(ThyBlackMan.com) The late novelist Tom Clancy was well-known for his political, military, and espionage novels. Several of these would become part of the long-running Tom Clancy’s franchise via his Red Storm developer and published through Ubisoft since the late-90s. Most of them are shooters of course but two franchises went in different directions being heavily centered on stealth and strategy. Let’s see which series was the greatest Tom Clancy series of all time.
5. Tom Clancy’s EndWar (2008)
This was a real-time strategy game that dropped at a time when there were already plenty of RTS titles. Everything about the story was stock Tom Clancy with terrorist attacks, a World War III scenario, and pro-military action leanings. I mean, it’s centered around World War III, so there’s no way to really negotiate your country out of it.
Honestly, I liked the scenario and the World War III mode was enjoyable since I love open-ended games and modes. I have to say that it’s not surprising that the game didn’t do well and ended after one title. It wasn’t the most unique game out there but one of the more unique ones of all the Tom Clancy’s titles.
Perhaps if it came along earlier before there was a deluge of TC’s games it might have fared better—and that’s a hard “might.” Overall, it wasn’t one that I’d say is a must play but does well as a decent palate cleanser from shooter after shooter after shooter.
4. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (2001-present)
Ghost Recon is something of the younger sibling to the longer-running, more popular Rainbow Six franchise. However, it managed to come into its own purely by offering the same tactical shooter approach in different settings.
The later Ghost Recon games went in more of an open world direction, expanding the large play area the series enjoyed. That said, it really depends on what you’re looking for in this kind of game. Across the series, it wasn’t as well received as Rainbow Six. Some games did well, others—such as the recent Breaking Point.
I felt the direction Ubisoft was trying to go in with more intelligent enemies was a good one but most felt the game fell flat compared to Wildlands. With Ubisoft releasing several games a year, they weren’t all going to be gold.
Suggested Game: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands.
3. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998-present)
The original Rainbow Six on PlayStation was the first Tom Clancy game I’d played. It was pretty groundbreaking for the time since most first-person shooting games were straight up gun battles. You didn’t have much in the way of strategy or tactics outside of being good with a particular weapon and knowing the map.
As a matter of fact, the specifics of a gun didn’t matter as much as they do now in FPS games. Anything besides a pistol was considered decent but you wanted the powerful guns that could shoot a lot. Now, things are different—for the better, I’d say.
At any rate, Rainbow Six added a degree of tactics in gameplay where you had to select your team, their gear, and what moves they would make while controlling the leader. You’ll move through several mission linked by just enough story. This has been the base formula since 1998 and more often than not, Ubisoft has struck gold with it.
The main reason it sits at number three is that while it has rock solid gameplay on average, the series doesn’t stand out enough when you have other long-running series such as Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, and newcomers like Destiny and Overwatch in the crowded FPS arena. Rainbow Six gave you something new when it came out but after 20-plus years it’s like “Okay, another solid performance from Ubisoft” at best.
2. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (2002-present)
Ah yes, Splinter Cell. Stealth games had been out for a while with Tenchu, Hitman, Deus Ex, and Metal Gear Solid running things. When Splinter Cell showed up and gave players a more grounded story and strong action and stealth mechanics, Ubisoft really had something.
The studio really had to bring their A-game since Splinter Cell was meant to take on Metal Gear Solid head-on. I’d say it put up the strongest fight of any stealth action game because as muddled and over-the-top as MGS’s story can be, it has a ridiculously loyal and strong following dating back to the 80s.
Sam Fisher isn’t the most interesting main character in games but each part of his story was worth playing through. It’s only a shame that we haven’t gotten another Splinter Cell game since 2013 because the series has been well-received with most entries.
Maybe we’ll see it in the next generation of consoles?
1. Tom Clancy’s The Division (2016-present)
The Division came along when multiplayer games were really raging. If you released a game, it was a wise idea to have some sort multiplayer mode. Without it, your single player campaign had to be the campaign to end all campaigns. Ubisoft decided “Let’s make a multiplayer-only action shooter. Oh, and it’ll be third-person.”
And guess what? It worked. The Division is the most unique and fun entry in the Tom Clancy’s series that isn’t called Splinter Cell. As far as mechanics go, the series is stock third-person loot shooter. You’ve got to take cover in combat and you have to upgrade your gear by picking up better gear off enemies and improving it.
Those are the core of the gameplay but Ubisoft took that, put it in an open-world, slapped an adequate backstory on it, and has the player moving through different kinds of missions at their pace. The player might have to retrieve something or clear out hostiles, for instance. There are also side missions such as capturing bases for your faction and building resources at main bases.
Now take all of that and put in a multiplayer, mostly co-operative setting. Presto, you have the best series in the Tom Clancy’s franchise.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.