The Splinter Cell Megathread: Stealth just ain't what it used to be

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blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I remember playing the Chaos Theory versus like mad. It was very fun initially, but after a while, people got super good and some of the problems with balance started appearing in the game. Like many of the maps were usually lovely for one side.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2013 00:27

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 07:24

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Sober posted:

I could see her hardening the gently caress up because she was the last one standing of the original Fisher crew, Lambert dead and Sam in the wind. I think in the novel or portable game, some others (like Will Redding in SCCT) were forced out so I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case that she had to prove herself to Reed and his men.

Coen is still around somewhere. I think the last we saw of her was in Chaos Theory.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2013 04:55

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Stanman posted:

Here's a few videos of Chaos Theory's rare game mode Spies versus Mercenaries. It was one of the best, most memorable games of our time, and many people didn't have the opportunity to experience this gem. I leave these here for folks to enjoy. They ramp up in skill as you get to the next video in the series. We would still play it to this day if we didn't have massive mouse problems on modern hardware. It's just to much of a bitch to get the game running nowadays.

R.I.P. SvM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8FUdkQ6Y1Y

One of our first, two friends of mine have a grudge match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud_Cp2ZRTzQ

Another one, me as a spy and our dedicated drunken mercenary makes another appearance. The end of this video naturally leads to the ending events of the next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkKyR2m1ch0

If you watch only one of these videos, watch this one. This was the pinnacle of our game's that we managed to record. Everyone makes an appearance here. A discussion takes place here where they debate my ability to dodge. Yeah, you'll just have to see how that works out for them.

What is wrong with the mouse nowadays? I think I tried playing recently and it was a ghost town, but it ran fine when playing by myself.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2013 08:47

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I don't think developers have much faith in changing things with their brand. I guess they are afraid of new characters not catching on in a situation similar to Raiden. I mean honestly, I can say the same thing about MGS. Big Boss is pretty much functionally similar to Snake, same voice, same look, etc.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2013 02:22

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Why are people talking about PT SvM? There was a CT version that was slightly better since Spies would easily get wrecked if they didn't outsmart the merc team.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2013 21:43

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Megaman's Jockstrap posted:

I disagree about Chaos Theory's Spies Vs. Mercs mode. I loved the 360 degree spin move they gave the Mercs but it was not enough and they still were mostly chumps. Different strokes I suppose.

Depending on the map, if a Spy is seen, it can either mean a loss of a lot of health or instant death. Running around spamming smoke grenades is going to get you killed.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2013 23:20

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Mercs had motion detection in Chaos Theory. It was a all red vision mode which would highlight the spy in color if he moved above a certain speed. It was honestly kind of useless.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2013 01:33

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I remember there being quite a few other things that would give away your position, that if you had played a while, you pretty much knew where someone was.

If you didn't hold E when bringing out your sticky shocker, it would turn the laser on which made a slight bit of noise.

Shooting cameras and motion detectors would always tell the mercs that there was a security failure.

I also remember that if you were any good at aiming with your mouse, the rifle was the best weapon in the game since you could scope in quickly and headshot someone.

Also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTgPLucnYNg

# ¿ Jul 28, 2013 01:39

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I am pretty sure holding a knife to someone's throat while asking them questions is psychologically torture, which is what he did all the time in Chaos Theory.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2013 16:33

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I remember the first game's story being pretty drat dumb. But maybe that was because I was younger and I didn't know what was going on half the time, but I pretty much equated it to, "Mission tells me to kill this guy, so I will do it. I have no reason why."

# ¿ Aug 19, 2013 17:42

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

poo poo. Now I must decide if I want this on PS3 or PC. I am leaning towards PC because I think my PC barely meets the recommended specs. Far Cry 3 was the last game that I think it had trouble with but that game ran fine on low-medium settings.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2013 18:09

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Holy Calamity! posted:

God drat the PC version of this game is dogshit. Constant crashing/hosts DCing causing games to end and 90% of the lobbies are teams of 30+'s going against level 1-10s and absolutely destroying them. Plus pretty much every aspect of the interface is horrible. I need to get it for 360 just to actually play a few full matches

Well I guess I will hold off on opening my copy until I get some more reports

# ¿ Aug 23, 2013 04:22

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

This is the game that showed me that my Radeon HD 4800 isn't going to cut it anymore. Next paycheck I get, I am upgrading my video card. And holy poo poo do I need to upgrade from Windows XP. Is Windows 8 any good yet?

# ¿ Aug 24, 2013 22:47

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

We should write out some tips for playing Spy vs Merc. It would be very helpful and good to put in the OP

# ¿ Aug 25, 2013 01:47

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

ethanol posted:

If you're like me and want to replay sc1 or pandora tomorrow on pc, save yourself the trouble and play them on a console, seems that no matter how hard you tweak the config files, these two games look and play better on consoles. I have them running side by side right now. (Plugged in my original xbox) Even if you get it working, the pc port has clearly inferior lighting and shadows to the xbox version. That reverses when you get to chaos theory which actually still looks quite good. That engine was ahead of its time.

I was actually playing the original SC on PC today. I beat it a while back on Xbox when it came out, but I can't really remember what it looked like though.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2013 00:14

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I think Blacklist is definitely a good Splinter Cell game. Although, keeping Sam Fisher on when he looks nothing like he used to and talks nothing like he used to is a questionable choice.

I don't know why people think the jingoism stuff is kicked up in this one. The old ones were pretty bad about that stuff as well.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2013 06:07

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

G-Whizard posted:

Really? I would say Chaos Theory is the perfect jumping on point. By introducing the knife and allowing you to take guys out from any angle silently really made the game easier. It has the most options, true, but as far as accessibility it's the best if you don't count the new ones.

I agree with this. The fact that you have a noise meter and that you can knock people out no matter what their status is as long as you are close to them are great additions

It also got rid of that loving stupid mechanic where a alarm would sound if a body wasn't hidden in a dark area no matter if someone found it or not.

Add to that the light meter and shadows in the original are clunky poo poo (it will be dark as hell on your computer screen but you are actually lit up like a christmas tree on the light meter) and Chaos Theory is the perfect jumping in point.

I didn't even know the coop servers were still up for it. I loved SCCT's Coop. Much more so than Conviction's

# ¿ Aug 26, 2013 18:19

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

gently caress dogs. Shoot them all day every day.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2013 18:25

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Does anyone still play SCCT coop? I remember loving that poo poo when I did play.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2013 01:15

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I finally played the Kola Cell level in the original Splinter Cell and it makes me feel bad for killing Phillip Masse. Then again, he was kind of a dick

# ¿ Aug 27, 2013 04:24

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

It is really hard to go back and play the pre-Chaos Theory games. But I think after that, they all have their charms. I watched a lets play of Double Agent, and I have to say that I think it was a pretty ballsy game, although I really wish they hadn't made some of the decisions that they did.

Getting rid of Lambert being the top one because my god is the Splinter Cell team annoying as hell in Blacklist. I wish they had done more with Enrica too.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2013 17:45

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

I just found out that all of the screenshots on the steam store look like they are from the Xbox version of Double Agent.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2013 18:00

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Shockeh posted:

Okay, so I haven't played a Splinter Cell in forever. I played the original, Pandora Tomorrow a little, and loved Chaos Theory (especially Co-op), and I picked up Conviction in a Steam sale for pennies but have never even bothered to play it. Short and sweet: Is it any good, should I bother downloading? My theory was to play this and wait for Blacklist to inevitably drop in price (big title with limited appeals means an almost certain future Steam Sale option) but just wanted to canvass opinions really.

I loving love Conviction. It doesn't really play like a Splinter Cell since it is a more personal story . You don't have to hide bodies and you are free to kill a whole lot of people if you want, but it is faster paced and it is fun to play games with the enemies.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2013 18:26

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Decided to order Splinter Cell Double Agent to see if I will like it. I am kind of happy for the fact that it is a Splinter Cell game that isn't all about taking down terrorists from a foreign country.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2013 04:26

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

After rewatching the ending to Conviction, Sam Fisher really should not have been in this game, especially working with Grimsdottir again.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2013 07:09

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Just got the pc version of Double Agent and its not bad at all. The music I think is the best in the series. The only downside so far is this drat tanker mission in the snow.

I really like that the bad guys are American this time around.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2013 18:18

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Ice Fist posted:

The bad guys in Chaos Theory were Americans too.

Edit: And Conviction, too. Man, there were a few games there where the SC story takes a poo poo on PMCs.

Yeah but Chaos Theory is buried under a bunch of poo poo with North Korea and Japan.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2013 22:38

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

checkstock posted:

I haven't and probably won't play the co-op stuff so could you elaborate on that?

Kestrel, one of the spies you play as is shot and supposedly killed by Kobin at the end of the coop campaign in Conviction, but you rescue him at the end of the coop campaign in this game. Hopefully they do something with it now that Sam knows that Kobin had a part in Kestrel's condition

# ¿ Sep 29, 2013 20:42

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Rookersh posted:

Well, the issue is I'm flying out to visit family for the holidays, and won't be able to game again for awhile. If I start up DA today, I could probably beat my way to the end of Blacklist by then. If I'm going to grab SC1, I'll wait for the Steam sale, and won't be able to play any of them until midJanuary.

Also SC/CT I'll want to play stealthy because it feels like that's what CT was designed for. If I'm supposed to be an undercover agent in a terrorist cell, I'm going to play as a terrorist and shoot everybody. And Conviction didn't offer many stealth options/Blacklist seems to be a bit more focused on hot murder as well, although the stealth options are there. So I'm thinking it might be better to play SC1/CT at a later date to savor them, and just action hero my way through DA/Conviction/Blacklist right now.

But if I do that, I want to make sure DA doesn't have constant cutscenes about how Sam saved the world from Georgia/the Internet going on, as it'd push me to go play them first.

Double Agent actually has you playing both sides so it really gives you less of a reason to shoot everyone up. I think Double Agent pretty much holds up on its own. It is its own plot. I honestly think the game is kind of cool. It most certainly has some of the best music in the whole series. Only Chaos Theory's music comes close. But gently caress that super tanker mission.

But I am having my own problems with Blacklist. The game runs smooth as silk on Ultra, but anytime I get into a cutscene, it turns into a stuttery mess. I don't know why.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2013 00:37

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Its also not canon and I think some of the things in the next gen version are more interesting.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2013 21:48

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Sober posted:

Someone will eventually bring up the Thief games which had TTLG-style level design which is the opposite of Splinter Cell but does it more or less right. I mean, SC can do it as evidenced by more than a handful of maps since CT to Blacklist but the intent the narrative sometimes has to give way or fashions a different style of level design, for better or for worse.

I really liked the JBA HQ missions which kind of allow a more free form style of play. One thing is for sure, we are passed the original Splinter Cell. There are times in that game where there really is only one easy way to do something without getting spotted.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2013 07:05

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

DreamShipWrecked posted:

Especially the 3-alarm system. Christ, I swear that mechanic was put in just to increase sales of dualshock controllers.

The most frustrating thing about the original I remember was the body hiding mechanic. I had made it to the CIA stage, and I could not for the life of me figure out why the hell I was failing the mission despite no one being around. It was also always in the same spot too. The game never mentions that it automatically triggers alarms if it finds bodies not hidden in dark areas.

It was such a dumb loving mechanic.

Sober posted:

I wish they would come out with more side missions for Blacklist, those missions pretty much hinged on really strong level design seeing as they dropped you in an open area (or in the case of panther maps, a string of them) and asked you simply to navigate and figure it out how you want, more or less.

I have a friend who worked on Blacklist (not that high up) who had a ton of input into the level design for much of the SP/co-op levels and I'm glad he badgered the actual people in charge to make even tiny changes to just reinforce the different playstyles (and just strong level design in general).

They took one of the best things about Conviction in that you can easily adapt to situations pretty quickly. You can get spotted, run off and sprint through the area if you are good enough while the enemies check out where they think you are. I really love the Panther playstyle. I am still just bitter that something weird is happening with my game. On both Far Cry 3 and Blacklist, my frame rate screeches to a halt in cutscenes, but it is perfectly smooth during gameplay which just boggles my mind. The Paladin feels like a slide show but in mission it runs fine.

Also part of me misses the classic SvM but the other part doesn't cause I remember all of the bitter rear end spies who would quit as soon as they lost their spy round. You also had the people who would get mad at you if you used anything other than the rifle

blackguy32 fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Dec 16, 2013

# ¿ Dec 16, 2013 08:09

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

OneThousandMonkeys posted:

I didn't really enjoy Splinter Cell games until Conviction, when it became a glorified action game wherein you relied on misdirecting your foes. Before then I felt like I was playing trial and error, which is one of the things in games I hate most (hello Hitman).

Chaos Theory was a lot more forgiving but the first two were boring slogfests with bouts of brilliance. Conviction was a more personal story and I loved it for that. The only thing I find fault with is the way they changed Grimsodottir's character. I don't mind her taking a more active role in the games, but she was downright intolerable at times in Conviction

# ¿ Dec 16, 2013 08:34

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Yeah, the way you can tell how its done is that you will get the alarm in the same spot every single time. It wouldn't have been as bad if the game had the decency to at least tell you why you are getting the alarm called on you.

In fact, I think only a few levels in the game actually do that. Its a really dumb and stupid mechanic.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2013 04:57

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Anyone still playing this on PC? I finally upgraded my PC and would like to find some people to play with. Uplay name is trob32.

Also, for some reason I don't think my mic is working in game. It works for everything else, but not in this. I don't see the speaker moving when I am in a lobby.

# ¿ Dec 29, 2013 03:47

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Its amazing how much they changed Sam Fisher's character. Between him, Grim, and Charlie, Briggs is a godsend compared to them simply because it seems that he barely has any lines. Also, Charlie is easily the worst.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2013 01:30

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Sober posted:

It's no secret. There have been a few interviews I've watched and his pretty clear on his position. Even though Conviction is pretty much the bloodiest of the series, he returned for it because it wasn't "gung-ho" (even in comparison to other TC/shooter characters he isn't) Sam Fisher showing them drat Commies/Asian Commies/Eastern Europeans/Corrupted Americans who was boss, but rather because it was a video game ABOUT Sam Fisher.

My guess is if he was going to do it again he'd like the ride out his character's arc - that started, say in the first game and barely peeked its head up for real until Double Agent (and only for about five minutes). Again, to us gamers , Sam Fisher in the first few games was something else but I guess Ironside grew tired of him being fairly one-note (even if that note was basically the only unique one amidst a hundred similar bald space marines) and he was probably going to quit if he was just going to be "that guy" in the field talking about old man stuff (though the fans liked this I don't know how much more he could probably take) and occasionally spewing out "plot lines" because video games.

So call it soft reboot or James-Bondification for Sam Fisher's character in Blacklist, but I'd like to think MI's take on Sam Fisher was over with Conviction, and internal consistency be damned, he is a new man now even if everyone else around (and us behind the screen) don't see it that way.

Hopefully they take to heart the criticisms about the writing with Fisher et. al. It wasn't heinous as gently caress but really edging on character assassination more than a few times but I felt like they (or at least the performance actor, Eric Johnson) reined it in with what material they had. Doesn't help there is no gravelly Michael Ironside voice anymore.

But still a fantastic game. I would have to say it has the best (read: intuitive) stealth mechanics/systems thus far. Consoles hold it back a bit (passing points of no return = more or less reset detection status) but stuff like guards being able to see you in the dark if you are literally a foot away, guards getting suspicious if you take someone out mid-sentence or guards not being loving stupid and calling for backup before searching makes the game much more fun and thrilling even if you make a mistake.

Its not really surprising. Grimsdottir got a overhaul in Conviction as well. Her character feels nothing like the character that was in Chaos Theory and previous. I dont think it is a bad thing, since I like that she took on a bigger role in Conviction, but it is a bit jarring watching her just murder people like it isn't a problem.

Narcissus1916 posted:

Sadiq can Suq Madiq.

Even that awful one-liner shows more wit than Blacklist's script.

Not gonna lie, I laughed at this.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2013 04:35

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

This game becomes infinitely more fun once you start unlocking some of the gadgets and gear. You can sneak faster, have more options, have more intel on the battlefield and the game just seems a lot more faster paced instead of having to wait til a guard looks away.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2014 05:54

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

OneThousandMonkeys posted:

Yeah once you have the fully upgraded headset the game becomes a lot easier. It's also super worth it to completely upgrade the crossbow right away even if you have disdain for nonlethal solutions. Then of course you unlock the high-armor and high-sneak clothing sets.

None of this takes very long, leaving you to unlock a bunch of junk at your leisure.

I just need to complete all of Grim's missions to unlock the high stealth gear.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2014 06:12

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 07:24

blackguy32: Oct 1, 2005; Say, do you know how to do the walk?

Finally beat all the Grim missions. The 2nd one was a pain in the rear end and eventually we stopped trying to ghost it and just simply either killed or knocked out everyone with sticky shockers. I am absolutely loving the fully upgraded stealth suit. You can pretty much just crouch walk behind someone and knock them out without slowing down.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2014 09:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The Splinter Cell Megathread: Stealth just ain't what it used to be

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