UBI should have never mentioned his age but I bet they never forsaw this series lasting this long. The time line should have been kept some what abstract. As for the books it is obvious that they share little in common with the stories from the games.

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Originally posted by Dr__Cube:
Old snake will die and they'll introduce a new clone of Solid Snake who is young.

As for Sam, he should retire or die but that won't happen. He sells the game. Without Sam it wouldn't be Splinter Cell.

Why not? Gamers went crazy for co-op in Chaos Theory and (in the case of next-gen) wept the absence of it in Double Agent.

Sure, having Sam in the next game would be awesome as usual, but would it be smart? Think about it. A guy as old as Sam has got to be flat-out tired of being a soldier for as long as he has been, and after what the NSA has put him through, betraying him, why should he ever want to go back to them after all he's been through because of them? Having him in a sixth title almost wouldn't make sense.

Sam should retire, end that saga before it gets ruined simply by being around too long, and then bring in the co-op splinter cell agents as the main protagonists for any future titles. Young, deadly, and full of life (and split-jumps). Age would no longer be a problem, and the series could be back in light and shadow gameplay stronger than ever with a brand new story to tell.

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Why not? Gamers went crazy for co-op in Chaos Theory and (in the case of next-gen) wept the absence of it in Double Agent.

I was one of those people.

Those of you that make your game purchases like we are still living in the non-connected, PS2 era can go sit in a corner and play single player. I care about coop. And when I sleep my dreams are filled with thoughts of revenge against the lead multiplayer designer for Double Agent. What an ass for removing coop. How could a game designer be so ignorant of the killer feature that is coop?

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Sure, having Sam in the next game would be awesome as usual, but would it be smart?

They have to. Sam has become an icon; not as well known as Master Chief but a lot of gamers know his face and what type of gameplay he stands for. He sells the game.

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...then bring in the co-op splinter cell agents as the main protagonists for any future titles...

Music to my ears.

I'm not sure I follow you.

First you say he's an icon and they can't sell it without him, and then you say music to your ears.

I'm just a confused little bugger =/

I can see some possibilities with co-op for the next title. Co-op could be the main campaign, co-op or bust I guess you could say. No gamer buddy to play with? Hopefully they could design an ally AI that wouldn't blow your cover every two seconds and can think for himself without needing you to guide his every step unlike the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six allies. And not a John Hodge that hides in the corner and insults you every thirty seconds like a so cool hotshot.

John needed to be punched in the face and pushed down the stairs >=/

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First you say he's an icon and they can't sell it without him, and then you say music to your ears.

I can do without Sam...but...can the Splinter Cell brand do without him and still sell millions of copies to keep the series going?

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Hopefully they could design an ally AI that wouldn't blow your cover every two seconds and can think for himself without needing you to guide his every step

Unlikely.

Good AI doesn't look like it will arrive anytime soon. scworld has mentioned it a few times but the short answer is computers aren't fast enough.

Oh, now I gotcha.

Yeah, I see it the same way. I love the guy to pieces, but there's no better time for him to walk away than after ConViction.

I think it'd be hard, but I can definitely see them selling this with new main protagonists. If they can reinvent light and shadow again, "stealth action redefined redefined," take the agents (sorry I keep calling them that, I've just forgotten their names) and give them strong personalities and characteristics like Sam had, and come up with another sneaking around story, they can definitely sell it.

Not necessarily reinvent stealth, but just make it stronger than it was before. Like silhouette recognition, for example. I was almost embarrassed when I was standing against a bright wall, but just because I was touching the other, completely darkened wall meant I was totally invisible. There are so many things they could do to take us back to the roots and key qualities of original Splinter Cell yet give us an entirely new and amazing set of ideas.

And shadow recognition too!

I was annoyed in DA, when you're trying to reach the supertanker and you walk up behind that guy standing near the wall of explosives. I would just stand in front of that mega light thing and my shadow was all over the place, and he would just stand there, oblivious to certain death.


I don't think they would need to make improvements on light and shadow as much as they would need to make it more interactive. Is that what you mean by stronger?

In the classic SC, you spend your entire time in the shadows, but you don't really do anything while you're in them, just sit and wait for the right moment, and then move to the next shadow. I think if they would go to co-op, they should make it extremely more interactive while in the shadows.

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Originally posted by DallasOConner:
I don't think they would need to make improvements on light and shadow as much as they would need to make it more interactive. Is that what you mean by stronger?

Um, kinda.

A return to light and shadow would need to be intense. As much as it is fun, we all know that there's no sane place on Earth that's as dark as the places in this game, especially not the freaking CIA.

Now imagine a room that's really bright and there are only a few small pockets of shadows here and there that you can hide in, and there's a guy in the middle that you need to secure unharmed and conscious, and he's totally alert and shifty. Is it as simple as timing your movements so he doesn't see you? Easier than that, just have your buddy attract attention to his location while you move around behind in a flank position. That tactic is already available and people have used it enough times before, but in any real life situation, it's easy to guess that anyone in the middle of a room who is hearing freaky whistle noises coming from a small pool of darkness is going to start freaking out with a pistol in his hand. The darkness just needs to be more than the option of waiting for the right moment and the option of distracting or attracting.

Now for a different scenario. Let's say you need to infiltrate a building that has been secured by terrorists or mercenaries, like Kalanitek, and as you're going in, NSA cuts the power for the whole block. So you're inside the building and it's completely dark, not a ray of light anywhere. So can you just waltz through the building, careless of terrorists stumbling through the dark only feet away? Well... some of them have cheap night vision, the higher ranks anyway, and most of the lower ranks have flashlights, that they like to wave around violently in panic. Makes for new situations.

I guess, the point is to make a more intense light and shadow feel. You shouldn't always fear the light as if it'll burn your skin off on contact, and you should never get too comfortable in the dark as if nothing can touch you while you're in it. If they do return to light and shadow, it needs to be intense, more than just slipping from one shadow to the next. And they need to forget about causing distractions and prison riots and everything else. That was okay for one game but it should stay in that one game. Focus solely on intense light and shadow co-op, in my own opinion of course...

EDIT: And the more I think about what Dr Cube said, can't sell it without him, the more I wonder if they really can.

Sam is definitely an icon in my opinion, but in the case of Splinter Cell, it's more the trifocal goggles that some of the true fans remember and that has attracted new fans in. Ubisoft obviously isn't scared of changing the game formula, so I don't see why they'd be scared of changing the characters. I doubt they're going to wield him like a crutch and say they're afraid to move on without him. That's obvious when you look at other powerhouse series they put on the shelves like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. I remember the first GC didn't even have a main protagonist. It was a pure RPG. And several titles later you now commandeer Captain Scott Mitchell. I can't remember when Rainbow Six first came out, I was still playing Sonic on the Sega then, but I know they definitely don't have the same main protagonists now as they did at the start. And they're stronger than ever now with original fans and new ones alike loving it.

I guess all of that is to say a change of character is getting kind of obvious and kind of expectable if you ask me. I think we'll probably be seeing new faces sometime soon.

I dont mind having a new splinter cell but i wouldnt like to see Sam go away he could be an instructor for the other splinter cells.

I truely believe that Sam should just fall off the radar, assume a more civilian role. Let him go on vacation in a far off destination. Bring up another younger upstart spy and let him continue on. Every once and while, if the new spy gets stuck, he/she can call up Sam on his/her PDA. Lol I'd love to see Sam sporting a hawaiian shirt and chilling on the beach.

Like I said im pretty sure nobody wants to see Sam go away so he should be an instructor for any new splinter cells or he could become an important person for third echelon like the weapons handler or someone like Lambert.

I don't know, that doesn't really seem like Sam's type. Quiet, removed, detached, it doesn't seem like he'd want to teach the noobs how to play.

Just my opinion though. His major in political science and his extensive background in warfare obviously over-qualify him for either job.

Well yeah but i doubt that he will go on a vacation either. Training noobs seems better and maybe Lambert who must be alive offers him a job after some other games.

OK look nobody can deny Sam is getting older and 'less able' than before but he still has a few good years before he colapses. My grandfather(lives on a farm and) is over 60 and he can still out work most if not all of the people I know. My dad was a marine and he personally told me that my grandfather could put him to shame with his strength and endurance. So there is no way that Sam,who has been doing his job for years and probably works out vigurously every day, is gonna be giving up any time soon. Even if he does eventually go they can still keep the series going by going with another 3rd echelon member or a completely new spy and they can make it from his starting out how they train him and make new missions and stuff...just my thoughts.

Sam becoming a trainer seems too Mission Impossible And don't forget that if Sarah Fisher was killed in DA then Sam has nothing but his job as they said.

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Even if he does eventually go they can still keep the series going by going with another 3rd echelon member or a completely new spy and they can make it from his starting out how they train him and make new missions and stuff.

I think that's what they're going to do, bring in two new guys, voiced by Mike Rowe and Will Arnett.

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Originally posted by Splitted_Cell:
OK look nobody can deny Sam is getting older and 'less able' than before

I can...

I think ol' Sam has some time left to give...

You can still be really fit and strong in your fifties, so a specialized operative certainly would be.

Just a personal opinion of mine... I don't think he needs to retire just yet.

Okay, I have something I'd like to see happen to Fisher.

Anyone who doesn't like it, you're entitled to your own opinion, and if you'd like to add to what I have, change it, improve on it, feel free, I'm hands down for conversation, as long as we're changing this idea for the better and not just criticizing it.

At the end of ConViction, Sam's name is cleared and all is right in the world once again. Splinter Cell Five is over, now for Splinter Cell Six. Unlike usually, two years haven't passed, only four months since Sam is cleared, enough time for the corruption in the NSA to recycle and for it to become clean again. Sam goes back as a Splinter Cell field operative, and is almost immediately deployed to a mission in the Great Outback of Australia to team up with another Splinter Cell operative who is already in the zone and has been performing distance recon on the mission area for the last however long, maybe a whole day. Sam gets there at sunset, and after regrouping, they decide to infiltrate immediately when it's dark enough.

On a note to the side of what's currently happening on the mission, this agent is not an agent-in-training unlike Bob and Steve, or John Hodge. He's an official Splinter Cell and is experienced enough to handle missions on his own, but his handler insisted that Sam be brought along to assure the quality of the mission success. He was not involved with the NSA corruption because authorities inside Third Echelon were tied down and had red and yellow flags being thrown all around, and although the Splinter Cell program was officially shut down by the brass because of their most important operative, Sam, becoming "defective," it was still unofficially active due to corrupt leaders on the inside deploying their Splinter Cells against orders. But this agent was a goody goody so he followed inactivity protocols and took a vacation of sorts. (That part might be hard to understand the way I explained it. Anyone think so?)

And on another side note, the mission has no impact to the story, just like the Iceland mission technically has no impact to Double Agent. This is just the introductory mission and it doesn't really matter if it's in the Outback or not, I just picked there because Sam has never been there on a mission and because I think a night-time stealth op in the desert would be cool.

Back to the mission, you infiltrate with your Splinter Cell buddy (who Sam actually gets along with in that dark humor sort of way because he's not arrogant like Hodge). The mission is a camp of mercenaries who have in some way or another threatened the safety of America and therefor must be taken care of. There are about eight large bunker tents, and a scout tower in the middle of them. It's an open camp, no fences, no having to crawl through sewers, infiltration is easy.

Your first objective is to find solid intel of what exactly they're doing and how they're doing it. As you cut through tent after tent, you finally acquire it and then another objective comes up, to interrogate a guard at the top of the tower. There are two up there, your buddy climbs up the exterior to get into position to take out one of them while you climb up the ladder to grab the other. Once you reach the top, it goes to a cutscene.

Your partner comes up over the ledge and cuts the first guard's throat, just as Sam comes up on the other guard and grabs him. But the guard panics and elbows Sam in the stomach before he can get his knife around the guy's throat, and the guard turns around and pushes Sam off the tower, and jams the alarm. Sam manages to land but breaks his left leg, and your buddy is forced to shoot the guard, failing the objective, in order to get Sam to safety before the entire camp closes in on you. He slides down after Sam and at this point, the cutscene closes and you now take the role of the other Splinter Cell operative with the objective of getting Sam to the Osprey out in the desert, and it's much like in Call of Duty where Leftenant Price helps his captain to extraction.

When they get there, Sam's injuries are treated in the Osprey and you walk to the back where the hatch is still open and watch as you fly over the now full-alert camp and abort the mission, and the hatch slowly closes.

And that is the transition from Sam to the new guy. Sam is taken back to Third Echelon where his leg is patched up, but they say he isn't allowed to operate in missions until it gets better, and at that point you take on the game from the new guy. And maybe a few missions later, Sam decides to take the role of handler after evaluating the situation he's in.

So what does everyone think? I say it needs a lot of work, I'm just typing as I think.

not bad. I think that would work out.