The year 1998 was an important year for the Stealth Genre, with three revolutionary games released in a short time –namely Metal Gear Solid, Thief and Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. Each of these games has brought something important to the Genre – such as the Soliton radar and the sound mechanics found in the case of Metal Gear Solid. After the success of these three games, the Stealth Genre suddenly became more and more popular-and the developers quickly hastened to capture a piece of this newly discovered cake.
One of those games that came out at that time was Splinter Cell, which was looking to create something similar to Konami’s stealth offerings; a game that could prove to be a viable competitor for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty at the time, while serving its own identity. This is how Splinter Cell was born. Despite the very clear inspirations of the game, it is very reductive to describe Splinter Cell as METAL Gear Solid Knockoff, because it is a beast in its own right in many ways.
Where Metal Gear Solid wasn’t afraid to go into supernatural territory with characters like Psycho Mantis, Splinter Cell took a more down-to-earth approach. Rather than focusing on the future of covert warfare, the team drew inspiration from tools currently used in operations such as fiber optic cables and temperature-changing camouflage suits. Similarly, Sam Fisher is not a genetically engineered Soldier like Solid Snake, but an experienced Agent with a diverse Arsenal of tools at his disposal.
The same theme, staying true to the inspirations and dark realities of war, also continues in the Gameplay department, with heavy animations by Sam Fisher that all unfold at their own pace. While many do not like this slower pace of movement and animations, it is an integral part of creating the intended experience for the game. The original Splinter Cell is a game that is really methodical in its approach, and players must perform each move with a certain sense of intention to have a chance of succeeding. Otherwise, there will be a variety of side effects that pile on top of each other to make your life difficult.
The guards are quite vigilant, and they are abundant. Taking inspiration from stealth games like Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell has integrated an enemy AI with complex behavioral trees that you can easily track down and finish unnoticed in a matter of moments. Even if they managed to hide until the alarm timer expired, the guards would not stop and stop looking for them – but would instead change patrol routes to secure exits. Hell, even your bullets wouldn’t hit your target every time you shoot it, because there are inaccuracies built into every weapon. It’s touches like this that make the game so much more realistic and true to the spirit of Tom Clancy, and the game has rarely lost its Charm in this regard.
Of course, the most unique aspect of Splinter Cell is undoubtedly the lighting and sound system, and it is the mechanics that have defined the series. Sam Fisher is a Secret Agent who hides in the dark like a silent thief, still analyzing the opponent’s every move to catch him off guard at the right opportunity. A light meter indicates how visible you are to your enemies against your surroundings, and you should try to stay in the dark as much as possible. You can take down lights or turn off electricity as much as possible to create dark spaces where you can freely sneak into the area. The game offers a variety of dark and narrow corridors through which you have to sneak, and there are times when you almost touch your opponent without him being aware of your existence, which makes for really exciting experiences.
You won’t always get through the levels, and there will be times when you have to send your enemies, and fortunately, Splinter Cell also offers a multitude of options on this front. You can go behind your enemies and extract important information from them such as key codes and secret routes before smothering them, or you can shoot them down with your silent pistol, or you can even strike them from a distance using weapons like the sniper rifle. The game offers both lethal and non-lethal options, with airborne projectiles or sticky bombs that can explode like gas grenades, making your enemies unconscious. You are free to choose your virus and you will have to resort to firearms frequently – because the original Splinter Cell contains certain sections that require you to defeat enemies, unlike some after entries in the Franchise that offer options for Ghosting by level.
And this leads us beautifully to the plains. Although they may not seem like much from a modern point of view, Splinter Cell had sprawling levels with a lot of spaces and corridors through which players had to sneak to achieve their goals. They were indeed so large that some had to be divided into separate levels in order for the game to work on the PS2. These levels range from the CIA headquarters to an oil rig to a foreign embassy, and although the critical path through the level is quite limited, the levels take into account the many play styles offered to the player. Therefore, it’s an absolute pleasure to sneak through these levels, and these levels are Ripe for replayability, but not as much as the after entries.