Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Engine	Unreal Engine 2.0
Platform(s)	Sony PlayStation Portable
Release date	March 21, 2006

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials is the fourth game in the Splinter Cell video game franchise. Released for the PlayStation Portable in 2006, it was the first Splinter Cell game to be exclusive to a portable entertainment system.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Mission locations 3 Character biographies 3.1 Sam Fisher 3.2 Colonel Irving Lambert 3.3 Anna Grímsdóttir 3.4 William Redding 3.5 Lawrence Williams 3.6 Edward Blake 4 Development 5 Trivia 6 Notes 7 See also 8 External links 9 References 10 Comments

PlotEdit

The game begins on January 3, 2009, one year after the events of Double Agent. Sam Fisher sneaks into Elysian Fields Cemetery to visit the grave of his daughter, Sarah, on the anniversary of her death. Fisher is arrested at the grave site, taken into custody and interrogated. During this time, Sam recalls past events, that are then played as missions.

The first flashback mission is set in Colombia back in 1992. Fisher is at this time a member of the Navy SEALs. His commanding officer, Douglas Shetland, has been captured by FARC guerrillas. Going against the direct order of the commanding officer, he performs a solo rescue mission of the commander. However, in the end, Sam admits that he did kill his Third Echelon handler, Colonel Irving Lambert. In the final mission, Sam steals the evidence and escapes.

Mission locationsEdit

• Mission 0: Elysian Fields Cemetery, Washington, D.C., January 3, 2009, 19:30
• Mission 1: Norte de Santander, Colombia, May 2, 1992, 16:47
• Mission 2: GFO Oil Rig, Georgian Waters, Caspian Sea, October 27, 2004, 9:38
• Mission 3: Belgrade City, Yugoslavia, February 15, 1999, 23:20 (exclusive)
• Mission 4: Steel Factory, Warsaw, Indiana, U.S.A. August 3, 2006, 20:25 (exclusive)
• Mission 5: Manhattan Garment District, New York City, U.S.A. June 30, 2007, 23:27
• Mission 6: United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.A. November 16, 2008, 20:10
• Mission 7: Delta Atlantic Warehouse, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. December 16, 2008, 23:10
• Mission 8: National Security Administration HQ, Fort Meade, U.S.A. January 12, 2009, 23:20 (exclusive)
• Bonus Mission 1: Television Free Indonesia, Indonesia, 2006
• Bonus Mission 2: Heroin Refinery, Kundang, Indonesia, 2006
• Bonus Mission 3: Hesperia Railways, Paris to Nice, France, April 2, 2006, 21:52

Character biographiesEdit

For decades Sam Fisher has served in the shadows, defending US interests - first as a Navy SEAL and then later as an elite covert operative with Third Echelon, the NSA's ultra-secret special operations section. Over the years Fisher has confronted countless threats to global security, but such constant vigilance has come at a steep price. While on a mission to Iceland, Fisher learned that his daughter Sarah had been struck by a drunk driver. Despite heroic efforts to rush back to the states to see his child, Sarah died of her injuries less than an hour before he arrived.

Devastated by the loss of his only child, Sam disappeared from sight. When Homeland Security agents finally located Fisher in New Orleans, their worst fears were realized. Surveillance photos showed Fisher in the company Emile Dufraisne, a known domestic terrorist.

Now, a year after Sarah's death, Sam Fisher is one of America's most wanted criminals. Third Echelon wants answers: Why did their best agent throw away decades of service and join forces with Dufraisne? Only Sam knows the full story, and the truth is far more sinister than anyone suspects.

Sam FisherEdit

Born: Classified. Height: 5'10" Weight: 170 lbs

The field operatives of Third Echelon are America's best-equipped and most highly trained covert agents, sent alone into crisis spots all over the world. Relying on the most advanced espionage tools and awesome physical abilities, these agents execute sensitive operations that the US government cannot officially acknowledge. Among this elite cadre of operatives, Sam Fisher is a living legend. One of the first agents recruited into Third Echelon in the 1990s, Fisher led an illustrious career as a covert operative until the tragic death of his daughter Sarah in 2008.

Colonel Irving LambertEdit

Born: 1961, Batcave, South Carolina Height: 6'2" Weight: 270 lbs

The Director of Operations at Third Echelon during Sam Fisher's time with the agency, Lambert was responsible for briefing and supporting Third Echelon operatives in the field. A man with over 30 years' experience in intelligence operations, Lambert personally recruited Fisher into Third Echelon and has acted as something of a mentor to the maverick agent ever since. When Fisher disappeared following the death of his daughter, Lambert took an extended leave of absence for undisclosed reasons. He hasn't communicated with the agency since.

Anna GrímsdóttirEdit

Born: 1974, Boston, Massachusetts Height: 5'8" Weight: 128 lbs

Anna Grímsdóttir was a civilian computer programmer and communications specialist in the mid-1990s when Irving Lambert recruited her into Third Echelon. As a key member of the field support team, her job is to maintain secure OPSAT communications and provide information analysis and computer support at a moment's notice. Frequently called upon to perform miracles of research and invasive work and invasive network operations on the fly, she is one of the most highly skilled technical specialists the agency has.

William ReddingEdit

Born: 1969, San Diego, California Height: 5'11" Weight: 180 lbs

Although Third Echelon operatives perform their missions alone, their activities would not be possible without a dedicated "leg-man" who makes sure that each agent has everything he needs to get the job done. William Redding is such a man, responsible for everything from acquiring supplies to planning infiltration and escape routes for the agents to follow. Redding's bespectacled, bookish demeanor seems out of place in the rough world of clandestine ops, but he and Sam Fisher made an excellent team.

Lawrence WilliamsEdit

Born: 1970, New York City, New York Height: 5'10" Weight: 165 lbs

Agent Williams is an NSA bureaucrat who entered the intelligence field by way of the State Department. Since that time he has risen steadily through the ranks by virtue of ruthless politicking. Despite the fact that he has no field experience, Williams was named acting Director of Operations in the wake of Colonel Lambert's sudden departure, and since then he has made a number of sweeping changes to agency operations. Though inexperienced, he has at least one influential patron in the upper reaches of the government...

Edward BlakeEdit

Born: 1985, Harlingen, Texas Height: 6'2" Weight: 220 lbs

Edward Blake was recruited into NSA from Texas AGM University, where he was pursuing a double major in Political Science and Psychology. After joining the agency he became a field analyst specializing in the debriefing of foreign intelligence assets. Despite a notable lack of patience and a willingness to resort to physical methods of interrogation, his success record is one of the highest in the agency.

DevelopmentEdit

Ubisoft Montreal comes back to create a Splinter Cell game exclusively for the PSP handheld system. They utilize the Unreal Engine 2.0 used prievously from the games but a bit toned down for the PSP's engine.

TriviaEdit

• Ubisoft Montreal developed both Essentials and Double Agent Version 2.
• The Double Agent missions in Essentials follow closer to the events in Double Agent Version 2 than Version 1.
• In Essentials and Double Agent Version 2, Sarah's gravestone lists her birth and death as 1985–2008, Sam escapes from a prison in Kansas with Jamie Washington after first beating up or killing another inmate, and the JBA Headquarters is located in New Orleans.
• Both Double Agent Version 2 and the "Double Agent" levels in Essentials take place at approximately the same time, between January 2008 and leading into December 2008 (winter months).
• Essentials founding of Third Echelon in 1990's seems to follow the chronology of the Splinter Cell (novel), Operation Barracuda and Checkmate which implied that Third Echelon had been around quite a bit longer than 2003 (though Sam Fisher was still the original Splinter Cell). Third Echelon had new plans to expand upon the Field Runner program within the 2005/2006 era (previously most missions were completed by lone wolfs). The Third Echelon Headquarters had been moved around D.C. previously (every couple of years) to 2005–2006's location near the White House (though they also maintained one under Fort Meade during that time). Sam Fisher and Irving Lambert had known Anna Grímsdóttir for years (from the time she was brought into Third Echelon).
• According to dialogue in Essentials, Emile Dufraisne was successful in some of his terrorist attacks:

"We think it was his daughter's death that pushed Fisher over the edge. He disappeared from sight after her funeral, and turned up several months later in the company of Emile Dufraisne."

"The same Dufraisne behind the recent terrorist attacks? My god. Do you think Fisher helped them?"

A cutscene then shows a large explosion going off in an unnamed city.^[1]

• Essentials contains some flashback missions from previous games in the Splinter Cell series.

NotesEdit

• According to released material from Ubisoft two maps from Splinter Cell Essentials are connected to maps from Splinter Cell: Double Agent. These include the levels, United States Penitentiary and the Delta Atlantic Warehouse level.^[2] Like the other two versions of Double Agent, the maps are original exclusive levels (thus inconsistent with the other two games in series).

See alsoEdit

• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 1)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 2)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist

External linksEdit

• Essentials interview
• Trailer

ReferencesEdit