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Double Agent LE, get it!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This fourth installment in the Splinter Cell series of games takes a radical change in direction from the previous three games. In the game you are Sam Fisher, an NSA operative who is given the task of infiltrating the JBA, or John Brown's Army, a terrorist organization.

Double Agent for the Xbox 360 uses a branching storyline that allows the gamer to make choices that ultimately affect the final outcome of the game. The previous games were more linear in their approach to accomplish goals. There are fewer 'levels' in Double Agent than in previous versions, but only because each level is much larger and there are multiple missions that occur on each level giving you the experience of a longer game.

You are given assignments or 'objectives' in the game, some of which must be completed at the time they are given, if you choose, and others can be done at various points throughout the game. This is accomplished by using a 'free roam' approach to some levels rather than limiting when and where the player can be at any given time. An example would be that you are asked to acquire information about the top members of the JBA, and you do so by locating records on them and getting retinal scans of their eyes. All of this can be done at any given time during the game as the opportunity arises.

The developers went all out to give the gamer plenty of 'eye candy' in the form of graphics. There are areas that have large groups of people, each with different characteristics whereas before they were limited to only a few characters. The level that is based on the city of Shanghai truly gives the look and feel of being there. The details are incredible, right down to the rain that falls on Sam's skin and clothing, acting as real rain would with those surfaces.

The only real let-down of this game is the way it ends abruptly without giving any continuity towards the next game or finalizing the series. You're just left wondering "so what happened?".

The online multiplayer mode, or 'Spy versus Upsilon', has many features that are very appealing to players new to the series, but leaves some hard core fans of this game wanting to return to the previous title's, Chaos Theory, 'Spy versus Merc' version of online play. UBI has removed many 'gadgets' that were previously available, forcing the spy to be more true to his calling by using stealth but at the same time losing something in the process. The user community seems to be split as to whether or not the multiplayer change is a good thing. For me it's better, but only because I was never good at the previous online game.

I give the Xbox 360 version of the game an 8.5 out of 10 rating.

The game that saved Michael Ironside's career?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

PROS:
- Unreal Engine
- No forced grab cover as with many new games.
- SAVE ANYWHERE!
- Excellent main character voice acting, especially Michael Ironside. It really helps.
- Excellent music. This really helps too.
- Complicated story with interesting morality. I never understood irrational "ends-justify-the-means" ethics, which this game obviously employs, but it's certainly realistic to our ultra-nationalistic, ultra-militaristic government, so using it as a plot device in this game makes perfect sense. The enemy is mostly domestic so no one can claim anti-Arab, anti-Muslim or racism. Branching storylines and alternate endings as in a special edition DVD.
- Very very interesting psychological training levels (although this is far too brief and actually doesn't really train newbies on most weapons and gadgets).
- Sammy gotta girlfriend. Awwwww.
- Map - don't know where to go? Look at the map.
- I never once had to consult the internet due to bad design, didn't know where to go, what to do, glitches, etc. Double-plus good on that.

CONS:
- Deplorable recycled enemy voice acting during combat. Your enemies will even switch from new voice actors to completely different (old) voice actors if you enter combat. They'll say things like "let's try something different, fall back!" and other various quotes from older Splinter Cell games (Chaos Theory). Tons of them are from the exact same voice actor, which again is from older games and there is not even an attempt to make him sound like a different guy each time. How much effort could it take to get some voice actors into a studio to some new lines. You could get a bum off the street to do this.
- infinite health nonsense like in Call of Duty 2, Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas, etc. no med kits, health packs, etc. I don't get this with the new games. It's a revolt against the old Doom health/armor tradition. Logically, it only makes sense if you have some sort of Halo character with a recharging shield or something similar. Sam ain't got that, WWII soldiers certainly didn't, neither do characters in other games - you might be able to give Gears of War a pass because they are wearing some sort of goofy suit in the future, but they really should either explain it (or explain it away) for this and other games. Infinite health changes the context of gameplay. There is no urgency to get to a health kit or be more careful if your health is down. Get shot a bunch of times? Just duck down for a couple of seconds, no prob.
- too many timed missions (entire levels are timed in this game in which you must complete complicated tasks and aren't even able to run - you're forced to walk). It's annoying.
- they took away the light and sound meters in favor of a lame traffic-light Homeland Security style color system. I miss the light and sound meters, they were cool. The color system is also redundant (they have it permanently on screen in 2 different places) -- why not have only 1 color alert (on his shoulder strap) and the light/sound meters for flavor. The light meter allowed you to see when you were APPROACHING vulnerability of exposure. Now they just have a yellow light which indicates only the exact moment of vulnerability, not when you are getting close. The sound meter similarly allowed you to see when you were able to surprise enemies more easily due to loud ambient noise.
- grenade throwing system downgrade. They used to show you an exact arc of where the grenade would land - this was realistic because throwing stuff into an exact location is fairly easy in real life. Even children can do it, so I gather an expert military veteran can do it. Not anymore because it's gone. Why?

Still an excellent game and I'm sure they'll give it a sequel. Chaos Theory was a little better IMO.

Stealth Action RE-Redefined

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This Game rules. The level of detail and gameplay are very nice. The Graphics are over the top. The original music score is amazing.
Overall
Graphics: 9.5
Music: 10
Sound: 9.5
Control: 9
My favorite part: The Snow Level and the ice smash kill.

Review Page: 1 

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