PC Version Reviewed

You have been given the
fifth freedom, the right to commit espionage, kill terrorists,
and to defend the United States against any threat
foreign or domestic. You are Sam Fisher, a splinter cell. A member
of the National Security Agency’s “Third Echelon” division,
a
black ops spearhead group that tries to prevent all threats to the
nation. Set in the near future, Splinter Cell deals with political
turmoil in the same region as Ghost Recon, Georgia. No not the state,
the former Soviet nation of Georgia.

It’s 2004, a new
President has taken control of Georgia due to an uprising, and
things are starting to change for the better
in the country. This guy seems to be willing to work with the United
States and her allies to promote peace and all of that good jazz.
However,
something more sinister is rearing its ugly head, and as the game
progresses, it is apparent that the new Georgian President isn’t
as peaceful as he wants the world to believe he is.

The story is told through clippings from the television news between
missions and through what bits of intelligence you can collect throughout
the course of your mission.
Thankfully though, if you happen to miss a bit of intelligence in the course
of a mission, you don’t miss the complete Splinter Cell storyline, which is
really good, because sometimes, it just isn’t possible to hack into every single
computer, especially during
the mission that takes place at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters
in Langley, Virginia. We’ll get to more on that mission later, though.

The action is viewed from
a 3rd person perspective, like Tomb Raider, but is a lot different.
To be honest, when I first played the game
the only thing went through my head was; “Ewwww…3rd person
perspective..how am I going to be able to shoot people
in 3rd person mode?” The designers came up with a clever way
to handle this problem; when you dig out your sidearm, the view changes
dramatically, so instead of trying to aim for a target in true 3rd
person mode, the view switches to an almost over-the-shoulder 3rd
person view, making aiming and gameplay better.

The graphics are superbly done, but it is not the graphics that
make this game great, it is the shadow and lighting. In just about
every level there are places to sneak in and hide, unlike some games,
there is not a sharp contrast between complete light and complete
darkness. The closer you get to a spot that is completely dark, the
less light there is in the
game, just like in real life.

The gadgets featured in the game are pretty darn nice. There is
an optical camera that you can slide underneath the cracks in the
doors to get a look at the next room, all important data is stored
on an OPSAT (it’s basically a PALM pilot strapped to the arm
of Fisher), there is also automatic lock picks and regular lock picks
as well. The weapons I have encountered are pretty standard, the
only weapons you are allowed in the game is a silenced 9mm pistol
and a weapon called the Bullpup. The Bullpup can outfit several different
gadgets, such as one that allows you to make a camera go ‘blind.’
Also can’t forget the standard night vision goggles and the thermal
vision mode that is accessed later in the game. As for game play,
overall, the missions range from average to damn hard. Some missions
you’ll make a stupid mistake on and have to repeat it several times
until you do get it right (which is a pain), there are some missions
that you want to replay just to repeat some cool sequences (there
is one mission where you get to rappel down the side of a building
and then enter via an open window.) However, there is one mission
where most people have a very difficult getting through, that mission
is the one in the CIA Headquarters. You cannot kill anyone, you can
knock people out, but if you don’t hide the body well enough, the
alarm will go off and then, its game over.

One more complaint that I have with the game is the lack of thermal
vision goggles up until the CIA mission. Those would have been
very useful early on in the game, especially in the mission where
you
have to break into the Georgian political offices. Not to mention
that at sometimes, it is much easier to use the night vision goggles.
Although the good thing is that the AI is very superb. Most games
have AI problems early on, but,
thankfully, Splinter Cell doesn’t have this problem. Other than
minor complaints, Splinter Cell lived up to my expectations and
this is
a game that everyone should have for their PC, Xbox, PS2 or GameCube.

Final Grade: A