Another year, another Ubisoft conference without a new Splinter Cell game announcement. Sadly, I keep doing it to myself. Every year I tell myself that I shouldn’t get excited, but then I watch their conference and get myself hyped anyway. All I want is to see those iconic goggles fire up and make the noise, but it still hasn’t happened!
If you can’t tell by now, I’m a huge fan of tactical stealth games. Metal Gear Solid is my favorite game series of all time, and Splinter Cell is pretty high up on that list. I’m also a fan of Silent Hill, in case you were wondering how sad this was going to get. You see my problem now, however. Two of the biggest game series in a fairly niche genre have gone under, with no sign of resurfacing in sight. At least Hitman is doing well, though it isn’t the same style of stealth game as Splinter Cell or Metal Gear.
Ghost Recon is also going strong, though opinions are pretty clearly divided on its newest entry, Breakpoint. Still, those games are the only place that I can live out my Fourth Echelon fantasies. While I personally enjoy the game, it still hurts to see Sam Fisher guest starring in a game by Ubisoft instead of getting his moment in the limelight back. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is one of the best stealth games ever made, and it’s a shame that the last entry was in 2013 with Blacklist. It was a game that I enjoyed, and I remember looking forward to what the series would bring us next. But I’m still waiting 7 years later.
Metal Gear is the one that really hits close to home for me. I remember being a kid and running around in the original Metal Gear Solid just replaying the game over and over because I loved it so much. It was the first game that had a really strong impact on me because of its storytelling. Before that I’d played stuff like the 2D Final Fantasy games, so 3D cutscenes blew my mind. I spent hours just running around and messing with guards. Stealth camouflage was endlessly entertaining to my young mind, even if it was just making guards follow footprints and then punch them while they couldn’t see me. I was easily entertained at the time. From there I became more and more intrigued in the story, culminating in Metal Gear Solid 5 in 2015. Another game that I loved, even if the story was extremely disappointing.
At this point, Metal Gear Solid isn’t much better off than Splinter Cell. With Kojima’a departure from Konami, it’s unclear whether they’re going to continue the series in any way. Even if they do, it’s inevitable that they’re going to get backlash from the fans. I’m willing to see how it goes if it does happen, especially if it just ends up being a remake of 1, 2, or 3.
Like I said, stealth action games are already a niche genre. But over the years we’ve gotten a lot of memorable characters from them, and it’s held fast as one of my favorite game genres. So if you’re reading this Ubisoft, just do me a favor and announce a new Splinter Cell game already. I’m even going to play Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad just to see Sam Fisher in action again.
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