The Splinter Cell series was never for everybody. The original trilogy may have been a critical darling, but it never reached the heights of popularity of its stealthy competitor, Metal Gear Solid. Heading into the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era, a game about a slow a methodical special agent behind enemy lines had even less commercial appeal, as more bombastic action series like Call of Duty and even other games in the Tom Clancy-verse like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.
If it ever wanted Sam Fisher’s exploits to find the success its other series were having at the time, Ubisoft was going to have to reinvent the franchise. Following the wild events of the divisive Splinter Cell: Double Agent in 2006, this was the perfect time to do so. That game saw Sam Fisher execute his longtime boss and friend Irving Lambert, and being forced to go off the grid. With this setup for an inevitable sequel, developer Ubisoft Montreal wanted gameplay to reflect Fisher’s new roguish lifestyle.
