Ubi Confirm Splinter Cell Double Agent Details News

Though previously announced at the recent Spike TV Video Game Awards 2005, Ubisoft have today confirmed that the final title of the fourth Splinter Cell series will be called Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Set for release in Spring 2006 on Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation2, and PSP, Double Agent sees the Third Echelon operative go undercover and infiltrate a terrorist organisation before it executes a deadly plan.

Taking place across several global locations in Asia, Africa and the United States itself, players will have to work through several new gameplay features such as balancing dual mission objectives between those set by the terrorist group and those set by the NSA. Using tactics based on those used by real world double agents, players will have to strike a balance in order to sabotage the plans of the terrorists, weighing up the consequences of Sam's actions, which in turn lead to the branching narrative implemented in the game.

Further to that, Ubisoft has also confirmed that Sam will find himself in a range of new situations from being underwater, skydiving and sandstorms, as well as having access to new gadgets used by the NSA and weapons typically used by terrorists (which we'd assume will include the firearm of choice for terrorists, the AK-47). Multiplayer options will also feature in Splinter Cell: Double Agent, with Ubi stating that each platform will have its own innovations.

"Ubisoft is excited to have re-imagined the Splinter Cell franchise by introducing Sam Fisher as a double agent, expanding the depth of his character," says John Parkes, EMEA Marketing Director at Ubisoft. "Throughout the course of the story, gamers will be forced to make critical decisions which will not only affect how the story plays out but also have very different consequences."

So it seems that word of Sam's decent into evil may be premature; we'll have further details on Splinter Cell: Double Agent in the future...