So which Splinter Cell game should I start with?

[DetectiveLizard]

Any good starting points? Is it one of those games you can play in any order or should I start from the beginning? Any help would be much appreciated.

[Airk]

well, this is a more modern version of the other games.
some of the other games are Quite old, and didnt hold up well over the years.
even though i dont fancy myself a graphics ♥♥♥♥♥, some of the old games just flatout look like ♥♥♥♥, and the controls do not conform to the modern controls that youre probably used to.
it shares alot with conviction.
multiplayer is dead on ALL splintercell games. so youre limited to the main campaign( which is only a few hours long) and the coop maps that can be played in solo.
its a decent game if youve got someone to play coop with, otherwise there are much better solo stealth games out there, such as, dishonored, styx, and deus ex human revolution which is currently on sale for 5$.

[DetectiveLizard]

Thanks for the information. I'm currently playing Dishonored. ;3

[kotekzot]

Chaos Theory is the best SC game, was revolutionary at the time and still holds up really well visually and gameplay-wise. Blacklist is really nice. The original SC is broken on modern hardware (no lighting, figuring out which parts are shadowed or illuminated is just trial and error), Double Agent is a crappy port, Conviction is a disgrace (co-op is kind nice though, but good luck finding a good partner).

[Stealth1275]

Originally posted by kotekzot:

Chaos Theory is the best SC game, ..Blacklist is really nice...Double Agent is a crappy port....

I second this. Though I did enjoy Conviction for the "Hunter" mode.

[Yuio]

The original is fine and still quite good. The controls are a bit clunky though. I suggest you start with it.

Pandora Tomorrow gameplay is also similar to the original. However, it's broken on PC and not available on Steam but you can buy a physical disk and install a mod that fixes most of the problem. If you don't want the hassle, either get it on a console or skip it. Skipping it would also make Chaos Theory seems slightly better since the first 3 games are so similar and can get repetitive.

Chaos Theory is OK, I guess. Since it is still similar to the original and Pandora Tomorrow, you may get bored if you've been playing the games in order but if you start with it, it's pretty good.

Double Agent is buggy on PC. If you want to play it, get in on console. It's not that bad a game and the soundtracks are probably the best in my opinion. I recommend it because Conviction continues the story.

Conviction is very different from previous games. The downside is that the stealth elements are mostly gone and in most cases, you are pretty much forced to kill. It's kind of a turn off if you are really invested into ghost (no kills). On the other hand, control schemes and shooting mechanics are vastly better than previous games (which makes shooting more fun) and it has the better script and voice acting compared to previous games.

Blacklist is the more recent game. It offers multiple approach (ghost, panther and assault) to every levels and rewards you accordingly. The visuals are also the best (not as good as recent AAA titles) and shadows and lighting are quite immersive.

[dmdport]

You can easily just jump into blacklist and be fine. I own the first 2 games (splinter cell and pandora tomorrow) but neither relate to this game in any way. Its a completely different storyline.

[dmdport]

Originally posted by kotekzot:

Chaos Theory is the best SC game, was revolutionary at the time and still holds up really well visually and gameplay-wise. Blacklist is really nice. The original SC is broken on modern hardware (no lighting, figuring out which parts are shadowed or illuminated is just trial and error), Double Agent is a crappy port, Conviction is a disgrace (co-op is kind nice though, but good luck finding a good partner).

How is the conviction coop? I have been cooping through blacklist with a friend and may pick up conviction for me and him. Is it coop campain or just coop missions like blacklist?

[kotekzot]

Originally posted by dmdport:

Originally posted by kotekzot:

Chaos Theory is the best SC game, was revolutionary at the time and still holds up really well visually and gameplay-wise. Blacklist is really nice. The original SC is broken on modern hardware (no lighting, figuring out which parts are shadowed or illuminated is just trial and error), Double Agent is a crappy port, Conviction is a disgrace (co-op is kind nice though, but good luck finding a good partner).

How is the conviction coop? I have been cooping through blacklist with a friend and may pick up conviction for me and him. Is it coop campain or just coop missions like blacklist?

Blacklist has a co-op "campaign" of 4 Briggs missions, Conviction has a somewhat longer co-op campaign as well as a bunch of maps to be played in a few similar modes. Overall Conviction's co-op campaign is stronger, but Blacklist's optional co-op missions and better mechanics more than make up for the smaller number of co-op only campaign missions. If you exhaust Blacklist's co-op and still want more, or if you see Conviction at 75% off or more, you probably won't regret buying Conviction for the co-op.

[Costa]

I tried Splinter cell every generation,and I liked it very much.Just like 24 the TV play,there is no hard connections between each generation,so you can start from any of them.The graphic improved so fast.so if your PC is powerful enough,you can try blacklist first,and find out if it's your taste.If it is,you can review 5,4,and so on.the elder ones have worse graphics,but they were worth trying,(the game of the year since 2002,lol).btw,blacklist has a new voice actor,they say they need one actor can play not only voice but also motion capture.I still like Michael Ironside,the voice actor served before,his voice is so attractive.you will find out when you review the elder generations.

[Yuio]

Don't want to get sidetracked here, but while I also think that Ironside's voice matches Sam pretty better, I still think Eric Johnson did a pretty good job as Sam. If you think Sam's speeches are getting too serious without the sarcastic remarks, that's really the choice of the scriptwriter(s).

I think Ubisoft decided to hire Eric Johnson (other than the reason they stated) is because they also wanted to have a more fresh design of Splinter Cell. Moving forward, if they wanted to make add more Splinter Cells in the future, it makes sense to go that way. And the fact that they redesigned the mechanics from Double Agent, Conviction and Blacklist keeps the series from going stale.

[Noxbi 🌈]

Originally posted by kotekzot:

Originally posted by dmdport:

How is the conviction coop? I have been cooping through blacklist with a friend and may pick up conviction for me and him. Is it coop campain or just coop missions like blacklist?

Blacklist has a co-op "campaign" of 4 Briggs missions, Conviction has a somewhat longer co-op campaign as well as a bunch of maps to be played in a few similar modes. Overall Conviction's co-op campaign is stronger, but Blacklist's optional co-op missions and better mechanics more than make up for the smaller number of co-op only campaign missions. If you exhaust Blacklist's co-op and still want more, or if you see Conviction at 75% off or more, you probably won't regret buying Conviction for the co-op.

Actually Blacklist has more co-op activities/modes than Conviction, which in fact, has much more maps, I can give you that - especially with the DLC. BUT. If we are talking about a story campaign then both games deliver the same amount of content. 4 missions, lots of cutscenes.

[Gem323]

well you could try Splinter cell Splinter cell pandora tomorow Splinter cell chas theory Splinter cell double agent for the classic 100% stealth and Splinter cell conviction Splinter cell Blaklist for mordern mechanic of mark and execute when stealth not neceesary

[kotekzot]

Originally posted by Noris Nordberg:

Originally posted by kotekzot:

Blacklist has a co-op "campaign" of 4 Briggs missions, Conviction has a somewhat longer co-op campaign as well as a bunch of maps to be played in a few similar modes. Overall Conviction's co-op campaign is stronger, but Blacklist's optional co-op missions and better mechanics more than make up for the smaller number of co-op only campaign missions. If you exhaust Blacklist's co-op and still want more, or if you see Conviction at 75% off or more, you probably won't regret buying Conviction for the co-op.

Actually Blacklist has more co-op activities/modes than Conviction, which in fact, has much more maps, I can give you that - especially with the DLC. BUT. If we are talking about a story campaign then both games deliver the same amount of content. 4 missions, lots of cutscenes.

Thanks, it's been a long time since I played Conviction's co-op campaign.

[DetectiveLizard]

Sorry, haven't been replying much but thankyou all with the suggestions. I'll probably replace my old Xbox to play the original Splinter Cell games and start 1, 2, 3, etc. or just jump right into Blacklist since it doesn't require prior knowledge to the rest of the series. I'm actually trying to get into the Tom Clancy franchise as a whole, just bought Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2 and now I'm waiting for them to be delivered to the mail.

Again thanks guys, it really clears up a lot of things and I'm glad it brought a nice little discussion between you fans into the mix. ^_^