Just earlier today, the publisher took to social media to post a close-up shot of Splinter Cell main man Sam Fisher sternly staring straight into the camera as if you've just eaten the leftovers he's been dreaming about all day. The screenshot, taken from 2005 Xbox classic Chaos Theory, was accompanied by nothing other than some cheeky emojis and a Splinter Cell hashtag. Very curious.

The tease at least has Splinter Cell diehards all considering it's been more than a decade since the last mainline g꧙ame in the series, 2013's Blacklist, and Ubisoft's Splinter Cell remake hasn't reared its head in ages.

The out-of-the-blue screenshot might just be leading up to a new announcement at 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Summer Games Fest 2025 (notE3), which kicks off next week with an opening showcase on June 6, followed by an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Games Showcase on June 8. (Fingers crossed.) Netflix Tudum also kicks off tomorrow, potentially containing news of the upไcoming Splinter Cell animated show. There's also the possibility that jokey tweet is just that: a joke, as cruel as that might be.

Ubisoft announced 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:a remake for the first st🌄ealth classic almost four full years ago now, and offered no more than 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:some concept art from the game to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary. In the years since, the Assassin's Creed publisher hasn't shown off or talked about the game much - it did, however, make the wait slightly more arduous by 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:cancelling Splinter Cell's VR 🦹spin-off.

For now, check out some of the other 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games of 2025 and beyond.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Clint Hocking - creative director on Chaos Theory and a writer and designer on the origi🍎nal Splinter Cell - said that when it came to the third game in the iconic stealth series, "we couldn't have gotten more out of the hardware if we wanted to. In many w✃ays, Chaos theory and a small handful of other titles led the transition to a sort of pseudo-next generation."

That not-quite new generation was kickstarted by the original Xbox. Arriving more than 18 months after the PS2, and well after the Sega Dreamcast, Hocking sayꦿs that Microsoft's first console kicked off a "paradigm shift in rendering technology." As with any new console, it would take a few years until developers worked out how to get the most out of the hardware - but by the time Chaos Theory arrived, a few months before the Xbox 360, Hocking and his team had pushed it as far as they thought it could go.

That work paid off. While Chaos Theory was well-receiv🎃ed on most major platforms, it was clearly at its best on Xbox, where it still boasts its best scores to this day. Hocking maintains that the improved lighting and rendering on that platform compared to the PS2 and PC releases was only "made possible for the first time by the Xbox."

Don't believe us? Check out our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Xbox games of all time.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Clint Hocking admitted that "development on the first game had been very, very difficult." Hocking, who went on to be creative director on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory as well as Far Cry 2 (and the upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe), says that "many of us who went on to work on Chaos Theory felt we could have done much💎, much better."

Most of the problems, Hocking claims, came from the fact that "we had failed as designers and developers to anticipate how the game would actually play." Eventually, the team at Ubisoft started to realize the errors that had crept in - their stealth game never really offered players eno✤ugh freedom to work around their errors. Unfortunately, it was too late to fix things. "By the time we encountered the pro🧔blem, we had no plan and no time to address it except by forcing a mission failure."

Those failures were so apparent that Chaos Theory was quick to make note of them, a brief fourth wall-breaking moment early in the game attempting to make light by telling Fisher that he's not in a video game. Thankfully, however, Hocking and his team had a better sense of how🍸 to address those mistakes than simply making jokes about them.

"The core game experience did not change significantly [from the original Splinter Cell]," he says. That meant that it was "ver🔯y clear to us what was working and what needed to be fixed. Our common goal became simply to deliver - to an exceptionally high degree of quality and polish - all the promises we felt we'd failed to deliver in the first game."

"It seemed 🐼to me then, and ꦰit still seems so today, that the only path toward improving what we had done in the best parts of the original Splinter Cell was to totally unify story and level design from the beginning of the game to end."

That path was the right one - Spli🎶nter Cell: Chaos The♛ory sits at a 94% score on Metacritic for its envelope-pushing Xbox version, a figure that Hocking says suggests there was little he could have changed that would have made the game any better than it was.

It's been a while since the last Splinter Cell, so here are the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best stealth games you can practice with while we wait for the remake.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Clint Hocking explains that he "took on too many tasඣks and too many responsibilities" as the lead developer behind the Splinter Cell sequel, which was developed in just two years. Hocking, who served as a scriptwriter and lead level designer, eventually also took on the mantle of the game's creative director. Eventually, he found himself working 80-hour weeks, which he's previously said gave him brain damage, resulting in memory loss.

"[I was] effectively doing three jobs at the same time," Hocking says. "I was enthusiastic and passionat🎶e about doing that work, but it took a toll on my personal well-being." Thankfully, Hocking hasn't repeated that level of work since - while he did pull double-duty as creative director and scriptwriter on 2008's iconic Far Cry 2, by the time of 2020's Watch Dogs: Legion, he was only serving as creative director, a role he's repeating on the upcoming Assassin's Creed Hexe.

"20 years later, it's clear I would not, and could not do the same [amount of work]. Now I only have one job. I am just the creative director, and I try to surround myself with people who are better than me at those other jobs. Certainly, this has proven more sustainable, and hopefully I'll get to keep doing it for anotౠher 20 years."

If nothing else, the kind of extended crunch that Hocking is talking about has become less prevalent over the past two decades as dev𝓰s speak out more against unsustainable work practices, so hopefully, he'll never be in a position to have to work quite that hard again.

While we know very little about Hexe - at the beginning of this year, it namedroppe🐭d the project for the first time in more than two years - the rest of Hocking's collected works are impressive. Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory, and Far Cry 2 were all extremely well-received titles. Unfortunately, both Hexe and the upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Splinter Cell remake are still pretty much AWOL, so we'll ꧂be waiting a while to learn more about Hocking's work.

Want to catch up? Here's a list of all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Assassin's Creed games.

Francois Coulon, the director behind the original 2002 Splinter Cell, claims that Hideo Kojima's auteur status veering on celebrity status is much-deserved, though. "It is hard for me to measure the impact of Mr. Kojima alone vs Kojima and his team but, to be honest, it is not important," Coulon said while speaking in the most recent issue of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Retro Gamer magazine. "A creative lead in this industry is someone who can convey his vision to other team members so that they can also bring something to the creative table. I don't know how Mr Kojima is managing his teams but the result 🌞speaks for itself."

Kojima's lengthy career ꦦstretches back to the 1980s whe🧸re he first served as a director, designer, and writer on cyberpunky visual novel Snatcher, as well as the first isometric Metal Gear games. But his breakout success, the game that catapulted his name into auteur territory, was the stealth-laden Metal Gear Solid with all its anti-war messaging and ambitiously-framed, sometimes overindulgent cutscenes that have since become emblematic of Kojima's games.

Although as modern blockbuster games 👍become bigger and bigger, with sometimes thousands of developers working on a single project, the idea of an auteur becomes more controversial. It's easy to attribute an 🐷indie game's success to its solo-developer, but when hundreds of developer's fingerprints are etched into Death Stranding 2, is it still okay to label Kojima as the author? The creator? To heap all the praise onto his lap? Coulon certainly thinks Kojima can be thought of as the main architect, but it all raises some interesting questions, I think.

The Splinter Cell director also mentioned that Metal Gear Solid’s “clear rules” showed the team ‘how stealth should be done.”

Hideo Kojima's 1998 action-adventure, Metal Gear Solid, by no means invented the the act of sneaking around intricate, zig-zagging levels all while unarmed, but it did somewhat popularize the stealth genre in general. Metal Gear Solidಞ's complicated anti-war storyline and sometimes indulgent, always ambitious cutscenes are probably what garners the most attention nowadays, though the game's careful infiltration is what snuck into other series.

Speaking to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Retro Gamer in Issue 261, the original Splinter Cell director Francois Coulon reveals the team looked to Solid Snake's antics for inspiration when creating Sam Fisher's simila👍rly hush-hush debut. "MGS showed us how stealth mechanics should be done," says Francois, specifically pointing to the classic game's "clear rules" that always clarified what was happening and how to react. 

"It is a complete and consistent set of rules that set the way for any stealth game," Coulon continues. "Remove one of its elements and the experience will be dull, frustrating, or ridiculous. MGS was perfectly exec😼uted in that regard. No frustration - you know when you lose and you don't blame the game for it."

Things have come full circle for both stealth icons in the decades since their debut as publisher Konami went back to the drawing board with a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:series of re-releases and an upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, and Ubisoft is kind of trying the same approach with a Splinter Cell remake that was announced three years ago and has since gone MIA. 

While we wait for both, why not check out the澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: best stealth games tip-toeing around?

According to the , th🍸e adaption will be airing during December as an eight-part series that will follow the events of , the latest book in the series. The n💯ovel was penned by James Swallow and released in June 22, where it chronicled the newest adventure of Fischer.

Sadly, the special agent’s iconic voice, as portrayed by Michael Ironside, will not be returning to the production, as Andonis Ant✱hony will be slipping on the tri-goggles. He will be playing an older Sam Fischer, who is tasked with training and recruiting the newest Splinter Ce⛎ll operatives. The crux comes when that talent pool includes his own daughter.

The cast also includes Will Poulter in an undisclosed role, who said of the production: “It is taking the best of Splinter Cell and buildin🥀g on that to make something💦 really well rounded.”

This isn’t the news Splinter Cell fans might be hoping for, as many will likely want to hear more about a new game altogether - however, there's content coming on that front in the future. The most pressing is the upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Splinter Cell remake. While we don't know too much about the game, we’ve recently caught our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:first glimpses of concept art, and it looks great. However, there's still no൲ hint on how long we might be waiting to 👍hear more. 

It’s also not clear if a true sequel to the series will ever come either. Sam Fischer has turned up in a lot of games not called Splinter Cell in recent years, including 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Rainbow Six Siege and Ghost Recon Wildlands. That said, if a new adventure ever does release, and takes place later in the timeline, this BBC radio play could end up being relevant. Especi🃏ally as it follows Fischer's daughter’s rise through the Splinter Cell program, it leaves you to wonder if she’d feature in any future titles. You'd best listen to it, if you want to stay up to date with your Splinter Cell lore.

Prefer going quiet to going loud? Here are some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best stealth games out there.

The anniversary event includes an interview with creative director Chris Auty, technical director Christian Carriere, senior game designer Andy Schmoll, and associate level design director✤ Zavi🗹an Porter, who all sat down to discuss the early Splinter Cell games’ "lighting, visuals, player agency, and everything else that made them so revolutionary".

Interestingly, it also revealed that you can beat the new Splinter Cell without a single kil𒈔l thanks to new mechanics that will allow players to "de-escalate" situation𒀰s. 

"We want to scale that back a bit in the remake, and we want to give the player a few more opportunities to deescalate some of those situations," expl🦋ained senior game designer Andy Schmoll. 

"Obviou𝓡sly, stealth is an extremely important pillar for us, and we aim to incorporate modern design philosophies, improving the minute-to-minute s꧙tealth gameplay that was so special in the original."

"So Sam, being the ultimate covert field agent, he has an enormous array of tools and abilities, gadgets, and movements at his disposal," adds creative director, Chris Auty. "And with all of those, they aim to create these moments of tension. You know there's an enemy nearby. You know that there&ap൲os;s a ✅threat coming around the corner. 

"And he has these tools in his toolbox that he can us💮e to react to that stuff at a split second. If there's an enemy coming around the corner that you didn't spot in time, he can do these split jumps, get up high, and kind of avoid contact. He can plan ahead by looking under doorways and using these tools to understand where the threats and that sort of thing are. 

"We want to create 🔯t🧜hese moments of tension that the player will need to use those tools and gadgets to react, too."

That's not all, either. As part of the celebrations, Ubisoft is giving 🍰away the original Splinter Cell game for free from now until the end of the month, November 30. 

As for the Splinter Cell remake? Ubisoft revealed the first look at "early concept art" yesterday. As A🎃li summarized at🦩 the time, much of the artwork shows lead character Sam Fisher lurking stealthily in the shadows.

"The Splinter Cell remake, announced last year, will be a celebration of the 2ꩵ0-year-old game, taking inspiration from the original games, modernizing their themes, and rebuilding them for a modern audience," Ubisoft explained.

Prefer going quiet to going loud? Here are some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best stealth games out there.

"It's not simply a remaster," creative director Chris Auty says in a new celebrating the Splinter Cell series' 20th anniversary. "It's being built from the g𝓀round up. You get to do all the content from scratch, fresh and ready to go." 

"We&a🍃pos;re aiming to create this top-tier remake and push quality as much as possible," adds associate level design director Zavian Porter. "It should help us set a good foundation for the franchise going forward." 

Porter's comments, in particular, can optimistically be read to imply that Ubisoft is at least considering more than one new (albeit remade) game for Splinter Cell. Granted, Ubisoft did 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:cancel four games including Splinter♋ Cell VR just months ago. But strategically, this would fit with the studio's previously mentioned vision of broadening the series' horizons and engaging new players, but we als♛o can't assume that more projects ar🐟e in the works, especially with the remake itself still far from release. 

Technical director Christian Carrierre notes that "we've seen a lot of great posts from the community. We read the open letter that wಞas on the subreddit. We see all of the other posts on various socials. It's really 𒐪energizing us to keep going." 

"Obviously with a remake 20 yeaꦓrs later, we can look back at the plot, characters, the overall story, and make some improvements," Auty added. "Things that might not have aged particularly well. Small things. But the core of the story, the core of the experience will remain as it was in the original." 

Auty also confirmed that Ubisoft Toronto will be "going dark" for a while to focus on the remake's development, so don't expect to s🅷ee more of it fo♉r some time. 

The same video also saw the release of some early concept art, giving us our first look at the Splinter Cell Remake. 

In a new celebrating the series 20th anniversary, Ubisoft shared a handful of images from the remake, which it 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:announced in December 2021.

Unsurprisingly, much of the artwork focuses on Sam Fisher lurking in the shadows, preparing to take down some unsuspecting goons. Onl♒y one of the images deviates significantly, showing off a large building in the pou🍷ring rain.

What's interesting about the concept art is how much of it appears to focus on the contrast between light anꦚd dark. Several shots are bathed in golden light, the sun or bright bulbs making a stark contrast with Fisher himself. It's a very pretty, golden hour-esque effect that coღuld look beautiful if it makes it to the game itself.

T♉hat comes from "ray-traced illumination, which gives you much more realistic lighting effects," according to technical director Christian Carriere. The 💧video goes into the extra work that Ubisoft is able top put into the game thanks to improvements in visual and audio design - Carriere says that sound will be absorbed in different ways by different materials, and bounce around levels in a way that much more realistic.

Fans had been facing rumours of a new Splinter Cell game for years ahead of Ubisoft's announcement last year, but it looks as though we'll be waiting a good while longer to go on Fisher's next adventure. Bac🉐k in December, the game was in "the very earliest stages of development," and with only concept art shown off so far, we're likely still some way out.

Prefer going quiet to going loud? Here are some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best stealth games out there.

As spotted on (via ), once director of the upcoming Splinter Cell reboot, David Grivel, has left the project. This sees th🍌e end of an 11-year career at Ubisoft for Grivel, where he worked across franchises like Ghost Recon, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Splinter Cell.

This isn’t the best news for starved Splinter Cell fans, as it’s the only major revelation to come out of the reboot since it was confirmed last December. For those waiting expectantly for news on the project, there'd have been hope for somet♔hing a little more uplifting. 

That being said, this ꦉisn't too abnormal for game development. Many top-ranking developers can come and go from projects for various reasons. With development so guarded that even Sam Fisher would struggle to get his hands on the secrets, it’s hard to know the current state of development or reasons for Gri🐷vel’s departure, who simply let on, "it is now time for me to go on a new adventure".

It’s been nearly a decade since the last major game in the Splinter Cell series, with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Splinter Cell: Blacklist coming out back in 2013. However, Sam Fisher has been having a small renaissance outside of his own franchise in recent years. He’s shown up as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Zero in Rainbow Six Siege, and ha♑d a special mission in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Ghost Recon: Wildlands. 

It’s clear this cross-pollination is meant to lead to the reintroduction of the upcoming reboot, however, with this news of Grivel’s departure, and the game only beginning to hire a team at the end of last year, it probably wise to set 💮your expectations for a coꦏuple of years away.

Can't wait for Splinter Cell? Why not look at our list of the  

♏This news comes from a screenwriter at Ubisoft (as found by ), whi𓂃ch says that the developer is "rewriting and updating the story for a modern-day audience." The job description also says, "we want to keep the spirit and themes of the original game while exploring our characters and the world to make them more authentic and believable." If you didn't know, the original Splinter Cell was released in 2002, so it's safe to say that a lot has changed in 20 years. 

Long-time fans can rest assured that the essence of the original will still be intact though as further down in the job listing reads: "As a Scriptwriter at Ubisoft Toronto, you will join the Narrative team and help create a cohesive෴ and compelling narrative experience for a new audience of Splinter Cell fans." The job description also says th🧸at Ubisoft is "assembling a team with passion, drive, and respect for the trifocal goggles" as well as "preserving what's at the heart of the Splinter Cell experience."

After originally being 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:revealed back in December 2021, we don't know too much else about the Splinter Cell remake, other than the fact it's being made with Ubisoft's snowdrop engine - the same one being used to develop 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Ubisoft's upcoming Star Wars game. There&apo♒s;s also no firm release date for the remake yet but considering it's still in the scriptwriting stag🌼e we may be waiting a while for this one. 

Wondering what else we have to look forward to in the near future? Take a look at our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games 2022 list.  

Ubisoft Toronto managing director Istvan Tajnay shed some 𒉰light on how his studio is approaching the heavy task of bringing back Splinter Cell in an . He said he's feeling a mixture of excitement, 🍃pride, and responsibility at picking up the future of the series: "we know how high the expectations of the fans are for us to modernize the brand while making absolutely sure we don't lose any of its essence; we want to make sure that Splinter Cell fans really love it."

Tajnay said playing the o🐭riginal Splinter Cell before he became a game developer was impressive, particularly in "how uncompr😼omising the focus on stealth was, and how it redefined what stealth meant in a video game." But how do you do that again for modern players? With the new Splinter Cell still very early in development according to its initial announcement, Ubisoft Toronto still has a lot of time to answer that question.

"When it comes to future projects, I want the studio𒁃 to revive the Splinter Cell brand," Tajnay said. "To really satisfy its core audience that is very hungry for a new Splinter Cell and also broaden the horizon of the series to new players. I see a bright future for Splinter Cell."

The interview is also a not-so-subtle about being an informal recruitment ad, with lots of talk about how Ubisoft Toronto is seeking diverse job applicants and how the studio aims to grow over the next five years. In other words, while Ubisoft Toronto already put out both 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Far Cry 6 and Watch Dogs: Legion in rapid succession🥃, we should expect even more from it going forward.

The new Splinter Cell will be a while, but you can see what we're looking forward to playing before then with our guide to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games 2022. 

In a new press release, Ubisoft stated that it had "greenlit the development of a Splinter Cell remake that will draw from the rich canvas of the brand." It'll be built in the Snowdrop Engine that's being used to make Ubisoft's upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and unnamed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Star Wars Lucasfilm Games title.

This is the first major ꦛSplinter Cell release since Blacklist in 2013, and while it's only a remake, could mark the end of Ubisoft's reticence to revisit the series, which CEO Yves Guillemot has noted in the past.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Rumours of a new game have been swirling for years, but there's been no mention until now of a remake of the original. The best hint we've had on that front was a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:recent updꩲating of the Splinter Cell trademark, but even that was no definite confirmation that anything wa🐈s being worked on.ꦬ 

Since Blacklist, Sam Fisher has turned up in a few other projects, most notably a Splinter Cell game announced last year for Oculus.

Ubisoft the project with an interview with creative director Chris Auty, producer Matt West, and technical producer Peter Handrinos. During that conversation, West made it clear that the game was still in "the very earliest stages of development,ꦺ" and that the game would be rebuilt with visual and design updates.

Stealth will re✤main extremely important, and the developers also make clear that they're maintaining the original game's linear approach, distancing this project from reports of an open-world take on the series.

T🌠he longer-term future of Splinter Cell remains unclear, and there's absolutely no word on when this remake might release, but Auty does close the interview by saying that "with this remake, we are building a solid base for the future of Splinter Cell," which is likely to be good news for fans of the series who have been waiting patiently for a new game for many years.

Prefer going quiet to going loud? Here are some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best stealth games out there.

The trademark, filed on December 6 (via ) is a renewal of a previously-filed Splinter Cell trademark from May 2017. The recent set of changes (via ), removes the phrase "interactive multi-player computer games"🍒 from the filing, replacing it with "providing an onlℱine computer game."

That could mean that there'll be online elements to a future Splinter Cell game, but that Ubisoft is walking back some previously-planned PvE or co-op elements. Beyond those details, however, it's difficult to glean much from the refre🏅shed trademark beyond the developer's potential desire to do something with the franchise. 

In October, reports suggested that a new Splinter Cell game partially inspired by the recent Hitman games was in the early stages of development. As recently as last week, separate reports emerged claiming that Ubisoft was working on an open-world take on the Splinter Cell series.

Both reports state that the development projects aren't very far along, so don't expect Sam Fisher's return particularly soon. Still, the new trademark is an official ray of hope for a franchise that hasn't seen a new entry since 2013's Blacklist - the result of Ubisoft's wariness of the pressure of creating a new Splinter Cell game. Other than a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:VR game announced last September, fans have had a pretꦕty quiet eight years, but perhaps this latest action is the start of a stealthy turnaround.

Prefer going quiet to going loud? Here are some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best stealth games out there.

Yesterday on November 2🅷5, reported that Ubisoft would begin banning players if they submitted support tickets about the online status of Splinter Cell: Blacklist. The servers of Blacklist have been broken for a fair while now, and a thread that pertained to have bꦫeen written by a Ubisoft staff member warned players that they would be permanently banned from the publisher's forums if they entered support tickets about the status of Blacklist's servers.

However, the entire thing was actually a hoax. Ubisoft later contacted Kotaku to clarify that the user in question actually wasn't affiliated with them in any🌄 way, and players wouldn't be banned for asking about the online status of Splinter Cell: Blacklis🌊t via the publisher's forums.

Unfortunately🐼, that doesn't really change anything for Blacklist's broken servers. While Ubisoft has noಞ interest in banning users for asking about the game's servers, it doesn't appear to have any more interest in actually fixing those servers.

Rest in peace, Splinter Cell: Blacklist. There have been rumors swirling about the status of Splinter Cell for what feels like years now, but nothing has ever come from various claims from the far corners of the internet that Ubisoft is reviving the long-dormant series. Last month, a report claimed that Ubisoft is actively testing a Splinter Cell revival inspired by IO Interactive's eღxcellent Hitman trilog▨y, but nothing has been confirmed by the publisher rღight now.

For a list of games that actually are on the immediate horizon, you can check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games 2021 guide for more.

As Ubisoft explained in an announcement , as long as you download Chaos Theory within this limited freebie window, you'll get to keep it forever and🅠 play it whenever you want. You can claim the game directly through Ubisoft's post provided you already have a Ubisoft Connect account set up, and to play it, all you need to do is install the launcher for the publisher's storefront/social club hybrid. 

Giveaways like this pop up on Ubisoft Connect fairly regularly, so even if Chaos Theory doesn't trip your trigger, free is free, and it's worth having an accꦏount set up so you're prepared for future freebies. 

If you like keeping your PC games in one place, and that place also happens to be Steam, you can alteꦜrnatively get Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory on for $2.50 right now. Coincidentally, i𝄹t's on sale for 75% off until Monday, November 22.

Chaos Theory was originally released in 2005, and its depiction of information warfare circum 2008 is od🅷dly charming, even quaint, given today's technology. Thiꦦs back-of-the-box blurb from its Steam page is also a gut-punch of aged nostalgia: 

"As good as real - Never-before-seen graphics technology offers the best visuals on any system yet. Advan♕ced physics engine allowing ragdoll physics, particle effects, and perfect interaction with the environment."

As good as real. May the universe give u꧒s even half the confidence of mid-2000s video game marketing.

Sadly, Chaos Theory's multiplayer was retired in 2016, but upcoming indie stealth game Spectre hopes to recapture and build on the legacy of its Spies vs Mercs mode.

A new report claims t𓆏hat Ubisoft ran a test session with consumers in the weeks before E3 2021, which ran from 12-ও15 June. Players reportedly tested the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, "and something that had the appearance of a new Splinter Cell prototype."

Details are scarce, as testers are not said to have spent long with the project, which was presented as "a ꦑvertical slice that was just a basic tutorial section." Venturebeat does state, however, that "this version of the game combined familiar Splinter Cell actions with elements of the 2016 Hitman reboot."

It's important to note that this isn't necessarily the same project said to have been recently greenlit by Ubisoft (see original story, below). Venturebeat was not ab🦋le to corroborate those reports, and projects can change significantly through the development process, especially at this early stage.  

Original story: A new Splinter Cell game has 🧸reportedly been greenlit at Ubisoft.

According to , the new project "has been put into production as a means of winni🌟ng back fans frustrated by recent efforts to revive the franchise" which saw Sam Fisher head to VR ﷺand mobile platforms.

It's not currently known which studios are working on the project, but VGC suggests that Ubisoft Montreal - one of the compan💎y's most prominent developers - is not leading the project. The game is said to be in the "early phase of produ🐓ction," but there is "a small chance" that it could be announced during 2022.

It's been more than eight years since the launch of the last mainline Splinter Cell game on major platforms, Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Fans who have been waiting since then for Fisher's return had to contend with a Splinter Cell game announced exclusively for Oculus VR back in September 2020. Over the past few years, the franchise has unofficially reared its head on a handful of occasions, with Ubisoft discussing its wariness of the pressure of creating a new Splinter Cell game, and some of its lead developers duping us into believing they were working on the game.

Last summer, Fisher's Italian voice actor appeared to confirm that a game had been in development for an announcement this ꧒year, but that doesn't seem to line up with this new report. Even if Ubisoft has given the franchise the green light, however, don't expect to see it for a while, if at all - a game in the early stages of development could still be several years away, and it's very possible for unannounced projects to never see the light of day.

For the games that are a little closer to release, here's our list of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games 2021.

Both games are being chiefly developed by Ubisoft's Red Storm studio, whose previous VR projects include Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Werewolves Within. The new projects were announced along with many others - and the proper unveiling of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Oculus Quest 2 - during the Facebook Connect event today.

We don't know any specifics regarding what the Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed games will be about, and their respective teaser images seem to be general franchise art rather than anything game-specific. In any case, it's exciting to know a new Splinter Cell game is definitely on the way - now if we could just get one for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:PS5 and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Series X…

Original story follows

Ubisoft is reportedly set to announce new entries in two of its best-known franchises at today’s Facebook༺ Connect event. According to , new Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell ওtitles will be unveiled later today. The catch? They’re both VR games.

The report follows up on 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:rumours that arose in summer 2019, claiming that both franchises would be coming to the Oculus Quest. While there’s been no official word on either 💫game, Vandal’s article features quotes from developers at Red Storm Entertainment, a Ubisoft studio said to be leading development on the projects, which state that “Oculus’ next-generation hardware will allow us to bring the worlds of Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell to life in a new way for fans.ꦫ”

With Facebook seemingly hoping to unveil its 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Oculus Quest 2 headsꦜet at today’s event, it woul💞d make sense that it would be hoping to have some flagship games to ship with its new VR hardware. 

But the decision to bring Splinter Cell back as a virtual reality experience may not go down well with fans. The Assassin’s Creed series has been well served in recent years, but Sam fisher has often been relegated to spin-off titles and cameos in some of Ubisoft’s other successful games, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:most recently Rainbow Six Siege. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has previously suggested that developers are nervous about bringing the series back given the weight of expectation, but has also stated that it would return, albeit with new experജiences, and “on d🥀ifferent devices.” 

The kicks off at 18:00 BST/13:00 ET/10:00 PDT.

We could soon be looking at some sneaky new entries in our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best VR games.

Speaking to , Luca Ward (who plays Sam Fisher in the Italian dubs of several Splinter Cell games), confirmed his involvement with a new project in the series, and his comments su✃ggested the title is close to completion. 

“There is th൲is return of Splinter Cell that is supposed to be a conclusive episode, but I’m not sure about t🐎his part,” said Ward. 

“They have not yet figured out whether to do it in 2021. It was going to release in 2020, and then COVID-19 happened, and several big projects in 2020 got delayed. Others went on, like 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Cyberpunk 2077 on whic꧙h I have almost finished working. But I am sure that Splinter Cell will ret🐎urn, this is a fact.”

Ubisoft recently revealed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Far Cry 6 at its digital live stream earlier this month, but the closest we got to a Splinter Cell announcement was Fisher's appearance in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Tom Clancy's Elite Squad. 

However, the publisher has confirmed it'll be hosting another 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Ubisoft Forward event later 𝐆this year, so there's every chance the project could be debuted there. We'll be sure to keep you informed here on GamesRadar+ as soon as we learn more. 

For more, be sure to check out all the biggest 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming games of 2020 on the way, or watch our latest episode of Dialogue Options below. 

“For the first time since the introduction of Splinter Cell in 2002, after nine top selling AAA+ titles, and with the 10th release on the horizon, this is your first chance꧒ to own Sam Fisher’s signature Ultra High Frequency Sonar Goggles,” the description reads. 

This could of course just be a mistake, but it has piqued our curiosity. The original page for the goggles showed an expected pre-order date for 1 November, 2019, which isn’t that far away. When you consider 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Ghost Recon Breakpoint is just around the corner and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Watch Dogs Legion is on the horizon, it's quite unlike꧒ly Ubisoft would reuni🍒te us with Sam Fisher quite so soon. 

This certainly isn’t the first leak to surface about a potential future Splinter Cell entry. Last year a listing for “Splinter Cell 2018” appeared on Amazon, but nothing was confirmed at E3 2018 to cement that it was actually official. Just shy of E3 2019, some goggles 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:also appeared on a listing for "E3 collectibl🌠e🤡s" o🤪n GameStop's site with the very same pre-order date, b꧙efore being swiftly removed. 

It’s been quite some time since we joined Sam Fisher in one of Tom Clancy’s stealthy adventures. The last game to release was 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Splinter Cell: Blacklist on PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U back in 2013. Since then, there have been plenty of rumours about a potential sequel and fans have been eagerly awaiting confirmation. After an IGN interview with Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot revealed why 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:we haven’t had a new Splinter Cell for almost six years, Guillemoꦚt also recently teased Sam Fisher's return in an interview with Gamersky. The Ubisoft CEO suggested that the series could go in a new direction, and with word floating around about the new Splinter Cell potentially coming the world of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:VR on Oculus Rift, this could very well be what was hinted at. 

With so much chatter about the return of the series, the prospect of a new Splinter Cell game in future seems very likely. For now though, we'll j💛ust have to wait it out before w💦e can officially get ready to see Fisher again. 

Want to know more? Read about how Splinter Cell's comeback will offer "some new type of experiences, but more on different devices."

In recent years, Ubisoft has been more transparent in justifying Splinter Cell's hiatus, explaining that it's a matter of 𒀰finding the right time and team for the beloved Tom Clancy property, but - thankfully - the publisher has confirmed that a new Splinter Cell project of some sort is currentlyꩵ being worked on. 

Indeed, in , Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot teased that Sam Fisher's ret𓄧urn to video games might not be in the form of a traditional, blockbuster release, but instead offer "some new type of experiences, but more on different devices."

"We are working a lit♊tle bit on the brand today to come b♕ack at one point", continued Guillemot. "We can’t say when, because, as you know, it takes time. But each time we have to find the right experience to come back big."

That last statement about timing suggests we could well be into the era of the PS5 and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Project Scarlett by the time of a new Splinter Cell experience shows up, but it sounds like the series may not even arrive on that next-generation of hardwar💖e anyway, with Guillemot's comment "different devices" implying a mobile experience of some ไsort. 

In other words, it's good news and bad news for Splinter Cell fans, as Ubisoft is definitely working on something Sam Fisher related right now... it just might not be 🅰the triple-A stealth experꦚience we were hoping for. 

For more, check out the big 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games of 2019 you can play right now, or watch our Release Radar video below for a guide to everything else out at the moment.

Taken together with all the other weird Splinter Cell-related teases we've received in recent years, most recently a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:wine-fueled not-announcement from an Ubisoft c🌸reative director, you could read this an E3 leak from GameStop. The goggles may be meant to be put on sale as a commemorative collectible after Ubisoft reveals a new Splinter Cell🌼 at its big stage event. Why else put it in the "E3 Collectibles" category? The theory is complicated by the art seen on the product itself.

As Twitter user Adnor points out, the goggle box is based on promotional art from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Splinter Cell: Blacklist (the last Splinter Cell to come out back in 2013) with some light image edits. If Just Play had early access to a Splinter Cell announcement, you'd think the company would us🃏e new art to go along with it. Then again, this could jus🤡t be placeholder art for the product, which would give GameStop even more reason to pull the listing down.

I think it's best just to mark this maybe-leak down in the long column of "maybes" for a new Splinter Cell announcement and just keep an eye out for any glowing green goggles at the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Ubisoft E3 2019 presentation.

See what else may be coming to the show with our big list of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:E3 2019 games, or catch everything big in games and entertainment this week with our latest Release Radar video.

Original story:

Well, that's one way to reveal new info on a highly anticipated sequel. Julian Gerighty, a creative director at Ubisoft who recently helmed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Division 2, just posted a celebratory tweet saying that he's working on the next Splinter Cell game. Yes, that beloved stealth action franchise that's been dormant for the past six years. Ubisoft has been very coy about 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:a new Splinter Cell game up until now, with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot saying in April "at one point you will see something but I can’t say more than that." Now it seems like Gerighty might've spilled the beans before the reveal of Ubisoft's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:E3 2019 games - or he&a꧋pos;s made the kind of social media blunder that you hate to see happen.

According to the tweet, Gerighty is "working on the next #SplinterCell" with executive producer Dan Hay (a veteran of the Far Cry series) and creative director Roman Campos Oriola (For Honor). The gang seems to be enjoying their time together iౠn Lyon, France, and wine may or may not involved in the drafting of this tweet.

Moments later, Gerighty tweeted out a message that can be condensed down to "whoops!" - but if that was the case, why not just delete his original tweet? To further complicate things, he then changed his Twitter profile picture from a Division 2 logo to the iconic three-eyed night vision goggles that Sam Fiscﷺher wears in every Splinter Cell game. 

So, is this a snafu of major proportions that has entire teams of marketing folks tearing out their hair right now, or is it all part of a planned tease? Time will tell, particularly if Gerighty's tweets stay intact over the new few hours. Then again, merely knowing that a game is being actively worked on isn't enough to spoil its big reveal these days. Just look at 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Borderlands 3, which Gearbox hinted at with a few weeks before the loot shooter's 🌺big reveal at PAX East. Whatever the case, it sounds like more Splinter Cell is absolutely on the way, and that's reason enough to celebrate. Hopefully we'll get some definitive details (officially sanctioned by U𒆙bisoft) at E3.

See what's happening this week in games and entertainment with our latest Release Radar:

Now, in an , Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has finally offered some clarity on what's going on with the Tom Clancy IP and its lead character Sam Fischer, who was last seen 澳洲幸运5开奖号♛码历史查询:bemoaning the death of the Metal Gear franchise in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Ghost Recon: Wildlands in 2017. 

“When you create a game, you have to make sure you will come with something that will be different enough from what you did before,” Guillemot told IGN, explaining that the "last time we did a Splinter Cell, we had lots of pressure from all the fans saying, ‘Don’t change it; d🔥on’t do this; don’t do that.’ So some of the teams were more anxious to work on the brand.”

Guillemot is, of course, referring to 2013's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Splinter Cell: Blacklist, which divided fans over its action-oriented direction and cinematic style compared to the stripped back stealth focus o💞f its predecessors. Despite expressing caution at returning to the franchise so hastily following that backlash however, Guillemot promises that Ubisoft hasn't forgottenﷺ Sam Fischer outright. 

“Now there are some things and some people that are now looking at the brand; taking care of the brand." teased the CEO. "At one point you will see something but I can’t say more than that." Could a new Splinter Cell be one of the unannounced 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:E3 2019 games about to debut this summer? It's unlikely, given that both the rumoured Watch Dogs 3 and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Beyond Good & Evil 2 are both ಞon Ubisoft's plate right now, but don't count out the return of Mr. Sam Fischer just yet...

Could Splinter Cell become one of the big 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games of 2019 on the way this year? Watch the video below to discover the upcoming titles we're most excited about right now.

The list🦹ing has since been taken down, but spotted the post and got the internet talking before Ubisoft could begin damage control, though it is still possible that this was just a speculative placeholder listing from Amazon, so it can't be counted as definitive confirmation of the game’s existence just yet. 

That said, previous information about the future of Splinter Cell does seem to corroborate with the theory that Ubisoft willꦇ be releasing a new installment in the stealth-act🌸ion franchise this year. 

At E3 2017, Ubisoft Montreal's CEO Yannis Mallat teased a Splinter Cell revival in the near future, while reports as far back as 2016 sugg൲ested Michael Ironside - Sam Fisher’s voice actor - was back at Ubisoft to work o🎀n an undisclosed project. 

The last Splinter Cell game was 2013’s 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, which released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC at the tail end of that generation’s lifespan. That means a new Splinter Cell would mark the first t🌟ime the franchise hits the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and it’ll be interest🐲ing to see how Ubisoft drags Sam Fisher into the new generation for a more modern stealth-action experience. 

That said, the ꦛonly platform specified by Amazon was PC, so a console version remains unconfirmed for now, though the likelihood is high, with even a Switch port seeming somewhat plausible given the publisher’s close working relationship with Nintendo. 

Ubisoft has also implied that a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new Assassin’s Creed game won’t be out this year, so a Splinter Cell sequel would be the ideal title to fill that gap, making a Fall release date all the more probable. If that listing is to be believed, the retu🔯rn oಌf Sam Fisher is only a few more months away...

Strange and potentially law-infringing though it may sound, there are few who’d deny the appeal of skulking around the local community after dark, night-vision goggles and all. Which is why video gaming’s resident spymaster, Sam Fisher, has enjoyed so many shadowy outings – with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Chaos Theory being the very best of the sneaky crop.

Entry number three in PlayStation’s six-part Fisher family scrapbook saw Third Echelon’s top student tasked with the diffusion of Eastern tension. As things heated up between China, 🌌Japan and South Korea, Sam had to find those stirring up this inflammatory international pot of doom and stop them in their pesky tracks.

Yet the brilliance of Chaos Theory didn’t come from its overarching narrative, but rather from the sense of achievement at silently navigating from one point to another. Mr Fisher acrobatically tip-toed, climbed, and dangled his way across levels, hung from pipes and perched split-legged in narrow corridors above enemies to stay undetected. And when the bloodlust was too great to suppress, he stabbed his way through as well – the previous games’ knockout moves relegated to a distant memory as Sam added a combat knife to his toolbelt. Each level was massive, and tho༺se one-hit knife kills made them even better.

And today it’s this level traversal that still brings the game to life – identifying and attempting different ways to slink past an enemy becomes an art form. Do you perch high above a corridor and wait for him to saunter by? Or silently crouch in a dark recess🍒 or vent, away from searching eyes? Choices are numerous and always exciting.

Ch𒊎aos Theory offers a purer breed of stealth than you’ll get from today’s stealth genre lineup. If it’s a rowdy shooting gallery of interchangeable goons you fancy, it’s probably best you look elsewhere. Any attempt to take on a few baddies toe-to-toe sees Sam minced into a fine purée long before he’s even had chance to consider that tackling three gun-toting guards was a less-than-excellent plan for survival. This is a stealth game with no delusions. Just like your least favourite primary school teacher, Chaos Theory will quickly inform you that you will be quiet, or you will be punished.

At its core Chaos Theory represents the pinnacle of the original Splinter Cell trilogy, all while typifying what’s so darn fun ab꧒out a stealth game that doesn’t include the safety net of action sequences should you get rumbled. It’s a true test of patience and reserve that doesn’t suffer fools glady.

The empow🅷erment of lingering in the darkness, silently lurking as several unsuspecting goons pass you by – using your deadly prowess in the shadows to offset their clout in open warfare – still appeals. Ultimately Chaos Theory’s biggest success is the power it grants, and the thrill of knowing that once a level begins, you’re the real predator.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Click here for more excellent Official PlayStation Magazine articles. Or maybe you want to take advantage of some great offers on magazine subscriptions? You can 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:find them here.

Thursday 11 May 2006
Ubisoft has been keeping us updated with the latest on Splinter Cell Double Agent and has slipped us some new pics of Sa🍰m Fisher looking rugged and doing bad things.

Double Agent is the fourth game in the hugely popular Splinter Cell series and sees the game take a brave new꧃ direction with hero Sam Fisher trying to infiltrate a terrorist group to be able to take th🍰em down from within.

It's up to the gamer just how far they're willing to let Sam Fisher go in order to gain the enemy's trust. Is killing an innocent man acceptable when it's for the greater good? Or is taking out the terrori𒀰st the most important thing, even if it means blowing his cover?

The deci💮sions that are made have long lasting conseque🌼nces in Double Agent which has a branching storyline and several different endings.

Just like the previous games in the series Sam Fisher will be able to get his hands on the latest weapons and gadgets which can be upgraded in between levels to suit your style of play. These will be used to tackle new extreme gameplay conditions such as trying to complete objectives while underwater, in blinding sandstorms or hidden in plumes of smoke.

The new shots are taken from the single-player game, but we're hoping for some multiplayer details from this week's E3 as Ubisoft has continually pushed the bounda♐ries with its💦 online options.

So here's the million-dollar question: How do you cram one of the deepest, most gra💯phics-intensive stealth series of all time onto the PSP? If you're Ubisoft, ♛you learn from your mistakes, take a deep breath and push the handheld's limits as hard as you can.

Unlike the franchise's abortive N-Gage and Nintendo DS attempts, Splinter Cell Essentials loses little in translation, enabling players to do everything they can do in the console versions. NSA spook Sam Fisher is as agile as ever, able to effortlessly climb pipes, hang upside-down and pull off the mid-air splits that let him hang between narrow walls. Players will also eventually get access to Fisher's full spectrum of gadgets and weaponry, right up to the remote cameras and night-vision/infra-red goggles. Better still, they'll also get a preview of the upcoming Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Playing out like a clip show, Essentials begins shortly after the events of Double Agent and takes players through nine key events in Fisher's past. "Key events" here mostly means "recycled missions from other Splinter Cell games," although there are a few new challenges that shed some light on Fisher's history; the first mission, for instance, has a young(ish), underpowered Fisher creeping through Colombian jungles to rescue his commanding officer in 1992. Later, players will get to try out missions from Double Agent, such as the now-in♚famous baldheaded prison break, executed sans gadgetry.

While the action is mostly intact, a few sacrifices have been made in the transition to the PSP. Unsurprisingly, the graphics aren't nearly as lavish as in the console versions, but Essentials ꧅looks great by PSP standards. The environments are simple but detailed, and light and shadow are still an integral part of both the game's look and its gameplay (although in the version we played, shooting out lights for unfettered sneaking was impossible).

The designers also had to take some creative steps to get around the PSP's more limited controls. Without a second analog stick, players have to hold down a button to move the camera. In fact, nearly every button has a second function; tap one to put on Fisher's goggles, for example, or hold it down to make him flatten against a wall. And if you nudge the analog stick to start sneaking, you'll ke𓃲ep sneaking no matter how far you push it (ditto for running).

Other trade-offs aside, one of the most important aspects of Splinter Cell will be included on Essentials: the innovative spies-vs.-mercenaries multiplayer mode.𒁏 It's been pared down to a one-on-one match and can only be played with an Ad Hoc connection (meaning no Internet play), but hey, it's portable. Now if they can just fix the screen brightness (which, in our version, was so dark th๊at it actually made the game hard to play under direct lighting), this could be worth grabbing when it lurches out of the shadows.

Ubisoft has t꧙oday released the very first footage and confirmed the name of Sam🔯 Fisher's next adventure: Splinter Cell Double Agent.

As you already know Sam is doing stir for killing his daughter but this revealing trailer hints that his time in Cell Block H might all be a front for ﷽infiltrating a terrorist cell.

And while we are exploring the duality of S▨am, the man himself will have choices to make thanks to a branching storyline and multiple endings that will rely on morality as much as gadgetry. So do you risk your cover to save innocent lives or execute 𒐪civilians now to save millions later by foiling the terrorist threat?

Not that the old silver fox will be without NSA support and his trademark technology because, although his time in prison will see him rely more on his wits and sജoap-dodging skills, the later levels set in Iceland, Mexico and Africa will allow you to skydive and scuba dive.

We've extracted some new images from Splinter Cell Essentials, Ubisoft's PSP outing fo🐲r everyone's favorite gravel-voiced agent, Sam Fisher.

Spanning Sam's colorful and shadow-packed past, Essentials steps in to explain much of the story behind the delayed Splinter Cell Double Agent.

The action kicks off after Fisher's daughter Sarah has died, and Splinter Cell Essentials finds the black-ops member working alongside a group of terrorists... or s🔯o it would seem. Seized by shady government agency Third Echelon - his former employer💜s - Sam attempts to explain his actions, taking us back into his sneaky past.

Each level of Essentials will uncover new details behind Sam's motives, from his early missions as a Navy SEAL in 1992, and operations between Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory right up to Sarah's death in 2008.

With Splinter Cell Double Agent's release date in question, we're hoping the fresh new missions in Splinter Cell Essentials will keep our spy-senses sharp. Expect to hear more on this PSP stealth-o-rama 🐻soon.

February 22, 2006

At the end of last year we told you how Sam Fisher had agreed to undertake a dangerous undercover mission following the shocking death of his daughter to a drunken driver.

How he had to get himself arrested and thrown into a top security prison so that he could meet and gain the trust of terrorist Jamie Washington, then escape with him and gain access to his group.

This month, we got to play the PS2 version of the game. The game actually begins with Sam in Iceland, carrying out the sort of mission that will be familiar to any Splinter Cell fan.

The only difference is, he's undertaking it with another agent. Double Agent includes several levels like this where Sam works with other characters, using the moves invented for the co-op mode in Chaos Theory, such as giving one another a leg up and one agent throwing another across a gap.

Halfway through the mission, though, Sam in contacted by Lambert and told to abort the mission and return to HQ immediately. Once there, the news is broken to Sam of his daughter's death.

The introduction is typical of the interactive cinematics that run throughout the game. The cutscene that follows shows Sam breaking down and throwing his trademark night vision goggles out of a helicopter. The next thing you know, he's being led into a 'correctional facility' with a shaved head and prison overalls replacing his usual stealth suit.

It all serves to show that Sam is changing, and Ubisoft is changing the way you'll play this latest instalment of Splinter Cell. For the past three games, Sam's relied on trusted tactics to get him out of sticky situations, but now he's going back to basics - and gadgets are out.

After the action-packed prison break-out level - all around you prisoners are kicking down doors and fighting prison guards - is the first of several HQ levels.

Back in Washington's gang headquarters you are given objectives by Lambert, like gathering the fingerprints of the gang members. Sneaking around in a balaclava, being spotted sets off a dreaded alarm and ups the security on the level. Fortunately, you can decrease the alert level by taking a terrorist hostage and walking him to an intercom to insist everything is fine.

If you're caught, the game goes into an 'arrest mode'. Sam holds his hands above his head and as the gang members get closer to find out who he is, a sequence of button-presses comes up on the screen. Hit them fast enough and Sam will grab their gun and turn it on them.

The developer says that Sam is 'not a puppet anymore'. So no more unquestioningly following Lambert's orders to the letter. Now Sam is more reckless and more unpredictable. We like the sound of that.

Sam Fisher has been skulking in the shadows f🥂or the last few years, but he seems to have spent the time honing his🐬 stealth skills before sneaking back with this sequel.

This is Splinter Cell almost exactly as you remember it, but Sam is in a multitude of new places facing different dangers. Infiltrating jungles and a train, it looks as though the tight reins that rest🎀ricted his spying to indoor locations have been well and truly slashed.

We weren't convinced that Pandora Tomorrow needed to be set outdoors - the claustrophobic corridors and bite-sized puzzle sections worked superbly the first time. But we were happy to hear that the existing alarm system had been overhauled with new 'security stages'. If you blatantly shoot someone, or fail to hide a body, then your enemies don flak jackets and headgear and change th꧒eir patrols, making it increasingly difficult to complete the mission.

Unfortunately, these security stages have been included in addition to the alarms, not instead of. They are fairer than befo🍎re, but we're still reduced to banging our heads against the nearest wall at the sound of Lambert's voice saying: "Fisher, you're paid to be invisible," swiftly followed by the 'mission failed' screen.

It's frustrating - just as frustrating as the moments when y🅷ou see that some enemies are programmed to react differently than others. Just when you've got the creeping-up-and-grabbing down to a fine art, you suddenly meet an enemy who turns and sees you.

In levels without alarms where you're free to kill your foes, the temptation is to snipe everyone off. You can just turn on your thermal vision, shoot them all in the head and dump their bodies in a dark corner. Job done. There is one deterrent against this sort of behaviour though - ammo is limited, and you could end up without a single bullet left. But it's still possible to get through on cunning alone. You can throw bottles, even whistle to attract enemies' attention, lure💧 them into a dark space and then clock them unconscious.

It also hits a p🗹retty good learning curve. Anyone who's played the first game will whiz through the first three levels, but in the final three, the game becomes far more challenging.

Online is where this game gets even more exciting. In the new online mode you play either as a spy or as a mercenary and there are just four players on a map, which keeps things cosy. The spies play much like Sam Fisher and the mercenaries🉐 have to stop them - with guns, and also with a first-person viewpoint. At this stage, we don't think that even an unexpectedly prematur❀e Halo 2 could force it out of our disc tray.

If🦋 you're like us and loved the first game, hearing Sam's night vision whirr into action once again feels as familiar as slipping into your own bed after two weeks camping o🥃n concrete.

Sam Fisher must be an angry man. And not just because of the obvious 'having the weight of the world on his shoulders/dealing with the filthiest dregs of humanity/having to wear those stupid goggles' reaไsons.

H𒈔aving pretty much perfected his game, he's only gone and had many of the things that made the Gamecube Chaos Theory the pinnacle of the series so far taken away from him.

For instance, the ability to save an🌳ywhere has been removed. It's a lot to ask of a DS cart, granted, but to revert to the old checkpoint system here feels like a rather unpleasant step backwards. Possibly into something a dog did.

'A🐠h well,' you think, 'At least they wouldn't be so stupid as to return to the three strikes and you're out alarm system - that was one of the most nonsensical and annoying gameplay devices I've ever encountered.' But sadly, you'd be w☂rong again.

What's the point of making a game that has almost exactly the same characters, levels and plot as the one most people have already played, and then making it seemingly worse?

It's been said before with similar cross-over games, but surely an entirely original Splinter Cell title would be far more appropriꩵate for DS?

Sneak around these gripes though, and there's an enjoyable game underneath that might just tic✨kle your touch-screen...

The transition from 2D to 3D for the handheld has been✨ a remarkable success. Levels are finally the moodily lit, atmospheric haunts that made the series famous - a feeling increased 10-fold ♉by the inclusion of the original's excellent soundtrack.

Despite the cut control-set, most of Sam's moves have managed to be included, too. Hanging upside down from a pipe then strangling a guard who walks underneath, shooting over the shoulder of a hostage guar🦹d, spli🦩t jumping or bashing open a door to floor the bad guy beyond it - all these brilliant features return for DS.

The levels themselves, while linear and based on the sam൲e 🌸locations as those from the original game, are, er, entirely original.

You can't fail to be impressed by how much detail and texture variety has been achieved, although, it must be said this comeꦰs at a slightly too obvious cost to the frame rate, which is only exacerbated by the use of the night and thermal visions modes.

Generally though, th🍷ings look quite rosy - until the first time you come to an unknown corner...

Normally, yo🐲u'd hug the wall, flick the camera around to see if anything's ahead, move away from the wall and head off. Problem: there is no right analogue stick.

The solution is a simple one - the stylus can be dragged across the touch-screen to manoeuvre the camera at will (and to aim Sam's guns). It's very p💟recise, although it will 💜take some getting used to even for seasoned touch-screen users.

Thankfully, they realised that the system might alienate newcomers, and added a detailed radar into the touch-screen, making painstaking camera placement les🔯s of an issue.

But it all falls apart a little wh🉐en guards enter the mix.ꦉ Looking under a doorway we saw a guard approaching and with only moments to think, we retreated into the room and tried to climb onto a shadowy bookcase ahead.

Under such pressure, these kind of sudden𓄧 reactions are a real pain, not least because you have to endlessly switch between using your stylus to position Sam and moving your thumb back over to the right to reach theꦕ action keys.

It might sound like a small thing, but it really limits your ability to move precisely unꦉder pressure.

And🐲, when a guard does stumble upon you, there's a second problem - Sam's knife and elbow-knock melee attacks are gone, so if you don't avoid a guard, yo𒐪ur only option is to grab him from behind or just shoot him.

Strangely, the second option is nearly always the one to go for - guards rare🌸ly appear in groups and, with the excellent zo𒊎om on your SC20K, popping headshots through every goon you meet soon becomes a habit.

Arguably a bad one, when you think about it, because it's hardly what the series is about, and it prevents you from really having to think your⭕ way past most opponents - you'll be dealing out lead 💛surprises faster than they can say 'was that a noise I just heard?'

Which is exactly the sort of thing they like to say, and goes a long way toward expla🎉ining why the terrorists are generally so incompetent...

Does the DS version have anꦡy advantages over the game that spawned it?

Surprisingly, yes - and they're biggies. The first is the touch-screen - you use it to jiꦯggle the pins in lockpicking mode and to a♋ctually press the numbers on keypads. It may sound silly, but it's satisfying - it makes the game world seem more realistic.

It's a pity this wasn't capital🀅ised on to create even more in-game touch-screen uses. Best of all though is the, er, pau💧se menu.

It's a version🌄 of Sam's famous wrist-mounted PDA but, instead of being a virtual one, the stylus means it really does feel the part, with the different objectives, notes and data all easily accessible through the touch-screen. It realജly does work an absolute treat.

To top this off, there's a complete version of the multiplayer gam♋e. With five original co-op missions and a version of the excellent Spies vs Mercs multiplayer missions, you really do have to give it a go.

But it must be said that controlling the mercenaries in the first-person𒁃 perspective is as tough to get used to as the problem of flicking between the action buttons and the touch-screen in single-player mode, which can g꧅et a little annoying.

In both single-player and multiplayer, the game never seems to come completely together, but there are times - real, memorable, tell-all-your-friends moments - when you get that Splinter Cell feeling, and the magic of the moment comes together to make for some breathlessly excit💟ing gaming.

Sadly though, with a repeated plot, incredibly similar locatioไns, flawed control in both modes and the rubbish three strike checkpoint/alarm systems, this is not half the game it could have been.

Chaos Theory is essentially a tool for preaching to the converted. By now people will kn🥀ow whether they love it or loathe it, and unfortunately the addition of the excellent multiplayer m🤡odes and the surprisingly well executed DS conversion aren't enough to make it a must-buy.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theorܫy is o♋ut for DS, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC now

Chaos Theory is essentially a tool for preaching to the converted. By now people will know whether they love it or loathe it, and unfortunately the addition of the excell𝐆ent multiplayer modes and the surprisingly well ex✅ecuted DS conversion aren't enough to make it a must-buy

Our aim has been to make the best looking PS2 game evꦜer!" state the excited Ubisoft Splinter Cell Chaos Theory people. Already the emphatic claims are pouring out.

Picture the scene: we've just entered the top floor presentation room of the developer's Montreal studio, 🍬and are now gazing up at a large projector screen which is flashing 'innovative' PS2 visual techniques in our ashen winter faces.

Outside, a furious snowstorm is settling on already iced roads, while here indoors, the temperature feels more like 50-degrees centigrade. Our fault though - we knew we shouldn't have sat ওdirectly behind the now furnace-like projector. Our burning brow begins to drip sweat. So hot, so tired...

Then suddenly - BANG! The graphical presentation has switched from lifeless images and Sam🤪 Fisher has just blasted out an outdoor ship light. A panicky guard is spinning round like an arachnophobic w𓂃ho's spotted a tarantula scuttling across the floor. "Who's there? I know you're there! Show yourself!" he yells.

Fisher, though, perfectly blended into the darkness, ho🦋vers patiently, waiting for his adversary to stumble by. He does. The enemy is yanked into the foreboding black pit of the cargo ship's top deck and... SWOOSH! There's a knife rammed into his neck. "Ooh," we sa﷽y. "That's painful."

That's round one. Then it's on to a demo of some of🅺 Fisher's upgraded inventory. We're perched precariously inside the ship. It's cold, shadowy, eerie...

Our new surveillance-style sticky camera is launched high up onto a wall to reveal two guards patrolling a corridor above. So we climb up, hanging over t🌃he side🌟 of a railing, waiting for them to pass and then - YANK - one hapless felon is pulled over the side and down into the abyss below.

"YAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" he screams. 𒁏"Ho ho," we chuckle.

Then it's another leap up (Jackie Chan, would be jealous), a throw of a sticky shocker (cue electrified guard) and we're into the main room, crawling behind desks, capturing the petrifiꦉed captain, dragging him outside to interrogate him... oh yes, Splinter Cell is back.

OK, Splinter Cell. Been there, seen it, stained the T-shirt. We hear your worries, but hold on a second. There really are several improved factors with the potential to push Chaos Theo♔ry into unexplored realms of the stealth genre.

In addition to the arrival of new spy gadgetry, Fisher's attack armoury has been upped a notch too. He can now incapacitate foes with silent knee strikes or exterminate them with a s𝕴ingle front swipe of the blade.

There's also a co🎉ol vampire-type attack where passers-by are hauled up by their heads (assuming you're hanging overhead, that i𒅌s) and either choked mid-air or neck-snapped to death.

Ot✨her gadgets? As r🍌evealed, sticky cameras bring greater strategic play to proceedings, allowing Fisher to spot enemies lurking round tricky corners. There's also an OCP gun - similar to the one featured in Atari's Mission Impossible game - for cracking electronic systems.

Add in gas grenades and customisable gun attachments (n✱oisy sniper rifles to🔯 stealth launchers), and it all amounts to possibly the most free Splinter Cell offering yet.

"It's about meaningful choices," creative director/script writer Clive Hocking confirms. "Like whether you pick the lock on the door or smash it with 💖the knife and what haꦦppens next because of your actions. All the way through, it's small choices, large repercussions."

Right, so it potentially plays well, Bꦜut what about the so-called "exuberant visual mechanics" the team is promoting, eh? Well, trust us, they carry almost as much fine detail as a Michelangelo masterpiece.

As well as revising the AI system from scratch (guards still seem oblivious to the lamp on Fisher's head, though), they were also keen to promote the new 'geotexturing' technique (3D images tiled onto 2D surfaces for extra detail), ragdoll physi🍸cs, sophisticated reflections and refractions and excellent water effects.

We💎 even enjoyed a quick paddle during an Asian-themed level and got so convinced that 💮we requested a towel.

But that aside, what had us engrossed was the bloody damn hard co-o🙈perative story. It's an exciting addition which runs aꦫs a separate mission parallel to the main storyline.

You'll like it 'cos its similar to the single-pla🎃yer experience, but with amended level design to ensure completion 𝔍is impossible for anyone tackling it by their lonesome.

For example, during an infiltration of a building, an out-of-reach window proved reachable thanks to the 'te💦am-up' human ladder manoeuvre; a red laser beam was easily overcome by a two-man catapult throw and disabling a surveillance camera was only achievable once our buddy grabbed💫 the darned thing.

Add iꦍn the voice communicator system and it flows with more tension than a M. Night Shyamalan flick - one man opens the door, another shoots into it; one man explores ahead, while the oth༺er keeps watch.

You can take different routes, create diversions, tackle separate objectives. The opportunities are endless and, from what we sampled, it ꦯcould actually be more fun than the single-player game. And that was, like, rea𒈔lly good fun.

And there you have it, the new Splinter Cell game in a can. Of course, we couldn't depart into the bitter Canadian cold without one final sensationalist 🗹claim from the Ubi boys and gals. "It will be a must-own PS2 title!" one member boldly bellows as loud as his larynx will allow.

Will it? Well, let's just say the future's looking 🌄as bꦕright as Fisher's green-glowing tri-lamp...

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is out for PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC in April

If stealth's your game, then taking the enemy out quickly and quietly is paramount. With that in mind, Ubisoft have gifted Splinter Cell main man Sam Fisher with two new abilities in Splin🔴ter Cell Chaos Theory. We have short movies demonstrating Sam's new palm stꦬrike, knee attack, knife thrust and stun punch in action, plus some very lush images of Chaos Theory in both Solo and Vs modes.

As great as Pandora Tomorrow was, it could never be seen as a leap forward in the series. 🎃Chaos Theory has taken up that particular mꦦantle and, to find out exactly how it moves the franchise on, check out .

In related news, Ub💯isoft recently confirmed ♑that the game will now also be released for PS2.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory was originally scheduled for a November release but it has now been pushed back to early 2005

Ubisoft have furnished us with further details on Splinter Cell Chaos Theory's multiplayer and 🍸to all intents and purposes it's an updated version of Pandora Tomorrow's. However, there are significant tweaks and a couple of new modes to ponder, as well as an impressive PC and Xbox screenshot overload. Good times.

The versus multiplayer borrows from Pandora Tomorrow with two teams going head-to-head. One team takes the third-person stealth role of Shadow Net spi☂es, who have specific infiltration objectives, while their opponents will offer resistance as first-person Argus mercenaries with the sole purpose of protecting their compounds.

Scenario mode presents three main, self-explanatory types of objectives, with players focusing on neutralisation, extraction and bomb🔥ing, plus a new mode iᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚn Disk Hunt. Disks are scattered throughout a level and spies have to retrieve a specified number to win.

Co-op multiplay has a nice new continuity twist with🗹 your intel-gathering objectives being directly related to the plot of the single-player campaign. In effect, you're helping main man Sam Fisher in his mission to thwart world conflicts. Although there are no specific details, co-op multiplay also features a new knife challenge mode, which is said to offer additional ways for players to collaborate. We presume it's more subtle than "You hold him, while I stab him".

All of the multiplayer modes, new and old, are graced with new maps and sup👍port online, system link or split-screen play, depending on your format of choice.

However, the moℱst exciting aspect of Ubisoft's latest Chaos Theory update is the screenshot of Sam in his new Predator-styled stealth suit. Take a look to the right, salivate, speculate, anticipate and start saving your money.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory slipped a little while back from its November release date and will now be out on Xbox and PC in 2005

The Xbox version of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was playable for the first time at the recent Game Stars show and main man Sam Fisher is set to deliver his trademark stealth and death with some panache. 🔥Here's a sequence of shots demonstrating the most recently revealed new move.

The short demo had Sam rooting around inside what appeared to be a sports hall complex. We stalked our way through toilets, showers and locker rooms until we came to an entrance sealed off with tarpaulin. Enter Sam's new cutting move, which makes a slit in the material so we can creep through. Granted, it's not a startli𒆙ng new move and not as satisfying as the new inverted neck snap but it presents level designers with new options and gamers with something else to fiddle about with.

The game itself is the Splinter Cell you know and love, which is no surprise as Ubisoft are unlikely to tamper with an obviously winning formula of such class. It looks gorgeous, plays as smooth 🅷as ever and, simply put, we just felt so at home getting back into the stealth groove.

However, we hope that it will address our one nag regarding the series. We're adamant that the necessity to use Sam's well-crafted stealth should be hiked up a tad, especially the likes of the wall jump and splits. The unfortunate fact is that in the original Splinter Cell and its sequel Pandora Tomorrow, you rarely had to use those special moves in order to progress or circumnavigate problems. It seems a missed opportunity to have such cool moves but to not provide gamers with the genuine need to e💞mploy them.

The series oo🥂zes quality and we've no doubt Chaos Theory will build upon that tradition. We just want more of Fisher doing what he doꦅes best.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is scheduled for release on Xbox and PC around Christmas

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory will hit ♎Xbox and PC in time for Christmas, while other formats will have to wait until the first quarter of 2005. What exactly 'other formats' means isn't specified beyond a confirmed appearance on N-gage, so expect a PS2 announcement after a contractually binding period of Xbox exclusivity.

Chaos Theory pits Sam Fisher into a chaotic global meltdown. The year is 2008, energy supplies are intermittent, stock exchanges are under attack from info-terrorists and there's only one response - wall-hugging. Your mission is to infiltrate the terrorist networks, gather intelligence and, mor🅰e than likely, snap some necks.

Other 'supression' techniques involve your combat k🍨nife, a modular SC20K rifle and, if you choose to explore the extensive multiplayer options, delegation.

For more info and shot♛s , for footage of the game in action .

While you're here, check out the swanky Quicktime screenshots below. Once you've loaded one you can click and drag t𒁏o move around the action or zoom in and out.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory will hit Xbox and PC in time for Christmas. Other formats, including N-gage, will have to wait for 'Q1' 2005

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow sees the continuation of stealthy maestro Sam Fisher's incognito exploits. It's already proven itse🌞lf to be a AAA performer on Xbox and will soon be gracing PS2 and Gamecube. Check out these latest screenshots of the PS2 version for a vi🥂sual update on how the conversion is going.

Graphics and gameplay wise, the versions already released aren't that different from the original Splinter Cel🐼l (that's the prerogative of Splinter Cell 3 on PC). However, that's not the case with PS2, as Pandora Tomorroᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚw does look significantly prettier than Sam's first outing on the console.

PS2 and Gamecu💧be-exclusive content includes a new jungle mission, post-mission stats and scoring of your performance, new routes and a new 'lockpick' booby trap disabler. Plus, PS2's headset can be used for mission reports and communications with your command team.

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is out on PS2 on 10 June, followed by the Gamecube version on 1 July

Official ELSPA Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 10 April

1 (1)
(Xbox, PC, GBA)
2 (3)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
3 (2)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)
4 (5)
(PC)
5 (NE)
(PS2, Xbox)
6 (6)
(PS2, Xbox)
7 (8)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, PSone, GBA)
8 (7)
(PS2)
9 (10)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
10 (13)
(PS2, PC)
11 (11)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
12 (RE)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
13 (17)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)
14 (5)
(PC)
15 (9)
(PS2, Xbox)
16 (RE)
(PS2, Xbox, PC)
17 (14)
(PS2)
18 (20)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
19 (12)
(PS2, Xbox)
20 (RE)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)

Sam Fisher is still the man as Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow hogs the top slot for its third week in a row. Gamers continue to be enamoured with its light and shade stealth gameplay and rightly so - it stands heads and sho꧂ulders above other recently released console shooters.

The new entry of the week is World Championship Rugby, managing a very impressive sprint to number five. Coming on t𒐪he back of England's World Cup win, it was the obvious, yet still smart, move from publishers Acclaim to get a title out there quick time and it's clearly paid off.

There are a number of re-entries into the top 20, the most significant being Crash Bandicoot - Wrath of Cortex൲ and The Sims, the former jumping nine places to 12,🔥 while the latter notches up a 15 position hike to 16.

Overall, it's been a very good Easter period for UK software sales, being the third most lucrative week of 2004. All formats have seen a significant jump in sales and and software units flying off the shelves are 13.7% up on this time last y♌ear.

Leisure software charts compiled by ChartTrack
(C) 2004 (UK) Ltd

Official ELSPA Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 3 April

1 (1)
(Xbox, PC, GBA)
2 (2)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)
3 (6)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
4 (5)
(PC)
5 (4)
(PC)
6 (3)
(PS2, Xbox)
7 (15)
(PS2)
8 (10)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, PSone, GBA)
9 (RE)
(PS2, Xbox)
10 (17)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
11 (14)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
12 (RE)
(PS2, Xbox)
13 (18)
(PS2, PC)
14 (11)
(PS2)
15 (13)
(PS2, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
16 (8)
(PC)
17 (12)
(PS2)
18 (NE)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)
19 (19)
(PC)
20 (RE)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)

The superb Sౠplinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow continues to ride high at number one this week. Although the release of the PC version boosted sales a tad, the lion's share of copies sold still comes from Microsoft's console with over 80% of sales being Xbox units.

It's been one hell of a week for Ubi Soft's Tom Clancy franchise with four titles - Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm, Pandora Tomorrow, Rainbow Six 3 and the original Splinter Cell - all appearing in the top 20. With the first Splinter Cell being a bargain on both PS2 and Xbox, we imagine many gamers who missed out on the origina🌊l first time around have been trotting along to their local games shop to grab themselves a copy after playing Pandora Tomorrow.

The only new entry is Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem but there are three re-entries to the top 20 - two of them being aforementioned Tom Clancy titles plus Lord of the Rings: Return of the𓆏 King.

With the main Easter releases done and dusted by last week, it's been a case of titles re-jigging positions with notable climbers being This is Football 2004, Rainbow Six 3 (the highest climber, jumping 12 places) and The Simpsons: Hit𝓰 and Run. In contrast, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes plummets down to 22 after entering at number seven only last week.

Leisure software charts compiled by ChartTrack
(C) 2004 (UK) Ltd

Official ELSPA Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 27 March

1 (NE)
(Xbox, GBA)
2 (1)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)
2 (3)
(PS2, Xbox)
4 (NE)
(PC)
5 (5)
(PC)
6 (4)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
7 (NE)
(Gamecube)
8 (3)
(PC)
9 (6)
(PC)
10 (15)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, PSone, GBA)
11 (7)
(PS2)
12 (10)
(PS2)
13 (10)
(PS2, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
14 (13)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
15 (NE)
(PS2)
16 (8)
(PS2, PC)
17 (14)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
18 (17)
(PS2, PC)
19 (NE)
(PC)
20 (19)
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)

The excellent Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow from Ubi S🐬oft comes straight in at number one and it's nice for once to see a game that truly merits the top slot getting its just rewards. Its status is further reinforced in being the third best-selling Xbox title over one we꧃ek of all time, with only Halo and the original Splinter Cell performing better.

The impressive Far Cry, also from Ubi 🌞Soft, is the next highest-selling new entry of the week, debuting at number four, and becomes the highest-selling PC game over one week ever. It's good to see Ubi Soft's premier titles doing so well as their recent high pro🍸file releases (such as Prince of Persia) haven't really met with the commercial success they deserved.

Three more new entries make it into the top 20. The Gamecube-exclusiv💯e Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, which is a remake of the original PSone MGS, sneaks in to seventh place. This is Football: 2004 manages to reach 15, while the final new entry is at 19 and is the much delayed-but-finally-here Counter-Strike: Condition Zero on PC.

It's been quite a week for Xbox in general with software units racking up a sales increase of 40%, week on week. Which translates into the second𓆉 best performance of Xbox games in one week since Microsoft's mean green (and black) machine first hit the streets two years ago.

Leisure software charts compiled by ChartTrack
(C) 2004 (UK) Ltd

Two moments in the original Splinter Cell stand out in my memory. Both are bad. The first is the premise of the CIA infiltration level: you're in there on your own, tooled up with some powerful weaponry and you can't bloody use it. These CIA guys, your own people, are allowed to rain bullets into your body, but retaliation is met with dismissal. The second moment is later, in the Chinese Embassy level, and a more personal affront. I'd just activated a Save point when the third alarm level was triggered. Somewhere back there I'd obviously left a body with a toe poking out of a shadowed corner. Result? Mission abandoned, leaving that Save in a perpetual loop of failure.

I still love it, though.

Splinter Cell was just shy of greatness; a few extra scribbled notes on a pad away from being the best game of its kind. Its frustrating genius kept me playing, not just because of the compelling plot or those wonderful toys, but because it was so damn tense. Like Thief, it had something different about it: the shadows, the oblivious bad guys passing just inches away, the danger behind every doorway, the unashamedly voyeuristic feel. But it was hamstrung: silly little flaws poked holes in the darkness. Flaws so obvious that it was difficult to come to terms with. Which is why my long trip to see the development team in Paris was so rewarding. I saw at first hand the strides they're making. I heard them talk about the flaws of the previous game and their determination not to make the same mistakes again. Heartening to say the least. So, Pandora Tomorrow, then...

It's being built from the ground up, discarding all that was wrong with the original to make a more rounded experience. With Pandora Tomorrow, the forum posts, the letters pages, the fan sites and the reviewers' comments have all been heeded. This game, say the developers, is a big 'thank you' to all those that made the first one the success that it was. Sure, it plays very much like the first, but it's been filtered through all the criticism. The development team want the fans to realise they've been listened to. The sheer bloody-minded difficulty is gone. No more CIA-type levels, thank God.

Also gone is the three-level alarm mode that made saving such a hazard. The enemy's alert status doesn't end the game if you trip too many alarms, but they will respond to a heightened sense of threat. The first threat level will make them more aggressive in their searches. Activate a second state and they'll put on flak jackets. Activate the last state and they'll add helmets.

This system is nicely shown off in the first level. Sam just happens to be fighting an Indonesian guerrilla group this time. He nails some goons with a sniper rifle; the enemy drop like sacks and the alarm level raises. The guards start scouring the area with extra vigour. There's nothing to prevent you carrying on, except your own skill. At no point will the game simply stop. It's doubly interesting to see the 'terrorists' not being portrayed as out-and-out godless villains, particularly in the times we live in. The methods of Suhadi Sadono, leader of the cell, are abhorrent, but he's portrayed as fighting for his people and a way of life.

Gun accuracy had also been a major gripe of the fans. The handgun was always far too inaccurate. The developer's argument is that it was deliberately underpowered, to force player's to use stealthier methods, but they've listened all the same and added a laser sight. The downside is that the enemy can spot the dot and follow the beam back to its source. If you want to use it, you'll have to be sneaky about it.

Another complaint was that the original was a little too formulaic. The linearity, despite being wonderfully elegant, was stifling. Being told exactly where to go all the time shattered the illusion of the lone operative living on his wits. So the developers are rustling up a number of levels which feature alternate paths. One of these levels deliberately sticks the middle finger right up to the critics. It's set on a terrorist-packed passenger train humming its way through France; you can't get more linear than that, on the face of it.

But this level beautifully demonstrates a number of Pandora's innovations and improvements. You can choose to go over, under, through, or along the side of each carriage. Each route throws up its own challenges and stretches the game's lifespan better than the blood of𝄹 virgins. The most impressive bit is watching Sam Fisher move along the side of the train. His precarious monkey swinging is almost a rhythm action game in itself combined with wondrous lighting effects. Sam clings to the side of the train, moving past the windows. If he's in front of a window when a light passes, he'll be spotted by anyone looking out. Meanwhile, the traditional routes - inside, over the top or under the train - give a few more insights into some of the game's other improvements.

The split-jump, for example. The fuss made over its inclusion in the original game proved misplaced. Tragically, the levels weren't designed for it. In fact, you could only use it tactically three times in the whole game. Naturally the sequel puts that to rights. On the train, for example, you can use split-jump to brace yourself between carriages, the passengers and terrorists passing underneath without a clue.

But Pandora is not all about light tweaking. Currently, the development team are only ready to reveal one major addition, but it's the one I've been begging for ever since the invention of the stealth genre: multi-player.

This is no tacked-on extra, but a complex piece of storytelling that slots into the storyline of Pandora Tomorrow. In the same way Enter the Matrix played off The Matrix: Reloaded, the multi-player sections are components of the storyline that you hear about in the single-player game. They're integral to appreciating the whole scope of the game. It's not the Spy vs Spy deathmatch that everyone hoped for, but it is a logical, story-based step that could make Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow the definitive multi-player game of the year.

The format is Spy vs Guards, two player classes who form the best loved bickering twosome since Tom and Jerry. Up to four players face-off per side but this is not Splinter Cell as we know it. Surprisingly, the view shifts to first-person when you play as a guard. The reasoning? These guys are hunters, and need razor-sharp reactions to succeed in the job. In other words, the guards benefit from the traditional twitch gaming angle while the Spy sticks to stealth tactics because third-person offers neither speed, nor accuracy, but does enable Agents to make the best use of cover.

It doesn't stop there. Vision modes are different too. Instead of night or thermal sights, the guards have a motion tracking capability and an electrical signal sensor, as well as a low-tech flashlight. You'll need this equipment to fight the black-on-black spies, but it's all about picking the right gadget at the right time. A spy will effectively become invisible if he decides to stop dead in the dark and turn off his vision modes. Unless a guard thinks to counter with a stab of his flashlight. If the spy makes a break for it, and a guard has tracking vision on, then the scuttling infiltrator will be picked out in a grey box over a red background. You can also pick up the electrical interference spies cast like dandruff when they use vision modes.

Shockingly, Sam is sacked for multi-player. Instead, sneaky gamers play as Shadownet spies. They rely on acrobatic movement even more than Fisher. They're a covert operations unit, sent in to take deal with situations too hairy for our hero. They have different moves and a greater emphasis on agility. Their forward roll will cover more area, and they can recover faster from a tumble. The pipe grip has been expanded, so spies can switch from a horizontal pipe to a vertical one, turning levels into a giant climbing frame. Every gadget choice is but a-button away but the game won't pause. Clearly, the Shadownet spies have been developed to make the multi-player game viable but they do prove that stealth doesn't necessarily mean slow.

The upshot is that Splinter Cell multi-player plays out like a high-tech game of cat and mouse. The sneaking, slippery spies are dark forms that slide past backlit doorways; the panicky guards have to fight the very shadows that loom in every corner. The outgunned spies must pick their moments with deadly precision; sitting, coiled in a corner. Watching.

The levels are built for multiple assaults. Every building can be accessed from doors, open windows and sewers, but everything is wired, alerting the guards to intruders. Watching the developers spring their way through the levels, crystalises how well this approach could work. Headset voice comms add to the atmos. Take an enemy hostage and you can trash-talk his ear off. But it gets better. Exchanging tactics with your teammates over the wire adds a whole new dimension to the assault, but brilliantly, the enemy can intercept your communications and listen in. There are more impressive details yet: hazy flashbang after-shocks cloud the view and ring the ears; injuries stream incriminating bloodtrails and you can use the walls to backflip over the head of any pursuer.

Just when it's getting too much the development team call it a day. Much remains hidden. Check 🔯the corners.