Harsh snow blew in front of my eyes and snapped my attention back away from the guard about eight yards away. Once again I found myself facing a crossroad – life or death. It was dark out. The inky black of night had consumed every scrap of light save the dim bulb over the door on the starboard side of the ship. This wasn’t my first assignment onboard a freighter, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be my last. Casually, I lowered the special issue goggles that my superiors had given me four years ago when I came out of retirement. I switched to my night vision, and as a soft green hue covered the world, I noticed the guard again. He was stretching his arms and beginning to walk toward me. I had been in this situation so many times now that I lost count. The nervousness was gone, and the anticipation of that split second – that instance where a life was either snuffed out or knocked out – was long past. He was not a person, he was an obstacle, and unless my superiors told me otherwise his life was of no consequence.

I felt frigid steel as I pressed my body against a beam on the ship, and I waited. I listened and quieted my breathing. His soft footsteps grew closer until finally he passed by me. That’s when I moved. Quietly, deftly I swept behind him, crouching and creeping behind him like a panther stalking its prey. I fell into a pace barely quicker than his in an effort to catch up to him to make my move. He was close. Instinctively I reached for my knife, which after so many years of use was like an extension of my own hand. The black carbon blade slid silently from its sheath. He was two steps away, and then only one. I could smell the man’s cologne, and his shirt tail was hanging out of his heavy coat. Then it happened. I pushed my right foot too harshly forward and the snow that had blown aboard the freighter crunched under the slight pressure. The guard reacted instantly, bringing his Kalashnikov to attention and spinning to see what the noise was. He was too late. In one smooth, fluid motion I stood and placed my left hand on his left shoulder, the knife in my right hand pressed against his heart as I pulled him forward. I held him there for a moment before slowly kneeling, his body slumping to the floor. I left him there. He didn’t move again, but I had to move forward. My glance shifted again to the door. My objective was ahead of me, downstairs, and the joint chiefs would not take a delay lightly. Then reality hit me roughly in the face and I realized what time it was. To say the least, Splinter Cell: Double Agent is one of the most immersive games you will ever play. The fourth game in the Splinter Cell series builds even further on the award winning game play and story of the single player game, and not surprisingly, Ubisoft has done it again.

Gameplay

Splinter Cell has always been a series based heavily on the real world style of the best selling author Tom Clancy, and with that in mind Double Agent takes the series even farther. While the series’ theme has continued to revolve around the secret actions of world governments – and the United States’ response through covert espionage and assassination – Double Agent leads the Splinter Cell series in a darker new direction. Starting off in much the same way that the third game Chaos Theory ended, Double Agent has our protagonist Sam Fisher once again traveling across the globe investigating what could be a threat to the national security of the United States. After a brief mission to familiarize newcomers with the game – and introduce new game play elements to veterans – a plot twist quickly turns what looked like a standard Splinter Cell into a rollercoaster of morality and loyalty. Decision making has always been a key factor in Splinter Cell. Faced with threats and guards at every turn, the idea of lethal force versus non-lethal has faced gamers since the first Splinter Cell released in 2002. While originally evolving from a mark of professionalism to an issue of ethics, the decision to kill a guard or spare his life will now sway one of two parties’ trust for or against you. While this is certainly a heavy aspect to consider by itself, imagine having to decide between your own life or potentially risking thousands of lives. This is where Double Agent gets interesting – it’s a constant juggling act between the mission, the wishes of your superiors and your own personal morality.

Graphics

What propels this rich story forward, not surprisingly, is the same amazing graphics engine that Ubisoft used in Chaos Theory. The textures are gorgeous, and somehow even better than before with even more attention to detail. Occasionally, depending on which mission you’re playing, your goggles will now flicker with static interference, and the lighting has never been better – something you will quickly appreciate during a mission without your trusty night vision.

Sound

The audio, like the visuals, is once again wonderful, again finding some way to be even better. The voice acting is absolutely superb, as Michael Ironside’s performance as Sam Fisher is truly one of the best, most well established roles in modern gaming. Sam’s sharp wit and dark sense of humor have never been better. The ambient sound is nothing short of perfect, either, as the background music has been tweaked to match the exact degree of tension experienced by the player in game at any given time. This helps to immerse you even further, as the highs and lows of excitement blend naturally, in and out, without a hitch in the music’s play. The sound affects are, again, realistic and well done, with different guns giving off different sounds of gunfire and footsteps varying depending on the surface you walk across – wet, dry or snowy.

Longevity

Of course, nothing is perfect in every way, and while the fourth game in the Splinter Cell series comes close, it doesn’t quite make it all the way there. The replay value of Double Agent will vary depending on each person. If you enjoy seeing every aspect of a game, then playing through each mission multiple times trying multiple routes and making different decisions will be quite appealing to you. Those who enjoy a one shot, however, may find the game to be only average in length. This, of course, is where the mixed bag of multiplayer comes in. Double Agent’s co-op, like Chaos Theory’s, is a page out of the single player game. It’s a story-oriented series of 15 missions that tie indirectly with the experiences of Sam Fisher in the solo campaign. Right off the bat, the fact that there are 15 missions is a huge improvement over the tiny four (six including the two released for download) in Chaos Theory. Like the offline game, these missions are quite expansive and offer multiple solutions to multiple problems. There’s even a post game analysis screen to rate your success anywhere from 0% to 100%, and for perfectionists, achieving that perfect rating can be quite tempting.

Like the single player game, the co-op offers a slew of fun toys and gadgets to play with, including a new handgun-style launcher, a new EMP ammunition to disable electronics (think of permanently getting rid of that pesky surveillance camera!) and new rubber bullets for non-lethal combat. Even better, however, are some of the new moves included in the tag team repertoire – a personal favorite being the option to “persuade” guards when your partner has them at knifepoint. Unfortunately, the golden touch that seems to have graced its fingers across the single player and co-op games didn’t extend a fingertip to the Versus. Those who enjoyed the critically acclaimed game play introduced in Pandora Tomorrow (the second game in the series and first to feature multiplayer) and tightened in Chaos Theory – prepare to be very, very disappointed. The days of “Mercs versus Spies” are now gone, replaced with an entirely new game of spies versus spies. The heavily armed mercenaries are gone, and they took equipment customization with them. Worst of all, the strategy and stealth is out the window as well.

Instead of improving on the solid multiplayer they had, Ubisoft elected to take what wasn’t broken, break it, throw it out of a moving vehicle’s window and then back up over it to make sure it was dead. The thrill of multiplayer Splinter Cell was the thrill of chasing down a sneaky spy who had evaded your traps if you were playing as a merc, or sneaking by a merc and grabbing his neck from behind on your way to disarming a bomb if you were a spy. The challenge was rich and rewarding upon its accomplishment. Mercs had the advantage of lethal weaponry, but spies had the advantage of high tech gadgets tailored to giving them a fighting chance of sneaking past. The strategy of choosing mines, or a tazer or a spy trap as a merc is gone. The forethought of taking chaff grenades to disable electronics as a spy is gone as well. In its place is a ridiculous, gimmicked mini game with no depth and only surface level amusement. Sneaking is now impossible because of the third person view everyone shares, and it isn’t even an option to grab someone’s neck from behind anymore. Instead, players can only grapple an opposing player into an asinine “quick draw” where the first person to press either A, B, X or Y will immediately kill his opponent. As for the weapons, the spies now have lethal weaponry, making the notion of stealth game play even more ridiculous.

Overall

Despite the joke that versus has unfortunately become, the single player game and co-op play together make Splinter Cell: Double Agent well worth the $40 price tag. With solid visuals pushing the Xbox hardware, top-notch sound and voice acting driving the impressively deep story and an improved version of the rich game play we’ve come to know and love, Double Agent is easily a solid 9 out of 10, and a must own for any fan of the series.