A rogue bodily building block, or a classy spy game? Uzer Sher Dil uses the scientific method.

First Impressions

My first experience with Splinter Cell took place while I was watching Giga.de's tv channel. In those days it was probably out only on the PS2 and the Germans happily went about playtesting while I could just watch in jealousy. Even with the cryptic german, what I saw was enough to excite me. The graphics were gorgeous and your protagonist's moves were sublime and distinctly fluid. Personally, I didn't know of any game before this that allowed you to grab a character from behind and interrogate him with a gun to their head. Nor did I know of a game that allowed you to uphold yourself between two nearby walls, one foot on either wall, with the ballet-like elegance of 'the splits'. And then snipe.

Yes, I was impressed and although on Giga.de I never got to find out the title, I was determined to play this some way or another.

Lasting Impressions

That wish came true a few days ago when I got back from Riyadh upon the realisation that a game called Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell was already out. Honestly speaking I'm not the biggest fan of Tom Clancy's games. The classic Rainbow Six series always seemed to be too much trial and error. I enjoyed Ghost Recon a bit more, especially since it was now much more possible to finish a mission (or at least a significant portion of a mission) on the first try. But in any case, I wasn't expecting too much from SPlinter Cell.

Still, there was something about that guy in black with the three headlights that seemed familiar. After glancing through some screenshots and a review or two, it clicked and the next thing I knew I had three Splinter Cell cds in my hand.

Oh how I wanted to do the splits. In the game I mean.

The intro is a rucus and adequately sets the flavor for things to come. The game starts off with a tutorial that explains the repository of techniques at Sam Fisher's disposal (Sam Fisher being the games NSA secret agent protagonist, of course) including, wall-jumps, climbing, running and walking silently, hiding, lock-picking, security camera dodging and peaking. And of course the splits move. Doesn't sound like much? Bear with me...

The game excels at forcing you to use your limited arsenal and agility to solve the predicaments you will be put through. Will you distract that guard with the coke can you picked up in the room before, await his arrival and then knock him out from behind, or will you time your movements to coincide with his patrol and evade him altogether, or will you just friggin' shoot him? The choice is yours. But sometimes it isn't. Certain missions reult in all out failure if you kill anybody (politics), while others are all out frag-fests. In both cases Splinter Cell delivers.

The story is told through a series of cut-scenes involving a news reporter of some cable news channel and the emails you pick up in the form of data sticks from your fallen enemies and their computers. Sometimes it gets very interesting particularly when it comes to silent references to 9-11 and the modern political arena, such as the email which asks if codes for access to federal air control towers' computers are "useful", or the news channel byline stating Great Britain's "unconditional support" and Russia's "silence" to the terrorist attacks on the US i.e. the attacks by the Georgians in the game of course. Another interesting aspect of SPlinter Cell are the conversations that you often listen in on. One particular one springs to mind in which an Arabic translator is blaming his guard colleagues for not being allowed to tell him what they were upto. "Guess what guys, I'm Islamic. Ooga Booga Booga!" "Get real, man." Or something to that effect, heh.

In any case, more often than not, I'd be more tense about making an audible footstep than about listening in on terrorist gossip. And that's the great thing about this game. Tension seeps through every corridor. Like that time when you just climb into a floor and realize that there's an elevator coming down to your floor. Hide quick. Never is there a dull moment in the game. Whether you're dodging minefields and searchlights, or deactivating wallmines in a burning building, you always have something different to do and you will always need to keep your wits about you. Won't tell anymore. And I won't go into the gorgeous graphics either. See the screenshots and believe.

The down side of the game, unfortunately, are the bugs. One of which was very significant, hindering my progress in a level. I had to download a savegame to skip the level (Oil Rig).* If it really was a puzzle that I couldn't pass, I couldn't find it any of the walkthroughs that I read (just for this thing). Other bugs include complete disappearance of sounds, requiring one to go to the menu and then return to the game for them to return and the fact that sometimes the music just comes on (albeit at a very low volume) on its own even though it's off in the options.

Another problem is that I've finsihed the game and haven't even used all the gadgets. The thing was I just never needed to. All my problems would be solved by the good ol' pistol butt and sniper rifle. The only time I'd need the non-lethal bullets would be during the no-kills missions or when grabbing hold of a colonel required for a retinal scan or something. As such you do have access to smoke grenades, security camera scramblers and the like, but you never really need to use them. This could be a good thing in that it makes the game flexible with regards to how you progress, but if the game doesn't force you to use these extras at least once, or at least to remind you that they exist, then is there a point to having them. Not once did I ever have to use the splits move. Then again, I've always been the conservative type.

It's a bit short too.

And finally, the games difficulty is a bit high for the casual gamer type. But if you know your first person shooters and have a bit of patience and gray matter, you'll really enjoy this.

Graphics: 10/10 (Oh, the lighting. And the shadows.)
Sound: 9/10 (Intense atmosphere)
Gameplay: 8/10
Tilt: 8/10

*Update: I just realized you can roll through fire without getting hurt. Hmm...