Splinter Cell Retrospective | When Stealth Action Got Redefined

It doesn't look like we're getting a new Splinter Cell game any time soon, so I'm taking this opportunity to replay all the major Splinter Cell games as part of a new retrospective series. This video covers the first Splinter Cell game. Pandora Tomorrow will follow in about a month.
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#SplinterCell #Ubisoft #SamFisher

[@IrIcHiHaRu]

They did pretty well with making Sam's NVGs about as instantly recognizable as Snake's headband is, I'd say.

[@MDRO4]

Or as recognizable as the crowbar of Gordon Freeman.

[@Megalomaniac_Trans_Lesbian]

@@MDRO4 I'd argue that the bandana and the green goggles are way more recognisable than the crowbar ^^

[@detectivejojo7025]

@@Megalomaniac_Trans_Lesbian no coz half life is more popular and they got the crowbar in the lamda logo too

[@Megalomaniac_Trans_Lesbian]

@@detectivejojo7025 I'm pretty sure the MGS franchise at least is more popular than Half-Life, but who am I to argue with a professional uncle puncher I mean marine biologist

[@aquariuskudo]

More recognizable. The goggles are up their with Light sabers if you ask me.

[@Jaydogg222]

I have also played the pc version of 1 with all the mods and texture upgrades. One note, the reason sam isn't catching the platform on the oil rig is because your supposed to swing your legs up while sliding on the pipe. It is NOT a glitch.

[@Yony42]

''No one wants to die due to not being able to find the correct interaction point on a vent.'' Truer words...

[@CruelDwarf]

I must note that villains in Splinter Cell aren't Russians. They are actually Georgians and the bad guy is president of Georgia.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

We don't talk about Georgia - it reminds Americans too much of Georgia.

[@GerSHAK]

+

[@heinrichb]

And the few Russians that do show up are merely mercenaries working for the Georgians

[@pauljones4862]

I was going to say. I knew I remembered this from my childhood and Tom Clancy games were weird because Georgia was the good guys in Ghost Recon and the bad guys in Splinter Cell.

[@atlantiswolf]

He also mentioned ethnic cleansing in Afghanistan when it was Azerbaijan.

[@Chosen_One]

Man he crapped in that intro but 8 year old me thought that was one of the most badass things about the game 😂

[@thechannelforeverything2170]

This is so relatable. I thought that intro was awesome.

[@ThatSavoieDude]

One time I tried to time the intro with my mom arriving home from work and make it look like it was a cool show on TV lol. I was expecting her to ask what show it was and be amazed at the state of game graphics when I told her. Life's funny as a kid

[@HeatherHolt]

Chaos Theory was the series perfected. The epitome of stealth to me.

[@user-ti1gy9lg3r]

Double Agent (xbox original) - the best

[@HeatherHolt]

Никита Евдокимов DA was pretty good I liked how you could go either way with the choices in the missions.

[@sinenomine8739]

@@user-ti1gy9lg3r ты под каждым блять видео по сплинтеру это говоришь.

[@user-ti1gy9lg3r]

@@sinenomine8739 Да. Она реально лучше.

[@user-ti1gy9lg3r]

@@sinenomine8739 я пишу а не говорю

[@jossricketts4452]

Splinter Cell may be was inspired by MGS, but it took all its stealth mechanics from Thief Dark Project. Shrank the levels, but I guess that's the price of progress I do love the music in this game, especially georgian motives

[@CutingTheEdge]

Created by Amon Tobin. Great musician.

[@jossricketts4452]

@@CutingTheEdge Amon Tobin wrote music for Chaos Theory. The first one had music written by Michael Richard Plowman

[@JCDenton2000]

Georgian fight is so good too

[@BreiiisBreiiis]

2:07 The intro from the first Splinter Cell is literally perfection. Always gets me pumped to start another playthrough, *especially* because of the music.

[@steveg261991]

When you dropped behind that Colonel in the embassy for the retinal scan you’re suppose to hit crouch as you land so you don’t make noise on impact. That is a prompt earlier in the game or maybe even in the tutorial level and there’s plenty other times you can practice this in other situations before getting to this point if you’re not just shooting everyone and really trying to find ways around guards

[@have_a_good_day420]

Most of his issues with the game are solvable by getting better. His nitpicks are mostly stupid.

[@SAJMusicWorks]

That does not always work in my experience, that spesific spot is too close to the ground for you to be able to reliably do the soft landing.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

*THAT'S THE NAME OF THE GAME* *WICKAWOCKADOOPADEEOPADAPPADOOPA!*

[@leegsy]

I killed a panda!

[@WaddleDee105]

I almost started choking on my food due to laughing at this comment. Even when I first played this game as a teen I thought the music choice for the opening was bizarre.

[@tsbulmer]

The first Splinter Cell game gave me one of my most important experiences of emergent gameplay, and I found that playing the game with my self-made challenge completely changed my experience of it. My first play-through saw me being pretty cavalier about killing guards, but when I got to the CIA level and couldn't do that, I knocked out them out instead, and chuckled at the thought of how many people would later wake up with raging headaches, locked in closets with a dozen other people. When I played through that a second time, I found myself feeling bad about the prospect of inflicting a ton of presumably-innocent people with concussions, and I endeavored to go through the level without even knocking anyone out. It was way harder than it had been otherwise, but it was tremendously satisfying and far, far more fun. A particular standout moment was early in that level, when I had to go down a lit hallway with a pacing guard, and rather than knocking them out, I had to follow silently and right behind him, so that when he turned, I'd be close enough to stay behind him, which also made him more likely to hear me. It was fucking *intense*. Some years later, I fired up the game again and intended to go through each level not just without killing, but without incapacitating anyone, aside from those that you were required to. I even took it a step further and tried to go through levels without raising suspicion. I didn't complete the playthrough, but wow was it fun. It completely reinvigorated my experience of the game, and Splinter Cell went from a game that I was happy to have played through once to one of my absolute favorites on the XBox.

[@Yeshua_is-Cool]

Same way with the metal gear solid series

[@have_a_good_day420]

Word for word I could have written this. My exact same experience.

[@The_Isaiahnator]

Ghosting through these levels is the most suspenseful experience in gaming.

[@StickNik]

Just played the game myself, and I've found a couple of inaccuracies... and disagreements. The pistol is like the rifle in that it can instantly kill with critical headshots. The issue is the inaccuracy/spread means properly hitting the head is fairly difficult. With some later enemies that wear helmets, you have to hit their face to have the instant headshot, with the nightvision guys being the tankiest and usually require gadgets to effectively take out (not 100% how vulnerable they are yet). While the game is fairly linear, there's a surprising amount of options. Already just watching this video I found you take routes I didn't know about, like the crane pipe into Kalinatek (I jumped down to the entrance from the cinder blocks and smashed in), and I've personally found a few different ways to get around, especially with the wall jumps flexibility (sub base you can zipline or climb over some structure to the back left, just played that level today). I wish they went further admittedly, but I've started a hard play through and already finding more variance than I expected on the first run. I just managed to extract the CIA mole without knocking out any security outside except the one guy talking to your teammates for example. The level design really hid away all the potential for that when I initially went through knocking everyone out. Split jump while somewhat of a gimmick can be incredibly useful. Had a CIA HQ run where I only knocked out 5-7 guys, was able to use split jump to go through an archives room on the way to the server room, on Kola Cell there are a couple nice areas to use it, interestingly I never used it going into the police station, as if you are quick enough, you can run up right behind the guard, shimmy under the window of his office to completely bypass him. Stealthing the Chinese embassy hall with the retinal scanner by jumping onto a shelf to get over the ground floor turret and such was fun, and I had managed to jump off the pipe silently on my first attempt, though also had the opportunity to distract him by shooting out some lights so that you have an opening to sneak up on him. There's a lot of variance/flexibility in the environment just with lights you can shoot out, but also other things like shooting glass bottles, shooting that first wall mine you see to kill the two guys talking about how dangerous it is, etc. I do agree to an extent there's plenty that could be done for user friendliness in the end. I remember a few occasions where I had cool looking wall jump up to ledges just hit invisible walls, like to exit the first embassy mission, there's was a section of wall behind the checkpoint gate where the car stops that didn't have barbed wire, so I tried a few times to get out before realising there was a pipe that I needed to climb out. The first rappel point I never actually saw, so when the second one came I had no idea I could do that and wondered around for ages trying to find it.

[@jackcozad6345]

I agree rappel points are less than obvious. The manual points out all the maneuvers you're capable of including rappelling, though the in-game tutorial doesn't mention rappelling. And most people didn't read the manual (many people even threw the paper manuals away).

[@vitamc1213]

"Lockpicking is a lot like sex." I just love this quote xD Also, I'm so glad that someone else finally relises that Tom Clancy is not just about action, it's also about the politics behind the action. This is what is lacking from modern day Tom Clancy games, they have become generic action flicks, with little political influence.

[@drbobcat6]

In regards to politics, I'd say that's definitely true when it comes to most of Ubisoft's work. Though, in some cases (IE Ghost Recon Wildlands), I'd argue that Ubisoft just wants to wear the skin of politics without actually committing to any one position. They regularly claim to not support any one particular viewpoint while simultaneously basing their games entire plot around one country's particular approach to foreign affairs. It's bizarre and, at least in my personal opinion, kinda cowardly. Though, I understand why they do it. They absolutely, positively do not want to alienate anyone from buying their games even if it means their games lack the same air of confidence they expressed in prior titles. This isn't something completely unique to Ubisoft per se (see Activation and their Call of Duty Modern Warfare remake), but they are a bit more blatant and outspoken about it than others. They even outright include lengthy disclaimers during opening splash screens claiming they don't intend to further any specific political stances.

[@asiagoinplainsight6057]

@@drbobcat6my favorite part of Wildlands’ politics was “we relocated the native people because it wasn’t safe and they were totally cool with it also you can take shit from their old homes :)”

[@KenTWOu]

1:25 - That's only partly true. Clint Hocking was not only a writer, he also was a game designer and a level designer of SC1. In 'Designer Notes 43' podcast at about 1 h 30 min mark he said there was a divide among dev team: half of them tried to make a Metal Gear killer, while the other half tried to make a Thief game. He was in the latter half. Besides in the interview you quoted Clint said that System Shock, Thief, Deus Ex, Thief 3 and other Looking Glass/Ion Storm games have influenced him as a designer.

[@Grandmastergav86]

I bloody love the first 4. Chaos Theory is my favourite. Blacklist was decent imho (after the laughable Conviction).

[@BackupPanic07]

I actually really enjoyed Conviction, if only for Deniable Ops alone; wish they had kept it in for Blacklist.

[@Grandmastergav86]

@@BackupPanic07 The single player was dreadful, Deniable Ops was OK.

[@BackupPanic07]

I might be a little biased, having spent over a hundred hours in Deniable Ops, mostly solo but occasionally with a friend. It was just so easy to jump into when you needed a shot of stealth-action goodness but didn't want to deal with cutscenes and the like, to each their own, though.

[@sinenomine8739]

@@BackupPanic07 blacklist integrated all of the DO game modes in the form of side objectives. Sure, you can't edit them on the fly like in Splinter Cell: Conviction, but at the same time blacklist made this stuff more meaningful than just some little challenge rooms. For example, last stand from SCC (basically horde mode) was presented in blacklist like some sort of extra game area, where the character's goal is to survive the multiple ways of the enemies, it's also kinda fitted into the story, because 4th Echelon team was exploring various parts of the world to find out more about engineers terrorist group allies, thus Sam Fisher collected the data from their inside man in the foreign embassy, but he got exposed to their presence. Deniable ops also had an "infiltration mode", but it was just your standard "kill all the living creatures on the map" mode with extra cameras, lasers and alarm restriction. On the contrary, blacklist has full-blown stealth only missions from Grim, which are specifically designed for quiet approach.

[@BackupPanic07]

@@sinenomine8739 I know, I just liked the stand alone nature of Conviction's more than the interconnected approach Blacklist took. I'd trade the middling Spies Vs Mercs we got for a fully fleshed out Deniable Ops mode; at this point a more faithful take on it could easily stand on its own if they kept the development budget in check and didn't expect it to do Assassin's Creed numbers, but that goes for Splinter Cell in general really.

[@raresmacovei8382]

Also Chris, you said 6 Splinter Cell games? There are 7 Splinter Cell games. There are 2 completely different Double Agent games. Don't skip the original Xbox version!!!

[@mylokindness65]

@Super Duper Hard Target essentials is on psp no difference i remembers there's a unique wii release though

[@thebosicothe]

smh you guys forgetting the ngage version

[@thebosicothe]

@Super Duper Hard Target I think I saw it on X-Play

[@jarjared3522]

@@mylokindness65 Despite what the title led me to believe Splinter Cell Essentials did not seem that essential. It built hype for a version of Double Agent that never happened and one bit literally reuses audio files from Pandora Tomorrow for Lambert and Grim.

[@Bendanna93]

@Bwa Bwa Yoshi Yes it is, if you care about Double Agent in general it is.

[@StaplesMcJesusIsGod]

Given the citing of the decade as being the 70s, the retro futurism probably would have been in the style of the Nostromo from Ridley Scott's Alien.

[@shonjones7231]

Not so sure, You could argue Pertree era Who at that point.

[@baddragonite]

I think the reason splinter cell and games like it can get away more with putting modern politics in them is that they tend to be based in a version of the modern "real world " and don't tend to be preachy (for lack of a better term) or one sided. I think the preachiness is the real issue people have when media does insert politics more than the politics themselves. (though really this also kinda applies to games set in other worlds as well though it can easily feel more shoehorned in in those cases)

[@baddragonite]

That's a big reason the "free expression crowd" you mention celebrated something like far cry 5 which had political themes but didn't necesarilly try to make the audience think a certain way. I'm sure some believe no politics belong in games. Often though when you go deeper most are completely okay with political messages. They Just don't like being told what they should think rather than just being given a situation to look at and make their own minds up on.

[@baddragonite]

Along with that some feel that most of the time nowadays politics in media isn't nuanced at all and comes off as shallow or tokenistic and would rather just not see it at all at this point.

[@Skullnaught]

This guys reviews are good but he feels like he is one of those twitter people that unironically use the word gamer as an insult. And the rants are annoying

[@saisameer8771]

Yep. People have no problem with current day politics in games. It's only a problem when you become overly preachy like in life is strange 2. The game references a "wall" but doesn't have a proper context for it in game which makes it come off as annoying. And the patriotic American being a bully.

[@unlimitedricepudding7826]

Skullnaught Yeah, I had to stop watching his Metro reviews because he started complaining about sexism with how the women are depicted as being passive and sex objects even though the point of that was to show that in a realistic post apocalyptic setting where humanity is near extinction, having women basically becoming baby makers is shown as an unfortunate reality in such a setting. But he just kept going on and on about it the whole time. He also complained about the communist faction being depicted as bad is wrong because “muh nazis are worse” even though both the books and the games make a point of showing both factions as equally bad because any and every extremist ideology results in the same totalitarian outcome, just with different steps

[@DrearierSpider1]

I would classify the first several Splinter Cell games as stealth games, not stealth _action_ games. Combat was actively discouraged and punished in the normal, moment to moment gameplay up to at least Chaos Theory. Earlier Tom Clancy games were also simulator style games rather than the arcade games they would later become (think early Rainbow Six vs The Division).

[@TheOnlyDarkKnight]

They are stealth action, because it was a mix, for example in the first Chinese Embassy mission from SAR, at the beginning they tell you not to kill, after listening to the General (forgot the name) conversation, they tell you that there isn't time for discretion that you can now kill. There are multiple action moments on all the games, with the exception of two games, Chaos Theory and Double Agent (Xbox 360 version) every other game allows you to kill without punishment or has action sequences.

[@BlueZirnitra]

Let's not get too crazy. This is still an action game, despite not being a really fast paced one. It isn't by any means the slowest stealth action game and fuck me you get plenty of weapons.

[@glitch373]

I think chaos theory is the only one I would define as pure stealth. It encouraged ghost playthroughs, whereas none of the others even allowed you to ghost ( from what I can remember) with forced action segments. But I guess compared to what is classified as "stealth" today, yes those earlier games were much more stealth focussed.

[@TheSectric]

There are many moments in this game you are forced into action moments. It is not a pure stealth experience especially compared to something like thief.

[@slash4216]

My favorite franchise. I replay them every year, except Blacklist. I'm now on my 3rd playthrough with blacklist and I've noticed something about it that's bothered me that I didn't catch the first 2 times. It's not the voice or the mannerisms of Sam Fisher (although it's a major con in this game), but it's really how Fisher moves and how the enemies respond to things. Sam is too OP in the game. Remember through the first - double agent, if you shoot or went guns blazing; it would be a challenge because guns are last resort and your supposed to be a ghost. Hide bodies. Enemies had set walk paths they would walk through and if you got caught, they could do significant damage. In Conviction, yes you could only go guns blazing with slight stealth elements, but the enemies don't have walk paths like the older games. They generally come from one or two points in the room and flank about at least 6 people at a time in a smaller space, so you don't have an option but to shoot because the enemies in that game are like tactical swat teams. I see Sams movements as more Liam Neeson style (except the climbing is way too quick), so Sam in Conviction feels different, but still feels vulnerable. In Blacklist, they mix both old and new. This is the problem. Enemies are back to their walk paths, more spread out. They don't really flank. The levels aren't linear like in Conviction and more open. Fisher moves more swiftly than in even Conviction. If you get caught, you can take them out pretty easily. People will come, but you have such a huge area to play with so escaping isnt as hard as in Conviction. It doesn't make sense for Sam to play like he does in this game. The enemy and level designs go back to the roots, but they took Sam a step farther in the action direction and went from Liam Neeson brutality, to anathletic gymnast. I get they were trying to reach a broader audience. Play the style you want to play. But it is a very bi-polar experience for me. I hope the next Splinter Cell would go back to a slower, fragile Sam. Stick to the shadows kind of Sam. Where weapons are a last resort, and stakes could be high if guns had to be drawn. Where hiding bodies mattered again. But one can wish.

[@Lucas12v]

I liked blacklist but as you get access to better guns it gets way too easy to just brute force the mission.

[@have_a_good_day420]

Same. It doesn’t make sense that the older Sam gets the younger he looks and moves.

[@billfgxheru]

Everything you say it accurate except I dont ALL the say agree with you. I love that sam is fast swift,brutal and unstoppable. How else would he have became apart of third echelon ? Or even survive conviction? His new movement is great it's a depiction of how sam most likely moved in the books and novels which these games are based off of. I appreciate your attention to detail and I like comments lik urs. Nice to see someone just as interested but with an opposite opinion

[@joshspace99]

@@billfgxheru I think the only reason people criticize sams movement, or how op he is is because of his age. In blacklist, sam is 68, now imagine a 68 years old grandpa moving like that, literally impossible. However, if we ignore his age, I think it's a perfect representation of how sam should have been in his prime.

[@TonyTwoBalls]

Headshots don't work the way you described. The pistol DOES in fact 1 shot headshot. The problem is the reticle bloom. It's incredibly wide on the pistol and you have to get close otherwise you're at the mercy of the game's shooting RNG. You can see this problem when you try to shoot out lights too quickly and notice your bullets shoot wide quite often. This was fixed in later games.

[@gilgamesh310]

Yeah, that’s what I thought. I was confused by what he was saying there.

[@TonyTwoBalls]

@A Turian on lean I think that was only in Pandora Tomorrow

[@TonyTwoBalls]

@A Turian on lean Already ahead of you. Not a fan of Pandora Tomorrow though and Chaos Theory is still my favorite in the series and my favorite game of all time

[@ips2124]

it's inaccurate because you don't need it to kill people unless ur bad

[@PhantomSnake84]

The original Splinter Cell trilogy is so good because of it's absolute laser focus on what it's actually trying to do. It's a pure single player experience but with no obnoxious interruptions every five seconds like overlong cutscenes, hijacking your camera control to blatantly show you something like you're a moron, "press X not to die" moments, a big waypoint telling you exactly where to go at all times, there are no useless collectibles to bog down the pacing and have you annoyingly search every corner for, no ridiculous skins or stupid weapons that ruined Rainbow Six and no open world map full of "content" which is actually just all filler and there just for the sake of being there. The original Splinter Cell trilogy is the most underrated series of all time because it's so good at being a realistic depiction of what it's like to be a covert, black ops commando dropped into these missions with nothing but your own weapons and resources. You're there to do your mission and that's it. People complain the games are too "linear" but they're not, you're just not meant to fuck around like it's GTA with your hot pink coloured DLC assault rifle and stupid clown skin you paid 3.99 on the store for. Modern developers could learn a lot from this amazing series of games in that it really is quality over quantity.

[@Smoofyful]

I wouldn't say Fisher has no personality, it was the original plan but Michael Ironside made him a character of his own. He has great moments, especially in two and three. As for the linearity of the levels, it's not bad by design but it feels so limiting for a stealth game. You said it yourself, you went back to mgs but not this. I go back to Pandora and Chaos theory but not one. Especially because you end up having to listen to the same dialogue over and over because of a bogus checkpoint system. Politics in media isn't bad, the problem is when it turns to propaganda. In Splinter Cell your actions are put into question and you're left to wonder.

[@bengercak8391]

Honestly, I felt that Pandora Tomorrow was just as linear and restricting, if not more, then the first game was.

[@Smoofyful]

Linear yes but not quite as severe. In one you really had to do everything the game wanted you to do.

[@Kozel554]

Right now I do hacking you indeed. Grrh. Are you spooked?

[@heinrichb]

"Russians hacked my neighbour's anus", says a Florida man. More at 9.

[@mynthon0]

Some guy who met Trump once meets a random Russia > CNN: We finally got that Orange Hitler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hunter's laptop > CNN: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[@felisasininus1784]

The pistol and the SC-20K can kill with a single headshot. What you mistook for not killing with a single shot is in reality simply the bullet missing the target. Which happens a lot.

[@thekdawg6606]

Handholding is a big problem when games are designed to be completed with it and you don't want a follow the yellow brick road type of game. Skyrim lets you turn off quest compass, but has no alternative way to know where something would be without it. Not even npc's giving you directions.

[@mikedrop4421]

I remember the first time I played SC1 and the very first level has more enemies than bullets available. That absolutely blew my mind. I was quietly shooting my way and hiding bodies and then realized I was playing completely wrong. I'd never played anything like that. I was expecting a stealthy shooter and I had to reset my brain.

[@MathHoonFBfromFAS]

Disagree. In my opinion, the track “Name Of The Game” by Crystal Method actually fits very well and successfully on this movie.

[@bornon18]

It'd be interesting to hear about Pandora Tomorrow. As much restrictions as the first game had, Ubisoft somehow managed to amp it up even further in the sequel.

[@leegsy]

Chaos Theory took the series to a new level.

[@Krafty]

"Stick it in, wiggle it about a bit and the quicker it's all over with, the better." 🤣

[@darkoradivojevic5616]

Love the uploads keep them up!

[@elouanhildgen-poirier5346]

For anyone watching this wanting to give the game a go, the issue at 7:30 is caused by a lack of momentum when using ziplines in the wrong stance, you need to crouch once on the zipline to increase your speed and clear the edge of the platform.

[@MrRetroDev]

That ledge in the Oil Rig level is a bug in the main game. I was playing through it the other day, with no mods, and couldn't land on it.

[@MarimbaBuddy]

I'm somehow just now getting around to watching these SC videos of yours (which are really great, btw!). As someone else who played the PS2 version first, followed by the XBOX, and then finally the PC, I was surprised at just how nice the quicksave feature is! Some of those checkpoints in the other versions are oh-so-annoying! *Also, at 28:08: I used to struggle with this area, too, but you can either shoot the lights out above him before he enters the room and/or you can do a silent drop. Anyway, great video, man!

[@dodolurker]

I did a quick scroll and didn't see this mentioned, so here it is - at 7:22 mark, you mention that Sam doesn't want to hang onto the ledge and it might be due to the texture pack. And there's no user interaction. Actually, there is. You must pull your legs up to the rope while descending, then he'll land on the ledge just fine. Took me a few tries to figure it out 😃, I just played the original again a couple of weeks ago, so it's fresh in my mind. Not sure if that fact is useful to anyone anymore, but just thought I'd mention it. 🙃

[@ghostwarrior3878]

I honestly enjoyed the co op with archer and kestrel in conviction

[@nigelskaife3024]

Gotta say, I like this look back at a game, and hope more are to come.

19:27 lmao, I didn't realize I am on lib channel

[@Zeithri]

Tenchu.... Teeenchuuu.... TEEEENCHUUUUU!!!! Why is Tenchu not getting it's rights deserved as the *FIRST* 3D Stealth game?! It beat out Metal Gear Solid!

[@Bjorn308]

I think it's due in part because by the 90's the Ninja craze of the previous decade was starting to fade and the modern military fps was starting to come into it's own. Tenchu was right between the TMNT/Ninja Gaiden era and the Naruto era of Ninjamania while being smack dab in the middle of CoD and MOH's rise to popularity. Not to mention DooM, Quake, Unreal Torny and so many other shooters that offered fast paced PvP gunplay while MGS had the stealth action genre pretty much in a deathgrip. Regardless of the reason, it's sad because Tenchu is a great series that deserves more attention.

[@MinecraftNerd1985]

Lovely video! I really liked it.

[@BucklingSwashes]

The Drift sounds more like a sci-fi Hitman.

[@rhrabar0004]

I'm only a third of the way through, but I am getting such a warm feeling from watching your video. I was maybe 13-14 when this game came out, my close friends and I would play it together and be so immersed in the, as you coined it, "grounded" experience. To this day, I look back fondly at those memories. Thank you for putting this out there. I have seen many Splinter Cell videos, but yours is by far the best.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I love the splinter cell series it’s one of my all time favorite game series of all time.

[@CoconutChriss]

Didn't remember it was so linear. Hat a lot of fun with it back then.

[@tenbeat]

I've wanted this video my entire life.

[@LucasRazorBlade]

Oh heck yeah! Thank you! :D

[@TevyaSmolka]

Great review on splinter cell man

[@Youssless]

Man oh man do I miss splinter cell, I have finished and refinished the entire series like 5 times over and I still plan on replaying it over and over and I suggest everyone do so and on the highest difficulty always

[@raresmacovei8382]

Splinter Cell 1, Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory on PC. Splinter Cell 1, Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory emulated from PS2. Splinter Cell Double Agent OG Xbox AND Double Agent X360 on Xbox One X Splinter Cell Essentials emulated from PSP with the dual analog sticks mod. Conviction and Blacklist on PC. Best Splinter Cell experience you can have.

[@have_a_good_day420]

Splinter Cell is the espionage version of Hitman, except arguably harder in most aspects. In Hitman you have more freedom and can walk around in crowds, blending in in plain sight. In Splinter Cell you have to stalk in the shadows. You have to be invisible. A masterpiece in gaming.

[@WaddleDee105]

You still plan on doing more of these? Love your videos and I'd like to see your opinions on the other Splinter Cell games.

[@felisasininus1784]

Also, you can hold right mouse button when aiming with a throwable, which will increase the throwing power. A fully powered thrown glass bottle can knock out a target with a single headshot.

[@Skullnaught]

When people say they don't want politics in games they mean they don't want to be preached at. Take MGS2 for example it just presents its ideas with thd only message it wants you to take its views with is nukes are bad, other than that it lets the player draw conclusions on their own

[@MrRetroDev]

Fun fact: if you've skipped any of the scripted dialog while heading down to the catacombs, the section where Grim shuts off the lights, you will be shot and killed before she can do so. And its not a bug, even if you enable Ghost and fly out of the map, where you can't be hit by bullets due to walls and enemies inability to see through them, they will still aim at you and kill you. Seems like Ubisoft wanted to prevent players from quickly using Ghost to skip through the level.

[@MaGiiC5973]

you shelfing this series ? wanted to see an analysis of every one :(

[@Clownishset58]

I love tom clancy stealth games, especially ghost recon.

[@leathery420]

I agree, though I'd argue Ghost Recon is more about tactics and planning than stealth. Though that's more a matter of personal opinion. Though obviously it being focused around Force Recon/Special Operations there is going to be a significant amount of stealth involved. Kind of wish the Ghost Recon series would go back towards the lower end of the Special Operations with focus with larger more conventional type military forces instead of high tech espionage feel they seem to be going for. The first ghost recon and rainbow games were peak for me. Though I have to say I do enjoy R6 Siege. Though I'm a big fan of the Operation Flashpoint/ArmA and SWAT series and can see how the slower paced gameplay may not be appealing to the more mainstream audience. Hopefully Ready or Not can fill that void in the market.

[@PANCAKEMINEZZ]

leathery420 Absolutely agreed. I personally actually really like Wildlands, but there is very little in that game that makes me feel like I'm playing a Ghost Recon game, namely the fact your squad commands boil down to "hold position" and "follow me" (no I don't count sync shot). I want my "flank left/right" command wheel back! I also want them to drop the cover shooting aspect and bring back the conventional "just crouch behind cover or go prone" way of fighting as well; the cover shooter aspect just makes the games way too easy and destroys that grounded feel.

[@cortexavery1324]

The lack of willingness for Sam to put anything in question is not the equivalent of a lack of personality. It's on the contrary part of his personality. There is no evolution for Sam's character, more exposure of his personality would kinda be self defeating. But he has one, it's just not important to what you do and therefore not important to show in details. Nonetheless the cutscenes (excpet when it tv which it is a lot I know) and the conversation with grimsdottir, lambert wilkes is doing some character building by exposing his relations with his colleagues. He's not very likeable maybe, but he's not blanck.

[@ProGamingProphecy]

Wish we could see a graphical remake/ remaster of Splinter Cell.

[@ebookjapan8054]

You have to treat the 6th and 7th gen versions of Double Agent differently. The 6th gen was developed by the same team as Chaos Theory and 7th was a new team.

[@CrungleFunk]

24:58 Holy crap, that guy as an excellent grip and form.

[@Yungbeck]

I love stealth games and have great memories of the first few SCs! Would love to see a modern take on it.

[@channelhorror1174]

I just purchased all of them! I can't wait to play through them all again from the original up to blacklist with that X enhancement! These games hold up great!

[@Deimos_Fresh]

As a series beginning I'd say it's quiet solid game even today. I first played and finished it on PC 2 years ago,. Had some "old game" problems, but overall was satisfied.

[@ramkedoodle]

The ethnic cleaning is in Azerbaijan, not Afghanistan. And the main hostile nation is Georgia not Russia

[@SynthLizard8]

When stealth was hiding in shadows and then redefined in to hiding in shadows.

[@ndnmdm9290]

By far my favorite Splinter cell. Splinter 1 is sooo good and yes i played all the splibter cells

[@karldergoblin]

You can in fact complete every splinter cell game (except Double Agent i think) without killing or event knocking out enemies aside from mission requirements. Sneaking through the kola level with the officer in a neckhold while every enemy on the way to the retina scanner is still patroling is incredibly hard and event more satisfying if you finally make it happen.

[@penoiseballs563]

15:13 I never knew there were actual US Troop models on the Oil Rig. I never understood why the Georgians don't use helmets as well.

[@michaelengelby732]

Something fun to do on the last level. Shoot a sticky cam onto the helmet of the bad guys. Lots of fun at the time given the novelty of watching the guards patrolling paths from their point of view.

[@rezganger]

MGS was released on sep.3,1998,not 1999. (though it was released in Eu. in -99) This video reminds me that i need to play Chaos Theory,which has been sleeping in my steam library for way too long!Did u ever get to play it? Thanks for sharing.

[@Prophecyx01]

I can't properly explain why, but I vastly prefer the climbing and platforming of the classic Tomb Raider games to the boring, linear, scripted, impossible to fail sequences of the newer games. I think people don't really understand the grid-based system or 3D cinematic platformer movement akin to stuff like 2D Prince of Persia, Oddworld, Heart of Darkness, etc. Maybe it's just because I was raised with Tomb Raider, I can come to grips with the controls so easily and never have problems doing anything in those games, but from my perspective, it's utterly puzzling to see people who can't grasp those mechanics.

[@bradleyrice3766]

On the oil rig, if u hold the crouch button while fisher is on the zipline he raises his legs slightly so he doesn’t hit the edge of the platform and fall into the sea. It took me a few tries since it isn’t something the game actually tells u.

[@andrewskaines1442]

Chaos Theory is still the best stealth game in my opinion. And while i loved Double Agent, it didn't capture the aw i had for CT

[@BlueZirnitra]

The sound track for that game by Amon Tobin was out of this world. I love him and an OST one of his best albums.

[@andrewskaines1442]

@@BlueZirnitra you know i always muted the sound track so i could listen to the sounds in game. But i just listen through the track for CT and it is actually amazing.

[@rayecast]

For me, the Xbox/PS2 version of Double Agent was great because it felt like a sequel to everything that made Chaos Theory great.

[@raresmacovei8382]

Chris, did you play SC1 with the Projected Shadows or did you play it using DgVodoo mod so you can play the game with the original Buffer shadows? (that way it's meant to be played)

[@heinrichb]

18:40 It's not, they clearly state, just as the log file states, that the torture in question was nothing to do with either Fisher, Lambert or the NSA. Cristavi's (new president of Georgia planted by the CIA) men torture one of Nikoladze's men who reveals the existence of a SADM backpack in their control. Fisher does not capture anyone to find this out, it's merely on the library computer in the Presidential Palace as shown in the footage in this video. You appear to be mixing up the earlier mission where a low level CIA analyst turned into an unbeknownst to himself mole (Dougherty) is kidnapped by Fisher and implied to have been interrogated/tortured by the NSA to get information out of him, but you never actually find out what happens to Dougherty and in what manner. 19:20 Russia is not involved in the Georgian Information Crisis aside from a rather handwavy level in Kola where a group of Nikoladze's men is shown to operate a comm network out of the Kola Peninsula. Grinko who is Russian is but a mercenary and at no point does the game so much as implies the involvement of the Russian government in any of this. Now that I think about it, neither does any other Splinter Cell game. Grinko is a freelancer merc who is employed by Nikoladze who himself is Georgian, but he appears to be loyal to him beyond mere money. Philip Masse, the genius hacker behind Nikoladze's information war against the US, is a Canadian who appears to employ a team of Russian-speaking programmers physically located in the US, but again, they work for a Canadian employed by the Georgian president.

[@jeremyhathcock1847]

You do top notch work. Love your videos

[@StevenGarcia-im8rr]

I had the game on the original xbox, and that "bug" on the oil rig mission is there as well. I think they wanted you to press forward and start the "mantle up" animation but didn't in any way explain that.

[@assassindelasaucisse.4039]

The bug with the ledger is not caused by modded textures. It happened to me on a vanilla PC version when I played the game in 2002. I think it's caused by the camera shake effect during the slide.

[@ips2124]

you're supposed to swing your legs up to get more speed

[@coolerdaniel9899]

Just became a patreon! Haven't tried that before, but just want to do anything to see you continue all this. Love all your videos, love the CRPG series. Your dry humor and great storytelling is amazing. Please don't stop doing this, it's like a way for me to find hidden gems and also allows me to view old games, I've once played, from new perspectives. What ever you do, please keep the videos up I love all of them.

[@kratos692]

Through the whole video I was just looking at the gameplay and couldn't help but think, "Damn, that player is sooo o bad at this game, whoever it is."

[@Skyfox94]

14:36 if I recall correctly the pistol does kill when landing headshots but only at a close distance. I'd say it wasn't intended as a weapon to kill though, it's primary function was always to be used as a "long distance light turn off device" - think of Dumbledores lighter in the opening scene of the first Harry Potter movie. Lambert implies as much in the tutorial (as in, going guns blazing won't get you very far). The SC20K is also not really a "murder everybody" kind of rifle but rather a tool with which to take out specific, single targets that are otherwise out of reach (talking about the gun itself here, not necessarily the gadgets that you can use with it).

[@lrmcatspaw1]

"Lockpicking is like sex..." Im no expert but, Id say you need o work on your lockpicking skills...

[@thisisfrankie]

All of them are great with chaos theory being probably the best. But you gotta give credit for blacklist, it was every game combined, it had it all.

[@John190assman]

Are you gonna do more?

[@thebryceisright5601]

All these years later and I never knew that the thermal goggles show you fingerprints on keypads. That’s a really cool detail.

[@dergrosseeierman]

I love Metal Gear Solid as much as the next guy. Sweet Nostalgia with Solid Snake. But Sam Fisher cant be beaten. Not even by Snake. Splinter Cell is simply the Perfection of a Stealth Game.

[@Lucas12v]

That spot where you talked about the split jump being basically "scripted," it didn't even occur to me to try it there. I just followed the guard into his office and knocked him out. I guess there's a options sometimes. Also, it could be a different version but on my original Xbox game, center headshots always kill as long as they hit.

[@dewittbourchier7169]

It was also one of the few games where the PLA - albeit a rogue faction - appeared as villains. Part of the reason we go back to Russians again and again is that the Russians are not as sensitive as the Chinese at being portrayed as villains.

[@TylerMBuller12]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one to die to bs moments in this game. On the spots you showed are the exact places I died where you couldn't grab the pipe or go through that window or grab the ledge. There are so many moments like that in the game and that's where I often would die. Inconsistent unpredictable ai at times to but I almost feel like it was intentional like there is some sort of chance percentage in the code to make the ai less predictable so I'm almost okay with it because now ai is so predictable in games it just makes them a total cakewalk. Still a really awesome game though.

[@ndb6ndk99]

Good stuff

[@stevenmacharius233]

Hell yeah

[@ernestsmihailovs493]

1:56 that was some scooby doo shit

[@gunsmithcat7542]

20:15 was when I downvoted.

[@kgeo2686]

28:00 what about the silent drop mechanic??

[@AD-ww4hd]

fun fact: in splinter cell 1 you can peek on doors without using the optic

[@AD-ww4hd]

@Bwa Bwa Yoshi when come near a door hold the interact button then press up to *back in game* then press down the *open door* word will change to peek door

[@skaggs1204]

I think you should bring back the BIGGER “REVIEW and RETROSPECTIVE” font. I think it caught the eye much more than the current arrangement. Just a thought.

[@SpartanWolf222]

You have to be careful how much you capitalize your titles. KZbin will apparently demonetize a video for improper capitalization.

[@leadvendor]

Imagine my sad but ultimately unsurprised reaction to when there would NOT be another full SC game coming during E3. Another marvelous retrospective piece and you know what? Sam > Snake. YEP. I SAID IT.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

SC1 and Chaos Theory sure rank alongside the Thief trilogy (although Deadly Shadows needs the Sneaky Upgrade mod), Deus Ex 1 and Human Revolution, the Hitman games especially from Silent Assassin onwards (except Absolution... we prefer to not talk about that), and the Dishonored duology as among the best currently available stealth games on the PC gaming community, I'll say. If only Pandora Tomorrow isn't abandonware, while Double Agent Version 2 should have also been the PC version...

[@dathotbox]

9:35 lol I'm playing tiger woods 2004 at 2am right now watching this

[@roodstachlea]

"i dont remember sc1 that much", well you said you originally played the ps2 version right? in that case the ps2 version has different level layouts and even a bit of a altered story in comparison to the og xbox and pc versions "russian hackers" last time i checked the only russians in this game were the russian mafia helping the georgian government, and also the spetsnaz guys(last time i checked they were actually spetsnaz) in the bonus missions for the pc/og xbox versions also about the vents in the cia hq mission, there is actually an easy to reach vent thats located literally at the middle, all you have to do is go to the left of the building and go near the lit area/big door, once you are there, there is actually a pipe you can climb, climbing it sends you to the roof top thingy, idk how to call it but its up the entrance, and the slide for the vent in there is already open and its easy to reach since you dont even need to grab anything lmao also thing is, i always perfered sc over mgs(at least the first 4, despite me liking conviction, and you will see why im only choosing the first 4 for the thing im about to say) due to the 1st 4 sc games just having more freedom in movement, you can actually jump and the actual movement makes you feel like you are actually playing the fucking game and not pressing a bunch of action buttons, which is why i kinda was befuddled with convictions(and later shitlists) context movement, it just made everything feel more clunky, but hey it was liveable :P, also i just love sc1's art direction and idk why, but i really hate the forced in action scenes, they just ruin what would have been honestly fun missions that i could always just come back and replay, but nope, i have to deal with a scripted action scene, and its like they always are in the best missions, kalinatek could have been my fav mission in all of sc if it wasnt for the forced in actions scenes, well i do like the fact that i can skip the action scene after wilkes dies, also i recently replayed this game earlier this year and i tried completly ghosting it as much as i could, it was fun, so i kinda just laugh when you show gameplay of you going all guns blazing but overall this is an alright review, and im not rating it on did i agree with you or no, but on the scale of "does this review lack any research" to "the guy making this shit actually fully knows what he is talking about", and i would rate it somewhere in the middle, "its a man telling his feelings about a certain video game", cant wait for the review of the complete shitshow known as pandora tommorow

[@andrewskaines1442]

Now im only half way through the review when writing this, but it sounds like you dont like restrictions when playing games? Do you look more favorably on Hitman?