I really like a good first person shooter.. But most FPS games these days aren’t about thinking or planning your way out, they are just run and gun, “zerg-fests” where you run in shoot a few.. die, respawn, run in shoot a few, die, respawn.. wash, rinse, repeat.. Boring..
The new Splintercell game isn’t this.. I would call it more of a first person sneaker. In that it’s entirely conceivable to play through large swaths of the game without firing a shot, and that’s just cool..
As with any game it has it’s ups and downs, but over all its up and I think UBISoft has set themselves up with a game that they can kick out a lot of downloadable content for, if they leverage this correctly..
Things that make this game stand out for me are the little details, like the movement mechanics.. Frankly, I think the movement mechanics are great! And the cover system is fantastic, unlike some other games I have played recently.. It did take a little getting used to some aspects of it; like I’d prefer the shift key to not be a toggle for run/walk but rather be a press and hold kind of thing but that’s largely because it’s what I’m used to with other games, not because its inherently wrong..
There are lots of different weapons that you can use ( or not use ) and you have options to upgrade them.. There are also a whole pack of different thrown gadgets that you can use and they all have their use..
I also really like the color vs black/white mechanic.. At first I thought this would be jarring and break the suspension of disbelief but the opposite was true.. I feel it actually helps a lot..
Lots of textual help everywhere which again I thought would be distracting or break the suspension, but actually they way they worked it in was great and made it sorta feel like a movie..
Really my complaints about the game are minor;
1. The game is short – I finished the game in 11 hours, and I was going slow.. I’m pretty sure you could finish it a heck of a lot faster than that if you tried.. It seemed really complete though in that the 11 hours was packed with stuff to do, but I kinda wish games were longer.. they seem to be getting shorter and shorter.
2. Very linear – to be expected really.. There is usually only one way to go..
3. A couple of the levels need more direction – the car garage sneak event annoyed me and really was the only level that kinda pissed me off, but primarily because I had no idea where I was supposed to go and it took me several tries..
4. PRODUCT PLACEMENT!! Dear god.. I wonder how much Cisco and the producers of the new Nightmare on Elm Street paid to get their product so highly and obviously placed in the game.. Frankly this was jarring.. I didn’t like this.. All computer monitors can be destroyed!! uh.. unless there is a Cisco logo on it, then no.. etc.. There were others.. it was annoying..
5. And finally the AI, while not dreadfully stupid the enemy aren’t too bright.. For example I was right around the corner from a guy who knew I was there.. he had the brilliant idea of throwing a frag grenade at me.. it basically dropped at his feet and I just remained hidden while he died.. heh it was amusing, but kinda dumb.. The biggest issue is that they are constantly yelling what they are doing which they took directly from FEAR and was a problem in that game too that I know folks complained about.. Oh well..
All in all it was a great game.. and I will likely play it again on hard..
I think I actually give this one 4.5 out of 5 stars.
