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A Tale of Two Cells
by Robert Valdes
11/18/04
When game developer Ubisoft lateraled the sequel to its console-shattering stealth title "Splinter Cell" to the Shanghai office, stealth action gamers worldwide let out a collective gasp of panic. No offense to the fine and talented folks at the Ubisoft Shanghai office, but as the old adage goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Let those Montreal boys keep givin’ us that Splinter Cell-y goodness. But there were forces at work we couldn't possibly understand…
Fast forward to March 23, 2004 -- "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow" was released, proving that the Shanghai office knew a thing or two about making a good Splinter Cell game. We had a new Tom Clancy story with our old buddies Sam Fisher and Lambert (voiced by 24's Dennis Haysbert). The single player mode was basically more of the same great gameplay from the first, with a new feature here and there (now Sam can whistle, for example).
The real show-stopper was the online multiplayer mode on PT. This new type of stealth multiplayer topped the Xbox Live charts and still holds strong as people can't seem to get enough of the addictive spy vs. spy action.
 Photo courtesy of Ubisoft Very sneaky... |
Then something strange happened. Right on the heels of the release of Pandora Tomorrow, we were told a third Splinter Cell would be hitting the shelves for the holiday line-up of 2004. Throw the flag! This can only mean one thing to the thinking gamer -- that Ubisoft knows a cash cow when they see one. We all feared Ubisoft was going to start vomiting out poorly conceived, same-old, same-old sequels until the mere mention of Splinter Cell made us all cringe.
It turns out Sam Fisher is not the only sneaky one. While Ubisoft threw a can at Shanghai to draw our attention away from Montreal, they were steadily working in the shadows on the third Splinter Cell. "Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory" promises to be the Mother of All Splinter Cells.
Development for CT began shortly after the release of the first Splinter Cell. In Montreal they have been working for years to make sure that they reinvent Splinter Cell with Chaos Theory. So there are no fears about Ubisoft rushing through this project. In fact, they have pushed the ambitious November release date back to March of 2005. Thanks guys, I'm still not done replaying Pandora. Hell, I'm still playing the first one.
