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Splinter CEll new game to the xbox console and
not a disappointment at that brings every thing together other shooters couldnt
Tom Clancy's novels are all about true-to-life accuracy in terms of equipment, locations and believable storylines, which means a videogame based in the "Clancy-verse" will have plenty of the same. Ubi Soft's Splinter Cell should be one of the hottest Xbox titles to hit shelves this year because it's steeped in that Tom Clancy brand of realism that makes super-cool, super stealthy secret operatives so believable.
The storyline should definitely do its part to carry a third person action title, but with pedigree like this, Splinter Cell hast that aspect more than covered. You'll play as Sam Fisher, an operative with the ultimate clearance by the U.S. government to use whatever means necessary to ensure the safety and well being of this land of the free and home of the brave. You are the splinter cell operating just on the fringes of the group The Third Echelon, which is itself an elite field operations unit at the service of the National Security Agency. Like all good espionage games, there's something wrong going on and you have to get to the bottom of it.
Unlike those other breakthrough Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear there are no teammates to worry about or plans to coordinate in Splinter Cell. You are the force to be reckoned with. Players can expect about 14-15 levels of action with a mixture of assault, escort and rescue elements scattered throughout all of the levels. That is, one level may have you sneaking into a facility, opening up a full blown can of whoop as on enemies, securing that precious secret file and escaping rather than one type of gameplay for each level.
We recently had an up close look at Splinter Cell and came away convinced that this could be a game that'll stop Xbox owners from worrying about Metal Gear Solid 2's fate on the system. It just won't matter.
Aaron's Take
The list of things Sam Fisher can do in Splinter Cell reads like a list of "cool stuff they should let you do in videogames." You're the ultimate covert operative, dressed in black with utility belts and straps filled with awesome toys and gadgets, so I was delighted to find out that they also let you do fundamental physical tasks that make covert operatives even more deadly. Perhaps a couple of comparison with Hideo Kojima's masterpiece can illustrate it best.
Solid Snake/Raiden could hide behind corners and boxes and wheel around for a shot at the bad guys. That was cool, but Sam can hide behind corners and still shoot bad guys by reaching his pistol around the corner and barely peeking his head out, thereby staying covered.
When walking down narrow passageways, say 5-6 feet wide, Fisher can jump up off the floor and wedge himself between the walls with his legs spread wide open and a foot on each wall. Think back to the worst, okay any, Jean Claude Van Damme movie where he'd do the splits to avoid danger, and you'll get the idea. In fact maybe Jackie Chan's wall-wedge-splits move is a better example because he'd continue to kick ass while in that position, just like Sam Fisher can do in Splinter Cell. Raiden/Snake, when walking down a narrow passageway, can get shot. Does this splits move aid Fisher in any way? Not sure, but it looks damn cool to be up doing the splits between two walls and firing his rifle at enemies.
Other real time moves we observed included a shock attack on two guards that happened to be standing in a puddle of water. Sneaking up on them, Fisher fired a tazer weapon at them and by the time they turned to react to the shots, they started convulsing and collapsed. This is one of many nonlethal, and therefore important moves, you'll have at your disposal in Splinter Cell.
In fact a tremendous amount of your abilities in this game revolve around the options you have in dealing with situations. You have the firepower and the tricks to go toe to toe with enemies whenever you're ready, but you also have the stuff and the skills you need to be quick, stealthy and nonviolent. You can pick up and hide dead bodies that you've created to keep your activities hidden and such. You're a badass secret agent, but you do have limits on how much killing you can do in Splinter Cell. Depending on the mission there can be caps on the number of armed enemies you can drop and on the number of innocents you can kill. This suggest that you can waste some civilians if you feel like it and not get in trouble, but you can't kill anybody, soldier or civilian, that's critical to you completing the mission. The kicker is, you won't find out until you complete the level that you went over your kill limit.
One mission we saw featured a computer geek all alone in a room and the mission was to get some crucial date from him. The only problem is he's the only who can get it for you so you can't kill him. Using your special means of coercion, like a gun to his head, he'll eventually help you out. Once he does, he's literally your biatch and you can do what you want with him...within reason of course. As soon as you get the data though, you have to destroy the computers, which of course alerts the guards and now you have to worry about escaping unharmed. The style of gameplay can change that quickly.
Climbing is going to be a huge part of Splinter Cell. Fisher can jump up and grab ledges and edges of structures, walkways and most anything that looks like it can be grabbed. He can climb straight up vertical beams and polls that blend in perfectly with the environment so there's no discoloration, flashing or glowing around climbable objects. You'll just have to learn to keep your eyes peeled and know your skills.
The game is entirely in the third person perspective. When you go to aim with your weapon, the camera zooms in quickly to a nice over-the-shoulder perspective to make things easier. In fact, the "smart" camera system seems to have conquered most of the problems you can get in a third person game where the environments vary from tight hallways, to giant chambers and everything in between.
We fully expect a devastating arsenal of weapons to compliment the great assortment of gadgets and toys we've seen so far. So far, we've only seen a silenced pistol, the tazer weapon, a sniper rifle and a futuristic looking assault rifle based on the one the angry blond haired terrorist Karl used in Die Hard. Given the history of other Tom Clancy games, cool weapons should be the last thing we have to worry about.
Now that the fuse has been lit, Splinter Cell should heat up all the way through the summer and into the fall as one of the most anticipated games for the Xbox. Oh did we mention your Microsoft console is the lead platform for the game? As in it will have every kickass feature Ubi Soft's Monreal studio can think of because it will be the version that will set the standard. So start saving those chips and go ahead and move this to the top three of your most wanted list. I know I have.
Hil's take
Forget Bond, get over Snake, Sam is coming to Xbox. Splinter Cell takes all the cool things MGS 2 allows and uses them as a base (yes, a base) for the numerous actions available to you. Take MGS 2 and then add all the cool extras you wish were there. You can go Jet Li-style on a wall, doing the splits and supporting yourself with your legs, then aim your gun and shoot some punk below you. Yes, I say this now, even though it may be premature, but start those funeral arrangements for Snake and company. Splinter Cell may be the MGS 2 killer. I won't make a full declaration until after the final version is out this fall, but it looks like a solid bet.
Splinter Cell is the serious, gritty, and fun action title I have been waiting for. Instead of going in with guns blazing, you must use stealth and discretion to take out your enemies. In this regard it's very much like Metal Gear Solid 2, though visually it seems less cinematic than MGS 2 and more realistic. Splinter Cell should not be confused with the Rainbow Six line of games. This third-person action title is not about commanding troops or planning in-depth strategy. This is about action, and the strategy comes in quick-thinking form, from moment to moment.
To aid you along, Sam has plenty of gadgets. Among them are visual tools allowing for thermal and night vision. The thermal vision really helps when you're hiding behind some furniture and can't see where all the enemies have taken to. A sticky cam can be fired from your gun and stuck to walls. You can then access the camera via remote and look around a room. This is helpful if you want to keep a watch on enemies approaching your location. My favorite gadget, though, is the fiber optic camera. Slide it underneath any door and look around a room before entering. This is a great way to do surveillance and is vital to Sam's survival.
Stealth is an integral part of Splinter Cell. Boards creak when you walk on them, spotlights search the grounds for intruders, and soldiers are ever watchful. To help with this, there is a visibility meter. The current build doesn't have this implemented yet, so we weren't able to see it in action. The meter will gauge how well hidden you are. It will take into account being in shadows or behind objects, as well as noises you make.
Being sneaky isn't possible without the ability to move quietly and utilize the environment to your advantage. I lost track of how many cool things you could do, so here are just a few:
Zip line all over the place
Shimmy vertically and horizontally (with your legs tucked on the horizontal shimmies)
Do the splits against two objects
Climb fences, poles, wires, ropes
Toss objects to distract enemies
Land softly to avoid making as much noise
Roll
Press against a wall and point your gun around the corner to safely whack enemies
Shoot out lights
Electrocute enemies standing in water
Drag your enemies
Take enemies hostage
hang from walls, ladders, rooftops
Kill innocents when necessary to complete your objective
The environment is completely interactive. You can shoot anything, jostle things, and use objects for cover. You can shoot a bottle with such precision that you only shatter the lip. Sam was able to shoot the bottle three times before it was completely shattered. In one room there were two bad guys. Sam snuck up on one and grabbed him, using him as a shield. The other baddie was near a barrel full of gasoline. One shot to the barrel started the flow. The flow actually slowed down to a trickle as the barrel emptied. Then another shot at the puddle of gas caused an explosion and set the baddie on fire. Burn baby, burn. Along with using baddies as human shields, you can coerce them into telling you information and performing actions for you.
Sam's job is protecting America from large-scale terrorist attacks. And sometimes that means the lives of a few innocents must be sacrificed for the good of the nation. Yes, sometimes innocent people in other countries must die in order for the terrorists to be dealt with. I'm not sure exactly how that will work in the game, but it doesn't mean blowing up a city of civilians. Sam has a certain level of authority to do what must be done in the name of American safety. There will be some missions that require you to not kill people at all. So there will be some odd sort of balance to all the bloodshed.
A lot of action games suffer from camera problems, especially indoors. Ubi Soft is vowing to remove a large majority of these typical camera problems. What we saw showed a very smart camera that didn't get stuck even in confined areas. However, there's no real way to tell how good the camera is until we spend some hours with the game. But, it's at least hopeful.
Visually, Splinter Cell looks impressive. It reminds me, in some ways, of Mace Griffin. The reflections on the weapons, the detail in the characters, are some of the best I've seen on Xbox. The lighting is by far the most impressive visual aspect. There are a variety of lighting sources (spotlights, fluorescent lights, lamps, starlight) and each is handled well, offering realistic shadowing. One of the tricks you can pull is knocking hanging lights to cause them to move, changing the lighting dynamic in the room. The game moves a little slow, but that's likely because of how early a build it is. I expect it to run smoothly when the final build hits this fall.
I enjoy the MGS series. But here's the thing I noticed after seeing Splinter Cell; MGS 2 isn't as realistic and fluid as everyone makes it out to be. For example, if you do a roll near a wall, you will finish the animation even though you aren't moving. And shaking guys to get items to drop looks very arcadey. It's not a bad thing, but it's not the realism that's advertised. Splinter Cell is real. Every animation looks natural. The game feels real, but still a lot of fun. And Ubi Soft promises not to waste our time with 15 hours of story. I went into Splinter Cell thinking it was another Rainbow Six-type game. I couldn't have been more wrong. I've already ordered the wreath for MSG. This is definitely one to look forward to.
thanxz to ign.com for the info
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