Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon", as he overcomes his adversaries. Levels are created using Unreal Engine and emphasize light and darkness as gameplay elements. The series has been positively received, and was once considered to be one of Ubisoft's flagship franchises.[1] The series had sold 19 million units by 2008.[2] No further installments have been released since 2013.[3] A remake of the first game was announced in December 2021.[4] Some of the game's characters are featured in XDefiant.
"Splinter cell" redirects here. For the sleeper cell system, see Clandestine cell system.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Novels[edit]
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2004)[edit]
Splinter Cell[30] is the first installment of a series of novels based on the video game series. It was written by Raymond Benson under the pseudonym David Michaels. The plot follows Sam Fisher as he investigates a terrorist group called "The Shadows" and a related arms-dealing organization named "The Shop". Members of "The Shop" use inside information to attempt to kill "Third Echelon" members, including Fisher. Shortly after its publication in December 2004, it spent 3 weeks on the New York Times list of bestsellers.[31] It also made it to the list of Wall Street Journal mass-market paperback bestsellers.[32]
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005)[edit]
In Operation Barracuda, which was released on November 1, 2005, Raymond Benson (again as David Michaels) continues the story of the first Splinter Cell novel. The book was also featured on the New York Times bestseller list.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006)[edit]
For Checkmate, Grant Blackwood took over as author behind the David Michaels pseudonym, Benson having declared that he was "finished with Splinter Cell".[33] Unlike the first two books, Checkmate is not written from the first person perspective of Fisher, nor does Checkmate continue the running subplots that were established in the previous book. This novel was released on November 7, 2006.
The book begins with a ship by the name of Trego sailing towards the American East Coast. Sam Fisher is called in from a training mission to disable the ship. After Fisher stops the ship from irradiating the American West Coast with nuclear waste, he is informed that a town by the name of Slipstone has been attacked with a radiological weapon and over 5,000 people are dead. These events lead Fisher to Ukraine, Iran, Dubai, and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout (2007)[edit]
On November 6, 2007, Fallout, was published, Blackwood's second Splinter Cell novel and the fourth in the series. Like the previous novel, it was written by Grant Blackwood, under the pseudonym David Michaels. The story follows Sam Fisher as he combats Islamic fundamentalists who have taken over the government of Kyrgyzstan.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2009)[edit]
Conviction[34] is the tie-in novel to the game with the same name. It was published on November 3, 2009, and was written by Peter Telep under the name David Michaels. It was published by Berkley Books, under Penguin Group. The book follows Sam Fisher after the killing of Lambert. Fisher is on the run and has "gone rogue," as he is believed to be a treasonous agent. He is chased by a team of rookie Splinter Cells led by Ben Hansen.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Endgame (2009)[edit]
Endgame,[35] published on December 1, 2009, is the counterpart to the Conviction novel. The plot runs parallel to the Conviction novel, but from the point of view of Fisher's antagonists. The story is told from the perspective of Ben Hansen and the rest of the team pursuing Fisher.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist: Aftermath (2013)[edit]
Published in October 2013, this tie-in novel takes place after the events of the video game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. It involves Fisher and Fourth Echelon finding and rescuing a Russian billionaire who disobeyed orders from the Kremlin to release a computer virus against the United States. Aftermath is written by Peter Telep and the first in the series to be authored without the use of the David Michaels pseudonym.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall (2022)[edit]
Firewall was released on March 1 for Kindle and on March 15 for paperback. It was written by James Swallow and features Sam Fisher's daughter, Sarah, working alongside her father.[36] The plot involves Fisher dealing with a cyberwarfare technology known as "Gordian Sword" which is capable of defeating any firewall and will be auctioned to the highest bidder regardless of their motives for using it. Fisher must stop the technology being used or sold before it falls into the hands of terrorists, criminals, or rogue states.[37]
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Dragonfire (2023)[edit]
Dragonfire was released on January 24 for Kindle and on the same day for paperback. It was written by James Swallow and it features Sam Fisher's daughter, Sarah, working alongside her father and Isaac Briggs. The plot involves Fisher working behind enemy lines in North Korea while his daughter searches for him all the while trying to expose the sinister scheme of the conspirators known as The Dragons.
Development and history[edit]
Origin[edit]
Although the series features his name, Tom Clancy had little to no involvement in the development of any of the installments. According to series producer Mathieu Ferland, the original game was developed so that Ubisoft's Montreal studio could demonstrate its full potential.[38] After Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, "special ops was the natural next step" for Clancy-endorsed games.[38]
Graphics and technology[edit]
The first game in the series modified the Unreal Engine to allow the light-and-dark-based gameplay style.[38] The other games continued this, using updated versions of the engine.
By the release of the latest game – Blacklist – the engine had been upgraded to the LEAD engine, a heavily modified version of the Unreal Engine 2.5. The game had active shadows on all consoles not simply as a graphical function – as in most games – but as a gameplay enhancer for the sake of the game's stealth features. This meant that more coding for the game was required and overall, required a powerful desktop computer in order to get the best clarity and performance.
Other media[edit]
Film adaptation[edit]
Originally announced as a special feature on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, a film adaptation for the series was confirmed to be in development, as early as 2005.
In 2011, Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, and Assassin's Creed were all planned to receive film adaptations. The company officially stated, "We want to keep ownership, retain control over the film content, and we're open to work with studios on the development of our projects, and eventually collaborate on the pre-casting, pre-budget and script."[71] The following year, it was reported that Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures were the front-runners bidding to make a Splinter Cell film.[72] By November, it was announced that British actor Tom Hardy was cast as Sam Fisher,[73] while Eric Warren Singer was hired as screenwriter.[74] By 2013, Ubisoft announced that the film would be made by New Regency, with Basil Iwanyk signed on as producer through his production company, Thunder Road Films.[75]
In March 2014, Doug Liman joined the production as director, with Jean-Julien Baronnet and David Bartis attached as producers.[76] Later that month, Sheldon Turner was brought into the production team, to write a new draft of the script.[77] Hardy told Collider in an interview that the studio was hoping to start filming that August.[78] By June that year, Liman stated that both he and Hardy were working on the film's script, which would focus on a young Sam Fisher, in his prime as opposed to the portrayal of a seasoned spy in the video games.[79] In October of the same year, Iwanyk stated that filming would start in early 2015.[80]
In April 2015, Liman stepped down as director, with reports stating that the studio were talking with Joseph Kahn as his replacement.[81] By July, Ubisoft hired Frank John Hughes to rewrite the film's script.[82] In January 2017, Iwanyk confirmed that the script had been completed and sent to Hardy to read over. The producer explained that the film was intended to have its own style within the action movie genre, and that the production team was aiming to make an "edgy" PG-13 rated film.[83]
Radio drama[edit]
A radio drama for BBC Radio 4 Limelight called Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall was released 2 December 2022 and was adapted by Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Paul Cornell from the novel of the same name by James Swallow.[86] It is an eight part series that follows the plot of the novel of the same name. It was recorded with binaural audio which is ideal for a headphone listening experience. The main voice actors include Andonis Anthony as Sam Fisher (replacing Michael Ironside as the traditional voice actor for the character), as well as Will Poulter, Daisy Head, Rosalie Craig, Sacha Dhawan, and Nikesh Patel.[87] Other actors include Mihai Arsene, Olga Fedori, Rina Mahoney, Roger Ringrose, Riad Richie, David Hounslow, Tijan Sarr, Tom Kiteley, Joe Belham, Ali Gadema, Lloyd Thomas, and Charis Jardim-Hinds.[86]