Splinter Cell Interview

We’ve conducted a quick interview with Ubi Soft’s Mathieu Ferland, the Producer of Splinter Cell, and drilled him about the features of this interesting title. Mathieu gave us some juicy points concerning the in-game weapons, items, the character’s stealthy moves and special abilities, enemy AI, as well as several other cool aspects that are gonna spice up the gameplay. The creators of Splinter Cell have prepared 14 lengthy missions for you to complete and most of them will be carried out in third-person.

Using the enhanced Unreal engine, Splinter Cell offers an outstanding amount of visual detail. And, judging from the screenshots we received, there’s certainly a lot to hope for in terms of graphics.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Action Trip: Give us a brief introduction into game's storyline.

Mathieu Ferland: Alone, but geared with state-of-the-art weaponry, Sam Fisher, a super-trained and experienced black-op, is sent to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia to recover two missing CIA agents. Operating from the shadows, on the edge of legality and morality, he will uncover a threatening conspiracy against America and will have to stop it before it's too late.

The predator’s back in town?

Our hero is a pretty stealthy dude.

AT: The enhanced Unreal engine allowed for some mighty succulent visuals such as neat real-time shadows and pretty sweet fire effects. Give us a deeper look into the graphics of Splinter Cell. Name more of these cool special effects...

MF: Splinter Cell pushes the graphical capabilities of the Xbox to the edge! To get technical we are using dynamic lighting and shadowing, vertex shaders, volumetric lighting, pixel shaders, texture rendering, and shadow mapping. We are also using a homemade softbody physics program, particle effects... The list is really long and the technical stuff is not too exiting, but look at the result and you will see that no other game looks like Splinter Cell. It sets a new standard for games.

AT: Can you unveil some of the locations Sam Fisher will be going through?

MF: Sams objective will take him all over the world. In order to achieve his goal, Sam will have to go to Georgia, Russia, the U.S, and Myanmar.

AT: How exactly can the player remain stealth? Give us a few examples of the character's special moves.

The player can utilize the shadows in the game to remain stealthy. In some cases, this means that he will hide in existing shadows, in other cases, he will have to manipulate the environment by turning off lights, or simply shooting them out to create more darkness. He is equipped with night vision goggles to help him navigate through darkness. A stealth meter at the bottom right of the screen can help him check his degreee of visibility.

Sam can also adopt a crouch stealth walk or run, that is slower than running or walking upright but is much quieter. Furthermore, Sam has a lot of different athletic moves that help him avoid enemies. He can zip line, rappel, hang on ledges, climb pipe to reach roofs, or split jump. He can also throw objects such as coke cans or lamps to distract guards, or even shoot at a fire extinguisher to create a "smoke screen."

And, with his state-of-the-art gadgets, Sam has an advantage. The sticky cam allows him to shoot a camera that sticks to an opposite wall and gives him a new perspective on his environment. The fiber optic camera allows him to see on the other side of closed doors and his thermo goggles can see through certain walls and curtains...

The more sophisticated the player becomes, the more stealth he will be able to play. You can muscle through the game, shooting like crazy and running for your life, but the real skill is in remaining almost invisible to the enemies. In fact, you can almost get through the entire game without killing a single person-it just requires a lot of skill.

AT: What will the player's goals usually be throughout the game play?

MF: The goals are varied. You have to infiltrate strongholds, access computers, get codes, disable programs, meet agents, extract prisoners or people to interrogate, assassinate enemies, and more...

AT: Can you reveal more details about the various weaponry gamers can utilize in Splinter Cell.

MF: Sam uses two main weapons: a silent handgun, the Five-7 and the F2000 a multipurpose rifle. The F2000 has different fire rates, can be used to snipe, and is equipped with a grenade launcher. The launcher can be used to launch smoke grenades, electric shockers, airfoil rings, or sticky cameras. Besides this Sam can use regular grenades, fragmentation grenades, wall mines, and flares.

AT: Splinter Cell seems to have several vision modes. Explain what they are and how they work.

Another basement, another elevator. How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?

Hanging on for dear life.

MF: Sam is equipped with goggles that have two modes: night vision and thermo vision.

The night vision allows Sam to see clearly in the dark in a kind of black and gray filter. They are really useful as they represent a key advantage to the enemies. (The visual effect of the night vision is really stunning. Suddenly, the environment looks like an exquisitely detailed pencil sketch. It's truly amazing!)

The thermo vision allows Sam to see the thermo trace or heat signature of objects and people. Sam can use it to see through some walls, though curtains and smoke. The Thermo vision can also be cleverly used to get a code on a keypad. Simply view the keypad shortly after someone else has typed in a code-the heat signature will remain but will fade quickly. Type in the most faded key first, since it was the first key entered.

There are of course other uses for the goggle but we'll let you figure them out for yourself.

AT: Obviously one of the crucial components of gameplay is the AI. What sort of approach did you guys use in creating a truthful AI system?

MF: The A.I is a blend of scripted and pure A.I reactions. The enemies react to Sam of course, but also to any change of light or sound in the close environment.

The A.I also allows enemies to utilize group strategies as they fight you in unison. For instance they will try to flank you, or one of the guards will reach a higher point to get a better angle to shoot at you while others will get closer to you.

The A.I is really good--believe me -it's hard to take on more than two or three enemies at once. Stealth remains the best tactic. In fact, we have had to adjust the game since it's inception because it was just too hard!

AT: Will Sam remain alone throughout the entire game? Will he receive some help along the way?

MF: Sam acts alone on the field. However, he is guided by a remote team of specialists who guide him by sending info to him via his PDA. A "Field Runner" takes him to the infiltration point and retrieves him at the extraction point and gives him some intelligence briefs too.

AT: Will there be any differences between the Xbox and PC versions? For example, are any new locations going to be added?

MF: The Xbox and PC versions are pretty similar in terms of content

AT: How much of the game is completed? And when can we expect the game to come out for the PS2 and GameCube platforms?

MF: There is no development announced for PS2 and GameCube platforms. Splinter Cell will be Xbox exclusive through 2002.

AT: Feel free to add anything else if you wish.

MF: This game is really as groundbreaking as everybody says it is. It delivers great gameplay and tension filled moments with amazing visual details. It has raised the bar for it's genre, and for games in general. You have to see it to believe it!