' is a critically-acclaimed stealth-based video game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal. It is a 3D third-person shooter, built on the Unreal Engine 2. It is the first game in the series created by author Tom Clancy, and follows the activities of American NSA Black Ops agent Sam Fisher. The character of Sam Fisher is voiced by actor Michael Ironside.
was first released on November 18, 2002 in North America for the Xbox game console. It was later ported to the PC, PlayStation 2, and GameCube in the spring of 2003 and for the Game Boy Advance in the fall. The GBA version differed drastically from the console versions due to technical limitations. The plot remained the same, but the game became a 2D Side-scroller, and Fisher's gun became a tranquilizer, knocking guards out instead of killing them, although the difference was purely cosmetic: 'unconscious guards' remain so for the entirety of a level.
In December 2003 a port for the N-Gage handheld game console was released, retitled . The N-Gage game is in 2D instead of 3D.
The success of the game series spawned a 2004 novel of the same name by author David Michaels. The plot of the novel and the game have nothing in common.
Gameplay
Splinter Cell's stealth-based gameplay, although frequently compared to the series, has more in common with that of the cult PC series which pre-dates it by several years. Most of the game is spend sneaking around, using darkness and shadows to hide from patrolling guards. The player is equipped with a "light meter" that indicates how visible they are to enemies, as well as night and thermal vision goggles to help the player navigate in darkness and spot enemies. For combat, Fisher is equipped with a silenced pistol as well as a silenced assault rifle that can be used for combat, sniping, and even for launching various non-lethal devices such as "sticky shockers" and "gas grenades". Fisher can also sneak up on enemies from behind to knock them unconcious or grab and interrogate them. Fisher is also extremely acrobatic, and has a variety of manuevers including the ability to mantle onto and climb along ledges, hang from pipes, and "split jump" in narrow spaces to mantle up a steep wall.
The game heavily encourages stealth over brute force. Although Fisher is equipped with a firearm, he only carries at most 60 rounds of ammunition and rarely is able to obtain more during a mission. He also can only survive about a dozen bullet hits before dying, and since most enemies are equipped with fast-firing automatic weapons they have the ability to cut Fisher down in a second or two. Additionally, Fisher must go in "aim mode" before firing his weapon, during which his movement speed is significantly slowed down. Moving while firing also makes Fisher's weapon highly inaccurate, as does the weapon inaccuracy which occurs when firing more than one bullet at a time.
Additionally, every time an enemy is alerted to Fisher's presence, an alarm will sound. Each alarm increases the state of alertness of the enemies in the level, and the game will automatically end if too many alarms are sounded. Alarms will also automatically sound if Fisher leaves a body in the light, even if there are actual guards around to find it.
The game is quite linear, instead of exploring an open area, the player frequently goes on a straight route from one point to another throughout an entire level.
Plot summary
Set in 2004, the player takes the role of Sam Fisher, a long-dormant secret agent reactivated by the NSA as part of a secret division dubbed "Third Echelon". The Third Echelon uses "Splinter Cells", single operatives supported by a small team, to conduct covert intelligence missions in hostile territory.
For his first assignment as a Splinter Cell, Fisher is dispatched to Georgia to investigate the disappearance of two CIA agents. During his investigation Fisher uncovers a campaign of systematic ethnic cleansing and mass murder being waged by Georgian President Kombayn Nikoladze against the neighboring Muslim population of Azerbaijan in an attempt to seize that country's vast oil resources. When goes underground and retaliates against the U.S. by initiating an information crisis in America, using advanced computer algorithms developed by Canadian hacker Phillip Masse to wreck havok upon America's electronic infrastructure. Fisher is dispatched to hunt down Nikoladze and stop the crisis. Fisher eventually discovers that Nikoladze is working with rogue Chinese general Kong Feirong to develop nuclear weapons, and has even gone so far as to place a nuclear suitcase bomb codenamed the ARK on American soil. Infiltrating the Georgian Presidential Palace, Fisher assassinates Nikoladze, ending the information crisis and stopping Georgia from detonating the ARK.
