Xbox owners have
been enjoying Splinter Cell for the last few months, but it is finally
time for the rest of us to get to play it. The PC version is out now
with the GameCube and Playstation 2 versions coming along shortly.
Despite all of the hype surrounding Splinter Cell and the critical
praise it has gotten, it definitely isnt for everybody. It features the
same plodding pace and extreme realism that all Tom Clancy games share,
just in a slightly different format. If you are a fan of Rainbow Six or
Ghost Recon, then you will probably fall in love with Splinter Cell
after the first level. If, however, you arent a Tom Clancy fan or you
are expecting a "MGS killer", Im afraid you are going to be rather
disappointed.In
Tom Clancys Splinter Cell you are Sam Fisher, an operative working for
the top secret NSA group known as Third Echelon. To put it simply, Third
Echelon marks a return to the classic style of espionage in the world.
You must get in and get out without leaving a trace on any physical or
political map. You are supplied with the newest technology in order to
help you remain undetected at all costs, but also to allow you to kill
if you need to. You are a one-man intelligence gathering force, better
known as a Splinter Cell.
At your command
as you progress through the nine missions are several moves that youll
have to perform in almost every mission. You can jump up and grab ledges
or pipes and climb on them and you can also use zip-lines to go from
rooftop to rooftop. You can press up against a wall to sink even deeper
into the shadows or to go into narrow spaces. You can perform a double
jump off of a wall (jump and then jump again to kick off of the wall) to
reach high ledges. And you can also perform a split jump where you jump
off of the walls in a narrow hallway until Fisher holds himself up by
doing the splits between the two walls. You have to use all of these
moves and more in order to progress through the levels. It is a pretty
good bet that if you are stuck in an area, a wall jump or climbing up a
pipe is all it will take to get you moving forward again.
The gadgets and
weapons at Fishers disposal are very impressive. There are a handful of
pistols and rifles that can use both lethal and non-lethal ammunition,
but you wont be using them on humans all that much. Most of the time
youll be shooting cameras and lights. The gadgets include a lock pick,
laser microphone, and an optic cable that allows you to see under locked
doors. Night and thermal vision goggles also play a very big role in
Splinter Cell. There are a lot of mission specific items and other
doohickeys that are all fun to experiment with. I never thought that the
item I would use the most would be a soda can, but it is an excellent
way to divert an enemies attention.
All of the moves
and gadgets are surprisingly easy to use. At first I was a little turned
off by the fact you cant use a gamepad to play Splinter Cell, but the
keyboard/mouse setup actually works incredibly well for this type of
game. You move with the A,W,S,D keys and aim and look around with the
mouse. To increase how fast you are moving, you simply move the mouse
wheel up or down. This feature is awkward at first, but it becomes
second nature after you miss your first jump or two. All in all, the
entire setup works incredibly well. Aiming is easy using the mouse
because the camera shifts to an over the shoulder shot whenever you have
a weapon out. Using gadgets is easy and is made more fun by the amount
of control you have. Using the lock pick requires you to press
directional buttons to pick the lock yourself. The jump function is
assigned to the shift key and it is the only thing I ever really had
problems with. Once you get used to everything, though, it is hard to
imagine playing Splinter Cell with a standard console controller ever
again.
The
gameplay in Splinter Cell is rather slow paced like all of the Tom
Clancy games. Most of your time is spent hiding in the shadows and
watching what everyone else is doing. In a lot of the missions, you
arent allowed to kill anyone and if someone hits the alarm, it is
mission over. One of my biggest gripes with Splinter Cell is that you
have to play though the same section of a mission dozens of times before
you get everything right. Also, once you do get through a tricky section
of a level, you have no real indication of where to go next. Luckily,
the levels are designed in a very linear manner that only allows for you
to go forward to the next objective. Of course, sometimes it takes a bit
of looking around at your surroundings before you find the pipe you have
to climb or the wall you have to jump over.
Also,
the game is exceptionally difficult. The difference between passing and
failing a mission is two fingers of a corpse hanging out from the
"extremely dark" shadows into the "pretty damn dark" shadows. You
absolutely must hide yourself as well as possible as well as hide any
dead bodies as well as you possibly can. The game is also made more
difficult by the fact that it is very linear. There is always one and
only one way to do things, even if it isnt the best way. Like I said
above, you spend a lot of time watching everything that is going on. A
lot of the events, like a guard going on patrol, are scripted and only
happen once you reach a certain point on the map. This is a lot of the
reason why it takes literally dozens of restarts to complete a level.
First you have to learn the scripted events, then you have to learn the
patterns of cameras and guards, then you have to sneak through to the
next set piece. You can save wherever you want, which is helpful, but it
doesnt make the game any less frustrating. The key to Splinter Cell is
going slow and learning what to do. This is a frustrating process,
though, and some people just wont have the patience to finish the game.
Graphically,
Splinter Cell is absolutely gorgeous. The lighting effects are very
realistic and are a large reason why the game looks as good as it does.
Character models are very detailed and very well animated. All of this
visual splendor comes at a pretty high price, however, so unless you
have a high-end machine you are probably better off playing the console
versions of Splinter Cell. Even if you meet the recommended specs, dont
expect a very pretty picture. On the machine I played it on, which was
well above the recommended specs, there were some framerate issues in
areas with a lot of lighting effects. Also, some textures would go all
flickery and even turn black when I looked at them at certain camera
angles. For the most part, though, the game ran fine and looked
gorgeous. Splinter Cell is easily one of the best looking games I have
so far laid eyes upon.
The
sound in Splinter Cell is also very good. There is a lot of spoken
dialogue in the game, and all of it is crisp and clear. Sci-fi "B" movie
cult hero Michael Ironside provides the voice of Fisher, and he was
absolutely perfect for the role. The sound of a soda can or a wine
bottle hitting the ground is perfect, as well as the sounds of
explosions and gunfire. The music in the game sounds great and will
change depending on what is going on around you.
I
have one more minor gripe with Splinter Cell that I think should be
addressed. From what I have heard from people and read on Ubi Softs own
troubleshooting boards, a majority of the people that buy Splinter Cell
cant get it to work after they first install it. For a lot of people,
myself included, all it took to get the game running was to download the
newest drivers for their video card. For other people, the problem was
much more severe and a lot harder to solve. And everyone, no matter what
the problem, has to edit an ini file to get it working. I wouldnt
bother to mention this usually, but since almost everyone has this
problem I thought it was worth calling attention to. If you have
purchased Splinter Cell and cant get it working, dont worry. There are
people on the net that can help you.
Overall,
Splinter Cell is a good game that falls just shy of greatness. It looks
and sounds great and controls very well, but the linear gameplay and
high frustration factor can turn some people away. Also, if you are not
a fan of the pacing or style of the other Tom Clancy games, dont expect
anything different from Splinter Cell. If you like Ghost Recon and
Rainbow Six, you will probably love it. As long as you know what to
expect from it, Splinter Cell is a solid purchase.