If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you've either already watched or plan to watch Jack Ryan: Ghost Wara new film that serves as a sequel to the fantastic series. John Krasinski has become the face of the public Ryanverse on the small screen, though Tom Clancy is most synonymous with games these days, with them even arguably surpassing the novels in mainstream exposure.
Ubisoft is currently not in a good place, but the publisher has released its share of good game that fits the Ryanversealthough most of them are set in an alternate timeline and don't feature Jack Ryan or John Clark. If you have Spooky fever and want to take an extended vacation in this universe (or an adjacent one), play these legendary Tom Clancy game.
As mentioned in the intro, not all of these games are part of the Ryanverse, but we will focus on Tom Clancy titles that fit well into that world. Also, don't worry, we'll mention some real ones Ryanverse games.
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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Enter the Ryanverse as John Clark
Before Tom Clancy fell into the hands of Ubisoft, Red Storm Entertainment developed and released the first Rainbow Six the game, and it's actually based on the novel of the same title rather than an original creation that slaps on the “Tom Clancy” name like a sticker. The game was actually developed alongside the book, resulting in the most authentic version of the source material in the franchise. Unlike some others coming up soon, Rainbow Six takes place in the Ryanversewith players actually getting to play as John Clark.
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Before 1998, first-person shooters were defined by DOWNFALL, Quakeand GoldenEye 007; you know, games where you mostly sprinted through corridors, amassing massive arsenals and absorbing hundreds of bullets. Don't get me wrong, I love all three games to this day, even if one of them has aged like a glass of milk (guess which one). However, Rainbow Six was a breath of fresh air establishing the tactical base Tom Clancy would become synonymous with. You must plan missions and then execute them to near perfection, with a single hit meaning death.
Although naturally dated, Rainbow Six is still pretty impressive, and it's the best option for players who want to embody John Clark.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (chaos theory and blacklist)
Sam Fisher is Gaming's equivalent of Jack Ryan… So join the Fisherverse
After Jack Ryan and arguably even more than John Clark, Sam Fisher is the most famous Tom Clancy character, and Black Ops operative stars in his own long-running franchise (or, at least, he used to, before Ubisoft forgot he existed). Alongside Metal Gear Solid and Hitman, Splinter cell helped define stealth action games, and newcomers should start with either the last entry (Blacklist) or the best game (Chaos theory). Let's quickly highlight both.
- Chaos theory – The plot is classic Tom Clancy in the best possible way. An algorithmic cyberwarfare crisis in East Asia threatens to spark World War III, and Sam Fisher is the only person qualified to make sure it doesn't happen while keeping everything secret so the public never finds out. It perfected the light-and-shadow game of the franchise. You constantly monitor sound levels and ambient light meters, meticulously pick locks, hack terminals and interrogate guards. It represents the quiet, methodical, data-gathering side of the Ryanverse as well, if not better, than the Amazon Prime Video series and its Jack Ryan: Ghost War continuation.
- Blacklist – If you want something closer to the more high-octane Jack Ryan stories or adaptations, Blacklist is the way to go. Not only is it the latest and consequently available entry, but its gameplay is much more aggressive than Chaos theorywhich is not to say that it is necessarily better. It just takes a different approach to stealth, and there's nothing more satisfying than chaining stealth takedowns.
The other one Splinter cell games are also good, and I would recommend playing Conviction if you specifically like Blacklist. It's one of the least popular entries in the franchise, but it's a fun blockbuster entry.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
Combine Tom Clancy and Ubisoft Open-World Formula and you get Wildlands
While Breakpoint was kind of a dud, its predecessor proved that Tom Clancy The formula was successfully adapted to an open world design, and it has aged remarkably well. IN Wildlandsyou are deployed to Bolivia, which has essentially been transformed into a corporate narco-state run by the ruthless Santa Blanca drug cartel. You control “Nomad”, the leader of a four-person group of elite level-1 ghosts. Unlike traditional military games, where you're part of a massive invading army or a one-man wrecking crew that can take out entire platoons as part of their morning routine, Wildlands puts you behind enemy lines with zero official backup and no rocket launchers.
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Your mission is pure, classic Clancy espionage: dismantling the cartel's operations piece by piece. Moving from their production lines and smuggling routes to their political influence and security forces, you'll quietly but devastatingly tear apart the entire organization on your way to forcing a confrontation with the cartel's terrifying leader, El Sueño. Wildlands is such a weird game for me personally, because it was released at a time when I felt done with open worlds and stealth shooters, but I couldn't stop playing for a good month. It might not sound like much, but I'm the type of person who is constantly looking to switch to a new game.
Shadow clock
When Tom Clancy was XCOM
Never mind that his name isn't in the title, like Shadow clock is very one Tom Clancy game. It also takes place directly in the Ryanverse, albeit with the inspiration Power Plays spin-off series. Unlike almost all other recommendations, Shadow clock is not a shooting game but a strategy game, ala XCOMwhich tasks you with managing a group of operators from an isometric perspective. The game is surprisingly unique too Tom Clancy game because it's arguably the perfect fit for the franchise, but we never really saw Ubisoft going this route.
In addition to the turn-based game, another thing that really sets Shadow clock apart from all other games bearing Tom Clancy's name is its visual style. Instead of aiming for gritty, photorealistic military assets, the developers opted for a beautiful, stylized, hand-drawn comic book aesthetic. The visuals have unsurprisingly aged incredibly well, better than pretty much everyone else Tom Clancy games released before 2010.
Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears
Jump into one of Jack Ryan's most famous adventures
Although I would recommend seeking out any of The The hunt for Red October games because they were never good and haven't improved with age, 2002 The sum of all fears is a respectable extension of what Red Storm Entertainment had done with the original Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon game. Just to be clear, you don't play as Jack Ryan, but rather an elite FBI Hostage Rescue operative who carries out missions either during or after the events of the novel and film. John Clark serves as your handler.
The sum of all fears frames Ghost Recons gameplay and engine around tighter, linear indoor missions that keep a faster pace than Red Storm's two older games. Yes, at times this feels like a stripped down, more relaxed version of the superior games, but it's still a solid effort.
The best Tom Clancy games, ranked
There are plenty of notable games under Tom Clancy's name. Here are the best ones for gamers to check out.
