Taking its cue from all the other stealth games that came before it, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell managed to break free from the crowd and stand out on its own two feet. By the time of its release in 2004, the stealth genre had been dominated by the likes of Metal Gear's Solid Snake and Gabe Logan from Syphon Filter, but there was no stopping Splinter Cell. It's a textbook example of how to create a great stealth game, utilizing all the best parts of its past with new innovations. Splinter Cell took Thief's use of light and shadows to the extreme, making it a key feature that soak each level in an unlimited amount of player discretion. The hard focus on realistic storytelling was also a big help, setting it apart from nearly every other stealth game at the time.
