Splinter Cell

Tell me what you know, then I'll knock you out.
Or if you know nothing, instant knock-out.

Back to the well of older games I got for free on Ubisoft Connect. That won’t replace The Crew, but it’s just as fine. We’re back to stealth games, and discussing a franchise I never talked about before. Well... Splinter Cell is a franchise, but it’s also known as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and Tom Clancy is a brand name all its own, with the French game studio having made several games inspired by the author’s works. Spy thrillers, international intrigues, stories of counterterrorism cells and whatnot.

Don’t go in there expecting suave James Bond, your missions will be “go in, kill no one, get the info, GTFO”. Later entries in the series became more shooter than stealth, but the early games are far more stealth-based. It’s a running thread in Ubisoft’s catalog, with Beyond Good and Evil featuring stealth sections, and then there’s this series as well; add Prince of Persia’s penchant for parkour, and it feels like their past output long foreshadowed Assassin’s Creed, now one of their flagships.

The first Splinter Cell game was released on damn near every platform existing in late 2002/early 2003: Xbox, PS2, GameCube, GBA, mobile, friggin’ N-Gage... and of course a PC port, on February 18th, 2003. This game has been sitting unplayed in my backlog for something like seven years. I don’t know if that franchise will click with me, there’s only one way to find out...

Third Echelon

Classic army training course.

We play as Sam Fisher, former Navy SEAL and CIA operative, who has been selected to join Third Echelon, a new initiative from the NSA. The idea is to send a solitary operative in high-conflict areas where they can find intel and deal with threats, all in secret. Briefed by his friend, Colonel Irving Lambert, Fisher is first put through a standard soldier obstacle course so his physical aptitude can be tested. This first tutorial isn’t too difficult.

The second is a lot trickier, as this is where you’re taught various stealth and mission-critical elements. You’re shown how to sneak around, grab people from behind and interrogate them for information or carry them around, and other tricks (shooting lights and cameras, or changing your movement speed to reduce sound). If you even do one thing wrong, you’ll start over from the latest checkpoint, of which there’s a lot since you’re learning the ropes. It’s very, VERY easy to do things wrong in this game. 

Because this is training, I was looking for some way to let
go of the guy without knocking him out. Not possible!
Sorry buddy, I'm just training but you'll be K.O.ed for real.
Since I failed before that for knocking him out before
getting the code to the door, I thought K.O.ing him again
would as well.

Imagine accidentally killing a colleague who was there to remind you how to get intel from someone. No, not speaking from experience... Also not speaking from experience, I basically had to remap the entire controls to get something remotely functional.

Sorry for the French text, my games on UbiConnect default
to French. Anyway, this is Lambert yelling at me for falling
in the street. Christ, I just fell when I tried jumping
between two patios!

Also, you know when I said that it’s easy to do things wrong in this game? You find out very quickly in the first mission. Weapons-wise, every enemy is as equipped as you are, putting you on equal footing, and bullets are rare. That’s why knocking opponents from behind is so important; if you go in guns blazing, you’re gonna die fast. A mission can end when you die, but sometimes Lambert will terminate it because you didn't follow his orders. Maybe you walked in the street while Lambert forbade it. Maybe you knocked out/killed someone you needed to get intel from or to open a retinal scan door. Maybe you were spotted enough times for three alarms to be heard. Maybe you just looked some guy wrong. Sometimes I wasn't even sure what caused the mission to fail!

Nikoladze

Not pictured: The alarm I triggered because
I'm such a goddamn n00b.

I had several of those moments while going through the first missions. In the first real one, set in Georgia, Fisher is sent to investigate the deaths of two CIA agents. The country’s president was killed in a coup and replaced by its instigator, industrialist Kombayn Nikoladze, whose right-hand man is a man named Vyacheslav Grinko. The agents’ bodies are found in a coroner’s office, their communication devices removed. One of these agents had infiltrated the new government, while the second was investigating the first’s disappearance.

In the next mission, Fisher, aided by his allies from Third Echelon Anna Grimsdóttir (mission control) and Vernon Wilkes Jr. (field runner), investigates the presidential palace. Once more, stealth is vital, as an enemy spotting you – or a body – will trigger an alarm, further emphasizing the importance of hiding your victims in the dark from time to time thanks to your night vision goggles. In Nikoladze’s computer, we find data discussing a grand plan that began with a nasty ethnic cleansing operation in next-door Azerbaijan. This allows the CIA to fight against the operation.

Here, go "sleep" with your friend.

I do like the ambiance of this one, even if it's
as hard as every other mission.

Following this, we infiltrate an oil rig on the Caspian Sea. If it feels like I’m speeding through the plot details, that’s on purpose; it's a lot of political intrigue and international stuff, and if I get lost in the mess of names and places, we won't get anywhere. The game will tell the story better than I can. On the oil rig, we prevent a data exchange with the Georgian presidential palace. From it, we learn about “The Ark”, and that someone at the CIA was handing out information.

In retaliation, Nikoladze launches a massive cyberattack that crippled U.S. infrastructures. In the next mission, we infiltrate the CIA, nothing less! We have several objectives: Retrieve Fisher’s firearm, the SC-20K, from the storage room; find out who the mole is; kidnap said mole from one of the most protected buildings in North America (no sweat!); do not let the CIA activate too many alarms; oh, and DON’T KILL ANYBODY. You can knock out employees and agents but killing any terminates the mission. This one took me forever.

Pillars are your friends.

The darkness should also be your friend, but
sometimes you don't even know which areas
are safe to walk in, for reasons explained later.

This is the level where I wised up and decided to save frequently AND keep multiple save files, so that I could return to an older one in case I wound up in an unwinnable scenario. Which happened really fucking often. One example: Right after I had saved, a body was found and an alarm was triggered, costing me the mission. There was no way to bypass this, so I had to rewind further back. That was fun.

We get to the guy’s computer, end up kidnapping the guy, and fleeing the place. Only took me 6 goddamned hours to finish that one mission. (The dude was harmless, just a moron keeping sensitive data on an unprotected network. Still, what a moron.)

We're gonna be carrying this guy for a while. Imagine
literally kidnapping someone who works at the CIA,
while they're at work. That takes some enormous cojones.

Fighting back

Walk by those wall mines, and boom.
In case the place wasn't on fire enough.

The next one was better. Grimsdóttir investigated the CIA computer and found a tech company named Kalinatek, located in Virginia, which has ties with the Georgian government; her intrusion was discovered and goons began clearing the place of evidence (meaning, murdering all the employees). We go in there looking for a technician named Ivan, who has important information; instead we meet an army of Russian mercenaries. We’re allowed to go wild and deal with every bad guy with a liberal application of bullets in bodies.

Awwwww yeah. Finally, an action mission. Even though it was still frustrating in many places due to trial-and-error gameplay and the overwhelming number of enemies, the Kalinatek mission stands as my favorite so far, because we can finally defend ourselves. Fisher even gets his hands on wall mines (which trigger when seeing movement once placed) and grenades, both offering very satisfying BOOMs. Hey, the place is already being ransacked, no need to worry about property damage.

Remember the wall mines I just mentioned? Yeah, I put one
in the staircase I knew enemies were coming from.
This game's turning me into a pyromaniac.

The laser microphone doesn't come up often,
but it's an interesting concept. You point, and
catch the conversation. Makes sense for a
spy, and it's a fresh, creative mechanic.

After we get our objective, we mow down the hordes of Russian mercs on our way to the helicopter Wilkes landed on the roof. Unfortunately, he encounters mercs, is wounded and dies on the trip back to HQ. Oh no, I cared so much about him. (Said in a completely disinterested tone)

Following this, we track Nikoladze, believing him to be hiding in the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar and in cahoots with a Chinese general, Kong Feirong. Our mission is first to talk with an informant, then reach the Embassy and spy on communications using the Laser Mic. Oh, and you’re not allowed to kill a single person; I hope your trigger finger isn’t itchy. We do prove a connection between the two men. We also hear about “The Ark” again.

Also, y'know, shooting is just fun. But don't use the scope,
'cause for some reason Fisher's aim is awful when using it.
(I just learned the stabilizing was the right-click button...)

Following this mission, Nikoladze, in a video, claims he will live-stream the executions of captured US soldiers and Chinese dignitaries. (On 2002's Internet? That's gonna be in 144p if you're lucky!) Our next mission is to cut their systems and rescue the hostages. And it’s a shooting mission. I would say “Aw yeah, now we’re talking”, but like everywhere else, if you play dumb, you’re gonna die real fucking fast. And every dude here is just as willing to shoot back. Thankfully, Sam has loads of gadgets, though I’ve noticed I use them much less than any weapons I pick up.

It’s time for the “This port has that problem so other versions might not but there’s no easy fix so I’m gonna complain about it anyway”... uh, complaint. The PC version of Splinter Cell ran into problems due to newer graphics cards doing away with a feature known as "shadow buffers". Areas covered with a spotlight won't show the circle of light on the ground. The spotlight itself still moves. I say that because you have to see those lights to know where you can stay hidden and where you're seen. Fan-made fixes exist, but I don't know if they'd work with the UbiConnect version...

See those spotlights up there?
See any light on the ground?
Eeeeeyep.

The thermal goggles are fun, but you have them
from the start yet they don't become necessary
until the third-to-last mission...

The first area of the Abattoir mission involves sneaking around a backyard that’s covered in buried land mines (which you can spot with thermal goggles) and shined on by a spotlight. To move around, you must stay in the dark, and that means moving away from where the light is pointing. When that light won’t appear on the ground, good luck with that! I eventually figured out where the light was pointing based on the motions of the spotlight, but it would have been nice to have that feature working properly!

We break the antenna, causing Nikoladze to flee when he realizes communications are cut, while Grinko sends his men to investigate. We still need to save the hostages, which means going through the Abattoir, including the freezers (night vision won’t work here; instead, you use the thermal goggles to see where enemies and obstacles are) and, finally, the barn, where the hostages are found. One feature of this stage is the automatic turrets, which you can sneak by and/or reprogram. In the final confrontation, I kept one running, and it killed some of Grinko’s men while I dealt with the others. This is topped by a fight with Grinko, who goes down with a few bullets. Hostages saved. Victory!

Not headshot, but good enough. Also, I think
the turret killed one or two dudes.

Stopping the Ark

Two more missions. I can do this. In the first, we infiltrate the Chinese Embassy, this time to prove that Kong Feirong's actions are unaffiliated with the Chinese government. Enemies have wised up and stopped sharing keypad codes in e-mails, but you can use the thermal goggles to figure out which numbers were pressed recently and in which order... which does mean you need the guards to unlock the door first. Later there are retinal scanners, so there are guards you can’t knock out until they’ve unlocked a door for you. Yep, the scanners can tell if the guy is dead. 2002 had some high-tech shit.

Shooting the gas tank would be a genius move
in literally no other situation.

Two trucks are carrying the components for the nuclear explosive device that’s being prepared. We sneak through a yard (with dogs that can spot you), then through a toy store warehouse leading to the trucks, which we blow up by shooting a gas tank. Good thing the bomb wasn’t ready yet. After which, we get to Feirong, whom we find just as he has downed a bottle of poisoned alcohol. Before he dies, we use him to get access to his computer, revealing the Ark to be a nuclear suitcase bomb. This proves the general’s rogue status and prevents a China-America war, but we still have to escape the Embassy, set ablaze to eliminate evidence.

We don't even get to kill that SOAB ourselves.

One of the most stressful moments in the game, and one
devious puzzle: To get out of that situationm literally do
nothing until you're told to run.

We still have Nikoladze, who has returned to the Georgian Presidential Palace to retrieve the Ark. That means sneaking in there. The backyard has big spotlight whose light you don’t see on the ground, my fucking favorite! A new trap type, too: Laser tripwires that trigger alarms when touched. Of mention, Nikoladze has been overthrown; the new president, Varlam Cristavi, has ties to the CIA, yet seems to have an agenda of his own involving the Ark, as we find out when stealing interrogation documents. When we reach the vault where the Ark is hidden (or so we think), Nikoladze is there as well. We force him to open the container, to see... nothing. Nikoladze explains that the Ark has already been hidden in America. When Cristavi’s men show up to also demand the Ark, the terrorist claims Fisher has the activation key.

Stop shaking, for fuck's sake Fisher!

After Nikoladze taken away, Third Echelon triggers a power outage, allowing Fisher to escape from the vault. We go on Nikoladze’s trail; Cristavi also wants the info Nikoladze has, so we can’t let the guy live. After sneaking around, we get a good angle and snipe Nikoladze from afar (good riddance!), then make a daring escape. That very final challenge involves dealing with six ultra-armed men guarding the way to the exit, and it took me all my wits to beat them and leave.

I fuckin’ beat this damn game.

Following this successful final mission, we learn that the bomb, which was hidden in an apartment building near Washington, was retrieved. Fisher watches the news with his daughter, glad this is all over. ...Or maybe it isn’t, as he gets a call from Lambert.

A hero's work is never over.
Wished it was, though...

Nope! I quit! I’m not even going to do the three bonus missions, I’ve had enough!

Final thoughts

Not a single mission here is easy, even the
first one (post-tutorial) is super tough if you
don't know what to expect.
And trust me, you don't.

I’m living a situation I’ve already been in before: Playing through a game that’s overall beloved and praised, yet I’m more indifferent or negative towards it, owing to my own experience (or lack of experience in some genres, including stealth). Thankfully, I’m able to acknowledge the merits of the work, even if my opinion detracts from consensus. There’s a lot of great stuff in Splinter Cell; but we can tell it’s the first game in the series, therefore unpolished in places and not fine-tuned in all aspects. Doesn’t make it any less impressive, but the flaws are more apparent as a result.

The game is excellent at setting up an ambiance; every mission feels distinct, not just in looks, but also in challenges since there are different objectives in each one. Story-wise, additional details are told through notes picked up on bodies, which helps give the whole thing that “spy thriller” feel associated with Tom Clancy’s works. (By the way, the PC port is missing a level that explains the composite the nuclear suitcase bomb is made of, and when it was stolen. That level? Only in the PS2 port.)

The folks who worked on this game really liked
fire scenes, there's like 4 or 5 over 10 missions.

Its lighting is also a standout, which makes sense since so much of it happens in partial or total darkness, with the night vision goggles to help you – so many secrets hidden in the shadows, noticeable thanks to this mechanic. Everything here encourages stealth: Being able to walk, run, or crawl at different speeds, the “spotted” meter, the many gadgets to divert attention or stay hidden, and the trove of options to deal with enemies in ways that don’t alert others to your presence.

Stealth is the focus above anything else. Several missions forbid you from killing opponents. Then again, it’s best to avoid combat unless you have the advantage, or you’re guaranteed a quick death. Medical kits are rare, but you can save them for when you need them. New ammo is also sparse; I frequently found myself out of bullets, forcing me to play defensively until I could find more. A few segments encourage combat, pitting you against many shooters. Occasionally, you have on-field advantages to make the fight easier, on top of having collected many other weapon types (grenades, wall mines, etc.), but even there you're outmatched and must play wisely.

Guess how many times I died carrying this fatass
from the CIA offices to the NSA van. Even I don't
know. Across the whole game, I think I died
or failed missions over 1,000 times.

In theory, there’s a few ways to get through every “segment”; the playthrough I consulted focused fully on stealth, which was impressive. In practice, even if you do become very good at it, the game never stops feeling rigid in its requests and set-ups. Good luck figuring out how to deal with an obstacle and not dying 50 times while trying each possibility. Dunno how it is in the following entries, but the first Splinter Cell is extremely dependent on frustrating trial-and-error gameplay. You can only learn what to do and NOT to do by repeatedly dying or triggering non-standard Game Overs. The latter is usually done by failing to obey Lambert’s orders, causing him to end the mission; he told you not to walk in the street or to knock that guy out, dammit! But it can also be done by having one too many alarms be triggered (in stages where it matters, you’re allowed 3). It’s not like the more action shooter-like levels were any less frustrating to get through, but at least, in those, we had guns and we could fight back!

The thermal goggles are pretty useful to see enemies through
doors, but the need to use them isn't drilled into your
head until the third-to-last mission.

Though Fisher has a lot of physical moves, some are underutilized. Who ever got to use the split jump anywhere past the tutorial? The thermal goggles are fun, but they feel like an afterthought since they only become relevant in the last third. Missions are very long and automatic checkpoints are very rare, further justifying my later technique of saving at every small bit of progress made since it's so easy to lose it all.

(Oh, and yes, the PC port has the “shadow buffers” issue when spotlights were involved. That made for some fun segments...)

To go back to what I said at the start of these final thoughts, I am fully willing to recognize everything the first Splinter Cell does right as one of the figureheads of the stealth genre, as it is a shining example and a must-play for anyone who loves this type of game. It’s got everything you’d want there to be in such a title. As for me? As much as I’m willing to admit everything great about it, my experience was too infuriating, and I’ll be happy to never touch the game again. Maybe another stealth game out there will be more my type. At least I can call this one done and over with.

Quick Reviews will resume soon.