FACTOID # 51: Russia won the first World Air Games, held in Turkey in 1997. Events included hang-gliding, sky-surfing, and ballooning.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

FACTS & STATISTICS    Simple view

  1. Select countries to view: (hold down Control key and click to select several)

     

     

    Compare:

     

     

  1. Select fact or statistic: (* = graphable)

     

     

     

  2. (OPTIONAL) Compare to statistic: (both need to be graphable)

     

     

     

  3. View result as:

     

       
(OR) SEARCH ALL encyclopedia, stats & forums:   

Encyclopedia > Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
An image from the original Splinter Cell

Splinter Cell is a series of video games endorsed by American author Tom Clancy. The success of the series spawned a novel series in 2004 written under the pseudonym David Michaels. The protagonist, Sam Fisher is a highly trained agent of a black-ops division of the NSA, dubbed Third Echelon. This article is about the first game in the Splinter Cell video game series. ... Tom Clancys Splinter Cell is a 2004 novel told in the first person by author David Michaels. ... Splinter Cells Sam Fisher climbing. ... Splinter Cells Sam Fisher climbing. ... This article is about computer and video games. ... For the member of the Irish folk band The Clancy Brothers, see Tom Clancy (singer) and for the American Celticist, see Thomas Owen Clancy. ... David Michaels is a pseudonym for the author of the novel series Splinter Cell. ... For the Australian rules football player, see Samuel Fisher. ... “NSA” redirects here. ... Third Echelon is the name of a fictional sub-agency within the National Security Agency featured in the Splinter Cell series of games created by Tom Clancy. ...


Splinter Cell, as a brand, is owned by Tom Clancy's company, Rubicon, and is licensed to Ubisoft to make the games. The characters of the game, as well as "Third Echelon" itself, were created by Ubisoft writer J.T. Petty. Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) is a computer and video game publisher and developer with headquarters in Montreuil-sous-Bois, France. ...

Contents

Overview

The storyline is similar in most of the games. Terrorists are planning an attack by weapons of mass destruction, usually by use of information warfare, and Sam Fisher needs to prevent this. The missions range from gathering intelligence to capturing and/or eliminating terrorist operatives. Stealth is a critical aspect of gameplay; shooting and killing any civilians or enemy units may result in mission failure or increased difficulty (as guards may arm themselves to better prepare for an attack). An alarm usually occurs if a non-player character spots a casualty, an unconscious person, or Sam Fisher himself. In the first two games, the mission is aborted after a set number of alarms have been triggered; sometimes only one will end a mission prematurely, depending on the mission. The third game features a new system, in which enemies move up to a new level of awareness for every alarm triggered. For example, after the fourth alarm is set off, enemies will fortify positions around the map and wait for you. For the Xzibit album, see Weapons of Mass Destruction (album). ... Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Black Bag Operation. ...


The smoothest way forward in the game is to remain invisible, select non-obvious routes, and utilize diversions to pass guards. The game is a combination of problem solving and quick action. Attacks must be swift, silent, and decisive to ensure success. Pandora Tomorrow introduced a two-on-two multiplayer mode, pitting two very differently equipped teams against each other. Chaos Theory further evolved that mode and introduced a co-operative mode. This mode plays out very much like the single player mode, yet features myriad moves that may only be performed by both players acting as a team. The co-op storyline in Chaos Theory and the Xbox version of Double Agent parallels that of Sam's in single-player mode, acting on information he obtained or providing support in the field. To ensure that the trident-goggles remain unique to Fisher, the co-op spies have only two lenses that are red or blue.


Double Agent introduces a new morality factor. As the subtitle implies, Fisher becomes a double agent, assuming the identity of a wanted criminal and is recruited by a terrorist ring. The new mechanic is that Fisher may now encounter conflicting objectives between his superiors and the terrorists. For example, the terrorists may assign you to assassinate a person, while you may be instructed by the NSA to prevent the assassination. This creates a delicate balancing act between gaining the trust of the terrorists and fulfilling your mission assignments. In addition, Fisher must not do anything to reveal to the terrorists that he is a double agent.


A fifth game, named 'Splinter Cell: Conviction', is in the making, in which Sam Fisher is a wanted man, after his involvement with terrorist activities in 'Double Agent', and has changed his appearance in order to remain undetected.


Games

The locations of Sam Fisher's missions during his time with Third Echelon
The locations of Sam Fisher's missions during his time with Third Echelon

Ubisoft rotates development of the console games between Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Shanghai. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 407 pixel Image in higher resolution (2753 × 1400 pixel, file size: 153 KB, MIME type: image/png) SC/PT/CT/DA (360) I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 407 pixel Image in higher resolution (2753 × 1400 pixel, file size: 153 KB, MIME type: image/png) SC/PT/CT/DA (360) I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...

  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002) Ubisoft Montreal
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004) Ubisoft Shanghai
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005) Ubisoft Montreal
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials (2006) Ubisoft Montreal
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (2006) Ubisoft Shanghai (next-gen)/Ubisoft Montreal (current-gen)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2008) Ubisoft Montreal

This article is about the first game in the Splinter Cell video game series. ... Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) is a computer and video game publisher and developer headquarters in Montreuil, France. ... Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) is a computer and video game publisher and developer headquarters in Montreuil, France. ...

Novels

The Splinter Cell novels are written under the pseudonym David Michaels by different authors. The first two novels were written by American author Raymond Benson, also known for being the author of several official James Bond novels and short stories. In 2006, Raymond Benson stepped down from writing further novels saying the next novel would be written by another author under the same pseudonym. It is currently unknown who authored the third novel released in November 2006. David Michaels is a pseudonym for the author of the novel series Splinter Cell. ... Raymond Benson (born September 6, 1955) is an American author best known for being the last official author of the adult James Bond novels. ... 007 redirects here. ...

  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2004) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006) by unknown author as David Michaels
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout (2007) by unknown author as David Michaels

Tom Clancys Splinter Cell is a 2004 novel told in the first person by author David Michaels. ... Raymond Benson (born September 6, 1955) is an American author best known for being the last official author of the adult James Bond novels. ... David Michaels is a pseudonym for the author of the novel series Splinter Cell. ...

Film

The existence of a movie in pre-production has been confirmed both by news sources and by the inclusion of a teaser trailer in the "Collector's Edition" and European Edition of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Originally, Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) was slated to direct/produce and Splinter Cell video game scriptwriter, J.T. Petty, was slated to write, along with John J. McLaughlin. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Trailer (film). ...


J.T. Petty and Peter Berg left the project in summer 2005 and the project shifted from Paramount Pictures to DreamWorks [1]. Not long after, however, Viacom, the parent of Paramount Pictures, purchased DreamWorks. Since then, there has been no updated information on the film. Production is publicly considered to be stalled. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... This article is about the film studio. ...


Trivia

  • Originally, Tom Clancy rejected the idea of Sam Fisher having trifocal goggles, stating that goggles with both thermal vision and night vision are impossible to make. The creators argued that having two separate sets of goggles would make for awkward gameplay and convinced Clancy to allow it. Ironically, to this very day the trifocal goggles are considered the 'signature' symbol of the Splinter Cell series. It is mentioned in the special features of the first Splinter Cell for Xbox that having a recognizable 'signature' was what the character designer was aiming for.
  • Unlike most present-day video games, Splinter Cell uses motion capture technology for all of its NPCs' animations, but not Sam Fisher; a few of his more complicated moves, such as the split jump, are animated by hand. The creators felt this would give Sam a more "fluid" range of motion. The cooperative Third Echelon player agents (Agents One and Two in the co-op story mode of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory) are also given the same direction as well.
  • Games bearing the Tom Clancy name, including Splinter Cell and the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series, must receive approval from Clancy himself to earn his endorsement. Some of the aspects of games that he looks for include realistic weapons, military tactics, and health systems for the game's characters.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... For the member of the Irish folk band The Clancy Brothers, see Tom Clancy (singer) and for the American Celticist, see Thomas Owen Clancy. ... Thermography can refer to a printing process and a imaging process. ... Night-vision is seeing in the dark. ... Motion capture, or mocap, is a technique of digitally recording the movements of real things — usually humans — it originally developed as an analysis tool in biomechanics research, but has grown increasingly important as a source of motion data for computer animation. ... Tom Clancys Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a third-person stealth-based video game developed and published by Ubisoft. ... For the member of the Irish folk band The Clancy Brothers, see Tom Clancy (singer) and for the American Celticist, see Thomas Owen Clancy. ... Rainbow Six is fictional character John Clarks position as director of the counter-terrorist unit Rainbow that debuted in the 1998 novel Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy. ... Ghost Recon is a series of military tactical shooter video games created by American author Tom Clancy. ...

Characters

For the Australian rules football player, see Samuel Fisher. ... The following is a list of supporting characters found throughout the Splinter Cell series of video games and novels. ...

External links

  • Splinter Cell, Official site
  • Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Official site
  • Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Official site
  • Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Official site
  • Official site of game scriptwriter, JT Petty
  • Official site of the author of the first two SC novels, RaymondBenson.com
  • July 13, 2006 interview with current David Michaels


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.