Splinter Cell Double Agent Interview - XBW & Ubisoft
posted 26/07/06
The time is drawing near when the franchise that for many defined the Xbox makes its triumphant return to the Xbox 360.
That series is of course Splinter Cell, whose games - while ported to every platform under the sun - feel like home to most Xbox owners. And just for you, Xbox World Australia was able to sit down with Producer Daniel Roy, shine a light in his face and fire up a battery to get him to reveal everything about Splinter Cell: Double Agent…
Splinter Cell: Double Agent is a big step away from the established franchise in a lot of ways- were you worried that taking away trademarks like Fisher’s goggles and the close rapport with Third Echelon and its familiar characters was a bit of a risk?
I like to think it’s more of a natural progression than a step away. You’ll still see many elements familiar to the Splinter Cell universe, including the ubiquitous goggles; but we are indeed trying to expand this universe, and push further, to see where it can go. Is it a risk? Sure! It’s always a risk to try and make a license evolve.
Chaos Theory marked the Splinter Cell franchise’s first foray into ‘mature’ rating territory, and given the murky moral areas in Double Agent it seems the same will hold true for the newest Splinter Cell. Has this been a conscious decision, or just is the series just growing up?
We did consider keeping SCDA in PG-13 territory for a while; but the themes we’re exploring, and the realistic, hard-hitting treatment we make of them, kind of imposed the Mature rating on us. You could see there was no real way around it without cheapening the experience, and we preferred to go all the way than hold back.
Talk to us a little bit about the morality…obviously someone in Third Echelon knows about Fisher being undercover, but will his actions bring down the wrath of other governmental agencies, law enforcement or the terrorists themselves?
Third Echelon knows that Sam is undercover, but at the same time, they expect him to follow a certain line of conduct and not take too many risks. At the same time, the terrorists will grow suspicious of Sam if he keeps playing it safe and not go along with what the terrorists want. This means that there are no black and white answers to Sam’s problems: the players must take a pragmatic position, and think through the consequences of their actions. Play too much into the terrorists’ hands, for instance, and Third Echelon might begin to withdraw support from Sam. And yes, that can mean that Sam will clash with some rival US Intelligence agencies.
Naturally operating outside of the Third Echelon environment will also be both advantageous and problematic for Fisher- what kind of new gear and abilities does Sam have that he mightn’t have had access to previously?
Sam will still be able to use some Third Echelon gadgets; but he now has another source of equipment, the terrorists themselves. If Sam gains the terrorists’ trust, he might receive upgrades to his equipment coming from terrorist sources. For instance, remember that handy sticky cam from previous Splinter Cells that allowed you to use sleeping gas on unsuspecting enemies? Please the terrorists enough and they might upgrade it with an explosive option…
On the subject of terrorists, will Fisher interact much with them between missions- do you have a hideout to visit, or do you need to sneak messages to your superiors etc?
You spend a lot of time interacting with the terrorists, both on missions and inside their headquarters. As a matter of act, a few missions in the game take place inside the terrorist HQ, where you must carry out some orders from the NSA without arousing suspicion. This is an entirely new type of gameplay for Splinter Cell, as you will play Sam in an environment where people consider him as one of them.
Some of the footage we’ve seen features Fisher ziplining under heavy fire and other action-oriented gameplay. Is this still predominantly a stealth game, or has it taken a backseat to the action?
The scene you describe is from one of the later missions, in Kinshasa. The game is still very much a stealth game, though we did push the envelope in terms of what ‘stealth’ means. You will now have some stealth missions taking place in broad daylight, and in the case of Kinshasa, in the middle of a war. You can also expect some more ‘traditional’ stealth maps, although they certainly have evolved since Chaos Theory in terms of ambition and realization.
Given Sam’s undercover operation, what kind of new missions and locations will players experience in Double Agent?
In addition to the previous missions I described that take place in the terrorist headquarters in New York City, we also have missions taking place anywhere from a geothermal plant in Iceland, to a sun-drenched cruiseboat off the coast of the Mexican island of Cozumel.
Ubisoft has earned itself a reputation for being one of the few publishers that consistently works within the framework of the each platform’s unique hardware abilities and constraints- will this hold true with the Xbox versions?
I think it’s never been truer than on SCDA. In this case, we established a core game design and a storyline for both the current-gen (XBOX and PS2) consoles, and for the X360. Then, the two productions began running in parallel, so that both the current-gen and the next-gen games would be ideal expressions of their respective console’s strengths. This way, the XBOX/PS2 version does not suffer from being a downgraded port of an ambitious X360 game, and the X360 game feels truly next-gen, since it is not limited by the need to also port it to XBOX.
Aside from the obvious ‘high-def’ improvements, what can Xbox 360 owners expect from Double Agent that they might not see on other platforms?
The entire game is a different experience. We were able to go “all out” with the X360 hardware, so you’ll be able to see some expansive maps, including a fully-realized Shanghai, as seen from the top of the Chinese city’s highest building. We also have full daylight maps, and incredibly detailed models, all of which would not have been possible on current-gen hardware.
Ubisoft have also been big supporters of downloadable content – premium and otherwise – do you plan to provide similar goodies for Double Agent?
The Splinter Cell series, and the Tom Clancy’s games in general, have always pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with downloadable content for Xbox and X360. In fact it’s safe to say that it’s part of all Ubisoft’s project teams’ objectives to be thinking about that. So yes, we do have plans to roll out of new downloadable content, but we’re not quite ready to unveil the specifics quite yet. Right now, we’re focused on bringing a killer standalone game to the fans and new players.
Ever since Pandora Tomorrow fans have been treated to some great multiplayer options- can you tell us a little about what to expect in Double Agent’s new-look adversarial mode?
Well, the multiplayer part of Double Agent is once again being developed out in Annecy, and now the spies versus mercenaries experience has really been refined to the original vision of cat & mouse. Now you’ll be able to have matches of 3 spies versus 3 mercenaries (as opposed to just 2 v. 2 in the previous games) in intricate levels. The game really has been revamped to be more accessible to new players, but also really deep to satisfy fans of the series. We have a whole section of the game that we are really proud of, and we think it’s important to get as many people playing it as possible!
Co-op was an instant-hit amongst fans in Chaos Theory- will it be making a return in Double Agent?
Co-op in the form that you saw in Chaos Theory will be making a return in the Xbox version of Double Agent. In the X360 version, co-op is all-new - an extension of the adversarial mode, where a team of up to three spies take on objective “challenges” versus mercenary bots. Completing challenges will unlock more challenges, and unlock achievements as well.
Thanks for letting us have a chat Daniel, best of luck with the rest of Double Agent’s development!
Interview by Dominic Rozenberg
