'Ghost Recon Wildlands' Is Free This Weekend, With A 'Splinter Cell' Update

'Ghost Recon Wildlands' will be free this weekend to go along with a 'Splinter Cell'-themed update. Pictured above is a screenshot of the game in action. Photo: Ubisoft

By Alex Perry, IBT

French video game publisher Ubisoft last week  not-so-subtly teased that Sam Fisher, protagonist of the dormant “Splinter Cell” franchise, would show up in “Ghost Recon Wildlands.” Both games carry Tom Clancy branding and have other thematic similarities, so the crossover was neither shocking nor unwelcome.

At the time, Ubisoft promised more concrete information would come out Monday and stuck to their word, according to Eurogamer. The company confirmed a special “Splinter Cell”-themed event would come to “Ghost Recon Wildlands,” and the best part is players do not have to wait very long.

The event will go live on April 10 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. “Splinter Cell” fans who never got “Wildlands” are in luck, because the full game will be free for a limited time from April 12 to April 15. Anyone who downloads it during that time will have to pay $60 to keep playing once it is over.

First and foremost, the update will add a new mission to the game in which their custom character will help Sam Fisher out in a stealthy infiltration mission. The “Splinter Cell” games were typically harsh on players who did not keep quiet when dealing with enemies, so perhaps a similar treatment will be in order.

Perhaps the most important detail is that Michael Ironside returns to voice Fisher. After voicing him for the first several games in the series, Ironside was replaced by Eric Johnson for 2013’s “Splinter Cell Blacklist.”

Players who finish that mission before a cutoff date of May 16 will get special in-game cosmetic items, like Fisher’s iconic night vision goggles from the “Splinter Cell” games. The rewards will go away after that date, but the mission will remain in the game

In the competitive multiplayer Ghost War mode, the update will add a new class called the Echelon, also based off “Splinter Cell.” Echelons will be able to activate a sonar pulse that can reveal enemy players through walls, which will surely infuriate some players on the wrong side of that.

There has not been a “Splinter Cell” game in five years, but fans of the stealth series might get some satisfaction from this sliver of content. “Ghost Recon Wildlands” sold like hotcakes for Ubisoft, with the company aggressively adding new content on a regular basis to keep players hooked and draw in new ones in the process. Last week, Ubisoft confirmed the game would get another entire year of content updates.