Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: DA - 8/10
An Xbox 360 Game Review By Bill Wall.
You are Sam Fisher. The best of the best, and you're mission involves being undercover in the JBA HQ, to gather information on criminals and the most wanted. But, will you be more a bad guy, than a good guy? That's entirely up to you.
The game starts at the date - September 2007, shortly after the events that took play in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Sam is informed of his daughter's death, and is therefore relieved of service to grieve. But is reinstated in a different program (undercover) to get him back to his state of mind. The agency needs him, the agency needs you.
I feel that with Splinter Cell: DA, Ubisoft has changed the feel to this one, than those previous in the Stealth Game Franchise.
With being a mole/snitch in a criminal organisation working undercover for NSA, it doesn't mean that your not also working for JBA against NSA either.
But, none-the-less, this Splinter Cell game is still a great stealth game, whether you're sneaking up on guards breaking necks, or stabbing chests, silently disabling video cameras, dodging motion detectors, all in a days work for Sam Fisher. And it's a stealth game through and through.
The first couple of missions through the game are pretty much just an introduction to the story-line, a tutorial for controls, and an essential in the plot. Pretty much, Sam Fisher loses his new young apprentice in a mission, loses his Daughter, hit's rock bottom, then is hurled into prison where he befriends a recruit of the JBA (John Brown's Army).
There are a few moments in the game that are critical to the amount of trust you have from the JBA & NSA. Times come and go with the likes of either killing a helicopter pilot, if you do, you gain JBA trust and kill an innocent civilian. If you don't, you gain NSA trust and save a life. These moments are usually thrown at you out of the blue, and force you to make quick decisions. It just goes to show, which side are you really on?
I've spoken to a few people about the game and alot of them said they didn't get into it. They didn't like it. I asked them how many levels did they play, and they have said the first. That's the thing, the game doesn't really pick up until the third and fourth levels, the first few are just a runthrough on controls and storyline.
The game is not really a shooting game like those of Rainbow Six, or Ghost Recon, because if you do that, and go in just shooting, you're guaranteed to last around.. 10 seconds maybe? You have to use the darkness, and the objects around to hide and catch the enemy by surprise.
Each mission has missions of there own. You have your primary objectives, and then secondary objectives. The secondary objectives do count for trust, but are not essential within the game.
The AI in Splinter Cell: DA, is way more improved than in the previous Splinter Cell games. Whereas previously, you could basically sprint through a level, shooting, stabbing, breaking necks everywhere, Ubisoft has definitely drawn a line in DA. Also, you may want to be careful in each & everyone of your moves, as the AI have a much better aim with guns. Trust me, it's frustrated me many times. I have even spent around 5 hours on just one level, trying and failing many times to succeed at one objective. I found it ridiculous, but addicting!
What I love about this Splinter Cell is that your have to be able to use what you have in the inventory efficiently, and the challenges that the game throws at you. If you already have a copy sitting around somewhere, but havent bothered past the first level, please do so, the game does really pick up towards the end.
If you're a definite fan of stealth games, or a fan of previous Splinter Cell games, or even a fan of Tom Clancy himself, this one is a definite for you.
8/10
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