Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials
Encyclopedia
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials is a video game in the Splinter Cell
series for the PlayStation Portable
handheld system.
. Sam Fisher sneaks into the graveyard
where his daughter, Sarah, who has been recently killed in a car accident
, has been buried. Fisher is arrested at this grave site, taken into custody and interrogated
. During this time, Sam recalls past events, that are then played as missions.
The first flashback
mission is set in Colombia back in 1992. Fisher is at this time a member of the Navy SEALs. His commanding officer, Douglas Shetland, has been captured by FARC guerrillas. Going against the direct order of the commanding officer, he performs a solo rescue mission of the commander.
However, in the end, Sam admits that he did kill his Third Echelon handler, Colonel Irving Lambert. In the final mission, Sam steals the evidence and escapes.
. There are inconsistencies between each version of the game, in both story and detail.
Primarily this has to do with the fact that all levels in each version of the game are completely original, each having unique layouts and mission objective solutions. For levels which take place in the same locations, the time of day is different. Some mission locations occur during day in one version (360/PS3/PC) and night in the other (Xbox/PS2/Wii). In some cases the level order is different or the game includes an exclusive location not found in another version of the game (I.E. Money Train on Xbox/PS2/Wii and Shanghai on 360/PS3/PC). Some of Essential's levels were modified into exclusive levels on the PS2 version of Double Agent, the Belgrade City mission was modified into Cargo Ship mission, and Norte de Santander was modified into the German Bunker mission.
The game also contains a retcon to the original Splinter Cell's timeline, according to the manual and website; Sam Fisher was, "...one of the first agents recruited into Third Echelon in the 1990s..."http://splintercellessentials.us.ubi.com/indexFlash.php. Originally, according to the manual of Splinter Cell, Third Echelon was founded in 2003. The game includes a Third Echelon mission set during 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
In other situations, the names characters or places are different in each version, though core of the story remains the same. For example, Sam Fisher is able to escape a federal prison (Leavenworth or Ellsworth) by helping Jamie Washington, first by killing/beating up another inmate (Mikey or Barnham) in both Essentials and the Xbox/PS2/WII versions of the story. Though the 360/PS3/PC version portrays the escape as well, it doesn't cover the inmate subplot. In all three versions he infiltrates the JBA, and their hideout at the Delta Atlantic Shipping Company Warehouse (New Orleans or New York).
A similar situation occurs during each games decision to choose the outcome of Irving Lambert. In all three games Lambert acts as Sam's undercover field runner, but is ultimately discovered by the JBA. In the XBox 360/PS3/PC version the choices are given, either for Sam to shoot Lambert or to shoot Jamie to save Lambert. Essentials is similar to the 360 version, but only gives the option of shooting Lambert (later stating he died of his wounds). Sam Fisher does not shoot Lambert in the XBox/PS2/Wii version of Double Agent, instead Lambert infiltrates JSA as a weapon seller, Wilkes, Sam Fisher is given the option of remotely exposing Lambert's identity (other JSA members kill Lambert) or enhancing it (Lambert takes a beating but lives).
Splinter Cell: Conviction
confirmed that Sam Fisher reluctantly shot Lambert, who died from his gunshot wound, and that the 360/PS3/PC version of Double Agent is canon.
.
Juan Castro of IGN
gave the game a score of 6.3 out of 10, saying: "It feels rushed, even slightly broken during certain parts. Beyond this, the game plays as though it doesn't belong on the PSP. It yearns for a second analog stick and an extra pair of buttons, for instance. Not only that, it suffers quite a bit in the performance department—you'll rarely see the game running smoothly. Making matters worse is that Essentials doesn't look all that spectacular. This from a series that always pushes the boundaries of current technology."
Greg Mueller of GameSpot
gave Essentials a score of 5.8 out of 10, saying: "Splinter Cell: Essentials sounds like a fine idea. Take some missions from previous games, mix them up a little, add some entirely new missions, and fit it all onto the PSP. Unfortunately, due to some bad controls, oppressively dark levels, and a worthless multiplayer mode, the result is a game that is more frustrating than it is rewarding."
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is an action-adventure stealth game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal and built on the Unreal Engine 2. It is the first Splinter Cell game in the series endorsed by author Tom Clancy, and follows the activities of American NSA Black Operation, "Black Ops", agent Sam Fisher....
series for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
handheld system.
Story
The game starts off in the year 2009, after the events of Splinter Cell: Double AgentTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent is an action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft. The series, endorsed by American author Tom Clancy, follows the character Sam Fisher, an agent employed by a black-ops division of the National Security Agency, dubbed Third...
. Sam Fisher sneaks into the graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
where his daughter, Sarah, who has been recently killed in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
, has been buried. Fisher is arrested at this grave site, taken into custody and interrogated
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
. During this time, Sam recalls past events, that are then played as missions.
The first flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
mission is set in Colombia back in 1992. Fisher is at this time a member of the Navy SEALs. His commanding officer, Douglas Shetland, has been captured by FARC guerrillas. Going against the direct order of the commanding officer, he performs a solo rescue mission of the commander.
However, in the end, Sam admits that he did kill his Third Echelon handler, Colonel Irving Lambert. In the final mission, Sam steals the evidence and escapes.
Missions
- Mission 0: Elysian Fields Cemetery, Washington D.C. January 3, 2009, 19:30 (original level)
- Mission 1: Norte de Santander, Colombia, May 2, 1992, 16:47 (original level)
- Mission 2: GFO Oil Rig, Georgian Waters, Caspian Sea, October 27, 2004, 9:38 (Splinter Cell)
- Mission 3: Belgrade City, Yugoslavia, February 15, 1999, 23:20 (original level)
- Mission 4: Steel Factory, Warsaw, Indiana, U.S.A. August 3, 2006, 25:56 (original level)
- Mission 5: Manhattan Garment District, New York City, U.S.A. June 30, 2007, 23:27 (Chaos Theory)
- Mission 6: United States Penitentiary, U.S.A. Leavenworth, Kansas, November 16, 2008, 20:10 (Double Agent, original level)
- Mission 7: Delta Atlantic Warehouse, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. December 10, 2008, 23:10 (Double Agent, original level)
- Mission 8: National Security Administration HQ, Fort Meade, U.S.A. January 12, 2009, 23:20 (original level)
- Bonus Mission 1: Television Free Indonesia, Indonesia, 2006 (Pandora Tomorrow)
- Bonus Mission 2: Heroin Refinery, Kundang, Indonesia, 2006 (Pandora Tomorrow)
- Bonus Mission 3: Hesperia Railways, Paris to Nice, France, April 2, 2006, 21:52 (Pandora Tomorrow)
Continuity
There are three separate versions of the Double Agent storyline between Splinter Cell: Essentials, the XBOX/PS2/WII and XBOX 360/PS3/PC versions of Splinter Cell: Double AgentTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent is an action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft. The series, endorsed by American author Tom Clancy, follows the character Sam Fisher, an agent employed by a black-ops division of the National Security Agency, dubbed Third...
. There are inconsistencies between each version of the game, in both story and detail.
Primarily this has to do with the fact that all levels in each version of the game are completely original, each having unique layouts and mission objective solutions. For levels which take place in the same locations, the time of day is different. Some mission locations occur during day in one version (360/PS3/PC) and night in the other (Xbox/PS2/Wii). In some cases the level order is different or the game includes an exclusive location not found in another version of the game (I.E. Money Train on Xbox/PS2/Wii and Shanghai on 360/PS3/PC). Some of Essential's levels were modified into exclusive levels on the PS2 version of Double Agent, the Belgrade City mission was modified into Cargo Ship mission, and Norte de Santander was modified into the German Bunker mission.
The game also contains a retcon to the original Splinter Cell's timeline, according to the manual and website; Sam Fisher was, "...one of the first agents recruited into Third Echelon in the 1990s..."http://splintercellessentials.us.ubi.com/indexFlash.php. Originally, according to the manual of Splinter Cell, Third Echelon was founded in 2003. The game includes a Third Echelon mission set during 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
In other situations, the names characters or places are different in each version, though core of the story remains the same. For example, Sam Fisher is able to escape a federal prison (Leavenworth or Ellsworth) by helping Jamie Washington, first by killing/beating up another inmate (Mikey or Barnham) in both Essentials and the Xbox/PS2/WII versions of the story. Though the 360/PS3/PC version portrays the escape as well, it doesn't cover the inmate subplot. In all three versions he infiltrates the JBA, and their hideout at the Delta Atlantic Shipping Company Warehouse (New Orleans or New York).
A similar situation occurs during each games decision to choose the outcome of Irving Lambert. In all three games Lambert acts as Sam's undercover field runner, but is ultimately discovered by the JBA. In the XBox 360/PS3/PC version the choices are given, either for Sam to shoot Lambert or to shoot Jamie to save Lambert. Essentials is similar to the 360 version, but only gives the option of shooting Lambert (later stating he died of his wounds). Sam Fisher does not shoot Lambert in the XBox/PS2/Wii version of Double Agent, instead Lambert infiltrates JSA as a weapon seller, Wilkes, Sam Fisher is given the option of remotely exposing Lambert's identity (other JSA members kill Lambert) or enhancing it (Lambert takes a beating but lives).
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is an action-adventure stealth game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal. Key members of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas team, such as creative director Maxime Béland, also worked on the game...
confirmed that Sam Fisher reluctantly shot Lambert, who died from his gunshot wound, and that the 360/PS3/PC version of Double Agent is canon.
Reception
Critical reaction to Splinter Cell: Essentials was mixed. The game holds a rating of 58% on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
.
Juan Castro of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game a score of 6.3 out of 10, saying: "It feels rushed, even slightly broken during certain parts. Beyond this, the game plays as though it doesn't belong on the PSP. It yearns for a second analog stick and an extra pair of buttons, for instance. Not only that, it suffers quite a bit in the performance department—you'll rarely see the game running smoothly. Making matters worse is that Essentials doesn't look all that spectacular. This from a series that always pushes the boundaries of current technology."
Greg Mueller of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave Essentials a score of 5.8 out of 10, saying: "Splinter Cell: Essentials sounds like a fine idea. Take some missions from previous games, mix them up a little, add some entirely new missions, and fit it all onto the PSP. Unfortunately, due to some bad controls, oppressively dark levels, and a worthless multiplayer mode, the result is a game that is more frustrating than it is rewarding."