CIA HQ is the fifth solo campaign level in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Third Echelon sends in Splinter Cell agent Sam Fisher to infiltrate the Central Intelligence Agency Headquarters, following a lead that a mole has infiltrated the CIA.

Briefing

22:19 / 22:50 / 23:28 / 00:14 – PS2/GameCube

Track down the mole in the CIA.

Hours after the attack on the oil rig, Georgian President Nikoladze launched a devastating wave of remote, technology-based terrorist attack as retaliation against the U.S. The only lead to Nikoladze's whereabouts is a mole thought to be operating out of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Data & Transcript

Information

Overview

After the Oil Refinery mission, it was discovered that there was a mole leaking information from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to Kombayn Nikoladze's communications relay on the GFO Oil Rig in the Caspian Sea. Third Echelon had to investigate the leak by sending in Splinter Cell agent Sam Fisher and discover who the mole is. Sam Fisher was tasked with infiltrating the CIA Headquarters, retrieving information from the central server and discovering the location of the mole working inside the agency. Third Echelon operations coordinator Irving Lambert reminds Fisher that the NSA 'does not spy on other agencies' meaning that Sam must not trigger any Alarms or the mission would be over.

Fisher starts the mission inside the front courtyard as rain began to fall and darkness had fallen over the environment. After a quick conversation with Lambert, Fisher moved through the grass, across the asphalt, and eventually climbed into one of the ventilation shafts hidden on the front of the building. Despite the currently late hours, security guards and some maintenance workers still occupy much of the interior rooms and hallways inside of the facility. Fisher sneaks through the front hallways and takes an elevator to the floor, where the server room is located. As Fisher moves out of the elevator, Lambert contacts Sam and let's him know that his SC-20K was left by a contact for him to pick up, but warns Sam to keep it holstered - no agency casualties.

After making his way through the building, Sam eventually finds the SC-20K and retrieves it, along with various non-lethal gadgets left next to it. With his equipment retrieved, Fisher heads towards the server room where he is able to locate the central computer and hack it. Third Echelon analyst Anna Grímsdóttir is able to pinpoint the leak to a computer in information retrieval, giving Fisher all the information he needs to continue on. After evading the CIA employees patrolling the halls and unaware of an intruder sneaking through the facility, Fisher finds the computer, located on the upper floors, and hacks it. The computer belongs to Mitchell Dougherty, meaning he is the mole that has been leaking sensitive information to the Georgians. After digging through the computer files, Grímsdóttir also finds that the information was being received at 'Kalinatek' in Virginia. Suddenly, someone finds out that Grim is hacking into the server and locks her out. Lambert tells Sam to capture Dougherty and bring him to Wilkes and interrogation specialist John Baxter located at the back of the CIA HQ parking lot. Fisher grabs Dougherty on his smoke break and carries him to the loading garage behind the building, where he is able to rendezvous with the two NSA agents.

Debriefing

Interrogation of Mitchell Dougherty reveals a compulsive disorder that moved him to hoard data on an insecure computer, thereby allowing an intelligence leak. Grimsdottir traces the leak to the nearby offices of Kalinatek. During the process, her intrusion is detected, necessitating an emergency infiltration of Kalinatek.

Differences

Trivia

• This is the first mission in the Splinter Cell series that involves infiltrating an American agency.
  • The second mission that involves infiltrating an American agency is in Splinter Cell: Essentials, where Sam breaches NSA headquarters.
  • The third mission that involves infiltrating an American agency is in Splinter Cell: Conviction, where Sam breaches Third Echelon HQ.
• The CIA officers in and around the CIA HQ look to be using sidearms resembling the Beretta 92FS. Despite showing that they are suppressed, they sound as if they aren't when they are fired.
  • Additionally, the CIA security officers also use the MP5A2 and some officers can be seen using the Franchi SPAS-12.
• Some elements in this mission is reused in the NSA HQ mission in Essentials. Including the weapon they carry and guard model.
• On the PS2 version, if the player carries unconscious bodies and place them in different random areas or stacking all of them in one area, there is a bug occurring that the bodies will die off on their own (losing their body heat if wearing thermal goggles).
  • This bug occurs on the Chinese Embassy mission on the last section.
• Outside the CIA building you can overhear two guards searching another employee next to a van in-front of the main entrance. The man the security guards search jokes about him being Islamic, this is a reference to the increased security around the United States following 9/11.
• The player can enter infiltrate the building using two routes: The first route is the intended location Lambert wanted Sam to take, but there is another ventilation shaft above the roof (where the two security guards are talking to the CIA employee). If the player fails to enter the first in the allotted time, they will be forced to use the second vent.
• There is a drink vending machine for SoBe Adrenaline Rush, a discontinued product from the company.
• If the player looks in a food vending machine, they can find a package with Rayman's face on it.
• The server room resembles the one from Mission: Impossible. However, it isn't in an enclosed room and isn't secured by lasers.
  • Inside the server room are servers with IBW on them, in reference to IBM computers
• On a LED message board in one of the cafeterias, Clint Hocking's name is mentioned.
• In the main room by the sever room clocks with times from around the world can be seen. London is seen twice on the wall with different times.
• In the CIA mission, Sam is told to go to "Information retrieval" department, another fictional department from Terry Gilliam's film Brazil.
• During the section where two CIA agents are listening to audio from one of Kombayn Nikoladze's speech videos, one of them thinks he hears a cow and some chains rattle. This is in reference to a later level, Abattoir.
• In the CIA building it is possible to enter an out-of-the-way room labelled "UFO Sighting Office" a computer with an encrypted email from 'F.M. FBI,' a reference to Special Agent Fox Mulder from The X-Files. Further exploration lets the player view a huge, unreachable records room as seen in that show
  • The code to enter said room can be found written on a data stick retrieved from a nearby computer: 020781. The code can be seen typed multiple times in the encrypted email.
  • Sticky Shockers and Sticky Cameras can be found in the room after the door code is entered.
  • The PS2 version has a door with the same UFO label, however the door cannot be interacted with.
• This is the first mission in the game and in the series to feature the SC-20K M.A.W.S., Sticky Camera, Sticky Shocker, Ring Airfoil Round, and Thermal vision.
  • This is also the first mission for the player to retrieve the SC-20K and will do so again in the Jerusalem mission in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
• On the last section of this mission on the PS2 version, to the 2 blue trash bins behind the elevator, it is rarely possible to go on top and double jump over the tall fence to go outside the CIA's exterior but this will cause Fisher to be stuck and the player could either reload the saved game file or cause an agency fatality to start again from the checkpoint.
  • On that exterior, the player goes through the dumpster and there is a weird background glitch.
• This is the only mission in the game where the SC Pistol is absent from Fisher's inventory throughout the entire mission.
• In the GameCube and PS2 versions, a cutscene will play involving Sam disguising himself as a CIA agent. He will use an identification card on a security system and be granted access. He will then get in the elevator and go to the next area skipping a whole section of the original level. Inside the elevator however, he will remove the disguise. In the PC and XBOX versions however, nothing like that will happen, forcing Fisher to infiltrate the CIA himself. In addition, on the PC and XBOX versions, Sam does not wear a disguise.
  • PS2 version has Sam wearing his balaclava, while the original has his face visible.
  • Extracting Dougherty is easier in the PS2 version due to the doors opening automatically and a elevator to bring his body to ground level.
• An out-of-bounds room can be found in this level that has American Flags as wallpaper. Within the room is an elevator switch that when pressed says "elevator not powered". It's only accessible with the no clip console command.

Gallery

The front interior of the CIA HQ building.

The front courtyard of the CIA HQ building.

Sam Fisher hacks Mitchel Dougherty's desktop PC.

Fisher grabs a CIA officer.

The Server room.

Fisher sneaks through the CIA offices.

Sam taking a short-cut through a theatre with a lecture in progress

A SIGINT ninja with an unconscious bureaucrat on his shoulder

Walkthrough