I'm a lot into stealth games recently (Metal Gear Solid 2 at the moment), and I was interested into getting back to Splinter Cell later. I played only the first one which is also on GOG and I didn't liked it that much because I didn't had the patience for sneaking back in the days, so my experience is pretty limited but I think I'll definitely like it.

How does the rest of the series compares to Deus Ex and Metal Gear is it worth the trip or just forgettable ? Is a lot of mandatory quick aiming involved that would make it horrible control-wise with a controler ? The HD pack on consoles looks pretty decent and cheaper than anything on PC and somewhat "DRM free".

I've got Chaos Theory on the Xbox (it's the only one I've played so far) and it's phenomenal! I've seen online that most people consider it the highlight of the series. Definitely got me interested in the rest of the games :)

I've played Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, Double Agent, and Conviction and well, Conviction is very different from the others. I personally cannot compare Splinter Cell to Metal Gear because I absolutely hate Metal Gear. Everything about it, from shaking guards to drop items to the stupefying writing being displayed, to the inane boss battles.

Splinter Cell is straight up stealth action game that requires patience, subtlety, and sometimes precise aggression to progress through. When you go through multiplayer, coordination is even more imperative on coop missions. If you are successful in getting through undetected, you won't need to quickly aim your weapon to kill someone.

Splinter Cell 1 focuses more on shooting out lights to shift through darkness but as you progress through the series, this becomes less and less the tactic of choice. Darkness is always your ally though, so you have to be aware of when you are seen and when you're not.

Conviction redefines Splinter Cell as stealth by aggression. You have to be fast and constantly attacking to disrupt enemies and be undetected. Some players like it... some players don't.

If you want a true stealth game that is closer to Deus Ex try the Thief games instead:
First person view instead of third person.
Reliance on hearing instead of just sight.
Open levels where SC is extremely linear and railroaded.

SC is linear to a fault. That is very true.

Chaos Theory is amazing and the true standout of the series. It's not quite up to Thief standards because it's much more linear, but it's very good.

Thief: Deadly Shadows is probably a great in-between for a more modern gamer... non-linear and with deep gameplay, but it has optional third-person and is more streamlined than the first two.

Totally understand that sentiment. Supposedly, Blacklist tries to blend the old and new formula but who knows what will work?

I kind of felt that they added that "more stealth option/moves" after many complained after first trailer of blacklist (which was more or less killing) that Splinter cell supposed to be a stealth game.

But indeed we will see.

In comparison MGS and Deux ex has very little stealth. Splinter Cell does it the way every other game should do it. Fantastic series that no one should pass on... in my opinion.

Unless I missed it no one mentioned Riddick EFBB. I wouldn't call it a pure stealth game but there is A LOT of it in there and it's IMO handled beautifully. The sneak up behind/snap the neck move is one of my personal faves as well as the timeless 'shimmy over and drop down kill'.

And yes I know the OP didn't ask about Riddick but it deserves mention in any conversation about stealth.

I agree actually, Riddick is a fantastic game and the stealth portions are worth mentioning because they are great fun.

Yeah, it's pretty much a stealth game with action bits, rather than the opposite. And those guys are doing the new Wolfenstein, which is kind of exciting.

Wolfenstein looks soooooo good. Back to topic, Splinter Cell rocks... even Convictions is a good game.

I recently played through the Splinter Cell trilogy on the ps3 for the first time - I thought they were good games but not great. I liked Alpha Protocol more.