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 REVIEW:
SPLINTER CELL: CHAOS THEORY |
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| Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the third
game in the Splinter Cell series, brought to us by Ubisoft.
With its superior graphics, gameplay, audio, story,
and online play, the game improves upon its predecessors
in every way. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the best
game of the series and its genre, and is the best XBox
game I've reviewed. |
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March, 2005
Ubi Soft Montreal
Ubi Soft Entertainment
XBox
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Sam Fisher, Third Echelon’s premiere Splinter Cell operative,
finds himself as the hidden point man trying to stop a crisis
in the Pacific Rim. The year is 2008 and Splinter Cell: Chaos
Theory’s story revolves around the conflict that arises
when Japan creates their Information Defense Force (IDF).
The creation of this force triggers conflicts as it violates
the Japanese Constitution and puts neighboring China and North
Korea on edge. Sam Fisher enters the story when Chinese and
North Korean ships block the Korean Strait, stopping all shipping
to and from Japan.
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The blockade severely disrupts Japan’s economy and the
United States sends out the USS Clarence E Walsh to intercede.
The USS Walsh is the best ship for the job, but it suffers
an accident enroute to the Korean Strait. The accident is
serious and could ignite the spark starting World War III.
Third Echelon is first on the scene to find any information
that could stop this crisis.
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The graphics in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory are the first
elements that pull you into the game. You are immersed in
a world that is believable and dynamic; every detail is well
thought out and realism is enhanced, whether it’s the
rain bouncing off your uniform and sliding down Sam’s
face or the light house that illuminates a small section of
the world before fading away and lighting another area. At
the developers’ will, the graphics shift dynamically
and change the mood of the game. If a tense atmosphere is
required (most of the game seems to require it) the area of
focus is darkened with just a few light sources that beautifully
reveal small areas, while guards patrol the surrounding areas.
The character animations also change with the situation; for
instance the guards will walk casually but their movements
become noticeably stiff as the tension rises and they become
increasingly afraid.
Scenes are multi-textured, from the detailed interiors of
buildings, the smooth character models, realistic landscapes
and great special effects; this game has the graphics department
nailed. In fact, these are the best graphics I have seen on
the Xbox, which is a good thing because the graphics pull
the player in quickly and the gameplay keeps him or her playing.
Landscapes
Most of the gameplay takes place indoors, although when you
do wander outside the exterior landscapes look as though they
have been given some thought. Fallen branches block your path
at the start of one level, and a little rock climbing is required
in another enroute to reaching a plateau where the house your
objective resides.
Buildings
The interior of buildings in this game are intricate and very
impressive. You’ll not find a dull or boring room, as
each is filled with objects that are not lacking in the detail
department. The levels aren’t repetitive, which is always
a big testament to the quality of a game.
Vehicles
There are few vehicles in this game, and those I found are
not very impressive. However, SCCT is not a racing game, vehicles
do not play an important part, so this weakness can be forgiven.
The few vehicles I saw were very blocky and bland.
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| Splinter Cell: CT
vehicle model. |
MetaVR
vehicle model from the 3D
model libraries.
Click the image to see a close-up. |
Characters
The character models in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory are amazingly
well- designed, especially Sam Fisher’s character model.
All aspects are smooth, realistic, and detailed; for example
Sam Fisher’s muscles bulge out of his shiny and equipment-laden
suit. His face is so finely detailed that you can even see
the stubbles of his beard. His mouth moves when he talks and
his eyes don’t stay fixed in one position. He wears
his gun slung across his back and hangs his gadgets and grenades
on his waist. The enemy character models are also very detailed.
Great job here by Ubisoft.
Far Horizon
The far horizon aspect really doesn’t apply to this
game, because nearly all scenes are interiors. When you are
outdoors there is no distant horizon that would clearly illustrate
this aspect of the graphics.
Audio
The audio is as immersive as the graphics that are present
in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Although overall every audio
component is top notch, the best are the voiceovers and the
ambient noises. The voiceovers are heard from the various
members of the Third Echelon team during their briefings.
Before each mission each of the four team members reads a
couple paragraphs of instructions aloud.
All the acting here is believable-- I was never once pulled
out of the situation, as often occurs with games that have
poor acting.
Another aspect of the voice acting is the background dialogue
of the guards. Their tone is very believable, and this aspect
of the game adds a layer of reality to the action. Whether
the guards are casually talking to another guard on duty,
yelling at you, talking trash or even talking to themselves
when they are searching for you, their intensity is palpable;
you can feel their emotions. The dialogue between guards is
even used to promote another Ubisoft game, soon to be released
-- in one scene while you are hidden in a crawlspace you overhear
two guards talking about “The Prince of Persia”
and how they hear it’s an awesome game and they need
to go home after duty to play it. Very clever Ubisoft, very
clever indeed.
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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a joy to watch and interact
with. The game plays remarkably well and is a lot of fun.
The main theme, as with all the Splinter Cell games, is stealth.
You are required to go through the missions without making
yourself known to the enemy; the shadows are, therefore, your
best friend. Rambo-style players, you have now been warned
that this is not your kind of game.
During most of the game you move from shadow to shadow, only
venturing into the light when you have to, or when the coast
is clear. You can shoot out, or switch off, the lights to
keep hidden but the guards aren’t as limited in this
game as in previous ones. This time around you’ll need
to look for lights to shoot out or you’ll need to go
back to turn the switch back on. Your best bet is to lure
the guards into the darkness where you have the advantage
of night, thermal, and electro-magnetic vision.
When you sneak up behind a guard, you can press the action
button to put him in a headlock with a knife at his throat.
This is the preferred way of taking out the enemy as it is
quiet and can lead to additional helpful information from
interrogations.
The AI has vastly improved in this version of Splinter Cell,
which adds more challenge to the game, and makes the headlock
move harder to pull off. Now, you have to worry about being
heard as well as being seen. The stances create varying levels
of noise: standing makes the most noise, crouching makes the
least. For this reason you should always stay crouched and
not move very fast, as you’ll make more noise. The background
noises created by a machine in operation or a radio enable
you to make a little more noise, which in turn makes it easier
to sneak up on guards. The game has two meters that measure
how well you are hidden and how much noise you are making.
If you are spotted by the enemy, you have your work cut out
for you. Your ammo is limited so going maverick generally
just wastes all your ammo. Eliminating one enemy gets you
killed or at the very least sounds an alarm. There is a new
alarm system present in the game: 1 alarm makes no change
in the game, 2 alarms cause the enemies to put on body armor,
3 alarms means they put on helmets, and 4 alarms put the guards
on permanent alert and has them fortify their positions. It
is therefore best to not sound more than one alarm. If you
do sound more than one, restart from a previous save. The
game allows for quicksaves at any time, which you should definitely
take advantage of, unless you’re a fan of starting from
the beginning many times.
Chaos Theory contributes many new features to the Splinter
Cell series, Most noticeably is the knife. The knife feature
enables you to quickly eliminate enemies that get a little
too close. This great new feature looks really cool in action.
Another new feature to the series is hacking. You can hack
by getting to a computer terminal or using wi-fi to access
a computer that is in direct sight. You play a little mini-game
(which is far too easy) to access secret emails that may be
an objective, deactivate a laser grid, or open a door. This
feature is a great addition to the lock-picking mini-game.
Another new feature is the ability to bash open doors which
will knock out an enemy standing on the other side. All these
features enhance an already stellar series.
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CONTROL SCHEME |
SCORE: 8.5 |
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The control scheme in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is straightforward,
which is always a good thing. By default, Start=Pause, Back=OPSAT,
A=Action/reload, X=Draw weapon, B=Back in menu/cancel action,
Y=Jump, RT=Fire Weapon/slash knife when you are close to enemy
w/o gun drawn/lethal attack with enemy in headlock, LT=Alternate
Fire/KO with enemy in headlock, Dpad=Different vision modes,
LA=Move, RA=Aim, PLA=Scope, PRA=Binoculars, WB=Inventory,
and finally BB=Whistle.
Not once did I find myself fighting with my controller; each action was paired with the right button based on how often you use that specific action. For example, the action button is the rather large and centrally placed A button because you frequently need it; it is not mapped to the small white button which would be inconvenient. You can change the control scheme if you find the default mappings undesirable. I only wish it were a little easier to change equipment in the heat of the moment because looking through the menu with the white button isn't great in a pinch. Overall however UbiSoft did a nice job designing the control scheme.
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One of the best aspects of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is
its replay value. This is mainly due to the two multiplayer
modes: Co-op and Spies Vs. Mercenaries. The Co-op mode puts
you and a pal together, either using a controller or online
via Xbox’s online service Xbox Live, playing through
a completely separate campaign as two spies. The spies work
for Third Echelon and their missions tie into the story with
somewhat lesser importance than the one that Sam Fisher handles
in the Solo-Campaign. The spies play similarly to Sam Fisher
except that they can utilize moves that require both spies.
For example, you can boost your spy friend up to reach a ledge
that would otherwise be out of reach, or hold onto a rope
so he can repel down a wall to reach the bottom safely. You
can even throw your teammate a missile to knock out an opponent.
These moves make the campaign completely original and fresh,
as you must utilize them to succeed. This mode makes teamwork
a necessity, which is a double-edged sword; it ’'s great
when you have a person you know playing with you, but it’s
horrible when you are matched up with a player online who
will not cooperate or is generally no fun to go through an
entire campaign with. The Co-op missions are a must for anybody
who enjoys the solo campaign.
The second multiplayer mode was introduced with Splinter
Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (the
second Splinter Cell game) and revolutionized multiplayer
at the time. In the Spies vs. Mercenaries mode you are either
a mercenary who plays in first person or a spy who plays like
Sam Fisher. It is truly amazing and is great fun to play.
The only drawback is there hasn’t been much added here
and the mode is merely a graphically superior version of Splinter
Cell: PT’s Spies vs. Mercenaries, with minor tweaks.
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory has a lot more going on under
the hood than the solo campaign. I commend it for its new
Co-op mode that is in a word -- AWESOME.
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BUGS AND GLITCHES |
SCORE: 9.0 |
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The only glitch I found is the occasional clipping. Clipping
is when a solid object passes through another one. For example
I could make Sam Fisher’s arm pass through a door. This
type of glitch is very common in games; however it did not
interfere with the game. |
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I really enjoyed this game -- it is another ace in Ubisoft’s
already awesome hand. The gameplay is great, the graphics
are stunning, and the story is engaging. I have no major complaints
about this game; I recommend it to everyone except Rambo-style
gamers. They should definitely try to get into Splinter Cell:
CT as it will pay off for them. This is the best game I have
reviewed this year.
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