The missing Cell

Given it is owned by one of the most prolific developers and publishers in the world it really is starkly perplexing that we are still missing a new Splinter Cell game since the release of 2013's Blacklist 11 years ago. Of course I don't feel that absence quite as acutely as most given that I only got to playing through the series a few years ago for this very blog- but I do acknowledge what a genuinely solid series of games that was which really is going by the wayside for seemingly no reason whatsoever. What, do Ubisoft suddenly realise they don't like money? Are they afraid of their own potential to succeed? Or is something wholly more Ubisoft happening here that is just all too typical for the world's least innovative big developer? I bet you know which way I'm leaning with this one!

First it should probably be said that Splinter Cell was a trailblazer back in it's heyday. Taking the military political fiction of Tom Clancy's work and transposing it into a video game setting- the original Splinter Cell brought us a new face of action we'd not see pulled off to any success within the West. Whilst I feel we can still credit Kojima for the creation of the genre within the mainstream space, Splinter Cell's contributions to Stealth cannot be overlooked. Smashing lights to decrease visibility is still a wondrously versatile system that few stealth games even attempt to this very day! And Splinter Cell piled that atop of non lethal takedowns, sound manipulation, body dragging- just about every single tool that a competent stealth game would grown green with envy to covet. 

As the game's went on Ubisoft did start to buckle under the pressure of what 'the market' demanded in terms of their games- and given this was back in the day where niches weren't really big enough to be considered a market of their own I will relent on this point that Ubisoft are not perhaps fully to blame. In this rare circumstance. They tried to make Sam Fisher more of an action movie hero, just as Square attempted to do with Agent 47. In fact, both Absolution and Splinter Cell: Conviction feature pretty much the exact same 'tag and execute' move to allow characters to wipe out a room. Although I have to argue that it feels more fitting in Splinter Cell, given how exactingly precise and ghostlike Agent 47 is typically expected to be. And to be honest- I don't actually think the action influences ruined the franchise like some others argue.

Sure, the heart of Splinter Cell was built around the complexity of it's stealth through masterfully laid-out levels and with the shift towards 'room to room clear and sweep' a lot of that nuance and depth was lost- but I don't actually think that style of game misfit the franchise at all, honestly. There was an almost Arkham-level of fun to be had in stalking through arenas like a predator picking off the unawares and leaving their team-mates in states of increasing terror. It plays to a very primordial gamer desire that I'm a downright sucker for. It's a different face of Stealth, one that was uniquely Sam's for a while whilst the man was still active.

Since then, however, our man has been downright AWOL. I mean sure, we've seen some fleshpuppet wearing Sam's face show up in both Ghost Recon open world games, and I'm told he had a cameo in that Ubisoft cartoon thing, but as for the actual sneaky man we love? No even a dickey bird. We've been so abandoned by the franchise that for some reason when fans demand forced Ubisoft to turn around- they started blabbing about a remake like the franchise had run off a cliff or something! Umm- excuse me- there was an ongoing story with a cliffhanger and everything! Sure, it was the exact same cliffhanger as Conviction's- but it demanded a follow-up!

Stealth as a genre was built up by the dual talents of Metal Gear and Splinter Cell- such to the point that both are now considered grandfather's of the genre. With Snake finally being put to rest with what is quite simply the single greatest stealth game ever made as his swan song- what we need isn't some halcyon return to an outdated political thriller that struggles to nail basic concepts like 'light based stealth' all over again! We need something that reminds us why Splinter Cell was once considered in the same conversations as it's peers. Splinter Cell really needs to bring back it's best days- what we need is Chaos Theory levels of detail- complex levels, decent story, charming writing- shoot for the heyday, not the genesis.

Which is yet another issue I have with Ubisoft- they don't understand their own series. They know fans want another game but they don't understand why. People wanted a new Prince of Persia and Ubisoft, having replaced that franchise with Assassin's Creed, shrugged their shoulders in confusion and greenlit a remake. Like we needed a remake- the original game is fine- just remaster it you dunderheads! The same is true with Splinter Cell. We love the style of Splinter Cell, the makeup, the layout- there's nothing special about the original that simply must be recaptured: it's not even the widely praised fan favourite! It's the kind of move made by a faceless corpo who never once played this franchise, or a game in general, trying to capitalise on a fandom he has no care for.

I want there to be a return to Splinter Cell- and I would prefer if it tried something new. Although many remakes have certainly shaken things up in ways no one could have expected- but do we really expect Resident Evil 4 levels of mastery out of a Ubisoft game? They have trouble reigning in entirely new projects, god forbid them try the same with a total restructure-remake to the scale of Capcoms! But even if it all falls through- that will be fine because the great thing about Splinter Cell: it ages fine. Every single one of those games (save 'Double Agent' and perhaps 'Pandora Tomorrow', I never played 'PT' so I can't say) is a blast to experience and I'm sure a team who understands that would be able to secure a decent bit of pocket change without all the unnecessary effort they're currently flushing down the wrong drain. Make a new Splinter Cell, Ubisoft- that's what we've been nagging you for!