After finding success in the platforming-mascot era of gaming with the limbless hero Rayman, Ubisoft needed to create new IP’s to stay relevant, as the Xbox and PS2 generation was shifting focus to more realism-centric and mature games.
Ubisoft soon found its feet with their Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series, two shooters with a heavier emphasis on tactical gameplay than the competition. The tactical gameplay wasn’t all that differentiated them though, as both series took inspiration from the work of Tom Clancy. At a time when most shooters had next to no story at all, Ubisoft utilized the American novelist’s work to bring their games to life with compelling narratives.
The success of story-driven games inspired Ubisoft to create a new franchise that drew inspiration from the revolutionary stealth series Metal Gear Solid. The result was Tom Clancy‘s Splinter Cell, a stealth franchise centered around the now iconic action protagonist Sam Fisher.
7 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Essentials (58)
Sat at the bottom of the list by a considerable margin is Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Essentials. The game took the series to the PSP for the first time, and as the name suggests, it was essentially a greatest hits of the franchise.
Essentials revamped some of the best levels from the sereis’ original trilogy and added a sprinkle of new missions on top. This may sound like an appealing package for people looking to get into the series or even pre-existing Splinter Cell fans, but unfortunately, the game was plagued with issues.
Along with a multiplayer mode that felt like an afterthought, Splinter Cell: Essentials suffered from excessive load times, frustratingly dark levels, and a camera that almost made the game unplayable.
6 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (84)
The latest entry in the series sees a significant jump in Metascore. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist was released at the very end of the PS3 and Xbox 360 cycle, which caused it to go somewhat under the radar.
Despite releasing so late in the lifespan of the consoles, the game was criticized for feeling dated. Reviewers docked the game points for its generic and uninspired graphics, and the short runtime of around 10 hours which wasn’t uncommon for the series, but fell short of other AAA releases at the time.
Blacklist did have a lot of upsides though. In particular, it did an excellent job with the series’ three most important features; its stealth, combat, and narrative.
5 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction (85)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction was a divisive entry upon release due to its gameplay that swayed away from stealth and more onto tactical combat. Much like Blacklist, Conviction had its share of issues preventing it from reaching the height of its predecessors; along with having a similarly short campaign to Blacklist, the game’s new interrogation feature failed to impress.
For those that were happy to accept the series’ shift in direction, they were treated to numerous fantastic combat mechanics including the new Mark & Execute feature. Mark & Execute does what it says on the tin, letting players target an enemy before finding the best way to kill them discreetly. Conviction was also praised by fans and critics for its more personal story that sees Sam investigate the death of his daughter.
4 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent (89)
It’s worth pointing at this point that this list categorizes entries by their highest-rated score, as Double Agent scored as low as 61 and 64 on the Nintendo Wii and GameCube respectively, as the iterations featured different levels and a different storyline to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC story.
Double Agent impressed with its moral story and multiple endings, a rare and exciting feature for 2006. Ubisoft were rewarded for their efforts with multiple end of year awards including Best Action Game from IGN and Xbox Game of the Year from GameSpy.
3 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (93)
The one that started it all, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell released in 2002 and introduced the gaming industry to its Metal Gear Solid inspired stealth gameplay, differentiating itself from the DOOM inspired shooters that were still dominating the market.
Along with the unique stealth gameplay, Splinter Cell was innovative for its implementation of a movie-like narrative, for which it won the Excellence in Writing award at the Game Developer Choice Awards. The game’s other accolades included E3’s Best Action/Adventure Game and IGN’s Xbox Game of the Year.
2 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (93)
The second entry in the Splinter Cell franchise, Pandora Tomorrow doesn’t just share the same Metascore as its predecessor, but it has the exact same User Score too.
Ubisoft opted for an “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it” approach to Pandora Tomorrow, offering minimal changes to the gameplay from the original. Ubisoft did expand upon 2002’s Splinter Cell with multiplayer being implemented into the series, something that would become a mainstay for subsequent entries.
1 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (94)
The game that capped off the franchise’s original trilogy, Chaos Theory perfected the mechanics of the first two games with excellent light & dark stealth, increased audio cues, and newly implemented ragdoll physics.
The game’s whopping 94 Metascore puts it on par with some of the gaming industry’s most iconic titles like Mass Effect 2, Skyrim, Halo 3, Super Mario 64, and Grim Fandango.
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