Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D

The game features significant changes and improvements to the series' basic gameplay. Chaos Theory is also the first game in the Splinter Cell series to use ragdoll physics.

Chaos Theory features refined stealth mechanics. In addition to the standard light bar, the game also features an aural monitor that measures Sam's noise, along with the ambient noise of the environment. It is important for Sam to make less noise than his surroundings; otherwise, the enemy guards will hear him. The more sounds the player makes will gradually increase the stress levels of the guards, and they will become more alarmed as the level progresses.

In June 2007, tensions are running high between China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan due to Japan's formation of an Information Self Defense Force (I-SDF). Considering this to be a violation of Article 9 of the post-World War II Constitution and blaming the I-SDF for information warfare attacks against their countries, Chinese and North Korean forces establish a blockade in the Yellow Sea against Japanese shipping. As Japan is an ally of the United States and, by extension, the NSA's Third Echelon, the US Navy dispatches an advanced warship, the USS Clarence E. Walsh (CG-80), to the Yellow Sea, with hopes that China and North Korea will back down.

Sam Fisher is dispatched to a lighthouse on the Talara, Peru coastline, to locate Bruce Morgenholt, an American computer programmer who has been captured by a Peruvian separatist group led by Salvadoran revolutionary Hugo Lacerda. Morgenholt was working on deciphering the "Masse Kernels", highly advanced weaponized algorithms developed by Phillip Masse, whom Fisher had assassinated in 2005. Fisher is tasked with ensuring the Kernels do not fall into the wrong hands. He arrives too late to prevent Morgenholt's death and the release of the Masse Kernels.

The graphics in Chaos Theory feature several improvements, including the addition of normal mapping, HDR lighting, and parallax mapping. The game had a development budget of $10 million and a marketing budget of $10 million. Around 300 people worked on the game at its peak.

Because this game depicts a war between North Korea and South Korea, it was banned in South Korea until 2007.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory received "universal acclaim" from critics for the Xbox and PC versions, while the PlayStation 2, N-Gage, and GameCube versions received "favorable" reviews, and the 3DS and DS versions received "mixed" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

A 2013 IGN review described Chaos Theory as a "peak" in the series. com gave the Xbox version an A and said that it "isn't the cruel, ball-busting taskmaster of Splinter Cells past—the exacting details don't matter so long as the duties get done, and it's a better game because of it." 8 out of 10 and said, "The formula has been tweaked to an almost perfect mix of story and engrossing gameplay that still requires more use of brain over brawn... The presentation is off the charts with mesmerizing visuals and audio production, both of which have a major impact on how you play."