Gamers love stealth titles and the characters that have emerged from them. From Sly Cooper to Assassin's Creed, stealth is always welcomed for those that love to control a situation and look cool doing it. One of the best franchises in the genre has been Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Sadly, it's been almost a decade since its last mainline game release. Fans are ready for a new Splinter Cell title, and the perfect template already exists.
In 2000, the world was introduced to the game series, Hitman. The series followed the adventures of the assassin, Agent 47. His targets took him around the world and released many sequels up until 2012's Hitman: Absolution. However, while the game featured mostly positive responses, the character wouldn't be seen again until its 2016 reboot, Hitman, which kickstarted the World of Assassination Trilogy. The new trilogy, developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix, served as a multiplayer experience where players worldwide took control of Agent 47 and tried to beat each other's high scores in various maps. While there wasn't an overarching story, the series showed that the best way to enjoy the character was to spend a day in his shoes. A similar direction should be taken with Splinter Cell.
While the series took a while to gain popularity, the Hitman franchise showed that some games only need consistent updates and a simple gameplay layout. The major reason the franchise became such a massive success has to do with the player's freedom. Each target can be assassinated in any way available and fosters both epic and hilarious moments. The Splinter Cell franchise could take this freedom a step further due to Sam Fisher's inherent skills.
Since his first game, Sam Fisher developed skills that helped him gain the upper hand in a room full of enemies in mere moments. This included gadgets like drones and snake cameras, which he used to get eyes all around a room. He also mastered efficiently eliminating his foes and disappearing in the darkness. This was made possible due to the game's feature of shooting out the lights and activating his signature night vision goggles. Implementing these features in a Hitman-style game would fundamentally change how it's played compared to its contemporary.
Sam Fisher has spent decades doing missions for Third Echelon, the company he works for. This means that there are countless missions that players have never explored or heard about in passing. Should the game adopt an episodic approach, like Hitman, these missions can be explored first-hand without being confined to a typical story structure. This led players to locations worldwide and compete for the fastest time in completing their mission. An approach like that meant that each mission feels more like a sandbox for players to play Sam Fisher however they'd like.
Agent 47's main goal as a hitman is to perform assassinations and leave the area just as quickly. That straightforward approach played a large part in why the game series and the most recent trilogy have done well over the years. With the Splinter Cell series, there are many more missions that Sam Fisher may have to complete, which feature more than assassinations. In a Hitman-style Splinter Cell game, players would be able to conduct assassination missions along with hostage rescue, intel gathering and even eliminating rooms of enemies. The score would be decided based on speed or style, depending on the game mode. All would have speed play a large part but rooms where stealth is needed to eliminate multiple enemies would lean more heavily on style points. The style would be decided based on how enemies are eliminated, whether from a headshot, takedown or something more creative like a trap set by the player.
It seems like the best time for Splinter Cell to return to consoles is now, with the launch of the next-gen. The episodic approach would take the franchise's best elements and put it in an entertaining multiplayer experience. For now, there is no confirmation on a new Splinter Cell title coming anytime soon, but should the title be announced, developers don't need to look further than Hitman.