Hello and welcome! My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.
The stealth genre is an interesting one to follow as it weaves in and out of so many other genres. Games like Dishonored or Deus Ex use stealth to great effect but few games these days sit firmly in the stealth genre. Today’s game is the first in a series that really helped define what a stealth game would be. Today’s game is Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, developed by Ubi Soft Montreal and released on the Xbox in 2002.
Like most Tom Clancy games, Splinter Cell is a modern spy series with heavy political themes. Sam Fisher is sent into the country of Georgia after the President is assassinated. Two CIA agents who have been monitoring the situation have gone missing so Sam must discover what happened to them. He quickly becomes wrapped up in a plot going beyond Georgia which could start a new war.
At first glance, Splinter Cell resembles a third person shooter but running and gunning will only serve to get you killed. Stealth is the name of the game and technology plus physical prowess is how Sam Fisher gets things done. Sam has a number of acrobatic moves he can use to assist in stealthing his way past enemies. Climbing buildings, hanging from pipes and holding himself up in narrow hallways are just a few such moves. Sam also has a light meter that shows how concealed he is plus several gadgets such as gas grenades or stun weapons.
The Xbox version of Splinter Cell was very well received when it released, holding a Game Rankings score of 92%. After the success of the Xbox version, several other ports were made and each one of these was received worse than the one before, although all still hold fairly positive reviews on each console. The original version sold well over 1 million copies and the PC port, which was already in production, released to acclaim as well. The PS2 and Gamecube versions were made by Ubi Soft Shanghai and released in 2003. Further ports were made for the Game Boy Advance, mobile devices and even the oft-forgotten N-Gage.
Splinter Cell would go on to receive three more sequels on the Xbox before starting to peter out in the seventh console generation. While rumors persist about new Splinter Cell games to this day, the last official release came in 2013. It seems likely that Sam Fisher will see a return in the future but when that will be is anyone’s guess.
Thank you so much for listening! If you want to learn more trivia about Splinter Cell and the other games we talk about, follow me on Twitter @vg_oftheday. Transcripts and archives are up on videogameoftheday.com. Don’t forget to check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day.
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