For the first time, PlayStation 3 owners can experience the early adventures of black ops agent Sam Fisher in re-mastered high-definition, with the Splinter Cell Trilogy now available for purchase from the PlayStation Store in NZ$.
The release features the original 2002 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, the 2004 sequel Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, and the third game in the series, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. The games were previously released on the last generation of games consoles. All three games have been graphically updated and now sport 1080p visuals and stereoscopic 3D on compatible equipment.
Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell series served to introduce many gamers to the notion of stealth-action gameplay. Rather than simply running and gunning, the Splinter Cell games require players to skilfully and tactically evaluate enemy positions in order to avoid detection. The game’s protagonist, Sam Fisher, is equipped with night and thermal goggles, allowing players to use darkness and shadows for concealment.
In the first game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, retired NSA operative Sam Fisher is recalled to active service to take part in a mission for the NSA’s secret Third Echelon division. He is sent to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, following a coup d’etat, to investigate the disappearance of two CIA agents. As the plot unravels the stakes are raised, putting the safety of the world in the player’s hands.
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow sees Sam Fisher sent to Indonesia in order to stop a terrorist network from setting off biological bombs containing the smallpox virus. The sequel was well received when originally released, plunging players further into the murky world of undercover counter-terrorism.
For the third game, Ubisoft refined the series’ stealth mechanics to allow enemies to detect sounds. Make too much noise and Sam risks alerting guards. For this outing Sam Fisher is dispatched to East Asia to avert a high-tech war in the mist of increasing tension between China, Japan and the Koreas.
The three games are available from the PlayStation Store for NZD$18.90 each with PlayStation Plus subscribers able to buy Splinter Cell at the discounted price of NZD$15.12 and Pandora Tomorrow for NZD$17.01. A disc-based version of the HD trilogy will be available in shops from September 16.