Splinter Cell | DJcube

You Are a Splinter Cell

NA release: 8th April 2003
EU release: 6th June 2003
JP release: N/A
Developer: UbiSoft
Publisher: UbiSoft
NGC Magazine Score: 89%
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

The start of the iconic stealth franchise, and the second Tom Clancy’s series that has nothing to do with Tom Clancy and isn’t based on any of his books. It follows the story of Sam Fisher, a US Navy SEAL officer that is recruited into a secret new NSA division called Third Echelon. That said, the story and cutscenes are rather disjointed, so I didn’t actually get that from the game – I thought he was retired from the Third Echelon as they never really introduce themselves and the training is done as though Sam Fisher has already been through it. The rest of the story is mainly told through news reports, with the important information relegated to the loading screen.

While Sam Fisher is armed with a gun, you want to use it as little as possible, and even when you do fire, most times it won’t be a human receiving a bullet, but rather a camera or a light. Shooting out light is important for stealth, as it’s all about sticking to the shadows, and thankfully guards don’t question lights being shot out. Some lights can’t be destroyed, which are sometimes indicated by having a cage around them, but some regular looking lights also can’t be shot, so the game is a bit inconsistent.

Dealing with guards is a bit odd, and it is all about learning how they react to things. They’re fairly blind, able to walk right past you when you’re in a bit of shade, but their hearing is astonishing. This means that you have to time all your movements as you have to walk so slowly that you can’t catch up to guards when they’re walking, but their movement can also be sporadic, so they can sometimes randomly turn around and cause you to fail. Hiding bodies is also more about learning the game’s mechanics than hiding them well, as it’s simply a case of them being in the dark. You can make a wall of bodies on a dark section of a major corridor and you’ll be fine, but put them behind something where light can reach and it will automatically be found.

Luckily, Splinter Cell understands its limitations and the levels are created with this in mind, so levels are designed to compliment these mechanics, making it a lot of fun when things go smoothly, with lots of great moments like shooting an enemy as you smash through a glass window or the tension when a guard almost walks into a body. It does eventually make things extremely difficult, and you have to have your timing spot on (and know where you need to go, which often is not clear) that I’m not sure how anyone coped with the provided checkpoints (the PC version actually lets you save anywhere).

Splinter Cell does have plenty of issues, but it’s a really good start to this kind of stealth game. It understands its own mechanics, so it’s just a case of leaning it’s quirks.

Fun

Splinter Cell isn’t perfect, but it offers the kind of comprehensive stealth experience that’s never before been done on any console. It’s involving, immersive and introduces new ideas that are carried off with style. Our advice is turn off the lights and forget the sun is shining outside. The dark is definitely the place to be.
Kath Brice, NGC Magazine #81

Remake or remaster?

A remaster, perhaps with some tweaks and options, would be nice.

Official Ways to get the game

Splinter Cell is available on Steam.