Splinter Cell is the first outing for Sam Fisher, a laughably gruff spy and his manly mission to scare the Russians and Chinese. Unfortunately this first entry has not aged too well - it's playable albeit underbaked, overwritten, and frustrating to get through.
The story is a dry NSA fan fic about Sam being a bad ass and saving the world with an 'ends justify the means' approach. This time it's the Georgians working with the Russians... but also the Chinese and the CIA? I don't know but then Sam doesn't follow the plot either, he just always knows what the next thing to do is. Sam also doesn't get much characterisation beyond 'cold badass' and has some rough scenes like being unable to comfort a dying man and interrupting his daughter's call to toss the phone and dive out of a plane. The VA (Michael Ironside) talking about Sam's emotional depth is genuinely laughable (the healing moans are also not appreciated Michael).
Gameplay meanwhile is VERY linear and I don't think the series found its feet here. Levels are built around stealth and platforming sections each with their own issues. The designer just wants you to play levels in one very specific way but sadly the mechanics are not well tuned. The 'grab an enemy' prompts don't always show (leading to instant deaths), light levels are hilariously unclear on the PS2 version, and aim is terrible! Even when a lightbulb is inches from you it can take 3+ shots to hit.
Platforming meanwhile is mechanically fine but it really highlights the terrible level design. Nothing is way pointed, highlighted, or even hinted as being interactive and many times stuff that is normally scenery suddenly becomes interactive. They introduce and remove situational mechanics at random without explaining them like the rappelling sections and lots of reoccurring mechanics are only explained in missable data files like how the auto-turrets work - a boon if you know, but frustrating if you're not aware. It will also switch from stealth to action scenes without telling you, so it's unclear when you alerted guards or if it's suddenly a set piece.
Overall this game is a rough start to the franchise, I've not touched the other games yet but apparently they do get better. There is of course the idea of a decent game in here it's just buried beneath a boring story, unlikable characters, inconsistent mechanics, and slow gameplay. I'd say this one is only worth it for the fans and new players can probably skip it without missing anything substantial.
The story is a dry NSA fan fic about Sam being a bad ass and saving the world with an 'ends justify the means' approach. This time it's the Georgians working with the Russians... but also the Chinese and the CIA? I don't know but then Sam doesn't follow the plot either, he just always knows what the next thing to do is. Sam also doesn't get much characterisation beyond 'cold badass' and has some rough scenes like being unable to comfort a dying man and interrupting his daughter's call to toss the phone and dive out of a plane. The VA (Michael Ironside) talking about Sam's emotional depth is genuinely laughable (the healing moans are also not appreciated Michael).
Gameplay meanwhile is VERY linear and I don't think the series found its feet here. Levels are built around stealth and platforming sections each with their own issues. The designer just wants you to play levels in one very specific way but sadly the mechanics are not well tuned. The 'grab an enemy' prompts don't always show (leading to instant deaths), light levels are hilariously unclear on the PS2 version, and aim is terrible! Even when a lightbulb is inches from you it can take 3+ shots to hit.
Platforming meanwhile is mechanically fine but it really highlights the terrible level design. Nothing is way pointed, highlighted, or even hinted as being interactive and many times stuff that is normally scenery suddenly becomes interactive. They introduce and remove situational mechanics at random without explaining them like the rappelling sections and lots of reoccurring mechanics are only explained in missable data files like how the auto-turrets work - a boon if you know, but frustrating if you're not aware. It will also switch from stealth to action scenes without telling you, so it's unclear when you alerted guards or if it's suddenly a set piece.
Overall this game is a rough start to the franchise, I've not touched the other games yet but apparently they do get better. There is of course the idea of a decent game in here it's just buried beneath a boring story, unlikable characters, inconsistent mechanics, and slow gameplay. I'd say this one is only worth it for the fans and new players can probably skip it without missing anything substantial.
ugnic57
5 months ago