Splinter Cell might be one of the most spectacularly mismanaged properties in gaming, especially when looking at its complete absence over the last decade or so, but looking back at the franchise, it’s hard not to be impressed with the heights it scaled.

And though it has obviously done that repeatedly over the course of multiple instalments, there’s no doubting that its very first outing was also one of its best. The original Splinter Cell launched over two decades ago, back in 2022, and was instantly recognized as one of the finest games of its kind. The stealth masterpiece’s legend has only grown as time has gone on, which, of course, has been helped by the fact that it still plays as well as it does. Here, we’re going to talk about all of that and more.