|
|
|
| Tom Clancys Splinter Cell Double Agent |
|
| Stealth |
|
| Ubisoft |
|
| Ubisoft |
|
|
20th October 06 |
|
17th October 06 |
|
|
18+ |
|
(M) - Mature |
|
|
|
It's very clear that Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is probably the best Splinter Cell game in the series, as it provided gamers with a compelling single player story as well as the return of the much loved or hated versus mode. What is more Chaos Theory offered gamers the chance to partake in co-op play via system link or via Xbox Live. With the arrival of Splinter Cell Double Agent across multiple platforms in October this year, all eyes are on Ubisoft to continue the series by delivering a game that simply oozes quality. A lot has been said regarding the exploits of Sam Fisher during the single player portion of Double Agent however we were invited by Ubisoft earlier this month to west London to play some of the versus mode.
To begin this preview I must state for the record that Splinter Cell Double Agent has ditched the co-op play that was seen in Chaos Theory. Now whilst this may disappoint many people, the bottom line is that Ubisoft felt the co-op play became far too familiar with gamers and was simply something gamers only played through once or twice. The AI played out exactly the same each time you played and wasn’t dynamic enough to remain challenging for those who had already completed the co-op maps. Now before you co-op fans cry out in disgust, Ubisoft have opted to cater for co-op players by introducing not only specific co-op challenges but also an advanced AI program for handling Upsilon bots. The challenges come in various forms with progressive difficulties and can be things like grabbing certain objects on the map whilst remaining undetected to hacking terminals simultaneously at different points on the map. The challenges will start off pretty simple but will eventually become extremely tough. The co-op mode will also be 3 spies versus 3 AI bots.
The challenges sounds like a brilliant idea, however to keep the game play fresh, Ubisoft have included some very advanced AI programming for the bots. The bots will not operate on set paths like you would have seen in the co-op in Chaos Theory. This time round the bots will act according to the situation at hand. Bots will assess the risk and threat and make decisions based on that. The bots will also operate using a hierarchy meaning there is a chain of command as bots will have specific tasks to hunt down spies or defend areas. Ubisoft have stressed that the bot AI will act realistically and will provide a very tough challenge for experienced spies. We were unable to actually play any of the co-op challenges on the day but talking to one of the team I got the sense that they are proud of where they are aiming for with the challenges and is something that isn’t just tacked on for the sake of bolstering content. More importantly though for the gamer, with advanced bot AI means that no two missions should play out the same. What works in one attempt may not work in the next. This fresh approach to tackling challenges will no doubt prove extremely popular and more than makes up for the absence of the co-op mode found in Chaos Theory.
The versus mode was a breath of fresh air when it first appeared in Pandora Tomorrow as nothing had been seen online in any game before it. There’s certainly a lot of appeal to gamers who love hiding in the shadows and trying not to get caught by patrolling guards. The versus mode proved to be very popular online experience although presented several problems for itself. For starters players needed to use communication to succeed and where sometimes gamers aren’t the most talkative especially in the confines of a 2 versus 2 setup meant that some gamers didn’t get to grips with the game play. Another issue was the steep learning curve whether you played as a spy or a mercenary. The maps were huge and took some major time investment to learn. Players really needed to form teams with regular partners to succeed, however this lead to the game nullifying any pick up and play aspect, effectively alienating new players. What also tended to happen was one map was predominately used over Live and in Pandora Tomorrow’s case this was the Warehouse map, which proved to be a favourite for spies and mercenaries alike. Another glaring problem with the game was the fact that most gamers weren’t happy playing as a mercenary which meant players in the lobby would be spies and then it would take an age for people who joined to actually stay and play as the mercenaries. I think this is mostly due to the fact that the spies are more exciting to play, as the mercenaries’ game play in first person is very similar to other first person games.
On the accessibility of the versus game Ubisoft took a long hard look at the Live stats to gain a picture of what players were doing and enjoying most. They discovered that a tight knit community of regular players formed which alienated any newer players from learning and enjoying the game. They discovered that a lot of players would play for a few days and then give up due to not understanding the game play or sheer frustration of getting beat by more experienced teams. This issue has been at the forefront of Ubisoft’s approach to the versus in Double Agent and so the team have worked hard on making the game far more accessible to new players but still keeping the challenge there for veterans.
For the versus game which pits 3 spies versus 3 mercenaries, Ubisoft wanted to keep the same levels of tension and emotion from the single player experience. In the versus mode the spies for example look and move in a similar way to Sam Fisher in third person and have been given more acrobatic moves such as diving through windows or under low obstacles. The mercenaries are slightly different in that they are less agile and play in first person viewpoints but are armed with throw able grenades and machine guns. Ubisoft looked at the balancing and aimed for a system in which new players could play for 10 minutes and fully understand how to play the game. The versus mode has been stripped down to one singular unified mode; however this is broken down into 3 sections. For spies they have 3 underlying objectives which begin with infiltration. Spies have to find a way to the hack able terminal or objective whilst avoiding the mercenaries. There are now 4 potential terminals on the map meaning that there will always be one terminal that is potentially left unattended in 3 versus 3 games. Ubisoft are confident that this set up will be what creates the tactical aspect of the game. The second phase is the actual hacking of the objective which requires the player to remote hack the terminal with a new arm mounted device which switches to a first person viewpoint when used. This means spies can stay hidden and hack the terminals without being directly next to them, however the closer the spy is to the terminal the quicker the hacking. However the downside is the spies’ situational awareness when hacking is severely limited and is vulnerable to attack. During one game as a mercenary, the alarms went off as a message and voice stated that one of the terminals was being hacked. The room was dark and the terminal area itself was illuminated (something the team want to keep consistent for mercenaries). I couldn’t see the hacking spy directly until I switched to EMF vision which lit the spy up like a Christmas tree in the rafters above the terminal. Naturally this made killing the spy easy as he was too busy focusing on the hacking to be able to move away from my sniper headshot. Whilst initially I felt the remote hacking was perhaps tilted too in favour of the spy, having been on the opposite side of the playing field I could see that spies will need to think carefully about where they are positioned before attempting the hack.
The hacking tool is also able to remote hack lights, break windows and other systems and is a one touch control method for ease of play. It’s possible for spies to hack into mercenaries systems to cause disruption; basically the gun found in previous games has been replaced by the hacking tool.
The final phase after hacking is successful is extraction. With the data carried by the spy who hacked the terminal, the final task is getting the data to safety. At this point the spies need to work closely so that the mercenaries (who will be focusing on the spy who captured the data) don’t eliminate the spy which would result in starting the process again. No longer will the game end once all terminals are hacked as this time the spies will have to escape back to the re-spawn point for a mission complete. Ubisoft stressed that the extraction aspect of the game plays on the emotions of the player as the tension is set to rise further. With infiltration spies have an open book in the way they tackle the objectives, however with the extraction being to a specific point on the map means that mercenaries are able to home in on the extraction points to capture fleeing spies’.
What was noticeable from the offset of playing as Spy or Merc was the inclusion of a tactical map which is displayed on screen at all times in the top left hand side of the screen. This gives details of player position and also objective locations which are now colour coded Red, Green, Blue and Yellow. For co-ordinated play this makes things much easier than having to remember the names of the rooms. So for example if a spy hacks the green terminal the mercenaries can all clearly see the location of the green terminal on their maps and head on over there to hunt down the hacker. The mercenaries can also see where there team mates are on the map to help co-ordinate patrol areas. In practice this is a good idea but with the limited play I had and the fact that the maps are pretty sizable and tough to navigate without learning them first I got the feeling that some learning is still going to be required. Ubisoft have stated that the map designs follow similar processes that they each feature 2, 3 or 4 large open areas which are connected via smaller passageways and rooms.
The mercenaries have not really been changed that much since Chaos theory other than they have a new motion sensor that beeps in accordance to the distance the spy is from the character. It does not show the exact location of the spy but does indicate distance by sound. The range is 10 meters then 7.5 meters and finally 3 meters. The more intense the beep, the closer the spy is to the player. With the mercenaries berserk move intact from previous games, the motion sensor is most useful for countering Rambo type spies that attempt to run up behind for the neck grab. We’re told that the spies will also have specific escape moves to help them get out of tight situations although this wasn’t available in the code we played. Mercenaries also come equipped with a hook which enables them to quickly jump down from high areas such as walkways to the ground without causing injury. Although I couldn’t test, I’m sure this will be a cool way of jumping on unaware spies to give them a taste of their own medicine.
In the build we played not all of the gadgets were available but one of the more interesting new toys for the mercenaries is the remote camera. The camera can be used to access areas the mercenaries cant reach such as air ducts and although fairly slow moving it allows mercenaries to covertly spy on the spies or better still sneak up on them and detonate for a satisfying kill. Sadly the mercenary who uses the spy camera is totally vulnerable to attack and so needs to find a quiet spot to use this device.
A new inclusion for the spies is the fact that some entry points, climbable surfaces and other interactive points have ghost outlines to show players that they can use these. The static ghost outlines show the best route to get to the objectives however these routes are not the only routes available and so skilled players will be able to find alternative routes through the levels which are unmarked. Whilst this will no doubt be most useful for players learning the nuances of the game I’m pretty sure competent mercenaries will be able to trap spies that use these routes too often. From playing the versus game, the levels which have been created from the ground up to utilise the new hardware feel a lot more detailed than in previous games. There’s more depth to the environments in terms of looking more like inhabited areas as opposed to desolate playing maps.
I think the biggest change to the versus mode and one that wasn’t present in the build we played is the inclusion of mercenary bots. With the 3 versus 3 setup and especially as many people only want to play as spies, the team is working on the bot AI to counter this. Also in games where there are 5 players the 6th player can be a mercenary bot or various configurations of human spies verses 3 bots. For the brave, players can go solo versus 3 bots if they choose.
In closing, playing Splinter Cell Double Agent versus mode as spy and mercenary felt familiar and comfortable as I’ve played previous versions. I still think the game style is perhaps a little too complicated for those wishing to pick up and play but is seems that Ubisoft is attempting to address this somewhat. The game play still also feels more balanced towards the spies’; however I’m sure with decent communication, a little knowledge of the maps and the new on screen map will no doubt balance things out for the final game. The graphics are much improved over the Xbox version and it’s good to see that Ubisoft are including 8 maps with the game and 2 more planned soon after launch as downloadable content. Controls were tight and fluid and I think most gamers who haven’t played before will get to grips with the simple controls fairly easily. I still have concerns that the 3 verses 3 situation will still create dominating teams that play on a regular basis however Ubisoft are stressing that they are tweaking to make the game as balanced as possible so that new players stand a chance of success against more experienced players. With a demo planned for the market place between now and September it will be interesting to see how the team incorporate the AI and how the co-op pans out. Either way fans of the versus modes from previous games will be right at home here and new players at least have a more accessible game as well as the chance to practice against bots. Splinter Cell Double Agent is due for release some time in October 2006.
Preview By: Robert Cram
|
|
|
|
|
|
