You control Sam Fisher, a field operative of an NSA sub-agency called Splinter Cell.  Sam is sent into action when the tiny nation of Georgia invades Azerbaijan, and has to declare war to the USA. Technology-based terrorism, Internet propaganda, the live web-cast executions of U.S. soldiers, and other acts of information warfare draw the U.S. into a worldwide 'high-tech Vietnam,' in which their enormous size and reliance on technology only make them more vulnerable.  America discovers that the future of warfare is a fight that armies cannot win; only individuals stand a chance.  Using a third-person perspective and intuitive control scheme, Fisher uses stealth, disguise, cutting edge espionage gadgetry, powerful weapons and non-lethal weaponry to complete counter-terrorist operations the U.S. government cannot acknowledge.