New Tom Clancy game?

 Xtremely pastiche

You've stealthed your way across every type of terrain imaginable, through the most dangerous locations on the planet, all with that signature look and style which for some reason includes those goofy-ass giant three-eyed green goggles which no-one can ever see. (I know that canonically the green light is non-existent, it just looks silly is all) Over active warzones, inside the jungle, across cruise ships, heavily guarded air bases, at least one missile silo, think there was a museum heist once, can't forget Langley HQ, the Vegas Casino was pretty interesting, oh- and then there's the time you snuck your way up Pennsylvania Avenue for some reason. Some might say your achievements and contributions to the clandestine world of spyfare and discretion is second only to one man, others may say you surpass even he. (Not me though, you ain't that good) You've been a solider, a father, A hero, a jokester, a sage spirit, an undercover agent, an Avenging angel, a man clearly 30 years younger, and one of the most prolific serial killers ever to get away with it during one misjudged outing. (>cough< Conviction was weird >cough<) You, Sam Fisher, have been the head of one of the greatest series' that the diseased development animal that is Ubisoft could have ever hoped to produce. But I think now it's time to accept that you will never take to the starring role the way you so deftly deserve. Farewell, our Splinter Cell.

I think that needed to be said, for myself at least. Other Splinter Cell fans need to craft their own eulogies, say their own goodbyes, close their own books, else they'll be hung up on Sam, keeping a candle in their windows, until the heat death of the universe. (Or the Earth, whichever is sooner) That way, some of the sting will be dulled from the next time our hero's corpse is paraded around and waved in our faces like the sick monsters over at Ubisoft like to do so often. Of course, it's not just Splinter Cell fans that need this sort of closure, it's all Tom Clancy fans out there. And I know that Siege is actually worth a damn, but only in terms of raw gameplay; the narrative is largely non-existent and otherwise trash because Ubisoft's team of professional Boston Dynamic's Spot Dogs can just about keep servers running, they ain't writing no meaningful or impactful storylines manned with indepth character studies anytime soon.

And I don't say all of this because the Tom Clancy name is dead, oh no far from it, but because Ubisoft seem dead-set (see what I did there?) in smothering out everything the series stood for. I can't say I was there for Mr Clancy's Will being read out, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it didn't contain a clause where he begged Yves Guillemot to destroy his legacy with prejudice. (I could be wrong though. Afterall, recent events have shown us in great detail how Yves is a person who keeps quiet about a great many things he should share to relevant parties. Yes, that was a workplace harassment reference) Clancy was a man who created whole universes of heavily researched and grounded military fiction that stroked the egos of all those America-loving military nuts across the pond, and just made for really cool Dan Brown-esque thrillers over here. Remember those two adjectives because they are of tantamount importance to the identity of the late Tom Clancy and his work; 'Grounded' and 'Researched'.

Now let me introduce to you the new Ubisoft game which was announced at the start of last week, one month after E3 (which are two good reasons why you might have absolutely missed it. Seriously, how stupid is this company, everyone knows Friday is trailer day) XDefiant. Okay, now your gut reaction is probably to dry retch at that nakedly abysmal title, but hold off on the fits of illness until I reveal for you the real name of this game; Tom Clancy's XDefiant. Oh, we're playing a whole different ball game now, basketball turned to rugby, lets see what this all about. So we've got a team based first person multiplayer shooter. That's it. No thrills, no whistles, just that. Ubisoft, in their infinite creativity, have decided to make a COD clone. I swear I don't torture the facts to come up with the clear evidence that this company is creatively bankrupt, they just hand them to me. The aesthetic of the game is, in their words, "fast paced firefights meets punk rock mosh pit". Which is certainly a style, if you acknowledge the fact this isn't as much 'punk rock', as it is the more sterilised and bland corporate version of 'punk rock' that Ubisoft drafted up for Watch_Dogs 2. The weapons and abilities are all super drone scanning technology and futuristic shock cannon guns. The storytelling is, surprise, not there. And the model is- urg- free-to-play with customisation microtransactions.

So to be totally honest with you, I actually think the game looks pretty okay for a Free-to-play title. Most other F2P multiplayer shooters are made by smallers studios and thus haven't the team to make anything as grandiose and responsive as Call of Duty; but as Ubisoft are master counterfeiters, they were born to make a game which looks so much like COD they're lucky games can't be sued on gameplay alone. The problem is the labelling. Once again, Ubisoft have stuck Tom Clancy's name on the product when, and let's be honest here; this is not a Tom Clancy game. When he was alive and had an influence on the worlds Ubisoft were pursuing under his licence, The Tom Clancy brand stood for highly accurate tactical shooters which were all about planning, adapting and execution. Crucially not high octane murder fests across Graffiti strewn streets wielding a plasma shotgun. Not sure how Mr Clancy would feel about all that stuff.

For a lot of people it just hammers home how out of touch Ubisoft is both with Tom Clancy and the loyal fans that games under his name summoned up. Where are the experiences to feed them, because offerings have be few and utterly unsubstantial of late. Ghost Recon Breakpoint was a game with the limited tactical range of Wildlands but coupled with a misplaced gear level system so baffling that the development team themselves added in the ability to nullify it down the line. The Division is a relatively newer property under the umbrella, and caters more to vague post-apocalyptia imagery and Looter shooter aspirations than actual tactical cohesion and thoughtful planning. Splinter Cell is dead though the latest Rainbow Six, Siege, at the very least is an impassioned, if multiplayer, shooter. The new alien invasion Rainbow Six Siege spinoff, however, sort of leans into the whole 'missing the point' angle I'm talking about.

Although the team have tried to make that connection for the worried out there, to let everyone know this is Tom Clancy in someway. How have they done this? With the faction system which haphazardly shoves together factions from different games into this environment with no explanation whatsoever because Tom Clancy is as much a unified brand as Disney movies are a shared cinematic universe. (I.e. not at all) You've got the Cleaners and the Outcasts, reportedly from The Division, (I don't play) those stupid Wolves from Breakpoint and, of course, the one faction that was actually invented when Tom Clancy was alive, and the source of a lot of rolled eyes: Echelon. No news on which Echelon this is, but does that really matter? Ubisoft are using the Splinter Cell brand for free promotion again whilst just taunting fans at this point for a sequel they'll never get. (How long until they sell a Sam Fisher skin on the storefront? I'm betting it'll be less than 3 months.)

XDefiant (Stylised as XD-efiant. I'm not kidding) is essentially a self published essay by Ubisoft on why they shouldn't be allowed to run franchises anymore. They run them into the ground with repetition ad nauseum until they run out of ideas and just start bastardising the property to maintain the illusion of artistic spirit and creativity. (Assassin's Creed fans know that all too well) No, brushing the military shooter genre with an exceeding light coat of stale dollarstore rip-off 'Punk rock', is not innovative; it's just equal shades ill judged and pandering. And don't even get me started at how this is another Tom Clancy game announced by a pair of developers in an empty warehouse for some reason. They did this with Breakpoint too; are Ubisoft not paying for offices for their employees anymore? Was this a failed attempt to seem, 'grimy' and 'down to earth'? I'm on earth, I don't hang around empty warehouses. (And judging from the general hostile response to this reveal from the public, not many other people recognise the warehouse-gang way of life either) Better luck next, Ubisoft, you'll wear down your fanbase until they hold you to absolute no standards eventually, keep at it.