Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

1001 Video Games

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Downloadable Content

On March 13, 2003, the first downloadable level, Kola Cell, was released. It can be played whether the game was beaten or not.

Development

The PS2 version was ported over by Ubisoft Shanghai in China. It was developed within 4 months.

Fifth Freedom

One possible source of the Fifth Freedom concept is Noam Chomsky's preface to The Culture of Terrorism: "U.S. international and security policy ... has as its primary goal the preservation of what we might call “the Fifth Freedom,” understood crudely but with a fair degree of accuracy as the freedom to rob, to exploit and to dominate, to undertake any course of action to ensure that existing privilege is protected and advanced." FDR's original Four Freedoms are Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

Hacking

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is one of the three Xbox games that, with the help of Action Replay, can hack into an unmodified Xbox. The other two being 007: Agent Under Fire and MechAssault.

Novels

Penguin has published novels inspired by the game; Sam Fisher's adventures continue in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2004), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005) and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006), all (perhaps confusingly) written by Raymond Benson under the pseudonym "David Michaels".

References

• The vehicle that picks up Sam outside the police station at the end of the first level is a delivery van from St-Hubert, a popular restaurant in Montreal where the game was designed. Just look at its logo and compare it to the one on www.st-hubert.com.
• On the level Chinese Embassy, Part II (the second time playing in the Chinese Embassy), go down the back alley (not through the front door of the restaurant) and use the optic cable on the door. The chef can be heard humming If I Were a Rich Man from the movie (or play) Fiddler on the Roof.
• In the original Chinese Embassy level, Sam is told to meet with a mission contact. Once he comes into contact with him, he is to introduce with the code phrase "A bright cold day in April", which is the first line of the novel 1984, written by George Orwell.

Third Echelon

In the game, Sam Fisher works for Third Echelon. The real world ECHELON is a global intelligence initiative run by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. While ECHELON's full capabilities (and intentions) are unknown, the ACLU reports estimates that the network intercepts up to 3 billion messages (phone, e-mail, Internet) daily.

Version Differences

The PC version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is fairly closely based on the original Xbox version. Both were made by Ubisoft Montreal. The GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions, which were developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, are similar to each other, but have many small changes over the originals with the result that they are generally easier. Some doors are moved around, guards are less likely to notice gunshots, etc.

Each version of the game, except for Windows, has some exclusive features. The Xbox release has two new missions downloadable via Xbox Live which involve a Russian nuclear sub. The PlayStation 2 version includes an exclusive level which takes place in a nuclear power plant, new cinematics, a new intro cinematic with original music by the Prague Orchestra, and many behind-the-scenes interviews and documentaries both about the new intro and the game itself. GameCube uses the Game Boy Advance link cable to give you a real-time overhead map and a new sticky-bomb weapon. Additionally, both GCN and PS2 include a new binoculars items.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2002– Best Xbox Game of the Year
  • 2002 – Best Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • 2002 – Best Xbox Action Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • 2003 – Best PC Action Game of the Year
• Computer Gaming World
  • February 2006 (Issue #259) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
• GameSpy
  • 2002 – Xbox Game of the Year
  • 2002 – Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)

• Golden Joystick Awards

  • 2003 - Runner-up to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for Xbox Game of the Year.

• Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (Entertainment Software Association Germany)

  • August 31, 2003 - Gold-Award for selling more then 100,000 (but less then 200,000) units in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. (PS2 version)

Information also contributed by Ace of Sevens, Alexander Misiti, Karthik KANE, MegaMegaMan, Olivier Masse, piltdown man, Pseudo_Intellectual, Reborn_Demon, Terrence Bosky and Xoleras.