The Splinter Cell Series

Other Video Games
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I never played Double Agent, mostly because of all the bad things I heard about the PC port.
Have you checked the PCGamingWiki page for some fixes?

One of the first thing I saw was
“Steam version of the game is v1.00, so it’s recommended to apply Patches v1.01-1.02a”

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Yeah, that was what put me off playing it too. It’s not that bad now that I’ve got into it though. I haven’t seen any glitches or other problems during the gameplay, the first game I had to patch in a much more convoluted way when I played it. Now I just checked another page on PCGamingWiki to change the game’s resolution.

Thanks for the link though, I installed the last one so maybe that’ll do something.

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Once again, glad to hear you´re enjoying it! I still haven´t gotten around to replay it on my current laptop (damn disk space…), but hopefully I´ll finally manage soon.

I was gonna refer you to the PCGW site for the fixes as well, but EGR has already done so. Personally I don´t believe I ever experienced any issues with the game other than the occasional crash/freeze during mission loadings. I think DA gets a lot of undeserved hate. Sure, the PC port is rubbish, but it´s still a great stealth game (Shanghai is one of my absolute favourites in the entire trilogy and I love the JBA HQ missions as well). The HUD was only ever an issue in the daytime missions due to how inconsistent the AI can be in (not) spotting you (I also prefer the HUD from the first three games).

On a side note, if you´re ever gonna replay SC1 or PT and still have issues with enabling antialiasing like we discussed last year, I managed to enable it in both games in the end simply through Nvidia Control Panel. It works flawlessly and without any of the side issues (such as the water), unlike Nvidia Profile Inspector or dgVoodoo, so it might for you too.

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On another side note, I was replaying Battery earlier this week and for the first time ever noticed that in the starting warehouse area it is possible to use the crates and beams to access the security corridor rooftop and from there crawl through a vent that leads all the way to the sleeping quarters, thus bypassing both the corridor/security booth as well as the office area. Was very surprised that there´s a third way of accessing the facility aside from the corridor itself and the shaft underneath the truck. Makes me wonder how many other routes in other levels have I missed over the years…

batteryshaft
batteryshaft1920×1080 484 KB

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Yeah, the game itself is really good. Just played the next three missions. This time some more problems started to arise though. Firstly, more crashes during the missions. Reopening the game and loading a save takes a while too so it’s rather annoying. During my first playthough of Sea of Okhotsk I started getting crashes for “unequiping sticky shockers” when I tried to change to ring airfoil rounds and I have no idea what that was about. I restarted the entire mission and that didn’t happen anymore.

During Shanghai there were no crashes but that one had its own problems. In the pre-mission cutscene there was no sound and at the helipad I couldn’t move anywhere even after waiting for a good while. I verified the game’s integrity and repatched it after which those problems were gone. Safecracking also doesn’t work if your movement speed is set to low (wtf) and sometimes there’s also graphical glitches with menus and weird bugs with AI.

All that trash caused by a bad port aside, I can still enjoy the game. The maps are a bit too bright though. I haven’t even used night vision at all, just like in Blacklist and in a big part of PT. Friendship ended with night vision, now the ultrasonic emitter is my best friend. I thought it would be OP, but it’s really not. There’s still enough challenge.

SC1 is working well with Nvidia Profile Inspector and voodoo for me, there’s just some weird flashing when I launch the game. With PT I never had any graphic issues to begin with. :smiley:

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Huh, I honestly never experienced these many issues with the game as far as I can remember (but maybe my memory is failing me, it has been a while), aside from the safecracking thing though, that´s a “classic”. Guess the cracked versions of the game were better than the official Steam release… :sweat_smile:

But it´s great that it´s not stopping you from enjoying it :+1:

Yeah, that is true. And not just the daytime missions, but the nighttime ones as well. I´m not quite sure how (or rather why) they made the shadow/light system so much brighter compared to the previous games…

Ah, ok, cool. Good for you. Guess it´s just my Geforce giving me a hard time then just like with the old Hitman games :grin:

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Yeah maybe cracked versions are better lol. PT doesn’t have the original game’s problems either. The patch should have fixed some bugs but the Shanghai bug has been the only one, as far as I know. Or maybe the problems just didn’t exist on your old laptop and now on more modern hardware it would be different, don’t know.

True, it kinda defeats the purpose of the goggles. Just tried the original trilogy again and in SC1 it can be literally pitch black sometimes. PT feels much brighter somehow, but in CT it can get quite dark again (I prefer the first two games’ night vision though).

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Back in 07 or so, I got several of these games with the full intent to play them because I’d always wanted to see what the big deal was and it seemed interesting. At first, I didn’t appreciate it for what it was; I didn’t get the point of it, and I thought I did. I played the first few levels of the first game, both GameCube and Xbox version, and I didn’t like how there were differences in gameplay (subtle ones, though) and in cutscenes between the two versions. Moreover, the stealth mechanic wasn’t my thing at the time. I wanted to use that silenced pistol to kill while sneaking, and while the game allows that to a degree, and my score didn’t concern me, it just didn’t look or feel right.

Then, I picked up Hitman for the first time, Blood Money specifically, and found more of what I was looking for, and eventually just got rid of the Splinter Cell games after a few years, since I never went back to them. After my desire for killing NPCs died down and I began to enjoy how Hitman was meant to be played, and then got into Assassins’ Creed, I think I’ve now reached the point where I could appreciate what Splinter Cell was meant to be. After I’m done with those other two series, once the spark dies down, I think I’ll go back to SP and be able to flourish on pure stealth, now that I’ve got a real taste for it.

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I got to the end of Double Agent! It wasn’t a completely smooth journey though, in addition to the crashing there were also occasions where I would get spotted by NPC:s who shouldn’t have seen me. For example, in JBA HQ Part 1 you can get Dayton’s intel in the server room, but the guy (Dayton?) at the PC always spotted me when I investigated the files. Somehow I managed to do that by standing instead of crouching. In another case, the Shanghai hotel infiltration section had its own bugs. It should be possible to evade the helicopter and the guy at the window by being on the far left, but the guy always spotted me after opening the window. Ironically that made evading the helicopter more interesting, but the guy was still a nuisance. I didn’t even know those incidents weren’t supposed to happen, but after watching some videos afterwards I realized how it was. The last big problem was in the last JBA HQ mission where the final cutscene just froze. I think it had something to do with the resolution, but I verified the game’s integrity again (which also reverts the resolution I changed in the .ini file) and was able to finish the mission.

I still got enjoyment out of it and liked the plot too. Especially the JBA HQ missions were very interesting, I definitely didn’t get all the profile objectives done though. Not sure where the way to Jamie’s and Dayton’s quarters even was, I couldn’t be arsed to make sense of the 3D map. As for the choices, I shot the pilot, framed Enrica, saved Hamza and shot Lambert…lol no I shot Jamie of course, even if it’s not canon and since Lambert dies anyway, RIP. I had been a good boy so I got to play the short bonus mission too. It felt more like a punishment though because the constant wobbling made me seasick lmao. That was a very short one so I’m not going to rank it. Speaking of…

Now here’s going to be a lot of ranking and comments. Firstly, all the proper SC titles, even without playing Conviction I can say it will not qualify. Looks like I played the games from best to “worst” in order. Honestly the terrible quality of the PC port is the only thing that makes Double Agent bad, but I think I’d still rank it last. SC1 and PT are very equal, but in the end this is how I’d rank them. Here’s also how I’d rank the missions within the games, I’ve changed some missions around in CT after replaying some of it.

1. Chaos Theory
  1. Bank - The pinnacle of Splinter Cell. Great humor, many different ways to go around the place and a lot of interesting elements. Take notes Hitman, this is how a bank heist should be done.
  2. Bathhouse - This one has a bad reputation but its difficulty has been exaggerated. Surely it’s challenging, as the penultimate mission should be, but I found a stealthy method through every section and they worked every try. Great challenge in a location that feels comfy at the same time.
  3. Kokubo Sosho - I mean, it might be too easy for a final mission, but I can’t but love these high-tech missions. There are also many interesting routes, for example, the sculpture.
  4. Displace - The secondary objective aside, a fantastic mission. There’s something that makes me feel like a true spy when playing this one.
  5. Penthouse - The humor and dialogue in general shines again. Not that many new gimmicks but a very well built mission anyway.
  6. Hokkaido - Always a pleasure to have missions in Japan. Also a very comfy and beautiful place and fun to sneak around too.
  7. Battery - At this point the game gets quite challenging but I even managed to do a no KO run on my first playthrough. It’s not a looker, but still an exciting mission, especially when things get more serious.
  8. Lighthouse - Wasn’t that big of a fan of this mission after the initial playthrough, but it grew on me later when I learnt it better. Altogether, an admirable opening.
  9. Cargo Ship - Kind cramped and linear, or at least it feels like that. I guess that’s always the thing in ship missions. The soundtrack is a classic one, one of the first things that comes to mind when Chaos Theory is mentioned.
  10. Seoul - The only bullshit mission in the game. Sometimes you don’t know if you’re being shot at in the warzone which also means your rating has been ruined. On a positive note, the drones are fun.
2. Splinter Cell
  1. Vselka Infiltration - A surprise winner. Great design, makes use of many gadgets and tricks learnt before and even gives you a choice of route at one point. Criminally underrated and even beats several Chaos Theory missions. Appearance can fool sometimes.
  2. Chinese Embassy 2 - Many interesting areas and some good challenge. Has the best objective in the game too. Haha truck go boom.
  3. Presidential Palace - A brilliant final mission in an interesting location. If only the two combat sections didn’t ruin a part of it.
  4. Defense Ministry - I kinda wished we could have the SC-20K in this mission but one doesn’t get everything. Great vibe and interesting objectives. Fun curveballs as well, because you can still stay completely stealthy.
  5. Chinese Embassy 1 - Surprisingly easy but very fun anyway. I mission where you only roam outdoor areas is a nice change. Yeah there’s the sewer but I meant outside any buildings.
  6. Kalinatek - I like the setting and most of the mission is enjoyable. The last part is a big disappointment however.
  7. CIA HQ - I expected the place to be much more interesting and I wish it was. This one’s often praised but I can’t agree on that level. The choice of route at the beginning is great though.
  8. Kola Cell - Too many narrow corridors, but I like the idea that you have to return to the very beginning after completing the objectives.
  9. Police Station - Not too memorable, but it’s the first mission so I get that it’s rather straightforward. The burning building is a nice way to spark some action right away.
  10. Oil Refinery - Too short, otherwise ok. In this one it’s a good thing we don’t have the SC-20K yet because it would make things too easy.
  11. Abattoir - Too many difficult and/or bullshit sections. It tried something different but didn’t really succeed in it.
  12. Vselka Submarine - Simply way too cramped and had nothing interesting in it. Fuck this mission lmao.
3. Pandora Tomorrow
  1. TV & Radio Broadcasting Station - Offers several options to proceed in many areas and the environments are varied and look pretty cool. Easily the best mission in the game. Chaos Theory-tier, if you will.
  2. Cryogenics Lab - There’s a lot of creative design and some surprises that don’t complicate things too steeply. Surprisingly, this one has more gimmicks than most later missions. The motion sensors and wall mines are never seen again.
  3. Submarine Pen - Slightly better than the preceding jungle mission so it gets the third place. Lasers are a rarity in this game so they come as a nice surprise that will probably catch you the first time. I love the lift trick before the submarine section, one of the best moments in the game.
  4. Kundang Camp - Traps and cannabis fields! Tripwire mines are a fun idea, though the execution is a bit too easy and boring. I’d prefer not being able to disable them. Otherwise good design and a neat setting. Trailing the main villain without being allowed to do anything to him is interesting.
  5. LAX Airport - Easier than I feared though the last section offered challenge due to some randomness. The objective is interestingly executed and there are some good ideas in the level design, though a glitch tried to ruin my experience.
  6. Jerusalem - The streets part - good. The base part - poor. Sneaking in the streets, roofs and even in some random people’s apartment is fun, but I hate that unnecessarily forced combat and those metallic floors. The decision you have to do fast is an excellent idea because it affects the end of the mission too.
  7. US Embassy - Veeery basic excluding the cool spotlight trick we never saw after this mission. This one also has the best music in the game, what an atmosphere.
  8. Hesperia Railways - Sure, the concept is cool and it was surely even cooler back in the days. Unfortunately it’s a very short and linear mission with not much to do and no replay value. Just like Untouchable, train missions don’t work for me.
4. Blacklist
  1. Site F - An excellent final mission with good challenge. Really liked the many paths you could take, glad we got at least one tense laser section in the game. The heavy infantry really made my life harder, but they were expected.
  2. American Consumption - The festival hall section was amusing and I was kinda hoping to have the entire mission take place in there. Not that there was anything wrong with the water treatment plant part, except that it ended way too abruptly. No need to exfiltrate, really?
  3. Abandoned Mill - Have I mentioned I like rainy missions and abandoned buildings? I liked everything else except the last part, but I can overlook that because you can ghost the whole show.
  4. Private Estate - An appealing setting and well designed map overall. I rarely used the drone but here I wished that forced section was longer and had more than two enemies in the way.
  5. Safehouse - I couldn’t ghost 100% of this one because I had no good gear to do it with and you have to take out groups of militia soldiers. Otherwise it’s a really nice proper introduction level.
  6. Special Missions HQ - Somewhat difficult yet fun mission. There was one bug though, in the parking garage the general would just freeze and somehow blow my cover after talking to a soldier, had to do a bullet distraction during their conversation to make it not happen.
  7. Insurgent Stronghold - The climbing section seemed more unrealistic than any other part in the game but I don’t see any real problems in this one, it’s a very ordinary mission with some action in the end.
  8. Detention Facility - I expected this one to be more interesting but was disappointed to see the entire mission was about escaping the place. It’s alright but rather uninspired, sadly.
  9. LNG Terminal - Too chaotic for my taste, I expected it to be much harder too but there was not much challenge.
  10. Airstrip - In some strange way I kinda liked this one and it was completely ghostable. Very simple and short though so there was not much to do.
  11. Transit Yards - Didn’t like playing as Briggs and the last section was just horrible because I couldn’t figure out how to avoid combat.
5. Double Agent
  1. Shanghai - Wow, darkness in this game? That already makes this one shine above the rest, but there are also many exciting and innovative moments. The only improvement besides the PC port bugs would be that you could be actually spotted by the civilians inside when you climb the wall.
  2. JBA HQ Part 1 - The best JBA HQ mission because the main JBA objective is the most enjoyable one and everything can be done within the time limit with no trouble. I also like the areas where you have to do NSA work more than the ones in the other JBA HQ missions.
  3. JBA HQ Part 2 - Assembling the mines was a little tedious, but otherwise it’s regular JBA HQ quality. This time there are much more profile objectives and they’re always fun to do, even though I’m not sure what they’re good for.
  4. JBA HQ Part 3 - JBA HQ missions still going strong. I have to admit that I couldn’t figure out the decryping minigame so I just looked up the solution. I don’t think an average player could do that and still have a plenty of time for the other objectives without savescumming. Finding fingerprints was very fun, but sometimes they didn’t seem to be where they should be.
  5. Cozumel - You know what, this ship mission is actually pretty good and even has shadows. Many interesting areas and overall very likable. I’d spend a short holiday there.
  6. Ellsworth Penitentiary - Up to some Shawshank Redemption, huh? You don’t get many gadgets and the objective is just to get out, but it’s a fine mission. Challengewise would have been a better first mission than Iceland, but I still prefer having one where you have your standard gear.
  7. Sea of Okhotsk - Brightness cranked up to eleven. At least at first, but it doesn’t get much better because you get spotted very easily during the entire mission. Not a big fan of clearing the whole supertanker either.
  8. Iceland Geothermal Plant - It’s an introduction level so I wouldn’t expect much. I was expecting a bit more though, all the previous intro levels have been more challenging too so this one just feels like a tutorial somewhat.
  9. Kinshasa - Would get the last place if it wasn’t for the first half. That was very nice, but I absolutely loathe the second half. This is like the warzone in Seoul but even worse than that. It’s longer, has annoying side objectives…heck, it’s even daytime. Got a trash stealth score but do I really care?
  10. JBA HQ Part 4 - We finally get to take down JBA, yey. Gameplaywise it’s very dull though but it’s understandably nothing like the other JBA HQ missions. Still not the climax I wanted. Don’t know what it would be like if you chose the other option in the beginning, but that would be a crime.

Finally, the ultimate mission ranking list because why the hell not. I’d say they were distributed quite evenly without any bias even though the games are different in many aspects. Let’s just forget about Conviction again (I’ll stop mentioning it now). I’d say PT is the only game that has no bad missions, the last seven ranked below the train mission are just trash and I don’t want to play them.

SC missions ranked
  1. Bank (CT)
  2. TV & Radio Broadcasting Station (PT)
  3. Bathhouse (CT)
  4. Kokubo Sosho (CT)
  5. Vselka Infiltration (SC1)
  6. Displace (CT)
  7. Site F (Blacklist)
  8. Chinese Embassy 2 (SC1)
  9. Shanghai (DA)
  10. JBA HQ Part 1 (DA)
  11. Penthouse (CT)
  12. Cryogenics Lab (PT)
  13. Presidential Palace (SC1)
  14. American Consumption (Blacklist)
  15. Defense Ministry (SC1)
  16. Submarine Pen (PT)
  17. Abandoned Mill (Blacklist)
  18. Kundang Camp (PT)
  19. Hokkaido (CT)
  20. Chinese Embassy 1 (SC1)
  21. LAX Airport (PT)
  22. Private Estate (Blacklist)
  23. Kalinatek (SC1)
  24. JBA HQ Part 2 (DA)
  25. JBA HQ Part 3 (DA)
  26. Battery (CT)
  27. Lighthouse (CT)
  28. Cozumel (DA)
  29. CIA HQ (SC1)
  30. Safehouse (Blacklist)
  31. Special Missions HQ (Blacklist)
  32. Insurgent Stronghold (Blacklist)
  33. Kola Cell (SC1)
  34. Police Station (SC1)
  35. Detention Facility (Blacklist)
  36. Ellsworth Penitentiary (DA)
  37. Jerusalem (PT)
  38. Cargo Ship (CT)
  39. US Embassy (PT)
  40. Sea of Okhotsk (DA)
  41. Iceland Geothermal Plant (DA)
  42. Oil Refinery (SC1)
  43. LNG Terminal (Blacklist)
  44. Hesperia Railways (PT)
  45. Seoul (CT)
  46. Kinshasa (DA)
  47. Abattoir (SC1)
  48. JBA HQ Part 4 (DA)
  49. Airstrip (Blacklist)
  50. Transit Yards (Blacklist)
  51. Vselka Submarine (SC1)

Phew, I think I’ll need to find a new stealth game series to play now.

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30

You could give the Thief series a try. If you’re not into old PC games, you could just jump straight to 3 which is a bit more modern and there’s a few mods that keep the experience vanilla but vastly improves it.
Death to Spies is another good option since it’s very similar to the old Hitman games though a bit janky. :grin:

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I actually just watched reviews of the old Thief games and they seem very interesting! Not sure if I should get them on Steam or elsewhere, the GOG versions were said to be better.

Before them I’ll probably play Deus Ex, which I just bought. :smiley:

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coughdishonoredcough

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Never really thought about that tbh, I’ll have to look into it.

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I really need to get back to the series. I loved the original trilogy, and DA was interesting. However, Conviction turned me off and Blacklist has sat in my backlog since getting it on sale shortly after release.

However, I am making a conscious effort to go through the backlog as the only new game I have interest in is Lego Star Wars, mostly because my son wants to play. Maybe after I’m done the South Park games (the new season bumped them up the list).

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I´m still amazed/baffled by the amount of bugs you encountered during your playthrough and am curious whether that´s something specific to the Steam version or whether you were just unlucky (the Shanghai one where you always get spotted by the guy by the window is specifically one I know for certain never happened to me). Will find out on my own I guess once I try it.

Either way, glad you enjoyed DA regardless and happy to see Shanghai at the top of your ranking followed by the JBA HQ missions :+1:

Man, hats off for being able to rank ALL of them like that. I´m not sure I´d be able to do that. Or at least it would take me a LOT of thinking… :sweat_smile:

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That post took me a long to time to write, but that part was actually kinda fast because I had already ranked every game’s missions separately. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Yeah DA turned out to be more broken than I initially thought, but at least nothing broke the game in a way that would have completely ruined a proper stealth playthrough (still didn’t do that with Kinshasa though because fuck that mission).

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clint hocking is a legend. ct and fc2 are incredible.

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Don’t forget his work on the OG Splinter Cell as well.

Also, I just found out he served as creative director for Watch Dogs: Legion and is one of the CDs for AC: Infinity. That’s… disappointing…

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he has an enormous well of good will from me, but, right, okay, so, right, hear me out, but, like, okay:

i think watchdogs: legion is a fantastic concept…

…really poorly fucking executed.

on paper, it’s really bold. the initial idea of certain characters being strictly good for certain situations was awesome but unfortunately undercut at some point.

just the idea of ‘revolution’ being sparked by anyone, from anywhere, together, as opposed to a small select group or an impossibly bland but capable single actor, is a stronger and more ‘real’ political statement than either of the previous games.

insert joke about ubi not making political games here

the tech behind it is super impressive too, it’s just not quite there.

i dunno jack about ac: infinity though.

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