Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Xbox)

...noticed Splinter Cell is a Tom Clancy game. However, there isn’t much evidence of this since you play as one character rather than a squad in other Clancy titles such as Ghost Recon. There’s no fiddling about before the mission; all the tactical stuff comes into play while you’re in the thick of it which means you’ll have to keep your wits about you at all times. Another thing which, thankfully, wasn’t included in Splinter ...
...die. Not in Splinter Cell, if you get hit your health bar will only be depleted by roughly a sixth and if that’s still too tough there are plenty of med kits around.

Splinter Cell relies heavily upon stealth. Much more so than Metal Gear. If you get caught then you may fail he mission in certain cases and if a guard sees you, it doesn’t matter how far away they are, you’ll be seen. That’s why you must lurk ... more

Naturally, before playing on Splinter Cell, due to all the rumours about it being an exact copy of Metal Gear, I was sceptical. However, after just a few minutes of playing as Sam Fisher; the third echelon special forces operative, I soon realised how brilliant this game is.

Now, admittedly the name Sam Fisher doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Solid Snake but he is certainly a far better stealth operative with more gadgets, moves and grey hair than Snake could ever muster.

The game starts with two agents lying in the cold spying on an enemy force. They creep into a vent and make their way down to a bunker of sorts. They discover a huge army ready to mobilise and immediately transmit to HQ. Unfortunately before they manage to communicate what they’re seeing in more detail they’re seen by a guard and fired upon. After a bit of running around, or more like sliding around, they manage to navigate their way out of the base only to be met by a couple of helicopters and forced to surrender.

After all of this excitement the scene changes and, instead of being faced with members of a secret army intent on ripping you to pieces, you are met with a friendly face in the form of the main character; Sam Fisher. Not the typical agent; instead of running around in a suit and tie shooting people with a small black pistol, he’s out diving with his daughter. After a minute of piece and calm we soon see the darker side of Sam’s life come into play when the NSA (National Security Agency) activate him and give him the task of finding the two CIA agents who were captured.

After a brief session of training, which helps to familiarise you with the controls more than anything, you are transported to Georgia where you’ll get information about the two missing agents. From here you’ll be sent right into the thick of it fighting the Georgian army, the Chinese, the CIA and whoever else who’s stupid enough to get in your way.

Holster your weapon, don your disguise and prepare to be amazed!

Graphics

I had high hopes for this game in terms of graphics. It looked great on the Xbox and even better on the PC so we weren’t going to be content with anything less. Unfortunately, as usual, the PS2 just couldn’t hack it and the graphics have been lessened for the PS2 version; just a tad though, the difference is hardly noticeable.

The first thing that’ll really hit you when you play on Splinter Cell is the lighting effects. They are absolutely superb. No other game has ever had lighting effects of this quality and they really do stand out. Everything, from the reflections on shiny surfaces to the beams of light gaping out of a closed vent, is jaw dropping stuff.

The environments are also very impressive, ranging from city streets and embassy’s to icy compounds, nothing is out of place. Ubi Soft have got their environment designs on Splinter Cell down to a fine art. The characters are, perhaps, the only flaw in Splinter cell. They’re not particularly bad or even below average but compared with the rest of Splinter Cell’s graphical assets they do seem out of place. When you go into gun aiming mode Sam looks a bit boxy and some enemies to suffer from strange postures from time to time.

All in all, with detailed environments, superb lighting effects and well designed levels, Splinter Cell is nothing short of amazing in this category.

19/20

Sound

The sound effects in Splinter Cell are very impressive. The footsteps when Sam walks along different surfaces are fantastic. Of course this is partly to increase the Stealthy element of the game because you may get heard by an enemy when you walk on gravel or glass for example. The weapon sounds are good with realistic shots and loading noises.

The music in Splinter Cell tries to add to the atmosphere and it does this but only to a certain extent. When you are discovered by an enemy there is a musical reaction but it’s not particularly brilliant. The music that plays while you remain undiscovered is mellow and soft which is good as it doesn’t distract you from the game or the sound effects.

A good effort on this front.

19/20

Gameplay

Many people compare Splinter Cell to Metal Gear Solid 2 and they are right to do this. They are the only major stealth based games on the market at the moment (MGS2 in the form of Substance). The main difference between the two games is that in Metal Gear you can get away with running into a room full of guards all guns blazing and come out relatively unharmed while in Splinter Cell the guards would most probably rip you to pieces. It’s a matter of opinion whether this is a good thing or a bad thing but whatever you may think of it, it makes Splinter Cell an extremely, extremely hard game. In fact this is probably one of the hardest games I’ve ever played on.

Stealth is essential in Splinter Cell and without it you’ll die straight away and that’s a guarantee. However, I’m not by any means saying that Splinter Cell doesn’t contain its fair share of action. On the contrary; there are lots of exciting new ways to attack your enemies. You can interrogate them, use them as human shields, knock them out or simply put a bullet in their head.

There are also many new innovative new gadgets to choose from such as remote cameras, which you fire onto a wall via your grenade launcher, once on the wall they can be used to see what's going on, distract your enemy and knock him out using gas implanted in a canister inside the camera. Another example of Ubi Soft’s ingenuity is the optical wire which you place underneath a doorway and then look through it to see what’s going on behind the door. This tool could mean the difference between life and death since there could be a horde of guards on the other side. Something else which impressed us was the ability to pick locks. Now this has been done before but in Splinter Cell you don’t just press a button and watch Sam pick the lock you actually have to do it manually yourself. Don’t worry its not too tricky but it may require some patience from time to time.

As you may of noticed Splinter Cell is a Tom Clancy game. However, there isn’t much evidence of this since you play as one character rather than a squad in other Clancy titles such as Ghost Recon. There’s no fiddling about before the mission; all the tactical stuff comes into play while you’re in the thick of it which means you’ll have to keep your wits about you at all times. Another thing which, thankfully, wasn’t included in Splinter Cell was the trademark Clancy; if you get shot you die. Not in Splinter Cell, if you get hit your health bar will only be depleted by roughly a sixth and if that’s still too tough there are plenty of med kits around.

Splinter Cell relies heavily upon stealth. Much more so than Metal Gear. If you get caught then you may fail he mission in certain cases and if a guard sees you, it doesn’t matter how far away they are, you’ll be seen. That’s why you must lurk in the shadows, creep past guards, shoot lights out and use your night vision goggles to navigate your way around, of course if you don’t want to waste ammunition then you can always switch the light off using the button usually found near the doorway.

Of course you can still use your weapons, after all that’s what they’re for. However, if you use them too much and you find yourself capping guards in every situation rather than creeping past them then you’re doing something wrong. You’ll soon run out of ammo and that could leave you in a tight spot if you’re discovered; with no ammunition to protect yourself with there’s no way of escaping guards if the alarm is sounded. It’s a matter of trying to find the right balance in most situations. Usually stealth is more affective but requires more skill. Unfortunately, for the most part, there’s no other alternative. If you prefer basic shooters such as Medal of Honour to stealth games such as Metal Gear then this isn’t the game for you.

This is a fantastic game, nobody’s debating that, but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, if you like traversing walls, creeping through secure compounds, interrogating enemies, bringing down plans for terrorist campaigns and lurking in the shadows before swiftly taking out the enemy then you’re guaranteed to love this.

Xbox owners never should have let this go!

25/25

Lifespan

With a whole new level added to the PS2 version Splinter Cell should leave you on the edge of your seat for at least two weeks. During the actual game there’s plenty to do with many exciting missions to complete. Unfortunately once the game is completed there’s little replay factor. You may want to replay a few levels to recapture some of Splinter Cell’s old charm but after a while you’ll soon get bored.

Ubi Soft should have added a few extra features, perhaps some side missions for example. The actual game itself is quite long which makes up for the lack of a replay factor. They had to make a mistake somewhere and this is where it was. Still very good though.

22/25

Originality

Splinter Cell is a Clancy game by name and, in some ways, by nature. It has some common traits of a Clancy game, its stealthy, its hard and its deadly. However, unlike other Clancy titles where a lot of pre mission planning is involved and you control a team of commandos, splinter Cell sees you controlling a lone operative. Although there is a lot of thinking involved during the mission there is no pre mission setup. This isn’t a tactical shooter, this is a stealth based masterpiece.

In many ways Splinter Cell is similar to Metal Gear Solid 2. However, despite the fact that a few basic ideas may of come from MGS2, it is more than obvious that Splinter Cell surpasses Metal Gear in every way possible. Splinter Cell has taken some basic ideas from Metal Gear and improved upon them while, at the same time, employing lots of new, innovative features.

8/10

Overall

This game will leave you in a state of shock. If you suffer from heart problems then it’s probably not a good idea to get Splinter Cell as it may leave you in Cardiac arrest. This game is innovative, atmospheric and incredibly exciting. It was a huge success on the Xbox and if you are an Xbox owner and you haven’t already got it then you should see your GP. We still say it was better on the Xbox though but this is no reason not to get it for the PS2.

Get this game, do anything, get it off a dodgy internet site if its not in the shops, sell a family member if you don’t have the money! Whatever you do make getting Splinter Cell a priority!

93%

Also written for www.ps2update.net

 

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