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Splinter Cell Feature Feature

00/12/0000

We chat with Mathieu Ferland, the producer behind the exsplosive title backed by Tom Clancy - Splinter Cell on Xbox PlayStation 2 and PC.

Anyone who has seen Splinter Cell from UBiSoft will tell you it is one of the best looking third person, stealth, action titles they have viewed in a long while and that was from early versions. As the game builds and comes together excitement is growing, as it is now looking ever better! Canadian based producer, Mathieu Ferland, recently visited London to show eager journalists the latest code on Splinter Cell - TVG, was in attendance.

UBi Softâs release schedule is full of some of the best games around - this one has been compared by many to Metal Gear 2 and there are a number of similarities. Based on the lucrative Tom Clancy franchise/book, Splinter Cell - introducing a brand new genre in the Clancy line-up - offers a realistic, highly detailed geopolitical universe which features cyber-terrorism, shadow agencies, and covert operations.

As you will rightly assume, being a Clancy title, you are in control of a highly trained operative who has acrobatic moves, tricks and gadgets to work with â“ but above all else, you have to be smart.

Sam Fisher is his name and he is a mean and tough dude. Different gadgets for every eventuality add an extra dimension to a game that is already burgeoning with creative ideas. The presentation given by Mathieu Ferland was stunning. All the individual components that make up a game were taken to a new level. Most good games have a number of qualities but Splinter Cell from the graphics, to the storyline, to the animation and lighting, to sound, to credibility of what was happening, etc, was better than anything we have seen. Watching Sam move around, shooting and cavorting was as interesting to view as it was to play - not many games have this quality.

You, as the player, are granted access to the highest echelons of national security, where shadowy operatives have the freedom to do whatever it takes to safeguard America. Controlling Sam Fisher, a field operative of a secretive âblack-opsâ NSA sub-agency called Third Echelon is no mean feat and when the going gets tough you will find many clever innovations to assist! Sam Fisher is geared up to infiltrate high-security strongholds, seize critical intelligence, destroy threatening data and neutralize the enemy - all without leaving a trace.

âWe are giving total freedom to the player. Interact with the environment and make your own way using different gadgets. Also, we believe that each time you play you will be given a new experience thus offering excellent replayablity value. Splinter Cell represents an expansion of our Tom Clancy range. Unlike Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell is an innovative third person stealth action game, where you have to complete your missions as a solo field operative.â

You will travel to many different destinations across the world, including Georgia, Russia. Armed with a certain about of knowledge, weapons and gadgets you have to track a certain person and take care of anyone who dares cross your path. The gadgets (mentioned far too many times but are that pivotal) at your disposal are either real or in development in the US. One such is the sticky camera, which allows you to see and find the locations of the enemies whilst looking in a different direction (or climbing for instance). In one mission you will be using it on a number of mission objectives. You even have a gizmo that will shoot off lights to reduce the visibility in being detected.

Events at the Chinese Embassy were demoed which again presented more impressive body physics and the dynamic lighting system. Going into technical mode to explain this would be pointless â“ the fact is the physical distortions /gyrations and movements on offer are unsurpassable! Superlatives just keep rolling off the tongue but that is the only way to describe a game that is a quantum leap about all others. Credit where credit is due!?

Although Tom Clancy has had approval over the story and content the team has had a great deal of latitude in what they are doing, even to the point where they have hired a scriptwriter who has scripted many big licences to help create the perfect ambience in the game. The actual main story to the game and its sub plots are pretty much interlinked together. You will have to find, seek out, even blow up certain objects which are at fixed locations and although it may sound structured and somewhat linear there are so many eventualities and tasks in between that you have a real handful to cope with!

You canât pinpoint any one factor that makes this game stand out. Itâs the expertise and passion to make this better than the rest, which is the driving factor behind the team. There will be varied levels to work through utilising and working alongside Retinal Scanners, Laser Mike, Finger Print Key Pads, Night vision specs, Thermo and Gas Grenades, plus 13 Weapons, etc - all put together with the next generation Unreal Engine - which offer up some amazing effects! (Some of the gadgets on offer, like the snake camera and thermo imager, are similar in what they do but the range (distance) varies greatly.

It is being developed simultaneously on all formats and all are pretty much at the same stage and looking indistinguishable from each other - so we were told. At present the controls are being optimised on all systems and with a lot of action and acrobatic movements to execute this means a lot of testing. âWe are working to make sure the controls offer the slowest and fastest ways to move, so the player will feel at ease but the controls are very much akin to a third person shooter.â

The expertise that is going into the title ranges from the Red Storm team to LAPD, and Navy Seals consultants. âAlthough we have tapped into many consultants and it is a Tom Clancy title, the main character is one that the team has created. We did not want people to work on any premise of character attributes or ideas from previous Tom Clancy games. We built up our own character attributes and concept along with the research we had done on some of the gadgets and presented them to Tom and he was quite surprised how meticulous we had been! Splinter Cell offers up some deep covert stories and at the end of each mission the player will get a media breakdown of the mission.â

âWe are, of course, pleased with the feedback we are getting regarding the game. You only have to see how many awards we have won to see how anticipated the game is and it is not due until the end of the year. We wanted initially to make a stealth game where there were a number of difficulty factors. For instance, in easy mode there are different ways to achieve things as opposed to hard mode, which is really difficult. There are so many âswitchesâ we can turn on to make things more difficult. We can use light for instance to make life harder. Sometimes just shooting a guy is not the easy way out or the right thing. The are so many factors to consider and this is one area we believe we have advanced the genre â“ itâs varied and creatively difficult on many levels.â

âA lot of focus can also be placed on stealth and you can play the whole game, except one mission, without killing if you wish! That one mission we wanted the player to get everyone (big laugh)!â

Asked about the size of the levels and game Mathieu was very forthcoming: âAs I have mentioned the game is broken up into 26 varied levels, split into 11 missions, which include 2 training levels. The game is huge. Moving into new, unexplored environments will mean you have to do a lot of âchecking aroundâ and there are many surprises in store.â

One question I put, which I had hoped would also push the envelop on reactions, was answered in a very precise way but was not entirely what I expected. If you targeted the enemy/npc and they are hit they will react in different ways pertaining to where they were shot but if you are hit there is no reaction, as the team didnât want the player to feel frustration or shift his focus of attention!

Overall Splinter Cell has a very intuitive feel but then again that does not mean the game is easy and you are given lots of hints on how to achieve certain objectives. How for instance do you find a password to get into a section of a building? Do you try getting it from someone physically or do you use a number of gadgets from afar to spy on someone? This is one the endless series of interlocking puzzles/quests put together to form a dazzling presentation. You can in certain instances use the same gadgets more than once, for you will have a limited supply, so use everything wisely. There will be goodies to find and collect as you move through the levels.

The enemy AI is fixed to work on the basis of, as soon as they hear anything they will become more alert and call on help to assist, so staying out of sight and not making a noise if of great importance. âDepending on what the player is doing the action will vary and be much different.â

Other qualities to immerge from the presentation, and although obvious, they are not ones you would consider. If for instance you are infiltrating the CIA you will find their AI is so much better than the rest and so if they catch sight of you the chances are you will not emerge alive â“ their sharp shooting is nigh on perfect. Specific saves points in the game are essential!

Although on the surface all the various formats look pretty much the same Mathieu made a worthy comment pertaining to this. âAlthough we will be releasing the game on 4 formats we will try to make each as good as they can be on each individual machine. If you already have the ideas and concept set then that allows you more time and focus to concentrate on making improvement to each format.â

The basis of the game â“ stealth: get in and get out - without being seen or caught could be a tough requirement but with Fishersâ array of deadly moves and equipment it makes this an excellent challenge. Be prepared for the fact that there is no cannon fodder for you to enjoy and muse over. Hang from ledges, take a few guards as hostages, suspend yourself high above and then drop down and knock out an unsuspecting baddie, makes for compelling play. A lethal cocktail of ingredients always keeps the adrenalin pumping and itâs difficult not to stop and admire so many views within buildings. The actual layout of buildings is very technical and futuristic - the electronic surveillance equipment is stacked high. It may be the customary Tom Clancy theme but there is nothing typical about what is on offer! The fact this is a single player game and not squad based doesnât mean an iota - think of all those gadgets and weapons as your best friends and you will gladly feel safer you have lots of help! The F2000 rifle is your box of tricks and that is why the team wanted to create one level (mentioned previously) where you must kill, kill, kill. They wanted to show off the F2000! A stealth meter is also activated to allow you to gauge how you are coping. Itâs a real pity the environments are fully interactive for you canât just shoot a window and see if cracks appears for effect! We were demoed events (task) like making a hole (the correct way) in an aquarium so that water seeped onto the floor so that anyone who stood in it could be electrocuted. It is not a mere matter of shooting a bullet in the tank!!! Everything you do, see, execute, is realistically plausible.

Add to all the action, tactics and forethought and you have the superbly created visual delight of the game with hand drawn animations, etc. Only one word can describe this - breathtaking and there is still plenty of time for new ideas and improvements!

Screenshots or descriptive prose cannot convey this game to anything like the experience and sense you get when playing but at present it is the next best thing!