The unique Splinter Cell launched on November 17, 2002—20 years in the past right this moment. To mark the massive birthday, Ubisoft is gifting away the groundbreaking stealth motion recreation for free right here on the Ubisoft Store (opens in new tab), and in addition shared an replace on the state of the remake, which—sorry to say—remains to be very early in growth.
Ubisoft introduced the Splinter Cell in December 2021, after which clarified in September of this 12 months that it will not be a straight do-over, however will as an alternative mix “the spirit of the previous and the consolation of the brand new,” a course of that can embrace “rewriting and updating the story for a modern-day audience (opens in new tab).”
That is the kind of assertion that may set old-time followers on edge, however right this moment’s presentation strongly means that the event workforce “will get” what made Splinter Cell work, throughout degree design, characterization, and even the irresistible urge some gamers really feel to get each mission excellent.
“If we’re speaking about perfectionism within the recreation, it is one thing that is actually necessary,” inventive director Chris Auty stated. “We even would really like for the remake to take {that a} step additional. We want to ensure that your complete recreation is playable from starting to finish with out a single kill, if in any respect doable. In order that’s one thing that is necessary for us as properly.”
It seems like Ubisoft goes to make the non-lethal path a bit of simpler to observe within the remake than it was within the authentic, too. Senior recreation designer Andy Schmoll described the alarm state system within the 2002 Splinter Cell as “a bit harsh,” and stated the workforce needs to ease up on that a bit of bit within the remake.
“We wish to give the participant a couple of extra alternatives to de-escalate a few of these conditions, proper?” Schmoll stated. “Clearly stealth is a particularly necessary pillar for us, and we purpose to include trendy design philosophies, enhancing the minute-to-minute stealth gameplay that was so particular within the authentic.”
Sadly, whereas the panel additionally takes a while to speak about Sam Fisher, noting that the character is a consummate skilled with a pointy humorousness and respect for his adversaries, there is not any phrase about whether or not Michael Ironside will return to voice the character. It is clearly important that he does, however for now, Ubisoft is not saying someway. (And sure, I requested. A rep politely however firmly declined to remark.)
It will probably be some time but earlier than we discover out about Ironside’s return, or anything, for that matter. Auty stated the workforce shall be “going darkish” so it could possibly give attention to creating the sport.
“We’re very early in manufacturing,” Auty stated. “We’re nonetheless prototyping. We do not wish to rush something. We wish to ensure that we completely nail the sport, we really do all the pieces in the suitable means, and produce a completely stellar high quality expertise.”
So Splinter Cell is popping out to be extra sophisticated than maybe some followers anticipated. There’s nonetheless loads of time forward for issues to be made clear, although, and within the meantime you will get your self within the Sam Fisher way of thinking at no cost on the Ubisoft Retailer, the place the unique Splinter Cell is free for keeps (opens in new tab) till November 30. The sport runs completely properly out of the metaphorical field, however its age exhibits: The utmost supported decision is 1600×1200, which was fairly sizzling bananas on the flip of the millennium however form of a headache now. Thankfully, there are methods to enhance that scenario. ThirteenAG’s widescreen fix mod (opens in new tab) reportedly works fairly properly, and if you wish to go deeper there is a good thread on ModDB (opens in new tab) explaining different methods to offer Splinter Cell a much-needed visible refresh.
Oh, and also you have been promised some early idea artwork—you will get a take a look at that down under.
