Splinter Cell The Animated Series: 10 Things It Must Include
9. Era-Appropriate Gadgets... And Those Goggles
Splinter Cell's latest iteration was the better part of a decade ago. At the time it shed some light on the inner workings of government espionage - albeit with of an injection of glamour - with a clear directive of remaining grounded and stemming from realism. No James Bond exploding pens or Aston Martins with guns could be found, and era-appropriate high-end technology was at the forefront of the narrative.
Tacky and over-dramatic gadgets don't fit with Sam Fisher nor do they serve the grounded nature of the series, which to this point has centred on believable dangers and methods of sleuthing. .
The appeal of Splinter Cell is in the close-quarter moments. It is seeing a highly trained agent manoeuvre their way covertly through tight spaces, using their tactical prowess to outsmart their targets. If the show becomes littered with outlandish gadgets that take away from these moments the personality of the series becomes lost.
We need to see Sam and his team use the appropriate tech in their missions, and most importantly, we need a heavy does of the goggles we all know and love. In reality Sam wouldn't have time nor space to lug a mountain of equipment, so we need to see him use his surroundings to outsmart foes, using the goggles to help with light and dark and all kinds of tricky moments.