Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"[about the mild flaws of Splinter Cell:)...I get peeved at games whose 'sniper mode' wobbles around like I couldn't hold a gun stable to save my life. While this may be true in the real world; I'm not a spy in the real world, am I...? Note to all game designers: I don't want a lesson in real-world gun kinetics, I just want to play a game. Enough with the 'wobbly sniper vision' crap."

---from the review

-----------------

Sidebar :

-------------

Those hard-to-end action games. While not a grievance worth the actual review, it's worth mentioning in "sidebar" that the video clip that finalizes the game is a bit of a disappointment, even if a "happy ending." Simply put, the ending is, much like most classic action games, dissatisfying. Remember the first Tomb Raider? It's sort of like that, only slightly better, yet...not really. Without spoiling anything major, consider that any typically humble, heroic ending would have Sam Fisher either safe and sound at home, or being called for another mission because "a hero's job is never done," or both. This ending fulfils a key amount of this criteria, and yet it's still disappointing, "logical" as it may be to end the game this way.

So, how old is your daughter, Mr. Splinter Cell? It deserves mentioning that while the game itself is very lifelike, the cutscenes detract a bit from this realism. In one cutscene, Sam's daughter muses that she hadn't heard Sam laugh "since the Reagan administration." Consider: this girl, still living with her dad, is supposedly a teenager. This game is set in 2004. Reagan's last full year as prez was in 1988. Do the math; Sam's teenage daughter, at the oldest, was a three year old at that time. Good memory, kid. Not that this is a big deal, though I felt it was worth noting in a "sidebar" footnote...

-----------------

Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

------------------

I have mixed feelings when reviewing Splinter Cell. Yes, it's a visual masterpiece, with incredible graphics, impressive AI for all adversaries, and great sound to boot. On the minus side; it is not quite the "Thief 3" we've all been waiting for, after playing Thief 2: The Metal Age three years ago. When I give Splinter Cell a high grade, it isn't so much because it's flawless, though more because of the fact that I'm so sick and tired of all the "find enemy, shoot, repeat" First Person Snoozers, that any FPS with a fair share of thought deserves a badge of honor all its own.

The storyline is plain and simple. Sam Fisher (the game player) is the best spy there is, who is called on for the most intense missions. Since you aren't even supposed to exist in these situations, you're mostly a ghost, working in shadows, knocking out your opponents while stealing secret files. Your mission is not to go in with guns blazing as much as to save political hostages the "easy way," right out from under their captor's noses. Did I mention you get to steal a "secret document" or two? Cool.

People who prefer the standard brainless shooter should be warned that this is a thinking man's FPS, to the extreme. In fact, it is far less a First Person Shooter, though rather a First Person Sneaker, in that the best solutions to any problem require brains, not brawn. After all, it is far more fun to steal an item right from under an enemy's nose instead of resorting to fisticuffs to get it. In such situations, silence is more golden than a rail gun. It's challenging --very challenging-- though that's the whole point.

Sneaking requires the ability to sneak, however, and this game's realistic game engine allows this. Pipes and wire gates can be climbed, for an alternate route. Telephone cables and what-not can be slid down to cross a street undetected. Some scenes have Sam rope-climb down the side of a building, allowing him to enter a room the "easy way" without sneaking past too many guards. He can shimmy across ledges. He can jump, and than straddle a thin hallway, allowing people below him to pass as he remains undetected. He can shimmy by his hands across pipes above a boiler room. He can even sneak slowly enough to approach an enemy from behind! This last maneuver can be used to either interrogate a suspect, force their eyes into a retinal scanner to unlock a security door, or to silently knock them out. There is very little that will leave you saying "I wish I could do that" that can't in fact be done.

Spy gadgetry only enhances the fun. A "laser mike" can be used to hear faraway conversations, even through windows. Thermal vision can detect land mines, as well as the heat of fingers against a keypad, allowing you to know the code a passing guard just used to get in. Best of all is the alternate fire in your most used weapon, which can shoot mini cameras (which can even gas a guard if they come in sight of it) and shockers (which can stun an enemy silently and effortlessly). These gadgets increase the already numerous alternatives to solving any mission.

Gripes are minor though worth mentioning. While all this attention to realism never crosses the line a la the classic faux pas, Trespasser, such "reality" can be an unnecessary added challenge at times. For one, there's such a thing as "TOO dark"; some areas are practically entirely done in night vision mode (yes; even if you correct your display card's "gamma mode") and I didn't buy a top notch graphics card just to play over 50% of a game in mono-color green. Second is a noticeable delay before the "grab character" option begins to light up, when you sneak upon an enemy. By the time it does light up, the enemy has often already detected you (get those space bar fingers at the ready!). Last of all, I get peeved at games whose "sniper mode" wobbles around like I couldn't hold a gun stable to save my life. While this may be true in the real world; I'm not a spy in the real world, am I...? Note to all game designers: I don't want a lesson in real-world gun kinetics, I just want to play a game. Enough with the "wobbly sniper vision" crap.

Realism of this type never made me want to give a game a lower grade, however. Here's the trait that nearly did; this game has a tendency to "cheat." In Thief, who you see is who is there (WYSIWIT...? Whatever). If you painstakingly snuck everywhere, and knocked out all guards, you had free reign of the level; to sneak, investigate, and steal as you saw fit. Not so in Splinter Cell, which presumes that any body out of the shadows is one that could be seen by a guard "unseen." If you forget to hide a knocked out guard's body in the shadows, proceeding to the next floor often leads to an alarm going off, even if you indeed knocked out every single guard visible on that floor. It's presumed a guard woke up and pulled the alarm, though retracing your steps proves this isn't the case. However, if the rules of the game are to "hide all evidence," this isn't exactly cheating as much as enforcing said rules. Well, sort of.

That being said: regardless of excessive realism, Splinter Cell is a fantastic achievement in gaming. However, again, it is not for everyone. There is no shame in preferring checkers over chess, although people who feel the other way around should definitely give Splinter Cell a look. You might pull out a hair or two discerning the best solution to each mission, though the game is more than "doable," with at least half a dozen alternatives to each puzzle. First Person Shooter fans should like it a lot. Fans of Thief should love it. If that isn't worth a top grade, little is.

---Techtite