There are a lot of new names coming to the Xbox 360, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Gears of War, Huxley etc. but there are also a lot of sequels planned from successful series which made their debut on the Xbox; the first one which comes to mind would probably be Halo. One series many Xbox owners would like to see on the Xbox 360, is of course Splinter Cell. Splinter Cell: Double Agent is scheduled for release later on this year and yet again players will take control of Sam Fisher and fight against terrorists. The first three Splinter Cells have been relatively similar, the same kind of Tom Clancy plot, the same black suit and the same team has been behind him all the way, in the fourth game however there is a slight twist – Don’t worry too much though, Lambert will still be on hand to give you hassle if you harm any civilians!
In the fourth instalment of the Splinter Cell series, you will play as Sam Fisher, however the storyline for Double Agent seems to be a bit deeper than in previous outings. While on a mission Sam learns that his daughter, Sarah has been killed in a car accident. This of course makes Fisher distraught making him unable to concentrate on his job so is given a little time off to clear things up; however he is unable to do this. Sam becomes desperate to work again and so Lambert assigns him the task of going undercover as a double agent to infiltrate the terrorist group The John Brown Army. Sam fisher is set up in a bank raid and allows himself to be captured, then ends up at Ellsworth Penitentiary where he meets up with one of the John Brown Army’s members. To make the game more atmospheric, the developers have also announced that there will be no HUD in Splinter Cell Double Agent. You won’t just be working within a prison however, as one of your missions will be to escape and then expect to be working all around the world, just like in the previous games.
Daylight missions have been confirmed which is a change from Sam’s previous outings, which means he wont be needing his goggles all of the time. Since you are working for the NSA and the John Brown Army, both will give you objectives. You can lean towards one side more than the other so to speak for specific bonuses, for example if you choose mainly to stick with the NSA you will get some high-tech gadgets and such, however you could side more with the John Brown Army which will gain you more trust and they will give you their black market weapons. Once you complete a mission for the John Brown Army you will be able to explore their HQ, the more missions you do the more of the HQ you can explore. Within the HQ you will be given objectives from your NSA contacts like tapping phones, stealing documents etc whilst still remaining on good terms with the John Brown Army.
Splinter Cell: Double Agent is still a stealth-action game at the core, so even though you might not always be dressed up in the classic black suit complete with green goggles instead some missions may require a more up front and less stealthy approach. This has got me slightly worried, I can understand making some changes in order to keep the game appealing but Ubisoft seem to have taken it another step further than the usual ‘polish and a few more features’ upgrade we usually see in sequels. Hopefully the various environments and working both against and for the enemy will come together nicely, but it’s hard to tell at such an early stage and from demos of a single mission. Ubisoft are also keen to promote the use of interactive movie sequences during the game’s key moments. How these will pan out I’m not sure but they do sound intriguing especially if they are handled correctly and don’t merely become distractions between levels.
Splinter Cell Double Agent, although it seems to have undergone some major changes, is still a Splinter Cell game at heart and as with all Splinter Cell sequels, we can expect some sleek new moves and some state of the art gadgetry. Sam can now cut wires to kill lights or kill off the power to an electric fence. In Chaos Theory I remember one mission where you had to throw grenades into tanks hatches, however in double agent Sam is able to climb onto the tank, open the hatch and throw a grenade in which is probably easier, but by the sounds of it, it probably looks damn cool as well. There is also a corner grab type move where you can grab enemies from around corners and throw them to the ground and interrogate them. Many of the original moves will still be around in Double agent as well, but gadgets also have new applications, so expect to see some improvements to previously used gadgets but also some new ones to become acquainted to. Expect to get your hands on a grapnel, a glass cutter and you will also receive satellite support, presumably for intel. The trusty old knife, which was a favourite addition to the series for a lot of people in Chaos theory, will also return.
When multiplayer was announced for Pandora Tomorrow, it was met with mixed views, however it seemed to be a big success with the fans and returned for Chaos theory. In Double Agent instead of Spies vs. Mercs, it will be Spies vs. Upsilion Forces. It seems that the multiplayer is completely original and little has been kept from previous versions of Splinter Cell which will probably mean new equipment and new modes. Is also worth noting that in double agent players will be able to do 3 v 3 matches instead of the usual 2 v 2, however the more players means the more objectives to complete. There’s also a new close combat system in place so its now its not as simple for a spy to just grab an enemy and break his neck, the ‘merc’ will be given the chance to push a sequence of buttons to defend himself. I’ll be honest here, it’s safe to assume that most people played the versus modes in chaos theory, but I was definitely a Co-op fan, and I was unhappy to learn that Ubisoft have decided against keeping the co-op mode. However with the hopeful inclusion of intelligent AI in the versus mode will make up for this somewhat.
In terms of graphics, all of the splinter Cell games have been praised for their visuals. I still believe chaos theory had the best graphics of all games on the Xbox. If you look at screenshots and in-game movies, it certainly looks like Ubisoft are continuing the trend of excellent visuals on the Xbox 360 but hopefully it won’t just be a graphical showcase and the new game play features will make the game one of the elites on the Xbox 360. It is too early to tell what the full game will play like because the game isn’t even due out until winter and the information Ubisoft has given us suggests that they have a lot planned for Sam Fisher and they are definitely following their catch phrase for Double Agent closely – “You have no idea what’s coming”.
Preview By: Fraser Keith
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