Review: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Xbox)
Review: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory by Ubisoft for Xbox.
Reviewed by: The Geek
Overview: Even if you haven't played the Splinter Cell series before (like me) chances are you still probably know about it. You are Sam Fisher, a super-sneaky spy who sneaks around doing secret spy stuff. Terrorists are using advanced computer equipment and programs to wage a war by crashing the stock market and stealing missle launch codes. As a Splinter Cell, you prefer the old fashioned way: shoot 'em, knife 'em, or snap their necks. It's a pretty basic concept but a very complicated game. An extremely high level of detail and realism really creates a deeply immersive game.
Shininess: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is probably one of the shiniest games that Xbox has to offer. While compared to say, Halo, the mission levels aren't really super duper huge, but that affords them the ability to put an extremely intricate amount of detail into just about every little thing you could possibly imagine. And since you're gonna be slowly sneaking around, the mission areas are going to seem very large. You won't be running willy nilly all over the place. You have to be very careful about your actions at every step. And because of all that detail, there are many different things you can do and lots of places to go. You can throw a glass bottle down a hallway to distract a guard, you can crawl in the vents underneath him, you could shoot out the light and walk right past him in the dark, you could shoot him in the head, or you could sneak up right behind him and go "oops, knife in your neck." This is definitely one of the top best looking games I have ever played.
The sound is an extremely important factor in this game and they make sure that they put as much detail into this aspect as they do into the visuals. You have to be aware of sounds at every moment during gameplay. You need to know where voices are coming from to determine if there's a guard right around the corner waiting to shoot intruders. You need to make sure that you're not making too much sound yourself. Sure, there's a little sound meter on your HUD, but you'll be using your ears more often than looking at the meter. You'll need to be able to sneak up close to enemies without them detecting you so you can overhear conversations and critical information. You can even use sounds to your advantage, causing misdirection by tossing a glass bottle in the opposite direction.
The soundtrack is very well done, and appropriately minimal in most situations. You'll only hear a lot of music going on if you're in a tense situation or if you're in big trouble. And the effect of the tunes just adds to it.
Funness: I had never played a Splinter Cell game before so it took me a while to get used to the style. There are lots of different aspects to this game, so you'll want to go through the little training videos they have. There's a pretty steep learning curve because the game play is just as intricately detailed as the graphics. This is one of the few games that truly gives you many different options for how you want to complete your mission. Sure, there are specific mission objectives you must complete, but how you go about them is entirely up to you. That is, as long as you don't get shot or caught. You have a vast arsenal of moves, weapons, and gadgets at your disposal and you shouldn't be afraid to use any of them. You'll have to try lots of stuff to figure out what works best for you in different situations. The missions are varied enough that it won't seem like you're just doing the same thing over and over again. Every mission calls for its own different approach.
They say that the knife Sam has is a new feature for this game and I can't imagine how he got around without one before. It comes in handy in all sorts of situations, my favorite being the "pointy hug" where an unsuspecting guard walks around a corner right into your waiting arms and about 8 inches of cold, sharp metal.
Now, the single player mission would be more than enough to satisfy a gamer for a long time. But Ubsisoft went the distance and included not one, but two full other game play options. First, you have co-operative mode where you and a friend can be sneaky spies together. You have pretty much all the gadgets and moves from the single player mode, but you also have really neat co-op moves that require two people, such as boosting your teammate to get over a wall, tossing him over security lasers, healing each other, and more. One of the best features of the co-op mode is the option to play it split-screen, through system link, or even on Xbox Live. More options is always more gooder. While you might suffer a bit of lag now and then on Live in co-op, it's not terrible and is a small price to pay for playing through a whole game with a friend on the opposite side of the country.
And on top of that, they include a great online multi-player mode. You've got two teams of two, either spies or mercenaries, and you go at it. The spies are trying to infiltrate and the mercs are trying to defend. Both teams have specific gadgets and such to help them. They do a great job of balancing out the spies and mercs. Both teams have completely different stuff and they are used to their advantage as well as to diffuse the other team's gadgets and weapons. Neither team is automatically superior to the other because of their stuff. The spies have night vision, thermal vision, sticky cameras, smoke grenades, etc. The mercs have big guns, frag grenades, motion detectors, gas masks, and more. A decent variety of maps will keep you entertained in the multi-player for a very long time. And one of the best features about the multi-player on Live is that both teams can only hear each other talk, so you don't have to worry about some stupid 12 year old kid screaming at you after a kill or something. "Double-kill, melon farmer!" or "Yeah, eat that bitch, you're my bitch!" It's very refreshing to not have to hear that. Plus, every time through the multiple maps, you'll learn something new that you didn't notice before.
Worthiness: Definitely rent this game first if you're new to the stealth/action style of game. There is a pretty steep learning curve, as I mentioned before, but once you get past that, you'l really enjoy how immersive and detailed this game is. But it's not for everyone. It can get really nerve-racking and frustrating when you mess up. And you will mess up. But to me, it's not so frustrating that you don't want to go back and try again, maybe with a different approach this time. If you enjoy the game after the rent, I completely believe it's worth the 50 bucks to get this game. The replay value is great, because you can go back to previous missions and try different things that you didn't think of before. The co-op mode provides lots of fun for you to share with a friend, working together. And the multi-player mode is a ton of fun online. If you've enjoyed the other Splinter Cell games, this is an automatic buy. If you're new to it, you must at the very least check it out. Then I'll bet you'll want to buy it.
