With Ubisoft confirmed to be working on a remake of its classic stealth series Splinter Cell, new information indicates the story won't be quite what fans remember. After years of waiting, Ubisoft finally confirmed the return of Sam Fisher in a new Splinter Cell game, after a number of cameos within other Tom Clancy titles. While not a new entry in the long-running franchise, the newly announced title is planned as a remake of the 2002 title, with development being handled by Ubisoft Toronto who handled the last game in the franchise, Splinter Cell: Blacklist.
Tot his point, Ubisoft hasn't revealed a ton of new details regarding the game, which is likely still in the early stages of development. The initial announcement did confirm that Splinter Cell was being built from the ground up using The Division's Snowdrop engine, which is also being utilized on other upcoming titles like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and unannounced Star Wars project. However, a new job listing has shed a little more light on the game, including an updated story.
The job listing for a Scriptwriter, found on the Ubisoft Careers website, makes it clear that Ubisoft Toronto is rewriting and updating the original Splinter Cell story for a modern audience. The description makes it clear that the studio aims to keep the spirit and themes of the original game, while also exploring the characters and world in more detail to help make them feel more authentic and believable. The scriptwriter will attempt to create a "cohesive and compelling narrative experience for a new audience of Splinter Cell fans."
The original Splinter Cell introduced players to Sam Fisher, an NSA agent that becomes a key member of a newly formed stealth division called Third Eschelon. Voiced by Michael Ironside for the majority of Fisher's appearances, the series would quickly earn its place as once of Ubisoft's flagship franchises in the early 2000s, spawning a number of games every few years until 2013, where Blacklist would be the last released mainline game. Fisher would return mainly as a guest character or cameo in other Tom Clancy games, leaving much of the fanbase to wonder when the series would come back in full.
While fans continue to wait for new information as well as speculate whether or not this is the first step in seeing the franchise return, it isn't the only remake Ubisoft is working on. In fact, Ubisoft's other high profile remake is of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, another franchise that has been fairly dormant prior to this reveal. Unfortunately, news has not been so great as of late, with the Prince of Persia Remake being criticized for its visuals and eventually being delayed indefinitely while the project shifted to Ubisoft Montreal.
A Splinter Cell remake is currently in development.