Ubisoft continues to play an indirectly dangerous game with its fans over one of its most iconic franchises. That's exaggerating a bit, but to be fair, it's been almost seven years since a proper mainline Splinter Cell game has released. Not to mention it's been even longer since a true-to-form stealth simulation game like the earlier Splinter Cell titles in the series has come out. And yet, the discussion of a new game in the franchise continues to get louder every year.
It'd be one thing if this was simply just fan interest or the zeitgeist of online gaming commentary, but Ubisoft continuously recognizes and features Sam Fisher in games other than Splinter Cell. The character and the franchise has almost become Ubisoft's token celebrity that occasionally shows up to flaunt its impending irrelevance. While plenty of games feature stealth and action mechanics paired together, there hasn't been a true, realistic triple-A stealth simulation game in quite a while. Splinter Cell used to fit and succeed in that niche, but nowadays, the franchise is falling into obscurity.
Slow Death of the Stealth Game
The slow death and partial revival of the stealth action game has been happening for a while. The closest thing to a triple-A stealth game in the last five years was Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, but even the lineage of that series couldn't avoid mixing in action elements to the gameplay loop. Even the last game in the Splinter Cell series, Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013), had flexibility in allowing players to use an action-oriented "panther" playstyle. Hitman beats on similar notes as Splinter Cell does, but implements a lot of social stealth aspects like Assassin's Creed, whereas traditional Splinter Cell is strictly hardcore stealth-oriented only.
Back during the early days of Splinter Cell, there were little to no action elements at all. Up until Splinter Cell: Conviction in 2010, the franchise was all about stealth-first and going loud as a last resort. Playing Splinter Cell like an action game was deliberately clunky or impeding, deterring players from that type of gameplay entirely. Players would be punished severely if Fisher entered into a firefight recklessly, forcing players to be more methodical with their approach. Careful planning and clever maneuvering around enemies was the name of the game, and often times the game never forced players to kill or take down anyone in certain areas. But with games like Conviction and Blacklist, all of a sudden the game was designed to play like a Batman-simulator instead of emphasizing stealth.
Sam Fisher Still Exists, Kind of
But the lack of Splinter Cell games recently hasn't been the worst offense by Ubisoft. What's worse is that several Ubisoft games from other franchises continue to feature Splinter Cell's protagonist Sam Fisher. First it was Ghost Recon Wildlands and then Breakpoint that stung the most, featuring Splinter Cell-themed DLC with Sam Fisher's iconic voice actor Michael Ironside. Fisher has his own questline in both games, along with several acting scenes with Ironside in character alongside Nomad. Ironside is notable mostly because the iconic voice actor was replaced for Splinter Cell: Blacklist, which garnered some controversy back in 2013 when the game released.
Even more egregious was Splinter Cell's tie-in with Ubisoft's upcoming mobile game Elite Squad, where Sam Fisher is one of the several iconic Tom Clancy game heroes to feature in the military RPG. Of course with any mobile spin-off game there will be some ire from hardcore fans, but it's especially hard to see for Splinter Cell fans. To top it off, the character also isn't voiced by Michael Ironside either. Granted it's a mobile spin-off that likely has a smaller budget, but it still stings for Splinter Cell fans who haven't gotten a mainline Splinter Cell game in seven years. At this point there's been more Splinter Cell crossovers in this decade than actual games in the series.
The Perfect Time for A New Splinter Cell
There's been some mumblings of a new Splinter Cell game in development with Ubisoft before, but most information stems from rumors and hearsay. Some Ubisoft personnel have even publicly joked about a Splinter Cell game being in development, of course that was before they apologized for making a poor joke. It also doesn't help that Splinter Cell's most recent creative director Maxime Béland was among those who resigned or were let go from Ubisoft following sexual assault allegations spreading throughout the company. It could be a long time before fans even get a glimpse at the next Splinter Cell game, which is a shame as the series has been deeply missed by fans.
While many games from Ubisoft and other studios have implemented several stealth-lite mechanics based on what Splinter Cell pioneered, there hasn't been a true triple-A stealth simulation experience in a long time. If anything, with the new next-gen consoles rolling into players' homes this fall, the near future may be perfect for a Splinter Cell return, reboot, sequel, or whatever. Several big releases have danced around stealth gameplay mechanics, but they've never been the centerpiece of the gameplay loop. Several horror games like Alien: Isolation have brought stealth to the forefront of the game, but obviously to a different effect on the player. There really isn't any other game like Splinter Cell currently out there, which if anything is an indication of how special the series truly is.
Here's to hoping the ninth console generation spurs on another Splinter Cell game from Ubisoft. The company clearly hasn't forgotten the franchise, but continues to insert Fisher into other Tom Clancy's games instead. It's time Fisher got his own story, for the first time in a long time.
A Splinter Cell game is rumored to be in development.