Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

The Good
Before I start, let me make one thing abundantly clear: Splinter Cell is nothing at all like Metal Gear Solid 2. Everywhere I look, I see Splinter Cell being compared to MGS2. Splinter Cell and MGS2 are as much alike as apples and bananas. MGS2 is an action game, complete with a barrage of weapons, boss battles, and a surreal plot. Splinter Cell actually is a stealth game. Your objective is to never once get caught. Gameplay is realistic, as is the plot. So if you are looking for an MGS2 clone, search elsewhere, because Splinter Cell is far from it.

Now that I have that off my chest, on to the actual review. Like I said, Splinter Cell is a stealth game, and Ubi Soft did a brilliant job with it. The gadgets and the atmosphere contribute to the feel of this game immaculately. This game skips past all the glamour, relinquishing that suave type quality found in other "stealth" games, in order to make it feel real. Real in a good way, that is. Think of it this way: Splinter Cell is more of a strategy game than an action game. You will most likely do each level numerous times before you beat it, scoping out your surroundings in order to make the best decision for your next run. What makes this especially fun is that while scoping out your surroundings, there are lots of factors to consider.

One of the things in Splinter Cell that contributes so greatly to the stealthy feel of the game is the light meter. At the bottom right hand side of the screen, you have a picture displaying your current weapon, item, and/or gadget. Right above this icon, there is a meter that is dark on one side, and gets increasingly lighter as it gets to the other side. Can you guess what this is for? That's right, this meter shows you how much light you're in, by utilizing a bar that shows your current position on the meter. If the bar is at the very left side of the meter, no worries, because you are completely invisible to the enemy. The more light you're in, the farther the bar moves to the right. I loved this so much, just because you are actually forced to use the darkness as your ally, and believe me, it will be by far your most important ally. And because you'll be spending a lot of time in the dark, you can just pop on your night vision goggles to help you see, and later on, the heat vision goggles, both of which will prove to be invaluable at some point in the game.

Another thing I loved about this game that some people might have a slight problem with is that you get only two weapons throughout the entire game. One is a standard silenced pistol, while the other is a standard rifle/sniper rifle/machine gun/gadget shooter. The pistol you get right away, while you get the "SC20K" you get later on. When you get the SC20K though, that's when the real fun starts. Not only is it incredibly useful as a gun, but also a lot of the gadgets you get will be used through this gun.

Ah, the gadgets. How I loved those precious little items. If a game were released that was composed solely on being able to play with the gadgets in Splinter Cell, I'd get it in a heartbeat. Some of them are real things, things invented by military experts and what not, while others are made up. Real or not, they are all fun. Some of them include your Sticky Shockers, which electrocute a victim upon impact, Sticky Cameras, which can be shot into the wall or ground, or anything that isn't a person, providing you with a reconnaissance opportunity where you may have otherwise been in a lot of trouble. And then, my favorite, the Distraction Camera. Man these things were great. What they do is, they work the same as Sticky Cameras, except they are a little limited in their abilities, like limited rotation and no zoom capability (which the Sticky Camera has). But what the Distraction Camera can do instead is so much better. Once stuck to a wall or other solid object, you push a button to make a noise in order to distract a guard and have him come over to investigate, and when he comes close enough, press another button to release gas to knock him out, all while watching from the front seat camera view. All of the gadgets have specific purposes, and while it is possible to make it through a level using only a few of them, it is easier and much more fun to use the ones you have.

If you've ever seen the manual for Splinter cell, you'll notice that there are a good two pages or so dedicated to all the specific moves Sam Fisher can do. Crawling, hanging, and rolling are some of the basics, but there are a whole lot more. One of the coolest, yet by far the most useless (I only used it once the entire game) is the split-jump. This is where you jump up and do a mid-air split, catching yourself on the walls on both sides of you with your legs. There are lots and lots of other moves, some useful, others not as much, but you'll have fun trying them all out.

One thing that I wasn't sure whether to put into the good or bad section is the A.I. Play the game and it will be blatantly obvious that the A.I. is certainly advanced, except it may sometimes seem too advanced, if that makes sense. I finally find a game where the enemy is actually fairly intelligent, and then there are some points in the game where it seems like they are more genetically altered super humans rather than plain old intelligent ones. In the game, controls are touch sensitive, so if you move the analog stick a little, you move slow, move it a lot, and you move fast. So usually, if you are close to a guard and go as slow as possible, he won't hear you. But in some missions, if you even flinch, the guards are on you like crazy. So why did I put the A.I. in the good section? Well, it is a fairly rare occasion that the guards become super-human...most of the time they provide challenging yet reasonable difficulty to the level, and dealing with them just makes the game more fun.

Plot-wise, Splinter Cell is relatively dull, yet at the same time frighteningly realistic. You, as Sam Fisher, near the end of 2004, are sent to investigate the disappearance of a CIA agent who was investigating the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Turns out that their leader is really angry with America, and you have to terminate all threats using the "Fifth Freedom": the freedom to steal, kill, and so on in order to withhold peace throughout the world. The story is dull because it's more like a news story from the 10:00 news than an original, exciting plot of twists and turns that you might be expecting. But it is also a bit frightening in the same way, because it happens to be the type of story you dread watching. All in all though, the story is of little importance, even if you have a high emphasis on stories in video games, because chances are good that even you would like this game.

Finally, Splinter Cell got a lot of attention because of its graphics. But when I first played the game, I noticed that the game didn't really look all that great, don't get me wrong, it looks good, but it's really nothing extraordinary. And then I noticed what all the talk was about. One of the really big things about Splinter Cell's graphics are the lighting effects. Like I said before, light and dark play a huge part in the game's stealthiness, and to make this really work, Ubi Soft tried real hard on making the lights look good. This is especially evident when you wear the night vision goggles, the way they made those work is outstanding. But in order to fully understand, you'll just have to try it out yourself.

The Bad
So, the plot is lacking, but there's still hope for the character development right? Sorry, but no. I mean, there are characters in the game, and things happen to these characters, but even when the game tries to make dramatic sequences by doing something unexpected to one of the characters, I sit emotionless because I have no attachment whatsoever to any of them. They even try to bring in Sam Fisher's daughter for something, but that whole thing is so underplayed it is really just a pathetic cry for help.

Another very small bad thing is, if you are using the silenced pistol, it is extremely difficult to shoot small things, things far away, and especially far away small things. If you are trying to shoot out a light bulb from even a fairly small distance, and you are 100% positive that the cross-hairs are right on the mark, and you shoot, you'll still probably miss. That can get really annoying, especially in critical parts of the game, but it certainly isn't enough to even come close to ruining the game in any way.

The Bottom Line
Play Splinter Cell if you want a really good strategy stealth game. And even if that isn't what you're looking for, try it out anyway, because this is a darn good game.

The Good
I'm naturally suspicious of anything called Tom Clancy's Insert Pretentious Title Here. But on the other hand, there was the tantalizing prospect of feeding my Thief addiction.

The biggest downside of the Tom Clancy label is, as you'd expect, the patently ridiculous story taking itself far too seriously: Georgia suddenly decides, for no apparent reason, to wage "information warfare" on the US; cue cutscene of TV news detailing the dangers of a computer virus spreading into the water supply. Which is perhaps all too representative of how real newscasters treat computer threats - now, it might be "technically impossible" as you say, but imagine the chaos that would ensue if people came down with general protection faults in the middle of traffic!

--in fact, you're probably best advised to skip the faux broadcast collages altogether and concentrate on the meat of the game.

The game itself is basically right in the middle of the intersection between Thief and Deus Ex, with bits of Project IGI thrown in. You do carry a gun, but it's rare that you fire more than a hundred bullets on any level. A new twist is that, in addition to knocking people out, you can grab them by the neck and put a gun to their head - and then knock them out with your elbow when they've told you what you need. Amazingly, everyone in the game are smart enough not to cry out in surprise at having the barrel of a gun against their temple.

Our hero isn't quite as suave as Garrett; he's called Sam and is some middle-aged guy with stubble - though he does look good wearing night-vision goggles, something the packaging revels in. Since this is based on some Tom Clancy nonsense, he works for the NSA, but at times, he has an almost gentleman-thief air about him. A gentleman thief with black fatigues and military hardware, that is.

Being a specialist in infiltration, Sam has a wide range of special moves like sliding on steel wires, rappelling, climbing pipes and hugging walls. Which is all very nice, but it does give that flight simulator feeling of hunting around for rarely used keys at times. This is especially true for the "split jump", the athletic feat of bracing your legs against two opposing walls: while it looks very cool in screenshots, it's hardly ever used, and by the time you need it, you'll have forgotten it among all the others.

The best of Sam's moves is easily peeking around a corner and drawing his pistol. From this position you're minimally exposed, and can take on three times the numbers you'd normally be able to. This isn't just a cool move culled from the movies; it also helps you feel more part of the environment, less like a heavily armed upright soapbox on wheels. It's also a word in favor of realism, as the first thing you look for in a firefight is good cover.

In what might be a first, you control walking speed with the mouse wheel. There are four speeds; you'll probably spend most of the game crouched on the second-slowest speed, but there's a time and place for all the combinations of crouching, sneaking and running, which gives a nice feeling of nuanced control.

Your goggles provide two additional modes of sight, night vision and infrared. Both look pretty cool; the 3D engine observes the way bright light "bends around" edges - I think "bloom" is what the industry calls it - anyway, it means a 40-watt lightbulb shines like the sun through night-vision, while a well-lit room is blinding bright. The infrared is primarily useful for seeing people through bookcases and such, though it does look very nice and has received adequate attention; notably, you can use it to see which guards are unconscious and which are room-temperature - pop a bullet in someone and you'll see the body heat fade away. All this makes the game feel bigger than it actually is, since each level can be seen three ways.

Splinter Cell has the most play on shadow and light I've seen yet, almost to the point of a ridiculous number of scenes with the sun shining through blinds, lamps through grilles, etc. Sometimes, things in a bright light exhibit that plastic toy look, but most of the game is spent in the lovely gritty light-amplified mode, or the graphically impressive infrared. The night vision is in black-and-LCD-cream, which is quite attractive; and the added video noise works well, surprisingly. The fact that I spent a lot of time looking at the game in monochrome, hardly even noticing, should tell you just how well it works.

The Bad
The title movie. When I saw the sheer amount of people who had worked on it, I wanted their job. I mean, I could do it better. Most ten-year-olds could do it better. And that music! Agh!

The ingame music is, unfortunately, not much better. You'll be wishing for cheesy Deus Ex tunes before soon.

The blend of sneaking and shooting while not giving the same degree of freedom as in Deus Ex means the game winds up being a bit off; by far the most enjoyable level is the one where you're not allowed to kill a single soul, yielding the tightest, most intense gameplay. On most of the other levels, the easiest route is often to just shoot people from a distance whenever you have the opportunity and then stroll right past their dead eyes, picking goodies out of their kit.

Murder is usually justified, e.g., after seeing a gang of mercenaries gun down an office full of helpless programmers, you're handed a bunch of grenades and a license to kill, but towards the end of the game, you just don't care anymore; I eventually found myself shooting security guards out of laziness and annoyance.

The sound effects are competent, but they're not as delicious as either Thief 1 or 2's; Splinter Cell is more visually oriented, for better and worse.

Oh, and there are a couple of jumping puzzles which call for the annoying-to-perform move of kicking off walls.

The Bottom Line
Adequate snack for sating Thief abstinencies, with some fresh gains of its own. Certainly worth it at reduced price.

The Good
The shadow's are totally amazing!! No exaggeration, they worked really hard on the shadows and its an intricate part of the gameplay. The gadgets, story, the maps, the surprises all really great. The graphics are amazing in this game. They use this thing called fluid graphics for curtains and other cloth. It's really cool, the darkness and light contrast is amazing. Having to use the darkness to beat levels is really revolutionary. The weapons on the other hand are just plain fun. From what I've seen so far there is the standard silenced pistol, a rifle with a scope which you can attach many things to (tazers, cameras, distraction devices, hollow bullets, gas grenades). He also possesses a variety of distraction capabilites starting from throwing cans to flares, grenades, and the most advanced I've seen was the remote controlled camera that makes noise and shoots case at the touch of a button). Other gadgets present are the laser microphone, the optical eyeglass, grenades, lock picks, night vision goggles, thermal goggles, etc.

The Bad
Having to die a lot to beat the levels because its so unpredictable can get frustrating. Not frustrating enough to make the game less fun though. I also don't like how it doesn't make sense how just because you're in a shadow the guy can't see you although he's right next to you. But that only happens rarely to ocassionally.

The Bottom Line
It's a really good game, just have to be patient or take long breaks before you go take another shot at it. Playing it makes you really feel like you are the main character, especially with the good music integration and all.

The Good
Between encryption and counter-encryption cat-and-mouse games, sometimes the best source of intelligence comes from a human. Enter Sam Fisher (voiced by Michael Ironsides), a former Cold Warrior who hasn’t laughed since the Reagan Administration and the NSA-backed Third Echelon’s man on the ground. When two CIA agents go missing in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, it’s up to Sam and his remote operations team to bring them out. But things aren’t that simple. Georgian president Kombayn Nikoladze is ready to launch a military campaign against oil-rich Azerbaijan and there’s a Chinese connection too. Can Sam Fisher prevent a war?

After playing the “realistic” one shot, one kill squad-based Rainbow Six games, I was hesitant to play Splinter Cell. After all, wasn’t Splinter Cell just another third-person action game with ammo and health packs laying around and a life bar to boot? Boy was I wrong. Splinter Cell is the most sophisticated stealth game since Looking Glass perfected the formula and at every level, Sam Fisher out-Bonds Bond. Don’t be fooled by the arcade elements, Splinter Cell is a smart, cynical stealth game informed by September 11th.

Sam is a lethal machine, but he won’t get far by shooting his way through levels—so it’s best to be a ghost. Sam can hide in shadows (facilitated by a light meter and lights that can be shot out), crouch and move silently, and distract enemies with stray objects and special gadgets. Of course this won’t help for dogs which can follow your scent. When people do get in his way, he can incapacitate them from behind or take them out (and then hide the bodies).

Sam has the moves. Yeah there’s running, walking, creeping and jumping. But he can also do a Jean-Claude van Damme scissor kick in a narrow hallway to hide above enemies, launch himself off a wall to jump higher, rappel down buildings, peak around corners and more.

Sam has the gadgets too: peer under doors with an optic cable before picking their locks (a great interactive feature), knockout enemies with an airfoil, use a remote camera to investigate a location, and use night or thermal vision to study your surroundings. Finally, you can take out enemies with your silenced SC pistol or your multipurpose SC-20K Modular Assault Weapons System.

While Sam’s ingame objectives tend not to vary, his mission locales do. Level design is great, graphics are top notch, and the settings (whether in a Georgian Police Station, a burning oil rig, or CIA Headquarters) are believable. There’s also a sense of urgency to the missions that adds to the tension. The story is furthered along by Headline News style cutscenes with ironic discrepancies between what is reported and what actually happened.

The Bad
Three nitpicks:

• Why do all the guards whistle If I were a rich man?
• Why not have the Russians speak Russian and the Chinese speak Chinese? Poorly accented English just distracts from the game.
• Where are the voices coming from that announce that bodies are found?

The Bottom Line
This is a terrific third person stealth game that advocates brains over brawn. It's challenging enough that you actually feel like you've accomplished something after the mission is over.

Sam Fisher will return.

The Good
I especially liked the gameplay of "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell", and also the graphics, the shadows, the complexity of the game, and the soundtracks! Also, i liked the characters dialogs, especially between Sam and Lambert. I think Sam Fisher personality is exactly like a real spy's personality. The voices of the characters were carefully chosen, and they fit perfect with their role in the game. So, an excellent game, the same as the other "Splinter Cells" (Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory). I must say that the storyline is well presented, not only because it's elements fit well to each-other, but also because, the game has some movies in which, different aspects of the storyline are presented.

The Bad
I enjoyed playing this game so much, i like all things related to it, so, i liked everything.

The Bottom Line
Well, "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" its much better than all of the other stealth action games. In my opinion its much better than most of the other action games. I played it first time in August 2004, I have finished it 6 times until then, and I still enjoy playing it. So, as I said, it better than any action, or stealth action game ;-)

The Good
This game deserves much more than a benefit of a doubt when it comes to the fact of being existent on multiple platforms. Why, you may ask, why is this one better than some Resident Evil or Final Fantasy game which exist on multiple platforms? Well, it's because the programming was made from scratch for each of the platforms, XBox, PC, PS2, etc. using the full advantage of the current platform. But since this review is based upon PS2 version, and since I haven't seen any other, don't expect to find here graphical or any other kind of comparisson to the other platforms. But as for the game on PS2, this game will give you what is promissed, no doubt about that.

I've heard a lot of good stuff about this game, Splinter Cell this, Splinter Cell that, and with such an aspect, I've come to disappoint myself. No, this is by no means a bad game, not at all. But what I expected is that it has the power to bury Metal Gear Solid 2 undoubtedly. It didn't take long enough to see how that is virtually impossible. This is a great game, but on the level of Half-Life. The gameplay is perfected with so much possibilities, but you will barely ever use the most fun ones, so no matter how many things your character is able to do, you will not get much of a chance to do them. However, the abilities and moves you can do are still long in minority when comparing to those of MGS2. As are weapons. But means and methods vary. Whereas in MGS2 you didn't get the chance to use dark places a lot, instead, you could hide in a locker or hang over the rail, in Splinter Cell you can literally be one step from an enemy soldier and if you're in a perfect dark, he will not see you. That is, if you're not moving too much, and don't make a sound louder than a silent footstep.

Textures in this game are very good, as is the graphic in general, and light effects, water, or fire are well done, but expect some real slowdown in a game when near the fire. That is kinda strange 'cos I didn't expect they can make a game for a console that would go slow. With PC it's understandable due to hardware you possess, but with consoles... oh well. Variety of weapons is at bare minimum, a silencer and a sniper are the only two you will use aside your mano-a-mano skills which aren't so plentiful as in MGS2.

You are playing Sam Fisher, a former CIA commando who's beein re-activated, and whose mission is to find out what happened to two of CIA agents with whom headquarters recently lost connection. The game starts with an easy plot which later evolves in a global war possible incident. Nuclear missiles, tricks of the government, raising an army, stealing top-secret government files, those are things you will have to confront and face with virtually no help but your own. It's up to the players virtue and tricks of trade that count in accomplishing each of the missions that stretch from Georgia to China.

Music is very ambience supportive and it will not take out the front scene or be distractive while you're playing, and sound in general (although not very versatile) are good enough. Nice thing that connects this game to Command & Conquer games by something they have in common is that there are pre-rendered FMVs in between each of the missions. Yup, gotta love it. However good they are, they are not as good as the wide-screen intro cinematic made specifically for PS2 version of the game with nice following orchestrated score specially for that intro.

I cannot say if previous versions on other platforms had extra contents included, but this game has many, from developer's interviews and making of documentaries, to review with Sam Fisher himself (Sam, as in main character of the game, that one is neatly done).

Another thing worth mentioning is that this game is much more realistic than Metal Gear Solid 2 to the point that your character moves relatively slower than Snake or Raiden from MGS2, and his moves aren't as stretchy and quick as they may appear at first. This may be a good point, but also gives a feeling of this game being kinda slow.

The Bad
Although very neatly done, this game doesn't rise up to the voice of the crowd as expected. As much as the music is nice enough, there isn't much of it in the game, and seems like it takes most parts in the cinematic themselves. But that doesn't make this game any less worthy (just think of Half-Life, and how much music that game had ;)

I haven't seen graphic on a PC verison nor XBox version of this game, but I don't doubt it looks much better, 'cos frankly, graphic in PS2 verison is very strong on the effects and surroundings account, but characters could've been better. Why I know they could've been better is 'cos I've seen how good MGS2 looks on PS2, and this game doesn't beat that.

Now a few words about an AI. Well, it is neatly thought of, and sometimes it seems that your foe is quite smart, wether he'll run off to sound the alarm or call for backup and then enter the room you're in, or wether he'll just duck behind some box waiting for you to pass the point you must, but then again, using constant phrases like "we got you surrounded" or such even though there's only one enemy I dunno wether to call bugs or did the developers made that on purpose as to try and deceive you. But AI isn't problem at all, the shooting is. Precise hit in the head will kill every enemy instantly, no doubt about it. But shoot him anywhere else, and it'll be like you lost your bullet in vain. Even if they all wear a bulletproof vests, shot in the leg or arm should have its impact. Also, seems like when you shoot someone, there is a short time when he recovers if not dead, and you can shoot him again until you whack him. However, if you're shooting in between the time ot your first shot and recovering, you'll have to shot more times to make a kill. Maybe it sounds silly the way I'm telling this, but it does look annoying when you can never be sure if you need to shoot more or not, and that may be important when you're low on bullets. And unlike the MGS2, you can't always shoot your way through, sometimes you simply must avoid conflicts of any kind.

The Bottom Line
All in one, I expected so much more from this game. However, the game itself was very entertaining and challenging, and giving you a solid info on whatever you wanted to do. But I can't help but to think of this game as if being made 13 years back. It kinda creates that feeling, just as Tzar, for example, creates similar feeling. But that only makes me like the game more, actually. Sort of, like adding a part of nostalgy to something which is completely new. I know, I know, sounds silly, but that's how I felt while playing it.

I too have an XBox so I could've get myself that version, or a PC one, but I ricked the graphic quality for more stuff like that completely new 4min long intro animation and some new levels or whatever. And I can't say I regretted it, duh, I never regret when it comes to games I have ;) But let's make one thing clear - this game can by no means match up to the standard that was set by Metal Gear Solid 2, story-wise, graphic-wise, gameplay-wise, music-wise, nor anyhow else. But that doesn't mean this game is anything less than good, it's just the fact that MGS2 is that good, that's all. Any fan of action-espionage and action-sneaking games should get both of them in the collection, no doubt of it.

The Good
Splinter Cell is the latest game series released under the "Tom Clancy's" brand name, and unlike the previous tactical fps titles that bore such name Splinter Cell is an action/espionage 3rd person title clearly aimed towards more "consoley" sensibilities. There's no doubt that Splinter Cell makes it's debut gunning for MGS, the reigning action/espionage title for console gamers, but fortunately for the rest of us, Ubisoft made sure that the game lived up to it's stealth-action moniker and provides one of the most serious sneaking titles this side of Thief.

The game casts you as Sam Fisher voiced by mr. coolness himself, Michael Ironside. Being a hard-assed veteran and a strictly professional soldier Sam comes off as a refreshing character from the usual console cliche of faggy supermodels masquerading as secret agents and lends a lot of credibility to the gameplay (yes MGS2 I'm looking at you). Of course, this is besides the real-life spec-ops hardware, realistic gameplay mechanics and more down-to-earth storyline with newcast cutscenes that show how the conflict escalates as you progress through the game.

As I mentioned Ubisoft did their homework when they designed the game and instead of overgloryfied arcade mechanics Splinter Cell incorporates some serious sneaking concepts. First of all sound emission and movement DO make a difference and attract the attention of guards and enemies in a realistic manner, and without handy-dandy radars with line-of-sight indicators or stuff like that you'll have to resort to crouching in the darkness and carefully judge the reactions and movements of your enemies a-la Thief. Finally a console game gets it man! The resulting tension is what sells stealth gameplay and I dare to say that Splinter Cell is the first game to get it right in quite a while, taking it's cues from the best elements of Hitman while adding some of the hardcore elements of Thief.

Of course, Splinter Cell manages to surprise even more as it adds a few twists of it's own, which include an interesting way of controlling movement by using the scroll-wheel (which allows you to easily switch between different movement speeds) and a lot of athletic moves that allow Sam to do everything from slowly opening a door and peeking through, leaning through a corner and shooting while in nearly complete cover (finally!!) as well as more esoteric moves such as bouncing off walls and doing the "Jet Li special" (see "Black Mask") by doing a split along a corridor and remaining suspended over the ground. Borrowing an element from Thief, Splinter Cell also incorporates the option to shoot out lights to aid you, and you can also immobilize enemies swiftly to use them as human shields as well as forcing them to bend over against a wall and activate retina-scanners.

Additionally as you would expect a true spec-ops operative to do, Sam tackles each mission with a full equipment of weapons and gadgets (eat that Solid Snake!) that include the prominently displayed night-vision goggles which you'll use in several occasions as it allows the player to see in the darkness or alternatively use a heat-sensitive vision. Sam also comes loaded with a small fiber-optic camera that allows you to peer through doors as well as a silenced 9mm sidearm and a futuristic-looking modular weapon that can shoot out a series of modules that contain remote "sticky" cameras, tazers and other useful stuff as well as doubling as a sniper /assault rifle when the stealthy approach fails.

Needless to say, this gameplay gimmicks are flawlessly executed and work wonders to increase the potential of the game which soars in terms of gameplay over Konami's MG series. Furthermore, all of these features are realistically implemented, with realistic gunplay that separates the action parts from the arcadey feel of similar games.

As far as production values the game showcases the tremendous resources Ubisoft has at it's disposal, with a graphic engine that allows for some incredible lightning effects (mostly used for subtle highlights, afternoon sunrays through windows and stuff like that) handles some superb animations, and even showcases spiffy effects such as the video noise in the night or heat vision modes. Soundwise the game holds some treats for EAX surround system owners and finally, the game boasts an excellently designed interface themed as Sam's PDA which allows easy access to all of the game's features, plus putting the final crimson ribbon over a true class-act of a game.

The Bad
There are some minor annoyances that detract from the overall experience, first of all the plot is consistent with the usual military-masturbatory crap that Tom Clancy's novels are usually about, meaning a lot of potentially true scenarios and situations based on real world stuff acted out by cardboard characters. I mean, who were the bad villains in this game? I dunno, I barely remember Sam Fisher because of Mr. Ironside's always impressive work, let alone the goons that surrounded him. In any event, while it may be interesting for military maniacs, the plot leaves a lot to be desired and I personally feel shafted, I mean, why do we have to settle for either this serious but lifeless military scenario or the cheese-filled completely ridiculous melodramas of MGS? Can't we have a middle ground? Dammit...

Anyway, moving on, the game suffers from a little lack of focus in the level design, which clearly had a basic idea of what they were doing but didn't adequate the layout and the challenges to satisfy Sam's skills. The result is that a lot of the wonderful stuff that you can do are barely ever used... The "Jet Li Special"? I used it ONCE in the final level just because I was bored of knocking out my enemies and tried to avoid one with this method. The "shoot-the-tazer-into-a-puddle-of-water-to-shock-multiple-opponents" trick? Once, in China. The remote cams? Once in the building site... Peering though a door? Why if I have that little cam? Retina scanners? I can count their number in the game with one hand... etc. etc. etc.... Basically you'll just use some of the advertised features and forget about the rest.

Finally there are some issues with the less serious elements in the game, minor details that detract from the experience solely on the basis that they break your suspension of disbelief and which include auto-closing doors, really stupid and "forgetful" guards that can have a firefight with you, but if you hide for enough time forget about you ever being there... Oh, and lest I forget: Splinter Cell apparently went to the "Deus Ex School of international characterization" as the game takes you through Russia, China, and lots of other countries populated by people that talk only in badly accented english. I mean, I don't want to be that kind of a bitch but It really kills the mood of a "super secret serious stealth action game" when you eavesdrop the bad chinese general and his henchmen discussing their masterplan in plain english! And let's not even mention the private e-mails and logs that you upload to your pda through the game...

Thief veterans are gonna breeze through this game, with only some idiotic jumping puzzles to offer a challenge to the seasoned Garrett fan.

Oh, and in the endgame the president says "There's no problem American Ingenuity can't solve" :D that line alone made my day. Thankfully Sam seemed to laugh at it with as much sarcasm as I did.

The Bottom Line
In a nutshell Splinter Cell is the serious version of the overhyped crap that has passed as "stealth action" in console-land. Basically Sam Fisher is a grown up Solid Snake trading in the cheesy storylines and arcade gameplay for serious espionage mechanics and carefully designed gameplay aimed towards a more serious audience.

A group of minor flaws take a few notches off Splinter's belt, but nonetheless the game is a fantastic experience and a great addition to the library of the stealth gaming aficionado and something to quench your appetite until the next Thief comes out.

The Good
This game has the best graphics that you can find around. The shadows and light contrast each other making great hiding spots. It's totally amazing how good the gameplay is. It's hard to find a stealth game today which really has to do with stealth. The fact that his suit, weapons, and gadgets are actually being tested by the CIA and other agencies makes it all more beleivable. Although there are only 9 levels, they will keep you playing it for more than 40 hours. Beleive it or not it's that long. Theres only 1 short level. There are absolutely no glitches whatsoever. Even if you stealth games, you should try this one out anyways. It is quite addictive.

The Bad
There are only three bad things. First, the levels asre incredibely hard and long. Second, the enemies s pack a bunch of punch. Third, you will die a bunch so don't get it thinking that you can beat it the first day.

The Bottom Line
This is probabely the best XBOX game yet. It can be annoying in some levels, but ovverall it is an amazing game. Buy it if you can.

The Good
Many tense moments did i experience: softly and ever so slowly stepping closer and closer to the guard in the doorway... only to have him turn around at the last moment! Or, running swiftly through a hallway, quickly whipping out the lockpicking tools, unlocking, opening and then hearing the door close just before a soldier enters this hallway. Phew! Splinter Cell has lots of these moments. As well as exciting combat, beautiful locations to sneak through and an adequate story.

You can use lots of gadgets, look cool using them, admire the sights of a simple light beam rolling over your character 'Sam Fisher' and enjoy figuring out the environment - 'where to go next? and how to get there?'

The Bad
Almost every mission has only one path through it. Rarely have the designers included choices to approach the levels. But, there are still plenty of choices to be made. For example, at what moment to pull a soldier into your shadow.

Sometimes, the behavior of the computer characters is very sharp and observant, at other times they seem to lack eyes and ears.

Some levels have odd (unnatural or illogically constructed) layouts or solutions.

The difficulty levels are the only incentive for playing this game again. If you like to play games on 'Hard' expect only one run through. I don't mind, perhaps you do?

The Bottom Line
Very fun, exciting and thrilling game experience. It has no significant difficulty, so enjoy the ride!

The Good
Even at the begining of the game,I felt like I became Sam Fisher! I wanted to be there in the centre of the action.

The Bad
I found it difficult to hear comments, commands etc given by Lambert and other characters so when given hints on how to proceed I did struggle!

The Bottom Line
Brilliant! Ive heard some bad comments about this game, but all I can say is "Don't knock it until u've tried it"

The Good
This game is everything console games desire or should desire to be. It is extremly immersive, well designed and challenging.

The Bad
HARD! HARD! HARD! Learn by dying has never been my preference for a game. Splinter Cell is filled with it. If you are a patient game player, you can make it through with minimal deaths. Else you will try and try again to make it through, but you should! Each mission has its jewels.

The Bottom Line
Frustrating yet absolutley fun.