Splinter Cell

Richard tells us how Sam fares on his port to the PC

More Images

This slickness does seem to have blinded some people to some of the weaknesses that the game has. Weaknesses that will be more obvious to PC owners simply because of the company it must stand next to. The PC has seen games like Thief and Deus Ex which have highly focused stealth aspects like Splinter Cell, but in much more open and free-form game worlds. This idea of emergent gameplay, whereby you design a game with a set of world rules and then let the player experiment with them would have lent itself to Splinter Cell. It certainly has a very well grounded set of world rules with things like cameras, lights and enemies all behaving with consistency. Sam Fisher himself has a very diverse set of movements and gadgets that allow him to move around and operate in a number of different ways. Unfortunately though the environments are very restrictive and offer very little freedom for the player. The levels aren't terrible, but they are a missed opportunity. Your path through the game is linear and obstacles you encounter, be it an enemy or a blocked path, will tend to have a pre-designed solution. The prevailing feeling is not one of 'what if', more of 'what next'. At times this works in the games favour, particularly in the earlier missions where scripted sequences keep the action flowing. But by the time you reach the middle and later levels you'll start to feel a little frustrated. Things like the artificially low amount of ammo you can carry means you are never free to be more aggressive, and you'll wish you could deviate from the path a little.

On the subject of weapons the aiming reticule is dire. A blurry blob might cut it on a TV screen but on a high resolution monitor it is obnoxiously inaccurate. As in many titles, movement and constant firing cause the edges of the reticule to expand and your shots to become wilder. Even if you are crouching motionless though you'll routinely miss when aiming for someone’s head with a pistol from a few metres away. Later on, some of the enemies sport bullet proof masks and this problem then becomes even worse. Considering Sam's proficiency in other matters you would have thought he'd be a more accomplished marksman.

Controlling the character using a mouse and keyboard actually works very well. The standard WASD, or your own customisation, is used for movement and the scroll wheel of the mouse is used for adjusting your speed. This system comes into its own when you are trying to sneak up behind a character. The scroll wheel lets you set your speed so you can focus on what the character is doing without having to worry about accidentally taking a step too fast and setting of an alarm. This discreetness of movement was always in the game on the Xbox version, it is just more discernible on the PC. Sam is also a very acrobatic fellow and you'll have fun watching him climb up poles, slide down ropes and of course performing his patented 'money shot' [are we talking about this same thing? - Ed] split jump move between walls. Using the keyboard for all this is fine and you won't encounter many problems in pulling these moves off.

As you will have already heard this game looks fantastic. Graphically it is one of the best titles out there right now. The lighting is fantastic and as well as being pretty it is an important aspect of the game, you'll want to stay concealed in the shadows at all times. You also have a couple of vision modes, night and thermal. When things get too dark simply flip down your headset and you'll be viewing things clearly in black and white; well grey at least. Thermal vision lets you see through some walls to spot problematic guards. The vision system is so seamlessly integrated you'll get used to switching back and forth in no time. So much so that when I was playing another game and things got a bit dark I thought to myself 'I'll just quickly turn on my night vision' followed by realisation that I had none 'doh'. Some of the detail is truly incredible and helps to bring the environments to life, like individual cigarette stubs faintly glowing in an ashtray or the way curtains billow in the wind. It all adds up to a very cinematic feel.

Splinter Cell's reputation has preceded it for the release on the PC and deservedly so. It is a very well produced game of considerably quality. The weaknesses present aren't glaring and don't detract much from what is a very good gaming experience. Comparing it to another recent PC release, namely Novalogic's Black Hawk Down, Splinter Cell has a slower and more deliberate pace whereas the former is very much a faster action packed experience. Black Hawk Down has a much shorter single player game, but Splinter Cell has no multiplayer feature for longevity and it's linear design means you'll probably not want to play through it again. If you are thinking about purchasing one of the two basically just think about what style of gameplay you'd most enjoy. Whatever your choice, Splinter Cell will surely provide a satisfying gaming experience.

82%

By Richard Clifford