The 10 best Tom Clancy games of all time

Since 1998, when “Tom Clancy” was first emblazoned on a box, there have been roughly 30 Tom Clancy games released, making it difficult to determine which are the finest. Not to mention games like The Hunt for Red October from 1987, which were based on Clancy’s works but did not conspicuously feature his name. As a line needed to be drawn somewhere, we will only include official Ubisoft games titled “Tom Clancy’s” for this list.

With Ubisoft promising additional “Tom Clancy’s”-themed video games, several of which appear to be on the horizon for later this year, our ranking of the best Tom Clancy games may alter in the near future. For now, however, continue reading to find out where a few of our favorites reside.

10. Tom Clancy’s Endwar
    Tom Clancy’s Endwar is a novel.

(Image attribution: Ubisoft)
Endwar made us all look foolish. When voice commands were still incredibly hip, Ubisoft released this strategy game from the Clancy universe that could be played solely with your voice. Clearly, this was a recipe for disaster, as frustrated armchair generals from around the globe began inserting increasingly foul language into their orders when the game messed up. However, beneath all of that is an excellent strategy game with delightfully well-designed battlefields. Reverting to the pad is a less-than-ideal solution, but it does allow you to experience one of the few RTS games that worked on console. Before XCOM: Enemy Unknown appeared, everyone had already conceded defeat.

9. Tom Clancy’s The Division

The Division initially feels like it’s attempting to do too many things and not quite succeeding at any of them. Then you realize the truth: this is Destiny with a cover system and beanies. The Division makes so much more sense after that, and if you approach it with a Destiny frame of mind, you’re guaranteed to have a good time: for instance, grinding through missions for loot can be tedious, but if you bring along friends and adjust the difficulty to your abilities, you’ll have a blast. The Dark Zone is The Division’s most distinctive feature, functioning like a PvP-optional DayZ in the center of the map. It is still a uniquely fraught experience to encounter another group of agents and assess them as potential allies or foes, knowing that they are doing the same to you.

8. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars
   The Tom Clancy novel Shadow Wars

(Image attribution: Ubisoft)
The Nintendo 3DS is not optimally suited for any Tom Clancy series’ strengths. No elaborate presentation like the best Splinter Cells games, no robust networking features to fully suit Rainbow Six, and shooters have never felt great on Nintendo’s handhelds in general. Ghost Recon Shadow Wars is an aberration in the Tom Clancy canon. Instead of a slow-paced multiplayer shooter, Shadow Wars is a tactics RPG where you engage in bite-sized skirmishes with a handful of specialists. As a turn-based XCOM clone, it expertly depicts both the succulent tension of a well-executed plan and the brutal theatricality of full-scale Ghost Recon games. It was the last game XCOM designer Julian Gollop created for Ubisoft, so Shadow Wars naturally possesses XCOM-like qualities.

7. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas

Given the rather specialized nature of the R6 Vegas concept, it is remarkable that Ubisoft was able to squeeze two games out of it. In fact, the fact that the first one was the finest is quite revealing. While the setting provides glitz and glamour, the new gameplay features make this the first Rainbow Six game that feels genuinely optimized for console. Regenerating vitality, a third-person view for blind-firing, and context-sensitive squad commands (on the d-pad) all contribute to a shooty-bangy experience that is a bit more forgiving to casual gamers. Despite the fact that this diminishes the series’ allure for some, the whole thing is still sufficiently tough and military to satisfy. However, it was undoubtedly a bad idea to bring the second game back to the city of sin without any significant enhancements. Does it still stand up? Almost, but you should be playing Siege instead.

6. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (2001)
   Ghost Recon (2001)

(Image attribution: Ubisoft)
Okay, so by today’s standards, the original Ghost Recon doesn’t really hold up. The tactical gunfire doesn’t quite make up for the visual and presentation flaws in this sluggish and unsightly game. However, at the turn of the century, this was the pinnacle of PC gaming. It didn’t matter that the game is half orienteering simulator and half shooter; it’s wonderfully ‘authentic’, has some excellent set-pieces, and truly rewards patience and clever tactical thinking. Operation Flashpoint and ArmA brought the excruciatingly sluggish military shooter to its zenith, but this was the acceptable face of indulging your spec-ops side.

5. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction
   Six Rainbow Extraction

(Image attribution: Ubisoft)
This Rainbow Six Siege spin-off, originally titled Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine, added parasitic aliens dubbed Archaeans to the tactical shooter mix. At its worst, the game can become monotonous, but at its best, it will frighten the bejesus out of you. Whether you’re an old-school Clancy fan or new to his universe, defeating evil extraterrestrials with your allies as part of the REACT (that’s the Rainbow Exogenous Analysis and Containment Team, of course) squad adds a whole new dimension to the Clancy-verse.

4. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction

In 2010, after a troubled development cycle, this new type of sneaking was eventually released. The final product was not quite as free-flowing and’murder-a-man-with-a-newspaper’ as advertised, but the aggressive, fast-paced deception was unlike anything else seen in video games. The ability to link together takedowns, progressively frightening the remaining grunts, in fluid motions around each self-contained stage feels incredibly satisfying to play. Ok, the story isn’t the best in the series (despite a rather memorable scene in which you use your combat knife to forcefully attach a man’s hand to a tree-stump), but when the action is this fluid, it hardly matters. Not to mention the incredibly tense co-op mode, which culminates in the order to murder your partner before they kill you.

3. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
   Ghost Recon Frontiers

(Image attribution: Ubisoft)
If you have ever played the Mercenaries video games, you will recall the excitement of tracing down high-value targets in secure compounds and eliminating them with skill. Or simply dropping an enormous fuel-air bomb on the entire building. Ghost Recon Wildlands eschews air-dropped ordnance in favor of making all aspects of open-world surgical operations sing. Teams of four (either in co-op or with AI allies) can slip into drug cartel facilities for stealthy takedowns, blow up the gates with explosives and machine guns, or do all the dirty work from a nearby hilltop using their sniper rifles. If you can assemble a complete team, Wildlands offers some of the most enjoyable moments in the Clancy universe.

2. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
   Rainbow Six Siege’s High Calibre update launches Nov 30

(Image attribution: Ubisoft)
While Siege received several mediocre reviews and attracted a smaller audience than Ubi had hoped, time and the incredible communities that have sprung up around it will prove the game’s ingenuity. The core mode, Siege, is so finely calibrated, and the maps are so efficiently designed, that they create a game that is beautiful in its brutal simplicity. One team defends, while the other team infiltrates. A few gadgets and tools lend flavor to what is essentially a battle of wits and intelligence between two teams. The greatest thing about Siege, however, is the possibility of an epic five versus one finish, with the lone survivor of a struggling team annihilating the entire opposing force by themselves, to the cheers of their spectating teammates. These instances are the rarest gaming jewels, and they make this experience truly priceless.

1. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Numerous factors make Chaos Theory the finest Clancy game available. The narrative revolves around a global shadow conflict that threatens to plunge the world into another war. It’s a dark, tense game with enough narrative twists and set-pieces to keep you on the edge of your seat, and the protagonist, Sam Fisher, is more agile than ever despite being older, packing enough smart gadgets to give James Bond’s Q nightmares. However, the Spies vs. Mercs mode is the most sublime, tense, and exhilarating multiplayer experience you’re likely to encounter. The third-person perspective of the agents counteracts their relative vulnerability, while the first-person perspective of the mercenaries restrains their lethality in a sensible manner. Spies vs. Mercs generates more gasps, fist-pumps, and perspiration volume per game than any other online experience. Fact. Idiot. Sadly, the game’s delectable visuals have aged a bit, and Spies vs. Mercs is no longer playable on console (the servers have been shut down), but this is still the best Clancy game to date.