Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Stealthy sequel hits with a bang.
by Susie Vee

PLATFORM: XBX, PC

PUBLISHER: Ubisoft

DEVELOPER: Ubisoft

GENRE: Stealth Action

ESRB: Teen

How do you follow up one of the most popular, and best reviewed, games of all time? That was the question for Ubisoft when it came time to produce the inevitable sequel to the hit game Splinter Cell.

Taking the stealth-heavy squad action of other Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell ditched the teammates and set you to work, solo, behind enemy lines.

The original was a wildly popular, with good reason. It offered a good balance of slow stealth and quick thinking, along with gorgeous lighting and environmental effects. Top-notch production values helped, too, even if we could never make heads or tails of the convoluted plot.

Now Michael Ironside is back as agent Sam Fisher, and there’s another nefarious plot to destroy the world, or some such thing. The important part is that, to save the day, you need to sneak around a variety of different locations and knock out guards.

The game mechanics are largely the same this time around, so if you liked the original, you’ll be similarly impressed with the sequel. There’s a few new tricks, like whistling to distract enemies, but the main weapons and tactics are unchanged. The graphics were so ahead of their time in the first Splinter Cell game that the very similar looking sequel still holds up, even if there are few visual improvements.

While it has become a mainstream hit franchise, Splinter Cell, and to an even greater degree, Pandora Tomorrow, are very difficult games. Guards have an almost uncanny ability to detect you (although sometimes they seem downright oblivious), and many sections of the game are pure trial and error.

With most of the levels being very linear in nature, your only choice is usually whether to try and sneak by enemies or gun them down. Be warned, if you don’t cap a baddie with the first shot, he’ll likely radio in that he’s under attack, setting off a level-wide alarm.

This can be frustrating, as the only saves that are allowed are at pre-determined checkpoints. On some levels, they occur fairly frequently, but on others, you may have to replay large chunks of the game, just because of a creaky floorboard.

We would have liked to see a better training mission, one that perhaps familiarized you with the various tools and weapons at your disposal. As it is, you’re left to discover what a distraction camera or proximity mine does all on your own.

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow also has an intriguing multiplayer mode, played on Xbox Live – we’ll get into that in a separate feature, but do yourself a favor and check it out in the meantime.

We liked the serious tone and think-before-you-act gameplay of Pandora Tomorrow, along with the eye candy and general sheen and polish of the game. We stand by our assertion about the original, that a female player character would be naturally suited to this kind of game – we can only hope Sam turns over the reins in the next sequel.