Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 2/14/05
This is a game of stealth. Does that really sound like a lot of fun? Taking your time to sneak around slowly in a game? Well I didn't think so at first, but it sorta grew on me. Though it is clearly trumped by the Gamecube port of the original and much better Metal Gear Solid, this game does some things on its own very well.
One is the plot. You begin to investigate the disappearance of two CIA agents and instead unravel some darker secrets that they were killed trying to uncover. I don't want to give it away, but it does seem very plausible in real life at least the parts I can remember. There are a lot of twists along the way, but so much so that along with the long levels, you sometimes forget why you were doing what you were doing until the recaps between levels. Another good thing is the focus on lighting and shadowing which contributes to the stealth aspect. You have a meter to tell you how dark it is where you're standing and in a very dark corner you can hide from enemies who are standing just a few feet from you; retarded, but helpful. Shadows are very realistic and make an uninhabited room seem more tense.
It's also amusing to hear the bad guys argue amongst themselves over cigarettes, or to hear them become completely confused when you shoot a light out and hear, "I don't underSTAND!" "Weird...!" "This is probably BAD" Hearing the Chinese guards say "OH CRAP" never gets old. The accents match the area you are in and the voice-overs are great, but some get played over and over and the lyp-syncing looks like it was made by watching gorillas. You can try it now; look in the mirror and pucker and purse your lips over and over and you get a good idea of what it's like. Hearing the characters think aloud to themselves, along with the information you intercept and read off their computers adds a human element to the enemy; on the other hand, all the guards in an area are clones (UBIsoft is just racist and hates asians).
Which is another high part. This game is all about sneaking, and the tenseness and danger of being suddenly caught by a guard is fun (to me), and even more so when you figure out how to silently dispatch a handful of guards and advance. There are some very tricky, and often unfair situations, however, which force you to play over and over again. Once you overcome this frustration and once you realize your bullets can last a long time, you tend to come out with guns blazing with anger. Though the game is very linear with few alternate paths, you have a few options when it comes to taking out guards; sometimes you can simply shoot them, other times you're not allowed to and must simply sit silently and memorize their patterns to make the perfect move and take them down. Other times you can toss a soda can near them or shoot a light out to completely baffle them and make your move from there, and there are a bunch of gadgets, like a mini camera you can shoot and retrieve. Once you figure out how to use bodies as bait, all rooms with multiple guards become a piece of cake. Once a guard begins the kneeling down to revive a body animation, you can run up on him as loud as you want, and punch him out. Glitches like these show the lack of effort put in to this port. There are some non-lethal weapons you can use as well. It's much more fun and rewarding taking the stealthier route but at least the levels change it up every now and then. Once you master the tricks in this game, you've mastered all of this game's sequels.
A couple of problems are apparent, though. The controls and animation are a little stiff and the camera isn't very helpful sometimes. There is a punch button for example to use in case you're in front of an enemy but instead of being able to punch several times in a row, Sam instead places his hands to his side immediately after punching, patiently waiting for the next round of bullets to hit him; the barrel roll is completely useless. The levels are all separated by short news clips which appear to flip channels repeatedly, just barely allowing you to see how your actions have affected the world, like an ADHD trip. I guess it's artsy. The music, though it sets the mood for tension and plays intensely when an enemy definitely is looking for you, is pretty dull and forgettable. Sound effects get the job done, with approaching footsteps able to be heard, though a sound meter would've been nice; you can hear the whirring of a security camera, chatter on enemy walkie-talkies, or a guard thinking not-so-subtly aloud, "I HEARD something..." which is the main thing you'll need to be listening for.
Control: 6.5 Lots of pretty cool but useless moves, stiff animation makes control frustrating
Graphics: 7.9 Amazing pixilation from the Xbox left over, but the lighting is great if you can overlook that
Sound: 7.5 Nothing spectacular or memorable, though the voice acting is very good
Gameplay: 7.5 Some sweet cat-and-mouse situations and pretty good weapons and gadgets make for good times. Replaying sections over and over and having to hide bodies is still annoying.
Lastability: 6.5 Depending on whether you REALLY like stealth you might try to run through again on hard; there are a couple extras
Overall: 7.5 There are few things this game does great or different, but there are some great moments and a good plot. Fun but occasionally tedious
It's probably available for cheap now so get it if you CRAVE stealth games and already have Metal Gear Solid and already have every good game from the past 4 years
Topic: Entire GC collection reviewed (sort of) (Read 8165 times)
