- "My GOD, Fisher, have you gone insane?! The mission's over!"
- ― Irving Lambert's dialogue following an objective failure.[src]
Mission Failed (also called Game Over) is a video game message used to indicate that the player has failed to complete mission-critical objectives/conditions they were supposed to accomplish, ending the current game session. They are usually given the option to load back to a previous save to try again, or quit the current game and load back to the main menu.
In the Splinter Cell series
In the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series, depending on the level and the game, it depends on what may happen after a player fails a level. Some Mission Failures have unique cutscenes that accompany them, while others merely have humorous replies from different characters.
In Splinter Cell, Irving Lambert will scold the player if they shoot a civilian, or hamper the mission by failing a crucial objective or by moving to a location that makes mission success impossible. In the first level, Training, if the player shoots one of the CIA instructors, or hurts Anna Grímsdóttir Lambert will become mad at Sam Fisher (the player) and tell him that he 'went out on a limb to get you recruited' and that he messed up, stating, "game over." Typically, being killed by a guard in any of the missions will have them hold their radio and speak a random phrase (such as, 'we've killed the intruder').
In Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, if the player does something insane, Lambert may contact Fisher and scold him. The 'Mission Failed' message in the red screen may also display the words, 'You are out of your mind.' In the first level, if the player shoots Suhadi Sadono, Lambert will ask Fisher what he's doing. Sam will reply with, "I killed the bad guy." Lambert explains to Fisher that 'that's not how things work' and the mission will be failed. However, in the Jerusalem mission, not killing Dahlia Tal, which is disobeying a direct order, will not fail the mission, in fact this makes the rest of the mission easier. The train mission (Paris-Nice) is quite easy to fail, if Sam is spotted before Norman Soth enter his quarter, the mission fails; if Sam attacks Soth, the mission fails; if Sam does not tap the phone call properly, the mission fails. In the Kundang Camp mission, Sam has to tail Sadono and if the player is spotted by him of Sam attacks Sadono, the mission fails. In the Jarkata mission, Sam can only capture Sadono, anything else will fail the mission. There are some timed events throughout the game, if the objective is not completed before the timer runs out, it usually means mission failure.
In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, if the player's character dies, the screen will typically switch over to the 'Mission Failed' message in a few seconds. In the second mission, Cargo Ship, the player's gun (or enemy's gun in general) fires inside of the fuel pump room, the room will explode, killing everyone inside. (Even if the player is outside of the room a distance away, Fisher will still be killed by the fire anyway.) In Displace and the early part of Kokubo Sosho mission, killing anyone the mission will fail. Since the game is much more lenient than previous ones, reach the maximum amount of alarm (4 alarms), killing civilian and friendly troops (i.e. U.S. National Guard and S. Korean Troops) will not fail the mission, instead you will get a very low mission rating, friendly fire will bring the rating straight to zero. However, if the primary mission demands you to capture the HVT, if the HVT is killed, the mission fails. Like the previous games, fail the timed event will fail the mission.
In Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 1), there are multiple 'Game Over' messages that appear if the player fails a mission, or is spotted during the JBA HQ levels. In the JBA HQ levels, when Fisher must complete NSA objectives, the player can be spotted using NSA equipment - this will drop JBA Trust down to zero and the mission will fail. Emile Dufraisne's voice will usually be heard, stating that Fisher was "caught spying" and that they don't trust him anymore. Many objectives in Double Agent are optional, however, failure to complete them may cause trust loss, if either NSA or JBA trust reaches to zero, the mission is failed. One exception is the final part of the JBA HQ mission, which JBA trust will go to zero to some point. During the final sequence where Fisher must defuse the Red Mercury bomb, if the player fails to disarm it a cutscene will display the bomb detonating, destroying much of New York City. The aftermath shows much of NYC destroyed and emergency crews can be seen responding.
In Splinter Cell: Conviction, failure conditions except for dying have mostly been done away with. However, it is possible to fail two missions by being spotted, but only in a certain section of the level. In the first part of the Washington Monument level, if Fisher is spotted by one of the three Black Arrow operatives searching the fair grounds, the mission will fail. In the parking garage of the Third Echelon HQ level, if Fisher is spotted the mission will fail. In the final level, The White House, Fisher is 'captured' by Anna Grímsdóttir and taken to the Oval Office where Third Echelon Director Tom Reed and his Splinter Cell operatives had captured U.S. President Patricia Caldwell. If the player waits long enough for Reed to finish monologuing, he'll shoot Fisher in the head, killing him instantly. For a few seconds, it shows a shocked Grímsdóttir (the player has a choice on numerous occasions to grab Reed before this happens).
In Splinter Cell: Blacklist, there is a special animation that guard dogs get when they kill the player (whether they play as Fisher or Isaac Briggs). After failing the Quick-Time Event (QTE), the dog will then pounce on the player and bite their neck - killing the player instantly. If the player is in a cooperative map, the player may enter 'Last Stand' mode and be simply 'injured' (in a bleeding out state). It is possible to fail the level "American Consumption" if Fisher does not turn off the pumps poisoning the water supply in time. During the final campaign mission, Site F, it is possible for the player to fail the QTE fight against Majid Sadiq, causing Sadiq to stab Fisher in the neck with his own Karambit.
Trivia
- Some post-Game Over messages in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow will state, "You are out of your mind" following Lambert's scolding of the player's actions.