The Daily Populous Sunday July 7th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by gamesradar.com and submitted by Darth_Vaper883

Ubisoft developers working on the original Splinter Cell borrowed a thing or two from Metal Gear Solid's influential, stealthy 'action espionage' way of doing things.

Hideo Kojima's 1998 action-adventure, Metal Gear Solid, by no means invented the the act of sneaking around intricate, zig-zagging levels all while unarmed, but it did somewhat popularize the stealth genre in general. Metal Gear Solid's complicated anti-war storyline and sometimes indulgent, always ambitious cutscenes are probably what garners the most attention nowadays, though the game's careful infiltration is what snuck into other series.

Speaking to Retro Gamer in Issue 261, the original Splinter Cell director Francois Coulon reveals the team looked to Solid Snake's antics for inspiration when creating Sam Fisher's similarly hush-hush debut. "MGS showed us how stealth mechanics should be done," says Francois, specifically pointing to the classic game's "clear rules" that always clarified what was happening and how to react.

"It is a complete and consistent set of rules that set the way for any stealth game," Coulon continues. "Remove one of its elements and the experience will be dull, frustrating, or ridiculous. MGS was perfectly executed in that regard. No frustration - you know when you lose and you don't blame the game for it."

Things have come full circle for both stealth icons in the decades since their debut as publisher Konami went back to the drawing board with a series of re-releases and an upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, and Ubisoft is kind of trying the same approach with a Splinter Cell remake that was announced three years ago and has since gone MIA.

While we wait for both, why not check out the best stealth games tip-toeing around?

Domineeto on July 6th, 2024 at 21:36 UTC »

Different strokes. I always found old school SC's ambiguity far more interesting than Conviction onward. Not all stealth games need to be like Mark of the Ninja.

Giving away too much information and simplifying things too much (sound radius, last known location, binary light/shadow, etc.) turns things into more of a direct puzzle game where stealth is more set dressing than anything. The ambiguity and imperfect information means you have to look at things from different perspectives, make calculated risks, it's more tense and feels more natural.

farbekrieg on July 6th, 2024 at 19:07 UTC »

mgs is more popular stealth game but thief 1 & 2 is the goat

DetroiterAFA on July 6th, 2024 at 18:51 UTC »

Now that Hideo Kojima left Konami, Splinter Cell has an opportunity to rise and be on top.

Personally, I thought Conviction was one of the most underrated game of all time. I like it better than MGS. The next ones were fun but not as good for me. I’d like to see more. Cheers