A nostalgia trip at what is like to play the original Splinter Cell in 2020

Channel:

Chris the Gaming Enthusiast - Hidden Odd Box

Subscribers:

2,370

Published on October 5, 2020 12:00:05 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ete87OzK9I4

Game:

Splinter Cell (2002)

Duration: 10:53

97 views

6

While we still wait for a new Splinter Cell I decided to go back and play the original trilogy, today we take a nostalgia trip at what is like to play the original Splinter Cell in 2020.

At the time of release the game was highly praised by audiences and critics alike, that deemed it as one of the best examples of a stealth game to date! Is that still true after 18 years? Find out in this video!

In this game the player takes the role of Sam Fisher, a stealth operative of Third Echelon, a Splinter Cell of USA’s intelligence organizations. Sam is an experienced operative that will conduct dangerous stealth operations and will ultimately prevent World War 3 from happening, and as much as this sounds cliché I think this game is one of the reasons why this type of story is now referred to as “cliché”.

For a game this much old, Splinter Cell really stands out graphically, its 3D models were quite realistic at the time, but most importantly the lightning was very much well crafted since it was also the main focus for the gameplay.

As you start the game the player is thrown into a simple training area that teaches all of the basic moves that Sam will make use of in his missions, which are a lot. This first training level sets the stage for what the game will offer, and some features were surprising welcomed memories that got me pumped to start some actual missions. In fact it’s really a shame that the first thing you see when starting up the game is a quite cringey cinematic that clearly shows the game’s age.

Although the training was packed with so many actions that Sam Fisher can do, to almost feel overwhelming for some players, there are times where they are not sufficient to complete a mission, in fact, often times, it’s introduced a new and unexpected game feature mid mission that the player has to guess how it works on his own! The main reason why I brought up this point is that most of these events occur few times in the entire game, and they can be the reason why you could end up failing a mission! It’s really a shame that those elements were wasted in this way, they just needed a proper introduction.

This game is very slow and thoughtful, and requires to understand what is the best move to sneak through areas, neutralize targets and retrieve information by taking advantage of all the moves of Sam. But when his moves are not enough to complete the mission, his tools come in handy, or maybe not? Your first tool is the Five Seven, and if you think to sptint your way by fighting targets upfront with it, you are setting yourself up for failure. It’s very common to miss with the Five Seven, even when you are very close, and as such it’s best to use it just to take off lights or when you really have no choice at all. Luckily you will also be given an F 2000, that is much more reliable but not quite enough to ignore the focus on stealth of the game.

If Sam gets caught the game is very punishing to the player, and it will take a fair amount of trial and error to beat many of the carefully crafted encounters that made this game popular. But overall I really enjoyed the linearity proposed in this game, just because in this way the developers were always able to give me a solution to beat every single area and encounter, although not always easy to find.

An important thing to mention is that you really need to pay attention to your, “tool condition”, and not waste the usage of your Five Seven and F 2000 around because sometimes the game will throw you inside a forced fight even if you did a perfect stealth run. In fact there was a section in the last mission, where I was literally stuck because I couldn’t use my combat tools, and I found the desperate solution to run towards a target as soon as the lights went off, and taking the guy with me so that I could escape the room!

I also want to point out that in the few last missions I really knew what I was doing and in that moment I really felt all the Chaos Theory memories coming back and my nostalgia needs being fulfilled, in fact, I would probably try a second run of it to make things right, if I didn’t also buy Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory.

If the idea of a stealth modern setting special agent experience appeals to you, Splinter Cell is a great classic and you will immediately feel inside a Mission Impossible movie even though not everything about this game aged perfectly, and after all the trouble the bad guy puts you in when embracing the role of Sam Fisher, taking good care of him will really feel satisfying.

#SplinterCell #Nostalgia #Ubisoft

Timestamps:
Intro (00:00)
Splinter Cell when it first released(00:22)
Sam Fisher and the setting of the game (01:03)
Graphics and mechanics (01:41)
Stealth moves (02:28)
Game's opening (03:29)
You need to improvise (04:18)
Movement and combat (05:27)
Linear levels (07:30)
Don't waste them (08:14)
Learning curve (09:08)
Story (09:27)
Conclusions (10:02)
Outro (10:21)

Other Statistics