History VideoGame / SplinterCellChaosTheory

* YouHaveFailedMe: In the Battery level, a North Korean colonel shoots one of his own men after the soldier failed to ascertain what happened when a missile launched itself at a U.S. ship.

''Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory'' (or ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory'') is a StealthBasedGame and the third entry in the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series, released on [[UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames Sixth Generation consoles]] and PC in 2005.

Followed by ''VideoGame/SplinterCellDoubleAgent'' on home consoles and PC, and ''Splinter Cell: Essentials'' on UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable.

* PortingDisaster: The N-Gage and DS versions.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Previous installments were rated T, this is the first Splinter Cell game to be rated M.

* EpicFail: According to an email you can find during the mission to a North Korean missile battery, one of the men stationed there managed to order ''5.56mm NATO'' ammunition, a Western cartridge that they don't use in ''any'' of their weapons, something the soldier writing the email points out, also noting that he didn't even think was possible to order 5.56[[note]]Some North Korean special forces units have been reported as using various South Korean weapons that use 5.56 during infiltration missions during the Cold War. But for obvious reasons, the stocks of 5.56 wouldn't be something a low-ranking member of the KPA could just order, especially one stationed in a coastal fort[[/note]].

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* Porting Disaster: The N-Gage and DS versions.

* CallBack: The algorithm was conceived by Philip Masse, who was involved in the Georgian crisis in the [[VideoGame/SplinterCell1 first game]] and got killed by Sam. Grim even directly mentions Nikoladze's use of it to create a "glass dagger" (starting with large units that, when attacked, splinter into several smaller and smaller units with the algorithm's help, making them harder and harder to fully root out) to contrast it with what [[spoiler:Shetland]] has done with it (using it to split up a mission into several separate tasks and then hand those out to individuals, who independently swarm a target location and complete the mission without ever knowing the full plan).

* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms: A plot point in the first mission is that small-time Peruvian guerillas who only ended up kidnapping and ransoming anyone of real importance through sheer dumb luck are not the kind of people who should realistically have access to the guns they're shown using.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When Lambert warns Sam that the boat he's sneaking aboard has an alarm system:
-->'''Sam''': Don't tell me... three alarms and the mission's over?[[note]]This is a reference to the previous two games, in which triggering three alarms in one mission would indeed cause you to fail that mission.[[/note]]\\

From UsefulNotes/{{Peru}} to UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}, [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity New York]], UsefulNotes/Japan, UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, it's up to Sam Fisher to stop a network of PrivateMilitaryContractors that weaponized an algorithm and intends to use it to trigger an international conflict starting with East Asia.

From UsefulNotes/{{Peru}} to UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}, UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, UsefulNotes/SouthKorea and UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, it's up to Sam Fisher to stop a network of PrivateMilitaryContractors that weaponized an algorithm and intends to use it to trigger an international conflict starting with East Asia.

* GoodGunsBadGuns: Lampshaded early into the first mission. Sam's used to the bad guys using [=AK=]s, and has at such had a lot of them fired at him in his time, so he can immediately tell just from the firing noise that something's off when small-time Peruvian guerillas turn out to be carrying [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Individual_Combat_Weapon enhanced versions]] of the AUG; a side-objective for this and the next mission is to scan and then tag crates of weapons to find out where exactly they're getting advanced hardware from.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the first two installments, one can make a case for this regarding this game. The music is much more upbeat, Sam's snarky humor is at its peak, the enemy dialogue has a lot more humor in it (especially when they are talking to each other, or some funny EasterEgg interrogations), the missions all have much more vibrant, colourful and lively locales, Lambert's witty dialogue is at its best, and the overall tone of the game is quite a bit less dour. Which is not to say the plot itself is LighterAndSofter, though - the first level features [[ColdBloodedTorture Morgenholt's torture]], the Seoul mission gives you a SadisticChoice and of course[[spoiler: Shetland is your BigBadFriend]], and all the while you're trying to avert WorldWarIII.

* CallBack: The algorithm was conceived by Philip Masse, who was involved in the Georgian crisis in the [[VideoGame/SplinterCell1 first game]] and got killed by Sam.

-->'''Lambert''': That's half of the forged mails, Sam. 4 more to go.
-->'''Sam''': [[SarcasmMode Thanks. I've always found it hard to count past 3]].

* EpicFail: According to an email you can find during the mission to a North Korean missile battery, one of the men stationed there managed to order ''5.56mm NATO'' ammunition, a Western cartridge that they don't use in ''any'' of their weapons, something the soldier writing the email points out, also noting that he didn't even think was possible to order 5.56[[note]]Some North Korean special forces have been reported as using various South Korean weapons that use 5.56 during infiltration missions, but for obvious reasons the stocks of 5.56 wouldn't be something a low-ranking member of the KPA could just order, especially one stationed in a coastal fort[[/note]].

* EpicFail: According to an email you can find during the mission to a North Korean missile battery, one of the men stationed there managed to order ''5.56mm NATO'' ammunition, a Western cartridge that they don't use in ''any'' of their weapons, something the soldier writing the email points out, also noting that he didn't even think was possible to order 5.56.

** At the end of the second level, it's impossible to non-lethally take out Hugo Lacerda after interrogating him; no matter which button you press, it will result in Sam killing him. The same thing goes with Milan Nedich in the fifth mission. To make up for it, these two don't actually count against 100% stealth like any other kill would.

* GoodGunsBadGuns: Lampshaded at the beginning of ''Chaos Theory''. Sam's used to the bad guys using [=AK=]s, so he can immediately tell just from the firing noise that something's off when they turn out to be carrying [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Individual_Combat_Weapon enhanced versions]] of the AUG; a side-objective for this and the next mission is to scan and then tag crates of weapons to find out where exactly small-time guerillas are getting advanced hardware from.

* HopeSpot: During the Battery level, Sam finds hard evidence that the North Koreans did not launch the missile that sank the ''Walsh'', information that could help prevent a war. [[SubvertedTrope Unfortunately, things quickly go to hell when a short time later Lambert reports that the North has launched a massive attack on South Korea]].

* MasterOfNone: Redding's Recommendation loadouts are supposed to give a balance of ammo and gadgets, but in practice end up leaving the player with too few of either to be of any real use.