Much like with the upcoming Dead Space remake, beloved stealth title Splinter Cell will have its story altered for the sake of “modern audiences” in its remake, which has many theorizing that propaganda or modern day politics will be shoved down the throats of players.
Ubisoft Toronto, the developer, is apparently searching for a scriptwriter capable of updating the original game’s story “for a modern audience”, a phrase that many have come to loathe as it usually results in said game inserting politics where there were none.
The Splinter Cell remake was announced back in December, and the game follows Sam Fisher, a black ops agent who is attempting to keep the world peaceful as a new World War is on the brink.
Part of the description for the scriptwriter job ad:
“Using the first Splinter Cell game as our foundation we are rewriting and updating the story for a modern-day audience. We want to keep the spirit and themes of the original game while exploring our characters and the world to make them more authentic and believable. As a Scriptwriter at Ubisoft Toronto, you will join the Narrative team and help create a cohesive and compelling narrative experience for a new audience of Splinter Cell fans.”
Remarks from producer Matt West when the remake was unveiled:
“Although we’re still in the very earliest stages of development, what we’re trying to do is make sure the spirit of the early games remains intact, in all of the ways that gave early Splinter Cell its identity. So, as we’re building it from the ground up, we’re going to update it visually, as well as some of the design elements to match player comfort and expectations, and we are going to keep it linear like the original games, not make it open world.”
“One of the things that, from my point of view is really exciting about this project, is that the last couple of games all of us have worked on have been really big worlds. What that means is that the economy of decisions is very spread out, whereas what I love about a Splinter Cell map is every square inch represents intentionality.”
“Every square inch is part of a choice, or directly offers a choice, or has a direct ramification. That density of gameplay is at the forefront in Splinter Cell, and that’s going to be really, really important for us. The gameplay experience we are targeting is directly tied to what we want players to feel, to capture the essence back when we were all playing the original games.”
The remake is the first main entry into the Splinter Cell series in roughly 10 years, so this news might make fans particularly disappointed.