonstrate its full potential. After Rainbow Six
and Ghost Recon
, "special ops was the natural next step" for Tom Clancy
endorsed games.
to allow the light-and-dark-based gameplay style. The other games continued this, using updated versions of the engine.
By the release of the latest game - Conviction - the engine had been upgraded to Unreal Engine 3. The game had active shadows on all consoles not simply as a graphical function - as in most games - but as a gameplay enhancer for the sake of the game's steal features. This meant that more coding for the game was required and overall, required a powerful desktop computer in order to get the best clarity and performance.
Black operation
A black operation or black op is a covert operation typically involving activities that are highly clandestine and often outside of standard military protocol or even against the law.-Origins:...
sub-division within the NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
, dubbed "Third Echelon". The player guides Fisher, who usually has the iconic trifocal goggles at his disposal, to overcoming his adversaries in levels based on Unreal engines that were extended to emphasise light and darkness as gameplay elements. All the console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
and PC games in the series were critically acclaimed, and the series is commercially successful.
Games
| Year | Title | Developer(s) | Platform(s) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Sony , commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues.... |
Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions... |
Nintendo Nintendo is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel.... |
Other | |||||||
| 2002 2003 2004 |
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec... Ubisoft Shanghai Ubisoft Shanghai Ubisoft Shanghai is a Chinese video game developer whose headquarters is located in Shanghai. The studio is known for working in various games in the Tom Clancy franchise. The studio is also the second largest Chinese video game studio and the second largest Ubisoft studio.-Games developed:... Gameloft Gameloft Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world.... |
PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... PS3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... 1 |
Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... |
GameCube Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia... GBA Game Boy Advance The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China... |
Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... N-Gage N-Gage The N-Gage is a mobile telephone and handheld game system by Nokia, based on the Nokia Series 60 platform, released in October 2003. It began sales on October 7, 2003. The N-Gage QD replaced the original N-Gage in 2004.... |
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| 2004 2005 |
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is an action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft Shanghai, while Ubisoft Montreal, creator of the original Splinter Cell, was working on Chaos Theory. Pandora Tomorrow is the second game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by... |
Ubisoft Shanghai Ubisoft Shanghai Ubisoft Shanghai is a Chinese video game developer whose headquarters is located in Shanghai. The studio is known for working in various games in the Tom Clancy franchise. The studio is also the second largest Chinese video game studio and the second largest Ubisoft studio.-Games developed:... Ubisoft Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.... Gameloft Gameloft Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world.... |
PS2 PS31 |
Windows Xbox |
GameCube GBA |
Mobile Mobile phone A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator... |
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| 2005 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a critically acclaimed action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft. Chaos Theory is the third game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy.... |
Gameloft Gameloft Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world.... Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec... |
PS2 PS31 |
Windows Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
GameCube DS Nintendo DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... 3DS Nintendo 3DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software... 2 |
N-Gage Mobile |
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| 2006 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials is a video game in the Splinter Cell series for the PlayStation Portable handheld system.-Story:... |
Ubisoft Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.... |
PSP PlayStation Portable The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... |
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| 2006 2007 |
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent is an action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft. The series, endorsed by American author Tom Clancy, follows the character Sam Fisher, an agent employed by a black-ops division of the National Security Agency, dubbed Third... |
Ubisoft Shanghai Ubisoft Shanghai Ubisoft Shanghai is a Chinese video game developer whose headquarters is located in Shanghai. The studio is known for working in various games in the Tom Clancy franchise. The studio is also the second largest Chinese video game studio and the second largest Ubisoft studio.-Games developed:... Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec... |
PS2 PS3 |
Windows Xbox 360 |
GameCube Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... |
Mobile | ||||
| 2010 2011 |
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is an action-adventure stealth game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal. Key members of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas team, such as creative director Maxime Béland, also worked on the game... |
Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec... Gameloft Gameloft Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world.... |
Windows 360 Windows Phone 7 Windows Phone 7 Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market... |
Mac OS X iOS Mobile |
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| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 63 | Ubisoft Toronto Ubisoft Toronto Ubisoft Toronto is a subsidiary of French video game developer Ubisoft located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2009, Ubisoft Toronto was officially announced on 6 July 2009 with the studio location being officially confirmed on 4 December 2009.... |
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Notes
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell was developed in 2 years, after which it was first released for the XboxXbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
in North America on November 19, 2002. It uses an Unreal Engine 2 that was modified to allow the light-and-dark based gameplay.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Pandora Tomorrow was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai and introduced multiplayer gameplay to the Splinter Cell series. In single-player mode, the game AI adapts to adjust to the player's skill level.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Ubisoft Montreal was again responsible for the third game in the series, Chaos Theory. It adds a cooperative multiplayer mode. Originally announced to be released in Fall 2004, its initial releases were made at the end of March 2005. Again the Unreal Engine was heavily modified, this time from version 2.5.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials
Essentials extends the Splinter Cell series to the PSPPSP
PSP most commonly refers to the PlayStation Portable, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment.PSP may also refer to:-Computing and programming:*Corel Paint Shop Pro, a graphics editor...
platform. Through a series of flashback missions, the player learns more about Sam Fisher's back story. The game was critically received much worse than the others in the series: While the graphics were considered high-quality for the PSP, the multiplayer was almost unplayable. The game was also criticized for not being able to be played on the go, because it requires a dark environment.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
For the series' fourth installment, two separate versions were created, one for generation six consoles and the other for generation seven consoles as well as PCs. Double Agent features a "trust system" that presents the player with moral dilemmas.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Conviction was officially announced on May 23, 2007 when Ubisoft released a trailer for the game. The game was due for release on November 16, 2007. However, the game missed its initial launch date, and on May 19, 2008, it was reported that Splinter Cell: Conviction was "officially on hold" and that the game had been taken "back to the drawing board". Ubisoft announced that the game had been pushed back to the 2009-10 fiscal year.At E3 2009, the developers confirmed that the "new" Conviction had been in development since early 2008, commenting that "the gameplay has evolved a lot" and "the visual direction is simply much better". The game's release date was pushed back several times. On March 18, 2010, the demo was released for Xbox 360.
Ubisoft wanted to make the fifth game more accessible. so Conviction was designed around the new core elements "Mark and Execute" and "Last Known Position", while stealth elements present in the previous games were de-emphasized. Conviction uses a cover system and adds simple interrogation sequences to the series.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2004)
Splinter Cell is the first installment of a series of novels based on the successful video game series. It was written by Raymond BensonRaymond Benson
Raymond Benson is an American author best known for being the official author of the adult James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973...
under the pseudonym David Michaels
David Michaels
David Michaels is a pseudonym for the authors of novels in the Splinter Cell, EndWar, H.A.W.X , and Ghost Recon series, all of which were created by Ubisoft Entertainment and developed under Ubisoft's Tom Clancy license...
. The plot follows Sam Fisher
Sam Fisher
Samuel "Sam" Fisher is the protagonist of the Splinter Cell series of video games and novels . His full name is first seen in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, the first game of the series, when he was using the computer in the V-22 Osprey to encrypt his call home...
as he investigates a terrorist group called "The Shadows" and a related arms-dealing organization named "The Shop". Members of "The Shop" use inside information to attempt to kill "Third Echelon" members, including Fisher. Shortly after its publication in December 2004, it spent 3 weeks on the New York Times list of bestsellers. It also made it to the list of Wall Street Journal mass-market paperback bestsellers.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005)
In Operation Barracuda, which was released on November 1, 2005, and which also made the New York Times bestseller list, Raymond Benson (again as David Michaels) continues the story of the first Splinter Cell novel.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006)
For Checkmate, Grant BlackwoodGrant Blackwood
Grant Blackwood is an American thriller writer and ghostwriter. He wrote the Briggs Tanner series. He co-authored with Clive Cussler Spartan Gold which reached number 10 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list...
took over as author behind the David Michaels pseudonym, Benson having declared that he was "finished with Splinter Cell". Unlike the first two books, Checkmate is not written from the first person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
perspective of Fisher, nor does Checkmate continue the running subplots that were established in the previous. This novel was released on November 7, 2006.
The book starts off with a ship by the name of trego sailing towards the American east coast. Sam Fisher is called in from a training mission to disable the ship. After Fisher stops the ship from disemboweling the American west coast with nuclear waste he is informed that a town by the name of Slipstone has just been radioactively attacked and 5,000+ people are dead. All these events lead to more questions which eventually leads Fisher to Ukraine, Iran, Dubai, and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. This book is known for its many spelling mistakes and spontaneous scene changes.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout (2007)
On November 6, 2007, Fallout, was published, Blackwood's second Splinter Cell novel and the fourth in the series. The story follows Sam Fisher as he combats Islamic fundamentalists who have taken over the government of Kyrgystan.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2009)
Conviction, is the tie-in novel to the game with the same name. It was published on November 3, 2009 and was written by Peter Telep under the name David Michaels. In this book you follow Sam Fisher after the killing of Lambert. Fisher is on the run and has gone rogue. For now. He is being chased by a team of rookie Splinter Cells lead by Ben Hansen. But tales of treason and betrayal are being heard by Sam and he will not let Lambert die in vain.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Endgame (2009)
Endgame is the second tie-in to the Conviction game. It covers the same events as the Conviction novel from the point of view of Fisher's antagonists. It was published on December 1, 2009. This time around we are following the pursuit team behind Sam. Told from the perspective of Ben Hansen and the rest of the team, you can see how close they were to catching Fisher and the events to follow a revelation.Plot and themes
The first game explains that "Splinter Cell" refers to an elite reconReconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
-type unit of single covert operatives (such as Sam Fisher) who are supported in the field by a high-tech remote team.
In the first three games (Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory), terrorists are planning attacks, usually by use of information warfare
Information warfare
The term Information Warfare is primarily an American concept involving the use and management of information technology in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent...
, which Sam Fisher, an operative for Third Echelon, a secret branch of the NSA, must prevent. The missions range from gathering intelligence to capturing and/or eliminating terrorists.
In the fourth game, Double Agent, Fisher assumes the identity of a wanted criminal in order to infiltrate a terrorist ring.
The fifth game, Conviction, starts after events in the conclusion of Double Agent: Sam has abandoned Third Echelon. When he discovers that the death of his daughter Sarah had not been an accident (as had been purported at the beginning of Double Agent), he strikes out on his own in search of those responsible.
Trifocal goggles
A device used for seeing in the dark features strongly in the series. Originally, Tom Clancy had rejected the idea of Sam Fisher having these "trifocal goggles", having stated that such goggles (with both thermal vision and night visionNight vision
Night vision is the ability to see in low light conditions. Whether by biological or technological means, night vision is made possible by a combination of two approaches: sufficient spectral range, and sufficient intensity range...
) were impossible to make. The creators argued that having two separate sets of goggles would have made for awkward gameplay and convinced Clancy to allow it. This also gave the Splinter Cell series a recognizable signature, a desirable feature. Conviction allows a third module to be accessed, a sonar module that can scan through walls for interactable objects, such as weapons, people, and consoles.
The trifocal goggles however, didn't remain completely fictional. In 2004, Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
produced and delivered one such device. The device, called Fused Multispectral Weapon Sight (FMWS) was capable of combining thermal and intensified imaging. Later in 2007, ITT Industries developed another such device, designated AN/PSQ-20
AN/PSQ-20
The AN/PSQ-20 Enhanced Night Vision Goggle is a monocular passive night vision device developed for the United States military by ITT Industries. It fuses image-intensifying and thermal-imaging technologies, enabling vision in conditions with very little light. The two methods can be used...
.
Characters
The characters of the games, as well as the organization "Third Echelon", were created by JT PettyJT Petty
JT Petty is an American film director, author, and video game writer. His films and novels contain elements of the horror genre. He is best known for his writing on the Ubisoft video game, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell...
. The main recurring ones are:
- Sam Fisher is the main protagonist of the series. The character ranks 24th on the "Guinness Top 50 Video Game Characters of All Time" list.
- Irving Lambert, leader of "Third Echelon", serves as the player's guide by leading Fisher through the games' missions, until he is killed by Sam in Double Agent.
- Anna Grimsdóttír is portrayed as an official Third Echelon hacker and analyst, who helps Fisher when technical obstacles need to be overcome. In Conviction she takes over the role of guide from the deceased Lambert; her character also becomes the source of dramatic tension in the story.
Gameplay
The encouraged way to progress through the games is to remain hidden, select non-obvious routes, and utilize diversions to pass guards. The first game in the series only features a single-player mode, Pandora Tomorrow introduces a two-on-two multiplayer mode. Chaos Theory further develops that mode and introduces a cooperative mode. Cooperative mode plays similarly to the single player mode, but adds situations that can only be overcome as a team. The cooperative storylines in Chaos Theory and the sixth generationHistory of video game consoles (sixth generation)
The sixth-generation era refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at the turn of the 21st century. Platforms of the sixth generation include the Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Xbox...
version of Double Agent parallel those of Sam's actions in the single-player modes, letting players act on information he obtained or provide support in the field.
Double Agent introduces a morality factor: Fisher may now encounter conflicting objectives between his superiors and the terrorists. For example, the terrorists may assign a mission to assassinate someone, while the NSA simultaneously instructs the player to prevent the assassination. This creates a delicate balancing act between gaining the trust of the terrorists and fulfilling the mission assignments. In addition, Fisher must not do anything to reveal to the terrorists that he is a double agent (such as let himself be seen with an NSA gadget), otherwise he will lose instantly.
Conviction utilizes a much faster and more violent form of stealth action gameplay than previous games in the series. It retains the cooperative multiplayer mode of the two preceding games.
The weapons that Sam Fisher uses are based more accurately on current real-world weapons which behave accordingly and all weapons can be upgraded by a points system. This points system is secondary to the main storyline and is achievement based. For example, if you perform 50 total headshots without alerting other enemies, you will be awarded 500 points. These points may be used to add silencers, sights, upgraded ammo, laser targeting and other upgrades, with up to three upgrades per weapon.
This game provides an interactive mission update sequence that is built in to the levels themselves. Instead of getting an objective-bar popup, the objective may appear in bold white text on the side of a building or infront of a barricade. This adds to the immersion and keeps the HUD clutter free. The stealth element of the game allows you to hide in shadows and become almost invisible and if there are no shadows, feel free to shoot out the lights and create them. Guards may be assassinated by silenced weapons, gadgets or hand-to-hand combat or the player may simply go for all-out war - though this method is faster it is much harder. After the player successfully completes a hand-to-hand kill, they are provided with an 'execution' which allows the player to tag two to four enemies (depending on the weapon selected) and trigger the execution animation. Fisher will then dispatch all targeted enemies within seconds in extra-ordinary fashion making this very useful for taking out small crowds of armed guards.
Interactive interrogation cutscenes where Fisher beats up a target for information do not require the player to do anything other than press [Interrogate]. Though if the player happens to be near an interactive object like a television or table, Fisher may use that to alter the standard animation.
Origin
According to Splinter Cell series producer Mathieu FerlandMathieu Ferland
Mathieu Ferland is a Canadian video game producer best known for producing the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell-series for Ubisoft Montreal...
, the original game was developed so that Ubisoft's Montreal studio could demonstrate its full potential. After Rainbow Six
Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a media franchise created by American author Tom Clancy about a fictional international counter-terrorist unit called "Rainbow." The franchise began with Clancy's novel Rainbow Six, which was adapted into a successful series of tactical first-person shooter video games.-...
and Ghost Recon
Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is an American series of military tactical shooter video games created by Red Storm Entertainment, the game development studio founded in part by American author Tom Clancy....
, "special ops was the natural next step" for Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
endorsed games.
Graphics and technology
The first game in the series modified the Unreal EngineUnreal Engine
The Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games, first illustrated in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, MMORPGs and RPGs...
to allow the light-and-dark-based gameplay style. The other games continued this, using updated versions of the engine.
By the release of the latest game - Conviction - the engine had been upgraded to Unreal Engine 3. The game had active shadows on all consoles not simply as a graphical function - as in most games - but as a gameplay enhancer for the sake of the game's steal features. This meant that more coding for the game was required and overall, required a powerful desktop computer in order to get the best clarity and performance.