Splinter Cell (XBX)
By Susie Vee

PLATFORM: XBOX, PC

PUBLISHER: Ubi Soft

DEVELOPER: Ubi Soft

GENRE: 3rd-Person Stealth

ESRB: Teen

SCORE:

Of all the gaming trends we never thought would take off, you can put the stealth genre at the top of our list. From Thief and the original Metal Gear Solid, we were hooked on gameplay that depended more on brains than brawn. But at the same time, we were doubtful that Joe and Jane Gamer would put down their machine guns long enough to try it out.

Thankfully, we were dead wrong on that front, and any action/adventure game that comes out these days that doesn’t have at least some kind of stealth element seems oddly anachronistic. We’re almost at a disadvantage in traditional run-n-gun shooters, as we’re always caught peeking around a corner when the bullets start flying.

One of the most-hyped games of the year has been Splinter Cell, a Tom Clancy take on the whole Metal Gear/Hitman, “sneak into a place and steal something or kill someone,” thing. Existing in the same near future as the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series, Splinter Cell eschews the squad dynamics for a more traditional single-character story.

This time around, you’re Sam Fisher, a Solid Snake kind if super spy working for The Man. You get a mission, go in alone, and have to sneak about accomplishing different objectives. But since you’re armed (at first) with only a wimpy silenced pistol and some cool spy gadgets, you’ll have to stay out of sight most of the time.

While not as slick in its cinematic presentation as Metal Gear Solid 2, Splinter Cell sets a new standard for eye candy, especially in the lighting department. That’s very appropriate, since much of your stealth depends on staying the shadows. The lighting will knock you out, as will the use of different curtains, plastic sheets and other nifty fabric-like materials.

Everything else, from the story to the voice acting is competent but not groundbreaking. You’ll have trouble figuring out what is going on sometimes, as you go from objective to objective. The levels are large and very interactive, but at the same time, a little on the linear side. We would have liked to see more ways to get through a mission. Although along the way, you usually have the option to take out enemies, just sneak past them or knock them out cold.

Splinter Cell is a blast to play, and can lead to some high tension moments as you try and sneak around without getting sighted by guards or those ubiquitous security cameras that seem to turn up in every game these days. A few mistakes usually means you’ll want to reload and try again. Since each level has checkpoints you can save at, this lessens the frustration of not being to save anywhere – but we prefer, as an example, Hitman 2’s limited number of saves per level.

If there's one thing that we get the biggest kick out of -- it's the groundbreaking use of lighting effects. Other games have tried to sell themselves on their lighting, but after experiencing Splinter Cell, it's all been hype until now.

Especially satisfying is your nightvision/infrared goggles. With a quick tap of a button, you get the best nightvision we've ever seen. You'll end up spending a good deal of the game in this mode, and after sneaking around in grainy black-and-white for a while, going back to your regular view seems almost flat by comparison (the secret seems to be in the much more realistic depth-of-field in the nightvision mode).

Right now the fancy graphics take full use the Xbox hardware, but expect to see versions for the PC, PS2 and GameCube in the near future.

Like most of the Tom Clancy genre, you’re a guy, talking to other guys, who then has to fight another bunch of guys. Splinter Cell’s main character would seem to be perfect for a female protagonist, but maybe we can hope for that in the inevitable sequel.