There's something about taking a random Gamble on a game series you've never played before or possibly never even heard of before. The idea that you might find a gold nugget in the ever-expanding mountain of cheap video game Trash.
and did I ever hit pay-dirt hear. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is a very enjoyable stealth game, they could also double for a very subpar third person shooter if for some reason you're one of the people that play Splinter Cell games for the action.
It's a fairly straightforward stealth game. You have a basis objective and occasionally a few secondary objectives that don't actually matter. Most of the time you have to look for a computer program file or you might have to eliminate a particular Target. The game gives you a hundred different little gizmos to accomplish your objective but in reality you only really need one. Sam Fisher's sidearm pistol armed with an EMP laser. With this marvelous little piece of technology you can eliminate light sources and stop cameras from noticing you. After that it's just a simple walk through the dark knock out the enemy if you can't even be bothered to deal with them and then go on your Merry way to your next assignment.
Easily my favorite thing about this game is Michael Ironside. He does the voice of Sam Fisher and although Sam doesn't come off as all that interesting. I just love the idea that him and the guy who was the sergeant in the Starship Troopers are voiced by the same man.
The Story:
It's your typical undercover espionage escalating of a fake War scenario. somebody in the background is manipulating the Korean Army's on the Palencia to become even more hostile with one another. On top of all this Japanese fishing boats and Military aircraft Cruisers are being captured and or destroyed buy said mysterious Force. There's a security agency within the United States that's employed under this mysterious organization.
there's also the use of some Antiquated Russian computer to calculates scenarios for optimal assault protocols.
throw on top of that to the Japanese self-defense force and it's clearly not evil commanding Admiral and you have an interesting if not basic Modern War Story.
The irony of the complex story is that Sam Fisher's opinions on things are incredibly straightforward. His boss Lambert tells them to go to a certain location and do a certain thing and he'll do it. He doesn't question the orders all that often and he doesn't seem that bothered about what's going on in any way shape and form. Maybe with the possible exception to the USS Ronald Reagan which could have been hit by a barrage of North Korean ballistic Atomic missiles.
Of course it wouldn't be a Ubisoft game without the occasional reference to one of their other titles that's brought up for at the missions, their mockery of the three alarms in the game ends trick that's so prominent in so many stealth games. Or their Jabet Metal Gear Solid for magically getting items out of somebody's pocket by shaking them.
but then you have other times when Sam Fisher makes reference to Henry tiddle. An engineer from the movie Brazil.
I'm a little surprised the story didn't involve the US president more. He pops up and just about every major cutscene and he shown is a kind of over reactionary nitwit. I kept expecting him to be some sort of foible in this whole story but he's just kind of there. Now at the other character Admiral Toshiro Otomo he's about as telegraphed as you could get. You know from the start that he's going to be the one causing problems. Also whoever did this voice acting was very close to being a stereotypical Japanese man. Someone already was already there.
Game Play:
Everything move surprisingly smooth. Your walking animation is good, indication for light and sound is good. Although it's a little too easy to sneak around in some areas and it's kind of hilarious when you can stand right in front of somebody a mere 2 inches from their face and they haven't the slightest clue that you're there. But then video game characters have always had horrible depth perception.
It makes for a smooth and entertaining game, the real challenge comes from the puzzle like environments. That's what a stealth game is at the end of the day. A glorified puzzle game. You have to figure out the best alternative to getting past security cameras, motion sensors and guards who may or may not be aware of your presence. It's only on the second last mission that this entire mechanic goes out the window. It's almost impossible not to be seen by them, and non-lethal takedowns are difficult to do. Especially if you become dependent on shocker bullets designed to stun an enemy and not kill. You're only given 4 or 5 and you're guaranteed to encounter at least nine different men all of which want your head on a platter. With the exception of the second last mission the rest of the game runs fairly smoothly.
It's funny how you can play this game both lethal and non-lethal. The games clearly geared towards lethal takedown. Sam talks about eliminating targets all the time and in certain missions your boss makes it very clear that you're not supposed to kill this person or that person. On the very last mission that you're not supposed to kill anybody. And it's hilarious cuz it plays it off as this is going to make it so much harder. But I never kill people in these games if I can get through a mission with no body count then I'm a happy man.
I had discovered that you can encounter the occasional bug. Such as getting stuck in between two pieces of rock or unable to move on a cable. But these are rare and far and few between. Surprisingly the invisible wall problem isn't very prominent in this game. If you can see an enemy they're almost guarantee that you can hit them regardless of where you're sitting.
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