cormack12
Gold Member
Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/spectre-aims-to-be-the-splinter-cell-game-that-ubisoft-wont-make
Spectre developers Jordan Crawford and Fred Toms first met while working at a restaurant together in their teenage years. They bonded quickly over video games – and one game in particular: Splinter Cell. The duo would make Splinter Cell jokes to other employees and introduce themselves to restaurant guests as ‘Sam Fisher’.” After decades as friends and a COVID-induced separation, the two veteran developers, who have each worked in the industry separately, decided to form Symbiosis Games together,.
It is a multiplayer game, for now (more on that later) – a spiritual rebirth of Spies vs. Mercs, since Ubisoft has shown no interest in making it themselves. As a fellow Splinter Cell die-hard, I was eager to learn more about the pair’s ambitious project. I had to start by asking a key question: Which version of Spies vs. Mercs is their favorite? Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, or Blacklist? “Jordan and I strongly agree here,” Toms began. “It’s Chaos Theory. The level design, particularly Aquarius, was outstanding. We both feel like Blacklist steered the Spies Vs Mercs genre, if you can call it a genre, away from what made it really special. When you were a spy in Chaos Theory, stealth was exhilarating. Watching an unsuspecting Mercenary from afar and surreptitiously planning your next move was thrilling. I feel like Blacklist took some of that magic away by making the spies a lot deadlier and making the gameplay a lot faster.
“Hardware and software advancements aside,” Crawford answered, “I think one massive benefit that we've seen has been the community involvement and support. From the get go, we were able to tap into a wealth of SvM experience via our Discord community members who have been waiting around for a very long time, and who have a lot of valuable input.
Symbiosis says its current plan is to include three maps, two training missions (one per side – which, by the way, are referred to as Spectres and Reapers here in place of Spies and Mercenaries), and two modes. Expect seven gadgets per side along with a progression system and an ability system of sorts called “Edges” that give extra, seemingly temporary, perks. And teammates can combine their Edges for greater effect. For example, the guys told me, “one of our Edges is ‘Ohm’s Naw’. It’s an Edge deployed by the Reapers that reduces the amount of time they spend in a shocked state.
In trying to bring Spies vs. Mercs back successfully, Toms says he and Crawford have had to be careful about clinging too closely to the past. “A lot of our fans remember Chaos Theory with rose tinted glasses,” he said. “It’s an incredible game, even to this day, but we couldn’t release that today.
While Symbiosis plans a PC release by the end of the year, the team called Spectre “a perfect fit for PC and Xbox,” and added, “We very much hope to see Spectre on the Xbox Series X, hopefully as a Game Pass offering. We think that the Xbox Game Pass service is exceptional.
Spectre developers Jordan Crawford and Fred Toms first met while working at a restaurant together in their teenage years. They bonded quickly over video games – and one game in particular: Splinter Cell. The duo would make Splinter Cell jokes to other employees and introduce themselves to restaurant guests as ‘Sam Fisher’.” After decades as friends and a COVID-induced separation, the two veteran developers, who have each worked in the industry separately, decided to form Symbiosis Games together,.
It is a multiplayer game, for now (more on that later) – a spiritual rebirth of Spies vs. Mercs, since Ubisoft has shown no interest in making it themselves. As a fellow Splinter Cell die-hard, I was eager to learn more about the pair’s ambitious project. I had to start by asking a key question: Which version of Spies vs. Mercs is their favorite? Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, or Blacklist? “Jordan and I strongly agree here,” Toms began. “It’s Chaos Theory. The level design, particularly Aquarius, was outstanding. We both feel like Blacklist steered the Spies Vs Mercs genre, if you can call it a genre, away from what made it really special. When you were a spy in Chaos Theory, stealth was exhilarating. Watching an unsuspecting Mercenary from afar and surreptitiously planning your next move was thrilling. I feel like Blacklist took some of that magic away by making the spies a lot deadlier and making the gameplay a lot faster.
“Hardware and software advancements aside,” Crawford answered, “I think one massive benefit that we've seen has been the community involvement and support. From the get go, we were able to tap into a wealth of SvM experience via our Discord community members who have been waiting around for a very long time, and who have a lot of valuable input.
Symbiosis says its current plan is to include three maps, two training missions (one per side – which, by the way, are referred to as Spectres and Reapers here in place of Spies and Mercenaries), and two modes. Expect seven gadgets per side along with a progression system and an ability system of sorts called “Edges” that give extra, seemingly temporary, perks. And teammates can combine their Edges for greater effect. For example, the guys told me, “one of our Edges is ‘Ohm’s Naw’. It’s an Edge deployed by the Reapers that reduces the amount of time they spend in a shocked state.
In trying to bring Spies vs. Mercs back successfully, Toms says he and Crawford have had to be careful about clinging too closely to the past. “A lot of our fans remember Chaos Theory with rose tinted glasses,” he said. “It’s an incredible game, even to this day, but we couldn’t release that today.
While Symbiosis plans a PC release by the end of the year, the team called Spectre “a perfect fit for PC and Xbox,” and added, “We very much hope to see Spectre on the Xbox Series X, hopefully as a Game Pass offering. We think that the Xbox Game Pass service is exceptional.
