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Splinter Cell - Extensive Review Review

Chris Leyton

02/12/2002

We check out the latest pretender to Solid Snake's crown...

Billed as a Metal Gear Solid beater, the game Kojima himself couldnât wait to play; Splinter Cell is a revolutionary title that moves the stealth genre forward in so many ways. Set in a near-future Tom Clancy inspired fictional world; the issues of global warfare and cyber-terrorism bear uncanny characteristics to the events of real-life conflicts.

Players assume the role of Sam Fisher; the sole field operative of the secretive âblack opsâ NSA sub agency Third Echelon, a division set up to counter the growing use of digital encryption to conceal potential threats to the national security of the United States of America.

The games story focuses on events in the former Soviet republic state of Georgia; Fisher is sent into the area when communication with two American agents stops. The resulting missionâs see you embarking on a rich range of tasks, ranging from infiltrating the CIA to escaping from an oli-rig that is currently being besieged by US air attacks! Fake newscasts progress the story between missions, but unfortunately these are bizarrely poor in comparison to the rest of the game; the visuals look bland and the scripting seems to be a little whimsical considering that Tom Clancy has drafted these himself.

Much has been made of the games graphics engine, getting straight to the point it features the best lighting system weâve seen in any videogame to date and more importantly ushers in a new element to the stealth-based genre. Because the gameâs environments are all dynamically lit, Splinter Cell places more emphasis on concealing yourself in the dark and using light/dark to your advantages then weâve ever seen before.

However whilst the gob-smacking visuals and high production values will grab you from the onset, itâs the vital gameplay components that mark Splinter Cell out as a true AAA title. For starters the range of moves available to Fisher and the freedom of the character feel a world apart to the rather limited repertoire of Solid Snake; Sam can perform all of the traditional moves associated with a game of this type, i.e. sneak around with his wall to back, hang off ledges and using the enemy as human shields; but thanks to the sole ability to jump youâll find Splinter Cell is a much more rewarding game then even the mighty Metal Gear Solid 2! Being able to jump removes all the restrictions and stilted nature most commonly associated with games of this type, it also opens up a range of ultra cool moves, such as being able to perform a double split-jump and hang there, giving you an optimal firing position or the ability to fall on top of unsuspecting victims rendering them unconscious in the process. Other features include opening the door slightly to get an insightful view before you enter, abseiling down the walls and sliding down zip-lines, this game never grows tired and always chucks in something new to sustain your interest.

With every good stealth game comes a range of stylish gadgets to use, and in this respect Splinter Cell once again dutifully obliges. To begin with youâll have quite a limited selection of weapons and gadgets; a 9mm pistol provides your sole weapon count, however itâs the lock-pick and optical cam that immediately stand out. Now I know what youâre thinking, how on earth can a lockpick provide any entertainment? Well itâs all down to the execution and implementation; to successfully unlock a door youâll have to rotate the analogue stick until you hear a click, then slowly rotate the other way until you hear another click, youâve then got your radius of movement, keep moving between this and youâll eventually hook the latch and open the door; itâs hard to explain but when youâre frantically trying to open the door it just adds to the whole atmosphere and shows the level of attention Ubi Soft Montreal have paid to getting everything in the game spot on. Many will know the Optical Cam, it allows you to scope out an area by sliding a section of fibre-optics under the door and scouting it out. Whilst the gadgets do provide that âcoolâ aspect they actually prove to be essential to successfully navigating areas as quietly as possible. As you progress through the game your range of gadgets will increase, including night-vision and thermal goggles (very cool), the SC-20K AR that starts out as an assault rifle but provides a variety of secondary functions such as stun-darts, gas grenades and the infamous stick-cam (very, very cool), which allows you to fire a camera and then scout out locations with zoom and pan features along with using night and thermal layers! Once again youâll never grow bored with the rich range of weapons and gadgets available to Fisher, and thankfully they donât feel as theyâve been included just for the sake of it, every one proves to be a crucial tool in gaining success.

Despite all the good ideas, Splinter Cell could have gone disastrously wrong if Ubi Soft Montreal had got the basics wrong; fortunately the controls have been intelligently mapped to the Xbox pad and the camera provides little frustration. Using the tried-and-tested combination of look and move controls to the twin analogue sticks, the face buttons control a range of moves including jump, crouch, select/deselect and finally a context sensitive button. The Black and White buttons are used to good effect to bring up your inventory and crouch up against a wall respectively, whilst the trigger buttons are used for a variety of manoeuvres but are primarily focussed on firing your weapons and gadgets.

The game uses a manual camera that is completely controlled with the right stick; thanks to a sublimely implemented system that rivals Haloâs set-up procedures, the game will work out the correct sensitivity along the axis during the training mission. To begin with itâs likely youâll find the camera to be troublesome as youâre constantly having to adjust it, however it is the only option available as you do need to make quick decisions based on quick movements and to be fair most people will have it under control after the first few hours of playing.

Itâs also the little touches that make Splinter Cell the game it truly is; papers, leaves and celebratory flags all flap around in the wind; grab an enemy character and you can interrogate him for details or force him to use a retina-scan allowing you pass through a locked area; listen carefully to characters and you can hear full blown conversations that could prove handy in the success of your mission!

Because the game places so much emphasis on getting everything right, i.e. remaining in shadows and being as quiet as possible, the game can take on a trial-and-error approach whereby youâve just got to work out the correct strategy to progress. Although this can be annoying at times, it never becomes frustrating and youâll still find yourself incessantly playing, the developers have included a considerable amount of checkpoints/save locations through each mission, which further helps to alleviate any frustration worries; to be fair itâs quite simple - the more you play, the more youâll get into the mindset required and begin to make fewer and fewer mistakes.

If you had to try and find problems with Splinter Cell, you could complain that the game does feel a little too scripted; key events are triggered when youâve past a certain point and this does break the illusion once youâve realised that there is no real sense of urgency or rush to the proceedings, the same can be said to enemy patrols as youâll wait forever for a troop to pass by and eventually realise that youâve got to inch forward in order to activate his patrol.

A lot has already been said about the visual in Splinter Cell, itâs true that the game is one of the most exceptional titles weâve seen. To be fair polygon counts on objects and characters are not too high, whilst weâve certainly seen better texture quality and distinction. However the lighting system adds a sense of realism sorely lacking in most titles; every object creates a realistic shadow, whilst these are cast on any object in its path. As functional as it is, it also look wonderfully beautiful; an orange glow through Venetian blinds, the green glow of a laser-pad security system; if your jaw doesnât drop when you see this game in action then youâre either a) Sony fanboy b) 80 year-old with a metal jaw!!!

To add to the effect is some wonderfully convincing animation; the animators chose to go for hand-drawn animation as opposed to Motion-Capture, which lends a certain sense of style and panache missing in MoCap titles; however the accuracy to real-life says a lot about the quality and skill the animators at Ubi Soft Montreal possess, all you need to do is take a look at Fisherâs movements as he advances from a tip-toe to sprint as you press harder on the analogue stick to understand this.

There are a few niggles; for starters poor collision detection results in the usual bodies merging with walls and guns popping through doors, there are also some issues with aliasing problems. We would also like to have seen a fully realised physics engine implemented; as Hitman2 recently proved, it adds so much to the illusion when you see bodies full realistically down stairs and objects fly off accordingly. To be honest these are minor niggles when you take into consideration the overall quality of the visuals, however they would have helped to immerse the player further into the game; hereâs hoping for Splinter Cell 2???

The quality is evident through every aspect of Splinter Cell; even the soundtrack feels epic and has movie-like qualities. A wide range of musical styles are evident, however the basic gist is an ambient scores that help to set the tone of the adventure, whilst more dramatic music kicks in when patrols are alerted and when youâve reached certain key-points. Despite a dodgy use of clichéd Russian and Chinese accents, the voice acting is generally of a high quality, in particular Fisherâs gruff voice provided by Michael Ironside (Starship Troopers, TopGun), which is perfectly apt and helps you to bond instantly to the character.

(*Interest* This is Michael Ironsideâ second videogame voice acting job after providing the voice work for Commander Mason in Run Like Hell).

Completing the package are a range of DVD styled âmaking-ofâ documentaries and goofy video-footage, unfortunately Sam chose not to announce whether he has been signed on for Splinter Cell 2, our guess would have to be a definite yes. Thereâs also an intriguing Xbox Live! option, which suggests that downloadable content and new missions are on the way; more for free you canât complain about that!