Following on from Ubisoft’s recent posting of healthy financial results for the first half of its fiscal year (April-September 2005), both gamers and the French publisher’s investors will be happy to know that the arrival of some new assets of their forthcoming Splinter Cell 4 for Xbox 360, has set Internet gaming forums alight.
Ubisoft has confirmed with SPOnG today that Splinter Cell 4 is definitely down for release in the first quarter of 2006, which, rather confusingly they refer to as Q4 on their release schedules, as its their fourth financial quarter. Whatever, confusing accounting/quarter-year mix-ups aside, Splinter Cell 4 looks set to be one of the most highly anticipated Xbox 360 titles to be scheduled for the post-post-Xmas drought period (otherwise known as Easter).
Here are the two in-game screenshots from the Xbox 360 version which appeared on German website Gamefront earlier today. If our basic GCSE grasp of German is correct and these really are in-game screenshots and not just concept renders, then we must say that the game is shaping up to be something pretty special.
New details on the storyline and Sam Fisher’s character development tell us that Sam has not (yet) turned to the dark side, but has gone undercover and is trying to infiltrate a criminal gang from inside, raising some exciting new gameplay choices.
Sam will be given two sets of mission objectives during the game, from both the criminal gang and the NSA. You will need to figure out how to keep a healthy balance between both sets of objectives, as you'll need to maintain the trust of your new criminal buddies.
For more info you can also check out the games official website here http://www.bewaresamfisher.com which, unlike many ‘dedicated game sites’ is a beautifully designed teaser to what promises to be a true next generation gaming experience. If the game delivers what the website promises, we are in for a treat next Easter.