Splinter Cell is the ultimate stealth simulator, bar none. That being
said, it does have definite problems that were implemented to keep it's
stealth personality intact but that may come into conflict when you,
the gamer, don't really want to follow the rules to the letter.
First off, let's get this out of the way: The graphics are great. Even
though the game is more than 2 years old it still looks awesome,
especially the shadow effects. Although your enemies look a bit bland,
Sam Fisher himself (the protagonist) looks amazingly well animated and
his textures really stand out. Overall, a truly good looking little gem
of a game.
The sound does the trick. The music is appropriate although it doesn't
stand out (and it shouldn't in a game where being invisible is all the
rage) and the voice acting is capable and realistic, which means no
overdoing it. The star of the shows are the footsteps however, since
most of the game you're trying to not make any noise when moving you
always have to pay close attention to how much noise you're making,
thus the sound of your footsteps really steal the show. Who would have
thought :)
The gameplay of Splinter Cell is awesome as far as pure stealth goes,
but when you stray a bit from that things go awry. First off, Sam
Fisher's accuracy with a gun is simply horrible for a man supposed to
be so well trained in every way possible. So he can do anything on the
field of battle except shoot well? How about weapon disarms no one
taught him that? The baddies can be right next to you shooting their
guns off but the only thing you can do is either shoot them yourself or
elbow them 2 or 3 times in the face. A superspy of Sam's caliber should
definitely be able to just grab that weapon from the guy's hand or
something, anything. Those conventions were implemented to force the
player to play as stealthily as you possibly can but they just smell of
unrealism (although the concept of a superspy is unrealistic enough as
it is). What if I want to play a spy assassin? And no don't tell me to
go play Hitman instead that game series just ain't on the same level as
Splinter Cell.
The game is rather hard but once you get used to it (takes a small
while though) it becomes significantly easier. All in all, it is a
great game that will appeal to anyone who ever dreamed of being a
superspy. Sam Fisher is definitely one badass dude although he might be
a bit old, but heck who cares just try it out you can find the game in
a bargain bin by now :)
