Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Remember when Ubisoft were known for quirky French platform games like Rayman? They were still blazing a trail with the Rainbow 6 tactical FPS games, but these were hard core offerings. Then news started filtering out from Ubi´s Montreal studios that they were onto something big. Having visited Ubi´s Montreal digs in the past, I was willing to believe it. Sure, when I was there most of them spent just about every Friday afternoon getting blind drunk, but there´s a collection of very talented people out there.

And it´s the Montreal crew who are responsible for Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. This is in every way the "real" sequel to SC. Not only does it take single player to new heights, but it expands upon the promising multiplayer modes of the second Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow.

But above all, there´s no more denying that this is an entirely new flavour for the series. Sam Fisher may still be the main man, but the days of you having to sneak around everywhere are gone - if you want them to. You still have to use your brain, but now more than ever if you´re wanting to just drop someone rather than shimmy by them, you´re not going to be punished. In fact, you can even equip yourself from the get-go to your desired style of play. If you want action, expect yourself to be loaded with weapons. Stealth, you cop more gadgets. You can also opt for an advisor´s recommendations, which almost always is a commonsense split between being a one-man army and going in ninja-style.

This time round you have ten missions to work through in single player mode, and they are no picnic. But before you even get halfway through the first proper mission, you realise that this game is one hell of a work of art. Normal mapped goodness permeates every pore, the use of light and texturing over surfaces is without parallel, and even though we saw a lot of this material in our preview earlier this year, watching rain course down rock, skin glisten or shadows flicker behind translucent walls is enough to make you stop and gape. The level of animation in this game devoted to human movement is astounding, and utterly believable.

Perhaps the best tribute I can think of is how, as I whiled away the hours ploughing through the levels (badly), a non-gamer acquaintance caught a look at the screen as I played the Xbox version. Not noticing the controller - and with me not playing the game she wanted to know what I was watching - on the strength of seeing Fisher in cover stationary, with some bad guys shooting the breeze in dim light. This is what the games industry has been moving towards, games that look and sound so realistic that they can be mistaken for real interactive drama.

But on to the action. And in SCCT, while you can sneak around with the best of them, there´s still plenty of control finesse required. First thing you may note is that you have a wicked-ass, nasty looking knife. The chosen weapon of psychopaths everywhere is a deadly tool in Fisher´s hands, and comes in frequent use, whether you´re sticking it into people, or merely threatening NPCs with it unless they hand over useful information. You can even use it to bash locks open with. Quite the handy addition.

Next Page (2 of 3)