14 DAY TRIAL // 
Every time I see a new Splinter Cell title appearing on the shelves I go berserk. Since its first debut in 2003 the series has improved with other two titles, one of them being a little obscure but nonetheless very important in the timeline. I had some experience with Tom Clancy not because I read his work, but more for the opposite: I tried as hard as possible to stay away. I don't really have the stomach for any world conspiracies and plans to dominate the planet or to plunge it into chaos. This kind of writing doesn't bold well with my intelligence so I was at least skeptical when the new game from Ubisoft had the complete name Tom Clancy Splinter Cell. All I could think was "oh my dear God, not another one". Far from me the thought that Splinter Cell will become one of my favorite games of all times.
Concept
This is the reason I fought for this game and defended it whenever I had the chance. The concept of Splinter Cell, unlike many other games is not centered on mindless killing that makes Jack Thompson stone cold nuts. The principle objective is to reach your target without being seen, spotted and for that matter even getting in contact with anyone (even if this contact meant knocking them out). Sure, you could spray a lot of bullets and get through the levels like a hot knife through butter, but there is no honor and especially there is no fun this way.
I am sure many of you still remember the Thief series; sneaking in the dark and ice arrows where the tools of trade. This game uses a similar approach, although utilizing some more modern techniques, which combined with the spectacular voice of Michael Ironside, transformed the character and its unique style into a badass.
The series has evolved over time as it should be and this latest game makes no derogation from this rule. Sam Fisher may be back but the gameplay has changed considerably and the choices the players face have never been this difficult. This is by far the most moral-complicated game I have ever played and I know you'll agree with me once you get there yourself.
Story
The NSA and Third Echelon have put Sam in charge with training a young operative to take his place. For some reason I simply cannot see, every time someone is picking some young individual for some important task, in any movie I've seen he has to be an insubordinate prick with no regard toward the chain of command. Lucky for him, he dies in the first mission so I don't need to whoop him.
On the way back from this assignment, Sam is informed that his daughter Sarah has been killed in a car accident so his life is turned upside down. With nothing left to protect in his life, he takes on a very dangerous mission, agreeing on going deep undercover in a federal penitentiary in order to get infiltrated into a very dangerous terrorist organization called John Brown's Army (JBA) which apparently has built a so called Red Mercury bomb based on the notes of Dr. Aswat, a former Pakistani nuclear scientist. This device is extremely powerful and can generate an explosion similar to a nuclear blast. Not only that this organization is bent on killing lots of people just to demonstrate its patriotism to the true Americans (this is the most idiotic argument I have ever encountered) but is also willing to sell this bomb to some foreign malevolent individuals which have also a desire to kill some Americans and demolish a few cities; their reasons are not that clear but for Tom Clancy readers this is good enough.
Gameplay
I've been playing Sam Fisher's role as a field operative for almost 4 years and I have to say that it's not really showing his age. Even from the first game the producers left the impression that Sam is not quite young anymore but I have to say that he is by far the fittest game character I have ever seen (even more than the Prince of Persia). The array of moves has increased from title to title so now he is more impressive than ever and the best part is to discover them one by one.
The best off all and I think that anyone will agree is his trade mark move where he remains suspended between two walls using just his legs and in this last game this particular move has become more natural than ever. And if it weren't enough, we have been charmed with other new moves like an arm twist that gets the target on the ground and at our mercy. The one thing I don't understand: why isn't a quick way to kill someone that is passed out? Sure, you can put a bullet in the head once they're knocked out but I would have loved a more personal approach (especially with that beautifully shadered knife). To top all this goodies they gave him a Lara Croft like summersault and the ability to grab people from beneath the ice.
One of the most impressive features in Double Agent is by far level design and I have always admired the team behind Splinter Cell for their innovation and capability to provide us with veridical locations that felt ever so real. Kinshasa felt like Africa, Iceland felt cold and the cruise ship is my personal favorite. I'm not sure if they've followed the same build line like in the first and third title where most levels could be completed without any casualty. The fact that every single mission is accompanied by a statistic tells me there is a way to reach the stealth status.
If we are talking about levels then we should also mention that their structure is somewhat different from what players were used to and the requirements to complete these missions are kind of special. Unlike its predecessors the assignments given from the NSA are practically inexistent and most of the work will be done for the terrorists. Sam is forced to balance the criminal requests with his orders, trying to keep his cover in the same time. We can see his allegiance fluctuations on a trust meter displayed on the monitor screen at all times. Every time we accomplish something for any faction, either JBA or NSA, the trust meter will modify accordingly. On the short term, unless you do something really bad, this meter will not affect you because if some trust is lost with the agency or with the paramilitary you can quickly recuperate through other missions. On the long run this feature will influence the end of the game. Splinter Cell Double Agent features multiple endings which are directly related with the trust meter; so watch out because it will influence completely the faith of Sam.
Your job will not be too easy as the AI governing the enemy is not that stupid but I believe there is too much scripting involved. If you make a sound, they will investigate and then go about their business like nothing happened. Although the game has evolved in many other categories I have to say the AI has remained almost the same even if it became a little more paranoiac and more aware of the surroundings. I was surprised only by a search that I didn't know it was possible: I got discovered under a truck. Had to reload. Except this, the AI still doesn't notice the bling-bling lights from my night goggles and it has its own standards when it comes to luminosity. Even if the light and sound meters had been removed from the game leaving the player to decide if it's camouflaged enough, there is no pleasure in this because the player is not required to stay in complete darkness. Many times I thought I might be discovered but I remained concealed even in semi-light conditions.
The one thing I don't understand is why they persist in giving me weapons as the game is clearly built on a stealth concept and most of the time I carry them for nothing. I understand the need for a silencer pistol and in some missions for the multi-purpose rifle, but I have never used grenade and most if the gadgetry. I personally would have loved to have more air foils and sticky shockers, but instead I can only find more ammunition and more grenades. It doesn't make any sense.
And if we're talking about non-sense then we should talk about the most poorly conceived save/load system I have ever seen. I would very much like to explain what is wrong with it but it's impossible because I can't really figure it out. It has to different directories (if you will) for Mission and Progress and I guess one is for missions and one is for progress within the missions but I can't really be sure. If you don't believe me just try to load another save from a mission. It's a challenge in itself.
Related to gameplay I can only think of another nasty bug that only manifested in the Kinshasa and it has something to do with respawning. Some enemies I couldn't kill and whenever I turned away they were up on their feet and some other were generated again right in front of me after the quickload.
Video
Just like its predecessors, Splinter Cell Double Agent uses Unreal Engine 2.5 and I have to say it's not showing its age. Eve it's the same engine used in the first game if you can believe that but it's probably the best engine around these days. I really can't think at any other game that has the same quality in textures and I'm pretty sure it can give some interesting lessons in how to implement pixel shader 3.0
This quality comes with a great price, as most people will not have the hardware required to run the game at recommended values. This is kind of a paradox: the producers try to impress people with amazing graphics but they will fail as not many gamers have the necessary parenting funding to provide their children the possibility of playing with a stealth and ruthless secret operative.
You would imagine that after all those years of development, the engine will be stable? and it is but it's also being pushed to its limits. I had more than one mission with lightning problems and another one with graphical artifacts that we're more than annoying. I hope (and almost certain) that Ubisoft will use the next generation engine Unreal 3 which promises to be a quite a sight.
Sound
Michael Ironside is the best investment Ubisoft has made in Hollywood and he doesn't let us down. All other aspects of the game seem unimportant when Sam Fisher starts talking. We've heard silenced weapons and machine guns before and the ones here make no difference. The difference is made by the effort they've put into ambient sounds and their dedication of providing the best experience possible.
Multiplayer
The spies in multiplayer mode have nothing to do with Sam Fisher. We have been introduced to this new kind of multiplayer action in Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow and just like the single player campaign and gameplay it's getting better by the edition. The principle is simple: six operatives (Sam like individuals but with better speed and agility) go against 6 highly trained mercenaries in order to steal documents from a server terminal. What makes it interesting is that it's not implying any usual weapons and most of the time it will require complete collaboration of the team.
Conclusion:
Double Agent is the best one so far and in this rate the next one of two should blow our minds. Until we get there I can declare this one my personal stealth simulator and I know Ubisoft can do a better job on the next one. There is only one question: how old will Sam Fisher be and will we see a switch of characters like in Metal Gear Solid 4?
