Trivia / Splinter Cell

• Banned in China: The game was literally banned in China for portraying China negatively (despite the Chinese villain being clearly established as a rogue general and Sam Fisher working to prove that the Chinese government and the main body of the PLA have nothing to do with Nikoladze's conspiracy, go figure). The decision was reverted a few years later.
• Killer App: Along with Knights of the Old Republic, Dead or Alive 3 and Ninja Gaiden, Splinter Cell was one of the biggest third-party exclusives for the original Xbox, with Sam Fisher even becoming something of a mascot for the system.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original version of Sam's character was for him to be a generic, cold-blooded killing machine. Michael Ironside demanded they change the character to make him more human and empathetic.
  • Azerbaijan was originally intended as the antagonizing force in the game's story. There are remnants of this in the Vselka Submarine mission, with Bobrov referring to the mercenaries as "Azeris." According to the developers, it was changed to Georgia in the final game because of the 9/11 attacks and the unfortunate implications that would possibly arise.
  • The game was planned to have another full arc, taking place in the Kola Peninsula in Russia. It would've bridged the gap between Kalinatek and Chinese Embassy, explaining how Third Echelon is able to track down Nikoladze's location. Comprised of four separate levels - Mining Town, Shipyard, Nuclear Power Plant, and finally Severonickel. According to lead writer and producer Clint Hocking, most of it was scrapped in the months leading up to release for several reasons. Namely, several of the levels either "weren't great" or needed more work to be release-ready. With the push for the game to go gold, plus the development team's ever-decreasing morale, these missions were ultimately left on the cutting room floor. They would later be partially revisited with the Xbox/PC exclusive levels, and Nuclear Power Plant as a bonus level for the PS2 version, albeit heavily streamlined.

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