Articles
By Nonny
Published: Mar. 18, 2007 2:41 PM
It seems Ubisoft have been on a roll of late with the initial success of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter firmly under their belt and with Rainbow Six Vegas now warming up in the wings. Look closer though and sandwiched somewhere in between (no doubt lurking in the shadows), is the Splinter Cell series… a mainstay success on the original Xbox and the series which has systematically given Metal Gear a run for its money in the overall stealth stakes. Enter Splinter Cell Double Agent, the fourth title in the series and one that while it doesn’t exactly re-invent the genre it continues to revise and tweak the formula to great extent and provides an excellent next-gen iteration on Xbox 360.
In SCDA, as the moniker suggests Sam Fisher is back but playing a dual role undercover in what is his toughest assignment yet. Having hit rock bottom following the accidental death of his daughter Sam decides to cross the lines of right and wrong to infiltrate an organization known as “John Browns Army” or JBA. More than just a catchy title, it is on this one key element that all of the main gameplay revisions have taken place. Once Sam breaks out of jail along with a JBA associate early in the storyline every mission that proceeds uses a trust mechanism whereby the player must choose what path they will take during the mission objectives which will have direct consequences to how much perceived allegiance you have the JBA and your own NSA Third Echelon team. Though generally most objectives merely maintain allegiance to one group without a detriment to the other at some key points during the campaign Sam is also put on the spot to decide the overall fate of the campaign through some directed moments where you literally only have seconds to choose from some horrible options. Without spoiling too much it is these moments more than anything else which make Double Agent a superior storyline than any Splinter Cell game before it.
Whilst the majority of the stealth action on show here is merely a clever repeat on a tried and tested theme it is these interwoven events that drive the story and inter-connect the missions seamlessly enough that the player cannot help but care for the overall outcome of the entire sum of his/her own decisions. It is also a key element that ensures that repeated play of the campaign can bring about completely alternate endings (indeed there are several depending on how you fare throughout the course of the game). Finally it also lends to split up the missions types into two distinct types, those conducted out in the field and those on home soil within the JBA compound.
Though it may sound repetitive (and admittedly it is to some small extent) several of the main missions take place within the exact same locale, the JBA headquarters. These missions are completely different to anything we’ve seen in a Splinter Cell game before now and require more thought process in how to complete the objectives, especially as they are all played against a time limit with severe restrictions. When acting as a spy within the JBA Sam must rely on his wits more than his gadgets in order to sneak past into secure areas that are currently off limits to him and retrieve vital intelligence on their plans and members to better help the NSA predict what they are up to. Where this succeeds more than anything before is that everyone you are trying to sneak past is known to you with a back story and characteristics of their own, plus you aren’t allowed to use any lethal force whatsoever. In order to gain access to secure areas you’ll be required to lift files, fingerprints, voice mappings and even retinal scans from these key characters to bypass the tight security within the compound. This combined with the continual threat of being spotted somewhere you’re not supposed to be (which triggers some betrayal event and loss of JBA trust) makes for some very tense moments.
Outside of these missions and it’s back to business as usual with Sam visiting a numerous variety of locales across the globe. Indeed though previous games such as Chaos Theory really amazed with its level design, here there are arguably two of the best levels ever seen in the series with my personal favourite being Kinshasa, Congo… just simply a sight to behold from start to finish. Where the usual sequel formula is to make it bigger and better, here SCDA delivers some consistently superb levels where repeated play only serves to show numerous tactics and/or routes to explore. Also as you would expect Sam has his usual pre-requisite toolbox of gadgetry, his trusty SC-20K rifle with attachments and of course his silenced EMP pistol, making him as lethal (or as non-lethal) as you require. Some notable enhancements to his repertoire come in the ability to now wall grab enemies as they approach a corner, or grab them from below when hanging from a ledge or even beneath thin ice sheets. Revisions to the weaponry on offer include being able to cycle through your vision modes (Night, Thermal, EMP) whilst looking through the zoom scope of your rifle leaving the peripheral vision as normal.
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