- "These things are cheap and near impossible to hack. Fortunately, it's just a matter of getting the right eyes to the scanner, usually an officer."
- ― Irving Lambert to Sam Fisher during Training.
A retinal scanner is a biometric security device that scans the unique imprint of a person's retina before unlocking a door. Only the correct retina will be accepted by the retinal scanner; if the incorrect retina is scanned, the door will not open and it is possible that an alarm will be triggered.
Sam Fisher's retina, as it appears in the scanner.
Overview[]
Impossible to hack, the retinal scanner is a cheap, yet literally flawless method of providing maximum security to areas which are normally accessible only to authorised personnel. To bypass them, the player must first capture high-ranking officials (including colonels and other officers) and force them to cooperate by using their eyes on the scanner. Once the correct set of eyes are scanned, a small image will appear on the screen showing that the eyes are being scanned. The locked door will unlock, allowing the player to open the door to restricted areas.
Sam forcing a person to cooperate and open the door for him.
In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the player was able to hack the retinal scanners instead of taking the required person captive. Hacking the device was possible either up close or remotely, using the EEV. Normally, the retinal scanner is more difficult to hack than keypad locked doors. In Splinter Cell: Double Agent, the player was able to scan a unconscience or dead body's retina for use to scan into the retinal scanner for access. This occurred during the JBA HQ missions and allowed Sam to enter into retinal-locked restricted areas.
In Splinter Cell: Blacklist, a retinal scanner is shown in the cooperative mission where Sam Fisher and Isaac Briggs encounter one. In order to bypass the retinal scanner, he and Briggs lifted the enemy body up to the scanner to gain access. Fisher has a Retinal Scanner software/feature in his Fourth Echelon OPSAT, as evidenced by his ability to scan Jadid Haidos' eyes during the Insurgent Stronghold level.