Moe
9th May 05, 12:16 PM
Year of release: 2005
Developer: Ubi Soft Montreal
Publisher: Ubi Soft Entertainment
Website: www.splintercell3.com
Gamescore:81%
Graphics: 4
Sound: 4
Gameplay: 3
Concept: 4
Execution: 4
Controls: 4
Enjoyment: 3
Replay ability: 2
Difficulty: 3-4 (depends on AI settings)
Learning Curve: 3
Patch version: None available
Bugs: 4
Modability / Community support: ??
Sam Fisher is on the move again. The hero from the other Splinter Cell games is back, and his arsenal is more high-tech than ever.
In SC:CT the player slips into the role of a veteran agent of the 3rd Echelon, a secret US agency doing all kinds of undercover ops all over the world.
The story takes the player through lots of different locations, from high-tech offices to cargo ships to a war-torn city in the middle of an enemy invasion. The basic concept of every mission is the same: infiltrate to either retrieve someone or something or to kill somebody. Since this is a "tactics" shooter, running into the enemy building a la Unreal Tournament won't work.
Instead you use your high-tech gear to hack keypads, disable cameras and incapacitate guards as silently as possible. To that end Fisher carries a silenced pistol which can also disable lights and other electrical devices from a distance without destroying them, and a modular rifle which can be fitted with various add-ons - from a sniper attachment to a multipurpose launcher. He is also equipped with high-tech goggles sporting night-vision, infrared and electrical mode (the latter lights up all kinds of EM sources such as lights, computers or wires).
Steering fisher is pretty simple. There aren't a lot of keys you need, the game usually decides what action is appropriate - if you press jump in front of a desk for example the character will climb onto it. A small window pops up whenever an "action" is possible - open doors, pick locks, grab characters etc.
The OPSAT helps you keep track of your objective, displays hints and has a 3-D map - which I can't seem to get to rotate for some reason, so it's quite useless.
Graphics are neat, nothing spectacular, but the game looks good. The sets are well done, it is easy to immerse oneself in the single-player story. Everything seems realistic - until the enemy shows up.
The AI is exceedingly stupid. If you make a noise, they will walk towards that noise. If you move away silently they will conclude that "it was nothing" - even if you just took out one of them. Cameras sound the alarm when they spot you or a body - but nothing happens when you shoot out all the lights. Provided it is dark you can actually stand right next to a character without him noticing you.
However, if you kill one of the guards, the others will immediately know where you are - never mind the fact that you shot a guy in the back from 20 meters away with a silenced gun and no enemy was facing your way at the time.
And sounds seem to be unable to pass through open doors. In one scene I walked through a room with two sleeping characters, and they heard me opening the door. Upon reloading the game I decided to mine the corridor, and leaving the door open I tried to lure the guards outside, at first by whistling, later by shooting at the walls and popping flashbangs - nothing worked. Since that corridor was the only way to get back into the room, I was forced to detonate the wall mines, sending a wall of flames through the whole hallway and making a tremendous noise, none of which seemed to bother the guards at all.
Then there's the sticky cam. This is a small camera which can be shot from the launcher and sticks to walls. It features IR and night vision viewmodes, can emit sounds to attract guards, which can then be knocked out by releasing gas from the camera. If they spot it they will shoot at it though. Now considering the guards notice you if you walk too fast, you'd think that someone would hit the alarm if they see three guys opening up on a wall with AK-47s - but no. Nothing happens, the enemies return to their patrol, until you fire at them with a silenced weapon. That's when everybody can hear just fine again, apparently.
Apart from that the game is fun though. I'm stuck in the Seoul mission at the moment, because I don't know which way to go. I hate those "puzzles", where you have to find some obscure way to get ahead, but that's probably a matter of personal preference.
All in all SC:CT is a good game, it has a few oddities but overall it's fun to play. There are a few easter eggs hidden in-game ("I don't have a crowbar" "Who cares, crowbars are for geeky video game characters"), and the plot seems somewhat believable. Screwing around with the high-tech gear is fun too, and there's always the assault option if you decide on abandoning the stealth approach, sometimes it's just more fun to headshot every guard in sight. I probably wouldn't have bought the game, but I don't regret not getting a different one with my graphics card either. There's a coop-multiplayer mode which sounds fun but which I haven't been able to try out yet.
Good Stuff: Good graphics, believable physics, ok story.
Bad Stuff: AI is stupid, lack of customisation
Reviewer system specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon64 3000+
RAM: 1024 MB
Video Card: NVIDIA Geforce 6600GT
Developer: Ubi Soft Montreal
Publisher: Ubi Soft Entertainment
Website: www.splintercell3.com
Gamescore:81%
Graphics: 4
Sound: 4
Gameplay: 3
Concept: 4
Execution: 4
Controls: 4
Enjoyment: 3
Replay ability: 2
Difficulty: 3-4 (depends on AI settings)
Learning Curve: 3
Patch version: None available
Bugs: 4
Modability / Community support: ??
Sam Fisher is on the move again. The hero from the other Splinter Cell games is back, and his arsenal is more high-tech than ever.
In SC:CT the player slips into the role of a veteran agent of the 3rd Echelon, a secret US agency doing all kinds of undercover ops all over the world.
The story takes the player through lots of different locations, from high-tech offices to cargo ships to a war-torn city in the middle of an enemy invasion. The basic concept of every mission is the same: infiltrate to either retrieve someone or something or to kill somebody. Since this is a "tactics" shooter, running into the enemy building a la Unreal Tournament won't work.
Instead you use your high-tech gear to hack keypads, disable cameras and incapacitate guards as silently as possible. To that end Fisher carries a silenced pistol which can also disable lights and other electrical devices from a distance without destroying them, and a modular rifle which can be fitted with various add-ons - from a sniper attachment to a multipurpose launcher. He is also equipped with high-tech goggles sporting night-vision, infrared and electrical mode (the latter lights up all kinds of EM sources such as lights, computers or wires).
Steering fisher is pretty simple. There aren't a lot of keys you need, the game usually decides what action is appropriate - if you press jump in front of a desk for example the character will climb onto it. A small window pops up whenever an "action" is possible - open doors, pick locks, grab characters etc.
The OPSAT helps you keep track of your objective, displays hints and has a 3-D map - which I can't seem to get to rotate for some reason, so it's quite useless.
Graphics are neat, nothing spectacular, but the game looks good. The sets are well done, it is easy to immerse oneself in the single-player story. Everything seems realistic - until the enemy shows up.
The AI is exceedingly stupid. If you make a noise, they will walk towards that noise. If you move away silently they will conclude that "it was nothing" - even if you just took out one of them. Cameras sound the alarm when they spot you or a body - but nothing happens when you shoot out all the lights. Provided it is dark you can actually stand right next to a character without him noticing you.
However, if you kill one of the guards, the others will immediately know where you are - never mind the fact that you shot a guy in the back from 20 meters away with a silenced gun and no enemy was facing your way at the time.
And sounds seem to be unable to pass through open doors. In one scene I walked through a room with two sleeping characters, and they heard me opening the door. Upon reloading the game I decided to mine the corridor, and leaving the door open I tried to lure the guards outside, at first by whistling, later by shooting at the walls and popping flashbangs - nothing worked. Since that corridor was the only way to get back into the room, I was forced to detonate the wall mines, sending a wall of flames through the whole hallway and making a tremendous noise, none of which seemed to bother the guards at all.
Then there's the sticky cam. This is a small camera which can be shot from the launcher and sticks to walls. It features IR and night vision viewmodes, can emit sounds to attract guards, which can then be knocked out by releasing gas from the camera. If they spot it they will shoot at it though. Now considering the guards notice you if you walk too fast, you'd think that someone would hit the alarm if they see three guys opening up on a wall with AK-47s - but no. Nothing happens, the enemies return to their patrol, until you fire at them with a silenced weapon. That's when everybody can hear just fine again, apparently.
Apart from that the game is fun though. I'm stuck in the Seoul mission at the moment, because I don't know which way to go. I hate those "puzzles", where you have to find some obscure way to get ahead, but that's probably a matter of personal preference.
All in all SC:CT is a good game, it has a few oddities but overall it's fun to play. There are a few easter eggs hidden in-game ("I don't have a crowbar" "Who cares, crowbars are for geeky video game characters"), and the plot seems somewhat believable. Screwing around with the high-tech gear is fun too, and there's always the assault option if you decide on abandoning the stealth approach, sometimes it's just more fun to headshot every guard in sight. I probably wouldn't have bought the game, but I don't regret not getting a different one with my graphics card either. There's a coop-multiplayer mode which sounds fun but which I haven't been able to try out yet.
Good Stuff: Good graphics, believable physics, ok story.
Bad Stuff: AI is stupid, lack of customisation
Reviewer system specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon64 3000+
RAM: 1024 MB
Video Card: NVIDIA Geforce 6600GT