I vented before about the movie and gaming industries’ reliance on sequels. It’s a better bet than to risk millions with an unproven formula. Thus we get solid movies and games, but the great ones are few and far between. What’s worse it seems we never get an original product out of the studio that has a winner on their hands, just more-of-the-same.

Or at least we didn’t. In one of the boldest moves I’ve seen in a long time, Ubisoft decided to dramatically change the dynamics of their very successful franchise Splinter Cell. I am positive that yet another incremental improvement to the game would sell great. After all, it’s not like they didn’t improve the game since its inception. Four games total, three sequels, each slightly better than the previous one. Lots of money earned thus extremely high risk changing the formula. Yet, that’s exactly what Ubisoft did.

The new game dismisses the light/dark formula we’re all used to. It’s still about the stealth, but in a totally different way. Most chapters take place during the day, in the open with a lot of people around you. You don’t have any of the gadgets you’re used to and must improvise all the time. Fortunately since there’s little to no scripted events involved this means that even if you make a mistake (a guard notices you or an alarm goes off) you can still wing it and get out of the situation. The change is pretty drastic and if not executed well could alienate a huge fan base.

Personally, I have great fate in Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, they’ve never disappointed before. But I particularly commend them for having the courage to change the winning/proven formula.