See how the latest game based on the Tom Clancy license is coming along.

Based in the Tom Clancy universe, Splinter Cell sees you take control of a real badass secret service agent in order to defend the United States at the highest level. Unlike previous games based on the author’s work which were very tactical squad based affairs Splinter Cell looks to have taken cues from games such as Metal Gear Solid to produce a far more console orientated experience. <br /> <br /> As Sam Fisher you operate alone within a top-secret group called The Third Echelon who are at the command of the National Security Agency. There is naturally a rather large plot going on involving terrorism, secrecy and no doubt a large degree of intrigue and double crossing. The plot will give rise to many different styles of gameplay within the dozen or so missions that you get to take on. So far specifics about the plot are under wraps, understandably considering it’s hopefully going to be full of twists and turns. Thankfully some of the cool gameplay features have been revealed, and the operative word here is cool because some of the stuff you can do is just, well, let us explain. <br /> <br /> Because you are a single operative rather than a team you have more freedom to operate and also from a gameplay point of view it means that you can do more things with more responsiveness. The development team has really gone to town with having the notion a tooled up highly skilled agent at your disposal. For instance in a narrow corridor you can move up using your legs to balance above head height, sort of doing the splits in mid air. From this position you can fire your gun or drop down and bump off your opponent with a quick twist of the neck. Cool. You can also slide fibre optic wires under doors to see what is on the other side. Again this is cool, you can shoot a fish tank, let water come out and then electrocute people standing in it by firing a tazer at it. <br /> <br /> You have to be stealthy in this game but that means a lot more than just getting out of the field of view of guards or cameras. You have a meter measuring how stealthy you are and you need to use the shadows and the full three dimensions of the levels that you are in to avoid the enemy. The meter takes a lot of factors, not just whether you are in the shadows but whether you are crouching, lying or standing or in the line of sight of enemies and such like. Sound is also a factor with the stealth meter so you need to be aware of objects on tables that you shouldn’t knock off, creaky floors and broken glass as all of these can alert guards to your presence. To help you avoid hazards there are many gadgets available from the fibre optic cable we already mentioned to a wide array of goggles such as night vision and heat tracking. The implementation of these different visual modes is wonderful with the graphical effects looking stunning in motion. <br /> <br /> Indeed it is not just the special visual modes that look good, all of Splinter Cell is rather pretty. Lighting is of particular note with shafts of light casting accurate shadows on walls and characters, it’s not quite Doom 3 but it’s some of the most impressive real-time lighting seen yet on a console. The lighting is not just for show though as it will affect how you approach a situation and what tactics are suitable. Animation is of a high quality with plenty of nice little touches that look good and aid gameplay, for instance the ability to shoot around corners just by poking your head and gun out rather than more of your body. <br /> <br /> The controls seem pretty intuitive with things such as jumping being context sensitive meaning that you will not jump around like an idiot when all you wanted to do was reach up to a ledge just in front of you. All of the gadgets and weapons you have are accessed via menus called up with the d-pad and this quickly becomes intuitive. Shooting is done in the third person and when you tap X to aim the camera swoops down to an over the shoulder view allowing you to get a better view of your target. When you are aiming you can still move around but you will be less manuverable due to being in a firing position. <br /> <br /> Missions will be varied and there will be a mix of high stealth with some levels that give you a little bit more freedom when it comes to gunplay. With civilians and unarmed characters who you need to interact with as well as gun toting bad guys there will be a lot of action in the levels themselves and you have to think before you shoot, or indeed think how you can avoid shooting. Your armoury has not been fully revealed, Ubi Soft are probably keen to keep the really cool stuff under wraps. So far we know that you will be able to use some pretty standard weaponry such as a silenced pistol, tazer, sniper rifle and assault rifle. There will of course be lots more cool gadgets and instances where you need to use the environment to do a bit of puzzle solving as well so you should be constantly on your toes and on the look out.