just as bad as montreal's crack at this story. unfortunately i think double agent's narrative as a story and as an excuse to change the gameplay formula is just fundamentally broken regardless of whether montreal or shanghai were going to do it. theres a lot of potential here, shanghai has a fantastic eye for memorable action setpieces, the graphics are incredible for an xbox 360 launch title, the score, while not as good as montreal's version, is used so much more dynamically than what we've seen previously, but all that talent is wasted on a terrible story, an awful upgrade system, horrendous changes to the C.T.E system, and the worst level design the series has ever, and will ever see. just a complete bummer in every way.
This review contains spoilers
This was one of the few games I had for 360 for a while, and my brother and I enjoyed it a lot. The missions are fun and have a nice variety to them, and the double agent stuff is good too. I really liked the JBA stuff in particular, having a time limit to complete tasks. I forget the details of how it all played out, but I liked this game a lot. I think its a less well loved Splinter Cell game in general, but I liked it.
The playstation 2 version of this game is a 100x better than the 360/PS3 version and is basically just a continuation of Chaos Theory gameplay with a weirdly creepy soundtrack and much darker tone. Weird that you have to go backwards a generation to get the better experience, but that is the case here. If you disliked the 360/ps3 version, give the PS2 version a shot.
A pretty janky, flawed game that offers some unique ideas. If I had anything to criticize here, the gameplay is watered down compared to the previous games. The story is probably the worst here out of any game in the Splinter Cell series, being super inconsistent and dumb.
Edgy vibes overall, I don't hate it. But it's a huge step down from Chaos Theory. Though as of now it's literally #2 in my replay ratings.
Edgy vibes overall, I don't hate it. But it's a huge step down from Chaos Theory. Though as of now it's literally #2 in my replay ratings.
I received a rude wakeup call once I hit in-engine gameplay: The game frequently runs at anywhere between 10-20 FPS. The 6th generation of consoles was not kind to the PS3, something most noticeable with multiplatform titles that released early in its life. Listen though, I'm something of a pro gamer. I've 100%ed Metal Gear Solid V on the PS3. It takes more than a kinda shitty framerate to scare me away from a game. Just know that the game runs fairly consistently on the Xbox 360.
The gameplay feels noticably different, or perhaps I should say "unpolished". It's no Hitman, nor is it a Metal Gear Solid, and it barely feels like the original Splinter Cell games at times. The HUD is extremely minimal, meaning you have almost no indicators of how hidden you are. The only indicator you get is a light that's green when you're "hidden", yellow when you're exposed, and red when you're detected. The difference in "light" and "dark" is nowhere near as distinct as it was in previous titles, constantly giving the unfulfilling sensation of hiding in plain sight. There is no darkness in this stealth game about hiding in the shadows. You also have regenerating health, which I would be more frustrated with if Sam didn't die in 4 bullets anyways.
Ubisoft Shanghai's level design mentality finally clicked with me while playing this title. Not only are their stages more linear than Ubisoft Montreal's, it often feels like they're built with a specific play style or route in mind, a definitive solution to the puzzle. The times when that proverbial linearity leash comes off is at JBA Headquarters, where the game does take on more Hitman-styled stealth, to a degree. You're given a singular task to do from a JBA member, and they leave you alone for the next 25 minutes, trusting you to work diligently at your task. That's more than enough time to go snooping around where you're not supposed to. These parts would probably be cooler in a game with actual meaningful stealth mechanics.
Now that I've played both versions, I can safely say that the version on 5th generation consoles is superior, if only by virtue of sticking to what worked before. This? This is a mess. It's barely a stealth game. It's barely a Splinter Cell game. It's barely fun.
The gameplay feels noticably different, or perhaps I should say "unpolished". It's no Hitman, nor is it a Metal Gear Solid, and it barely feels like the original Splinter Cell games at times. The HUD is extremely minimal, meaning you have almost no indicators of how hidden you are. The only indicator you get is a light that's green when you're "hidden", yellow when you're exposed, and red when you're detected. The difference in "light" and "dark" is nowhere near as distinct as it was in previous titles, constantly giving the unfulfilling sensation of hiding in plain sight. There is no darkness in this stealth game about hiding in the shadows. You also have regenerating health, which I would be more frustrated with if Sam didn't die in 4 bullets anyways.
Ubisoft Shanghai's level design mentality finally clicked with me while playing this title. Not only are their stages more linear than Ubisoft Montreal's, it often feels like they're built with a specific play style or route in mind, a definitive solution to the puzzle. The times when that proverbial linearity leash comes off is at JBA Headquarters, where the game does take on more Hitman-styled stealth, to a degree. You're given a singular task to do from a JBA member, and they leave you alone for the next 25 minutes, trusting you to work diligently at your task. That's more than enough time to go snooping around where you're not supposed to. These parts would probably be cooler in a game with actual meaningful stealth mechanics.
Now that I've played both versions, I can safely say that the version on 5th generation consoles is superior, if only by virtue of sticking to what worked before. This? This is a mess. It's barely a stealth game. It's barely a Splinter Cell game. It's barely fun.
Too many stealth elements were stripped out of the PC/PS3/XBOX360 version of the game. This coupled with an unpolished gameplay and a storyline that forces you to perform boring tasks while off-mission makes this one of the weakest entries in the series. Despite this, I believe the game's ideas were not necessarily bad, just poorly executed.
Both versions of Double Agent share a fair bit of issues but this version is absolute garbage.
You have minimalist terrible HUD that removed the noise meter for no reason, it's very unclear when you are hidden in darkness, even more because almost half of the game levels are in daylight (it's Pandora Tomorrow all over again).
The story is basically non existant, the levels are very short but too crowded, there's not one single level that feels good play except for the JBA hq, and with that granted only interesting addition to the franchise is the double agent gimmick, it's fun to investigate shit under everyone's noses.
Yeah this game feels completely unfinished, also it's top 5 worst PC ports I ever played, and the game feels like it lacks a final level completely, it will just end and that's that, don't play this.
You have minimalist terrible HUD that removed the noise meter for no reason, it's very unclear when you are hidden in darkness, even more because almost half of the game levels are in daylight (it's Pandora Tomorrow all over again).
The story is basically non existant, the levels are very short but too crowded, there's not one single level that feels good play except for the JBA hq, and with that granted only interesting addition to the franchise is the double agent gimmick, it's fun to investigate shit under everyone's noses.
Yeah this game feels completely unfinished, also it's top 5 worst PC ports I ever played, and the game feels like it lacks a final level completely, it will just end and that's that, don't play this.