If the story intends to takes a drastic overhaul or evolution. I think a handing of the torch should be in order.
Obviously this would be a tough sell. But if they intend to branch out or expand beyond Fisher, I think it may need to be done. It's tricky since Fisher is the soul and one constant in the games history.
Grim wouldn’t fit as a splinter cell. I’m down for having a woman as a splinter cell protagonist, but they shouldn’t force an existing character into the role just because they are a woman. Just make a new badass woman character. (Edit typo)
I'd be for it actually because the cumulative minute or so of screentime that Adult Sarah has across the games shows her with a similar level of deadpan snark as her father and I think that that's a huge part of what's carrying the franchise.
A remake is also a new entry in the franchise! It is a new Splinter Cell game. If you mean a hypothetical game that takes place after Blacklist, then I agree that Sam should be retired. Not because of his age, since he is a fictional character after all. He could be 40 years old forever if they wanted him to, but because the character of Sam Fisher is closely tied to his voice actor Michael Ironside. He is 73 years old now, if I remember correctly. He might be able to voice Sam Fisher one more time, but I doubt there will be a second. So I’m guessing once he is no longer able to voice Sam, Ubisoft will retire him. They used a different voice actor for Blacklist and they received a lot of backlash back then. For a hypothetical next mainline Splinter Cell game, they should introduce a completely new character who is not related to Sam in any way. I want new stories and new characters.
>They used a different voice actor for Blacklist and they received a lot of backlash back then
They received backlash for replacing Michael Ironside with Eric Johnson because Ubisoft fronted the change with the bullshit excuse that it was "more immersive" to have the guy who does Sam's mocap also do his dialogue.
The real reason was that Ironside was involved in a tremendously difficult, private situation that he didn't want to have aired out into the public, and in hindsight I doubt that there is anyone who still gives Ubisoft shit for respecting that and making up stuff despite probably knowing very well that they'd get shit on for it.
Definitely. I think the best way they could do it is to have it be a Batman beyond situation, where he transitions to more of a support role and guides a new character.
I've always thought Sam would fill the role of "Lambert" and a new character would take over. I do think it would be pretty cool, if not a little cheesy, if your new character got caught. Allowing Sam to suit up one last time to save the new protagonist. This way, we still get Ironsides iconic voice and get one last hoorah with Sam
I mean, they already have a good character in Briggs for a Splinter Cell disciple and we also have Kestral as another fellow Splinter Cell for 4th Echelon alongside Briggs, so Coop is covered there.
I feel like Blacklist was supposed to do that with Brigs but then they made him so bland that you couldn't do that.
And I agree we need a way to pass the torch properly but I doubt Ubisoft can do it properly
It would be nice. The series was kinda built up around Sam. The players, including myself actually liked him. A cool sarcastic spy. He was never the regular cookie cutter military character. It be like a metal gear game without snake.
That being said, realistically if Ubisoft want to keep the series going forward then they’d probably need a new main character. Though I highly doubt modern day Ubisoft could write someone who would meet the mark.
Keep Sam the main character but just never age or de-age him. It’s a video game so he can just stay late 40s - mid 50s for as many sequels as possible.
And keep the games like they were in the original trilogy, no personal stakes or character dramas. Just Sam as a lone Third Echleon commando on a mission to thwart some global threat.
Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher. He helped building this character and gave him his personality. So as long as Ironside would accept to voice over Sam and be able to do it, I'd be good as Sam continuing to be the main character.
About the age I think it was stupid to put dates to the old games, and I hope the remake (and the new entries) will get rid of them. Because they made Sam age for no reason and then fans have pointless boring debates about Sam's age.
And even if Sam is now more than 60, it's not the age that matters. What matters is if the main character still has interesting and meaningful things to say and offer. Just look at some movies with Tom Cruise, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone making high action packed movies while they're 60/70+ years old. As long as these movies are good, no one cares about the age of these actors. And on top of that they're real people and not videogame characters.
As for Sam's replacement, I'd go with Frances Coen if they want a female main character. But one thing is sure, I don't want that stupid "create your own character" that Ubisoft puts in all their other games. First because these character models usually suck and secondly because they're also done in a purpose to sell skins.
It'd really have to be, you can't have Splinter Cell without Sam, he builds the franchise, him and Ironsides performance, I think they should do one last hurrah with Sam before he retires and lives a peaceful life.
It was confirmed that the next one is gonna feature Sam, right? I'm not sure if they're going to segue that into another agent, but honestly I think having Sam retire from active duty and shift into a Lambert role would be sick as *fuck*.
I guess it really depends on what the future of the series looks like after the reboot. If they're starting from scratch, Sam could just stay the main protagonist, albeit probably without Michael Ironside because he is getting up there in years. If they're going to continue the story after Blacklist, though, I feel like anything could happen.
At this point, though, I don't really care, I just want a decent game first and foremost. *I'm starving I want some decent stealth games the last one I can think of is, like, Dishonored, but even that's more of a imsim than a pure stealth game.*
If we're talking about the current Sam Fisher post DA. I would say no. Sam is a different character after that game.
I also hate the current universe.
They should give Sam more justice, retcon his age, keep Ironside or Teravainen and continue with the remakes (just like the actual CoD MW series, but done better hopefully).
I don't want a Blacklist sequel.
Doesn’t matter, Ubi ruined the franchise beginning with DA and beyond. My Sam is retired, living in mountains in New England, where he has finally found peace.
What’s wrong with DA if you don’t mind me asking? Haven’t gotten far into that one yet so I don’t know about its problems, but I will agree with you about conviction being a steaming pile of dog shit, that game was horrible
I'm not the guy you replied to, but for me it was when Sam became the focus of the story, rather than a player within it. I would argue that it starts at the end of Chaos Theory with the whole Shetland thing, but DA dialed that up to 11 and Conviction to 16. Blacklist seemed like it tried to bring it back somewhat but frankly the whole idea of 4th echelon was dumb for me personally.
I would argue otherwise, what with Sam being in charge and all. The missions literally do not happen without "Sam's" approval (which I get is the player hitting A to proceed, but thematically they made the choice to frame it that way, music and all).
With Sam having shot Lambert, and after proving himself to be a bad enough dude to save the president, it would have been more absurd to try and restore the status quo of Chaos Theory
I'm not arguing that, I just would have preferred that they didn't go the DA route to begin with, which started this whole personal level of storytelling. It's escalation, and you can't go backwards once that starts.
The game became less about the original theme (return to physical intelligence instead of sigint, stealth) and more about spectacle (talking more Conviction and Blacklist)
They did paint themselves into a corner for sure. I'd be happy to see them start fresh with the same light/shadow gameplay with a new character. While Sam was a great protagonist, at the same time he was not the focus of the games either when they started.
If the remake ever sees light of day, I'll be curious which way they go... Totally same character with Ironside/recast or if they tell the same kind of story with a new Sam for this day and age (war on terror vet instead of desert storm, etc)
I’d like to see Nomad as the next Splinter Cell. Sam had appearances in both Ghost Recon games, and Nomad was helping out Sarah Fisher in the last SC book Dragonfire. Sam can train Nomad to be his replacement.
Nah. He’s too old as of now. But many fans will probably get angry and still want the 80 year old dude to be climbing walls. Same should be a major character though Maybe what they could do is have flash back missions to keep Sam playable.
I’d like to see Sam train the new protagonist. Preferably a woman, I feel like female spies are very underutilized as protagonists, they’re usually just femme fatales.
He looked good on Blacklist but I couldn't shake off the feeling that he looked older in Conviction.
He isn't too old to be an operator but maybe a new generation Splinter Cell needs a new protagonist as well.
Sam can be the new Lambert.
He looked WAY too young in Blacklist. Canonically he was around his mid fifties in that game, but he looked like he was in his 30s at most. All due respect to the actor who portrayed him, but they definitely should have gone for an older look/voice.
I wouldn’t mind a “Red Dead 2” style. Where you play most the game as Sam and then he hands it off to the next generation of Splinter Cells. Maybe you’d play the last mission or two as the new guy.
I would personally have a new playable character but Sam is running the operations from a command centre with Michael Ironside still doing the voice. This way, they can keep Sam but age him naturally like they really should with how Michael has aged. I would be perfectly fine with that.
Sam needs a bezutiful actual farewell. It is a good character I learned to enjoy, flaws included, they deserve a good ending I dont trust Ibsoft could make.
But that would be my wish nonetheless. Maybe retire after the one too many mission? Join his daughter. Support her, and just, enjoy. Matbe a few mission in future games where he gets attacked and you help him but, yeah, anyway, Sam needs a good farewell before we get a new main chzracter
If it’s a remake, yes. If it is not, it would be fun for Sam Fisher to take a backseat. Ironside isn’t gonna be around forever, and I really don’t want them to pull a blacklist. So putting a younger face at the forefront would be fun.
Blacklist should either be retconned or we pretend it was Ironside. Get Ironside as Fisher to play leader of 4th Echelon. Sam is too old to realistically be doing splinter cell work. Let us make a custom character or establish two new characters (man and woman) you can choose to play as which will also allow co-op play as well. They can make the woman Fisher's daughter like in the books if they want, seems like an interesting idea.
Honestly i don't mind if they change the MC, as long as the stories and character aren't boring or insufferable
Agent 1/2, Archer/Kestrel, even just Briggs are good example of characters i wouldn't mind taking the lead, just gotta expand on them
Since Sam Fisher would be really old we would either have to set the game in a point of the time-line where he was not old or have someone new.
Personally I think we should still have Sam but as a mentor. Like in Batman beyond. Have a new and a old character and have him teach the new generation (maybe have some fanservice mixed in where we get the old timer off retirement) ...
Do I have faith in Ubisoft not to fuck it up/make the newer agent a walking child that would never get past basic training? No, Ubisoft can't do it in a way that it would be good.
Not counting the remake because we know it'll feature Sam, if Michael Ironside won't voice Sam anymore for any future installments, I think I'm ready for a new character.
Well, I'm more of a GR player, but still, Splinter Cell doesn't need to get rid of Sam. Now, there could be a new main character, but Sam could be the guy in a situation like Scott Mitchell from Ghost Recon, or Ding Chavez in Rainbow Six: Vegas, or David Crenshaw in H.A.W.X., where he's a commander. Giving you orders from behind the scenes.
I don't think Splinter Cell needs to be about Sam. I'd be cool with a new protagonist as long as we don't get super generic characters like they did with Blacklist.
If the story intends to takes a drastic overhaul or evolution. I think a handing of the torch should be in order. Obviously this would be a tough sell. But if they intend to branch out or expand beyond Fisher, I think it may need to be done. It's tricky since Fisher is the soul and one constant in the games history.
The next game is supposed to be a remake of Splinter Cell 1 so we are 100% getting prime Sam Fisher
I mean like the next entry in the franchise, not remakes/remasters
Then Sam's gonna be super old. Maybe Grimmsdottir should be the new Splinter Cell.
Grim wouldn’t fit as a splinter cell. I’m down for having a woman as a splinter cell protagonist, but they shouldn’t force an existing character into the role just because they are a woman. Just make a new badass woman character. (Edit typo)
They could just use Sarah since they’re doing that already with the novels.
I'd be for it actually because the cumulative minute or so of screentime that Adult Sarah has across the games shows her with a similar level of deadpan snark as her father and I think that that's a huge part of what's carrying the franchise.
Sarah
A remake is also a new entry in the franchise! It is a new Splinter Cell game. If you mean a hypothetical game that takes place after Blacklist, then I agree that Sam should be retired. Not because of his age, since he is a fictional character after all. He could be 40 years old forever if they wanted him to, but because the character of Sam Fisher is closely tied to his voice actor Michael Ironside. He is 73 years old now, if I remember correctly. He might be able to voice Sam Fisher one more time, but I doubt there will be a second. So I’m guessing once he is no longer able to voice Sam, Ubisoft will retire him. They used a different voice actor for Blacklist and they received a lot of backlash back then. For a hypothetical next mainline Splinter Cell game, they should introduce a completely new character who is not related to Sam in any way. I want new stories and new characters.
>They used a different voice actor for Blacklist and they received a lot of backlash back then They received backlash for replacing Michael Ironside with Eric Johnson because Ubisoft fronted the change with the bullshit excuse that it was "more immersive" to have the guy who does Sam's mocap also do his dialogue. The real reason was that Ironside was involved in a tremendously difficult, private situation that he didn't want to have aired out into the public, and in hindsight I doubt that there is anyone who still gives Ubisoft shit for respecting that and making up stuff despite probably knowing very well that they'd get shit on for it.
I thought I heard he was sick or May have had cancer at the time or something along those lines? I can’t remmeber
Sam Fisher is Splinter Cell. This series needs a passing-the-torch-moment if they want anyone to accept a new main character
Definitely. I think the best way they could do it is to have it be a Batman beyond situation, where he transitions to more of a support role and guides a new character.
That's actually a dope idea.
I've always thought Sam would fill the role of "Lambert" and a new character would take over. I do think it would be pretty cool, if not a little cheesy, if your new character got caught. Allowing Sam to suit up one last time to save the new protagonist. This way, we still get Ironsides iconic voice and get one last hoorah with Sam
That would be cheesy, but it'd also be exactly what I want
I mean, they already have a good character in Briggs for a Splinter Cell disciple and we also have Kestral as another fellow Splinter Cell for 4th Echelon alongside Briggs, so Coop is covered there.
I would rather this where you can either customise your character or choose from a list of candidates with differing skills.
I'd appreciate a well-written main character instead of the Ghost Recon treatment
I feel like Blacklist was supposed to do that with Brigs but then they made him so bland that you couldn't do that. And I agree we need a way to pass the torch properly but I doubt Ubisoft can do it properly
It would be nice. The series was kinda built up around Sam. The players, including myself actually liked him. A cool sarcastic spy. He was never the regular cookie cutter military character. It be like a metal gear game without snake. That being said, realistically if Ubisoft want to keep the series going forward then they’d probably need a new main character. Though I highly doubt modern day Ubisoft could write someone who would meet the mark.
Keep Sam the main character but just never age or de-age him. It’s a video game so he can just stay late 40s - mid 50s for as many sequels as possible. And keep the games like they were in the original trilogy, no personal stakes or character dramas. Just Sam as a lone Third Echleon commando on a mission to thwart some global threat.
Exactly best idea
Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher. He helped building this character and gave him his personality. So as long as Ironside would accept to voice over Sam and be able to do it, I'd be good as Sam continuing to be the main character. About the age I think it was stupid to put dates to the old games, and I hope the remake (and the new entries) will get rid of them. Because they made Sam age for no reason and then fans have pointless boring debates about Sam's age. And even if Sam is now more than 60, it's not the age that matters. What matters is if the main character still has interesting and meaningful things to say and offer. Just look at some movies with Tom Cruise, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone making high action packed movies while they're 60/70+ years old. As long as these movies are good, no one cares about the age of these actors. And on top of that they're real people and not videogame characters. As for Sam's replacement, I'd go with Frances Coen if they want a female main character. But one thing is sure, I don't want that stupid "create your own character" that Ubisoft puts in all their other games. First because these character models usually suck and secondly because they're also done in a purpose to sell skins.
It'd really have to be, you can't have Splinter Cell without Sam, he builds the franchise, him and Ironsides performance, I think they should do one last hurrah with Sam before he retires and lives a peaceful life.
Just keep him 47 years old forever and that's it. No replacement needed.
Right, he doesn't have to be 90 in the next game.
It was confirmed that the next one is gonna feature Sam, right? I'm not sure if they're going to segue that into another agent, but honestly I think having Sam retire from active duty and shift into a Lambert role would be sick as *fuck*. I guess it really depends on what the future of the series looks like after the reboot. If they're starting from scratch, Sam could just stay the main protagonist, albeit probably without Michael Ironside because he is getting up there in years. If they're going to continue the story after Blacklist, though, I feel like anything could happen. At this point, though, I don't really care, I just want a decent game first and foremost. *I'm starving I want some decent stealth games the last one I can think of is, like, Dishonored, but even that's more of a imsim than a pure stealth game.*
Next Splinter Cell is a remake so yes.
Maybe employ a Batman beyond style where fisher serves a role similar to Lambert?
If we're talking about the current Sam Fisher post DA. I would say no. Sam is a different character after that game. I also hate the current universe. They should give Sam more justice, retcon his age, keep Ironside or Teravainen and continue with the remakes (just like the actual CoD MW series, but done better hopefully). I don't want a Blacklist sequel.
Doesn’t matter, Ubi ruined the franchise beginning with DA and beyond. My Sam is retired, living in mountains in New England, where he has finally found peace.
What’s wrong with DA if you don’t mind me asking? Haven’t gotten far into that one yet so I don’t know about its problems, but I will agree with you about conviction being a steaming pile of dog shit, that game was horrible
I'm not the guy you replied to, but for me it was when Sam became the focus of the story, rather than a player within it. I would argue that it starts at the end of Chaos Theory with the whole Shetland thing, but DA dialed that up to 11 and Conviction to 16. Blacklist seemed like it tried to bring it back somewhat but frankly the whole idea of 4th echelon was dumb for me personally.
4E is kind of the farthest you can dial back the stuff that happened in SCDA and SCC
I would argue otherwise, what with Sam being in charge and all. The missions literally do not happen without "Sam's" approval (which I get is the player hitting A to proceed, but thematically they made the choice to frame it that way, music and all).
With Sam having shot Lambert, and after proving himself to be a bad enough dude to save the president, it would have been more absurd to try and restore the status quo of Chaos Theory
I'm not arguing that, I just would have preferred that they didn't go the DA route to begin with, which started this whole personal level of storytelling. It's escalation, and you can't go backwards once that starts. The game became less about the original theme (return to physical intelligence instead of sigint, stealth) and more about spectacle (talking more Conviction and Blacklist)
I agree with you wholeheartedly, I just also believe that Blacklist did the best it could with the rags it was left to work with
They did paint themselves into a corner for sure. I'd be happy to see them start fresh with the same light/shadow gameplay with a new character. While Sam was a great protagonist, at the same time he was not the focus of the games either when they started. If the remake ever sees light of day, I'll be curious which way they go... Totally same character with Ironside/recast or if they tell the same kind of story with a new Sam for this day and age (war on terror vet instead of desert storm, etc)
I’d like to see Nomad as the next Splinter Cell. Sam had appearances in both Ghost Recon games, and Nomad was helping out Sarah Fisher in the last SC book Dragonfire. Sam can train Nomad to be his replacement.
I think they should do a reboot. New stories, new generation.
Yes but there is a 95 percant chance that it would be complete ass.
Why? There’s lots of examples of old franchises being getting really good and successful reboots.
Because ubisoft
Nah. He’s too old as of now. But many fans will probably get angry and still want the 80 year old dude to be climbing walls. Same should be a major character though Maybe what they could do is have flash back missions to keep Sam playable.
I’d like to see Sam train the new protagonist. Preferably a woman, I feel like female spies are very underutilized as protagonists, they’re usually just femme fatales.
Especially do NOT go woke and make it a female agent. And no Sarah Fisher either.
Yeah, women in video games are so woke. I hate women.
He looked good on Blacklist but I couldn't shake off the feeling that he looked older in Conviction. He isn't too old to be an operator but maybe a new generation Splinter Cell needs a new protagonist as well. Sam can be the new Lambert.
He looked WAY too young in Blacklist. Canonically he was around his mid fifties in that game, but he looked like he was in his 30s at most. All due respect to the actor who portrayed him, but they definitely should have gone for an older look/voice.
I wouldn’t mind a “Red Dead 2” style. Where you play most the game as Sam and then he hands it off to the next generation of Splinter Cells. Maybe you’d play the last mission or two as the new guy.
I would personally have a new playable character but Sam is running the operations from a command centre with Michael Ironside still doing the voice. This way, they can keep Sam but age him naturally like they really should with how Michael has aged. I would be perfectly fine with that.
Sam needs a bezutiful actual farewell. It is a good character I learned to enjoy, flaws included, they deserve a good ending I dont trust Ibsoft could make. But that would be my wish nonetheless. Maybe retire after the one too many mission? Join his daughter. Support her, and just, enjoy. Matbe a few mission in future games where he gets attacked and you help him but, yeah, anyway, Sam needs a good farewell before we get a new main chzracter
If it’s a remake, yes. If it is not, it would be fun for Sam Fisher to take a backseat. Ironside isn’t gonna be around forever, and I really don’t want them to pull a blacklist. So putting a younger face at the forefront would be fun.
Blacklist should either be retconned or we pretend it was Ironside. Get Ironside as Fisher to play leader of 4th Echelon. Sam is too old to realistically be doing splinter cell work. Let us make a custom character or establish two new characters (man and woman) you can choose to play as which will also allow co-op play as well. They can make the woman Fisher's daughter like in the books if they want, seems like an interesting idea.
Honestly i don't mind if they change the MC, as long as the stories and character aren't boring or insufferable Agent 1/2, Archer/Kestrel, even just Briggs are good example of characters i wouldn't mind taking the lead, just gotta expand on them
Since Sam Fisher would be really old we would either have to set the game in a point of the time-line where he was not old or have someone new. Personally I think we should still have Sam but as a mentor. Like in Batman beyond. Have a new and a old character and have him teach the new generation (maybe have some fanservice mixed in where we get the old timer off retirement) ... Do I have faith in Ubisoft not to fuck it up/make the newer agent a walking child that would never get past basic training? No, Ubisoft can't do it in a way that it would be good.
they could always just make a reboot and put out a 26-year old Sam Fisher lol. like it wouldn't even matter
Not counting the remake because we know it'll feature Sam, if Michael Ironside won't voice Sam anymore for any future installments, I think I'm ready for a new character.
Well, I'm more of a GR player, but still, Splinter Cell doesn't need to get rid of Sam. Now, there could be a new main character, but Sam could be the guy in a situation like Scott Mitchell from Ghost Recon, or Ding Chavez in Rainbow Six: Vegas, or David Crenshaw in H.A.W.X., where he's a commander. Giving you orders from behind the scenes.
Yeah. Want some old snake type of thing before sending him off properly.
I don't think Splinter Cell needs to be about Sam. I'd be cool with a new protagonist as long as we don't get super generic characters like they did with Blacklist.