Episode 41: Splinter Cell

Retro Spectives

In Splinter Cell you play as Sam Fisher, an ex Navy Seal brought out of retirement by the NSA to combat the growing threat of cyber terrorism. Unlike your typical gung-ho hero, Sam operates stealthily, silently and entirely by himself on the field - He is the splinter supported by an extensive cell of a support team.

To be successful in this game you must gather intelligence, operating entirely in the shadows, because if a gunfight breaks out you’re in huge trouble. Splinter Cell took its cues from titles like Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid and Thief but still managed to create its own flavour of stealth. But in the wake of modern stealth games like Dishonored, can this title from 2002 still be considered a strong contender? Or does it come across as quaint and outdated?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Splinter Cell has extremely linear level design, even more so than something like MGS 3. Can a stealth game still effectively function when the level design is so structurally straight-forward?
• What’s the best way to control your characters in stealth games? A mouse and keyboard, or a game-pad, and why?
• The story of Splinter Cell features a complicated multi-factional struggle for control of Georgia. Does its story still hold up, or does it come across as inaccurate in the face of modern geopolitics, where cyber-terrorism is a very real threat today?

We answer these questions and many more on the 41st episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Splinter Cell OST: Amon Tobin

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To fix spotlights/enemy torches not showing up:

1. Right click on splinter cell

2. Click properties

3. Click "set launch options..."

4. Enter "-shadowmode=projector" in the text field

5. Click OK

6. Click Close

7. Start the game

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Does Splinter Cell get even better, or is the first entry in the series the best? Is the story quietly brilliant and there’s something that we missed? Do you prefer M+K or a game pad for your stealth games? Come let us know what you think on our text based community discord server!