Splinter Cell
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Publisher: Ubi Soft Entertainment Software
Developer: Ubi Soft Montreal Studios
Platform: Windows, Playstation2, Xbox, N-Gage, Gamecube, Game Boy Advance.
Released: 18 02 2003.
Publisher: Aspyr Media
Platform: MAC.(DVD)
Released: 2004(?)
Action, Espionage, stealth.
3rd person perspective
PEGI: +12, bad language and violence
ESRB: TEEN, 13+
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- Minimum Configuration:
800 MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon
256 MBytes RAM
DirectX 8.1b
32 MBytes video card
DirectX 8.1b compatible sound card
8x speed CD/DVD-ROM drive
1,5 GB Hard Drive Space
- Recommended Configuration:
1000 MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon or better
256 MBytes RAM or better
DirectX 9
64 MBytes video card
DirectX 9 compatible sound card with surround system
8x speed CD/DVD-ROM drive
2,1 GB Hard Drive Space
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Fisher, Sam fisher is the name, the main character in this action and adventure game. Not just a bloke from around the corner, oh no, a skilled field agent, a cell in a greater scheme, a splinter cell. The story is simple: you will have to obey orders, go here, go there and do the stuff your chief expects to be done. The objectives aren't easy to accomplish and the goals of the missions are flexible, they vary whilst you are on mission in hostile environments. Nothing is certain as the missions are guided through your headset and altered in accordance with the situation on the hot spot. You are in the middle of this hot spot, good luck Sam Fisher you will need it.
That's about it, the story in a nutshell. That and invisibility, the less people can spot you whilst you are in mission duty, the greater the chances you will survive and accomplish the mission. That's the reason you're dressed in black wearing some weird tubes on your head, the tubes will give you the capacity to use night sight and heat sight through the thermal goggles. This night sight is surrealistic, granulated and in black&white or black&grey, occasional lights will give you a whole blind spot when using those nightgoggles.
Maybe the game at first will look a bit difficult, but luckily you will get a whole training. This training covers all the possible moves and actions that are available in Splinter Cell. All the stealth techniques, the opening of locked doors, grabbing guards from behind and retrieving vital information from those, using the guards to open secured doors or even use their eyes as key on the retinal scanners. Disabling cameras where possible, otherwise sneak around out of sight. You will get your first shooting practice on light bulbs. Oh yes, you will learn, learn or fail no other possibility.
Graphically this game is excellent, certainly for a game released in 2003, light effects the whole game through, and pretty well done, the lightning effects in this game are simply gorgeous. Shame the cutscenes are a bit of the outdated kind, they look made in 800x600, this game deserves much better.
The sounds are good balanced, voices perfectly understandable. Music you say? As usual I cut that boring noise down and put my own lovely noise in my stereo, yep, nothing can beat ACDC or CCR, nothing.
The gameplay of this game has agreeably surprised me, to be honest I wasn't expecting a really good game, I was wrong, this game is worth playing.
All good then? Ah, as usual it's not all excellent.
Already mentioned the lower resolutions in the cutscenes.
Another light annoyance are the extra secondary personages, they constantly walk around on balconies or continually doing the same street route, all over and over again. They are there with only one purpose: giving you an extra difficulty to overcome.
The AI of your opponents isn't very bright, honestly put: your enemies are the stupid kind. When you knock a guard out and have laid the body out of sight, sometimes a second guard will miss his fellow, usually they come look for him, don't find him and walk away, just walk away, no alarm is given. Not very realistic this behaviour.
To accomplish a mission you will have to follow the predefined storyline, the freedom of walking outside the lines is not there. It gives a feeling of narrow guidance, slip lines are present where you need them, strange, weird even.
To conclude:
All by all this game is worth to be played. The flaws don't screw up the gameplay. Once you have finished a mission, you can replay it, finish the game and you can replay every mission that you want.
