Chaos Theory perfects the formula, and it is without a doubt one of the most impressive games of this generation.

User Rating: 9.6 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory XBOX
By Mirkan | Review Date:
I'd like to point out that this is a review of the single player portion of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. (or as I'd like to refer to it: the portion that really counts.) The multiplayer part may get some special mention in my gamespot journal at some point, but with this text, let's get right to the main attraction and stay there. One thing that's always been the case with the Splinter Cell games is that there's nothing quite so immersive to be found anywhere else. When you crawled underneath the train in Pandora Tomorrow, you really felt like you were. Sound and graphics contributed to this, and joining them in time for the third entry in the series is some basically fully dynamic gameplay. Whereas the other games rarely made you feel like you were finding your own path, figuring things out, this one will truly let you tackle things your own way. Chief among Sam's ways will always be stealth, and in failing to sneak up on foes, or past them, you'll really feel like you've done something wrong. In past games, this has usually resulted in mission failure, but now, there's nothing forcing you to end a level just because you screwed up. What this means is that you'll probably want to replay levels until you've completed them the way you want to. I can't stress enough how much this adds to the Splinter Cell experience, because this is probably the most notable difference over the past games overall. Consequence seems to be the name of the game now, as few things have one deciding factor, but rather offer a number of obstacles to tackle instead. For example, breaking a lock will get a door open faster than picking the lock would, but instead, guards who walk past the door will notice the broken lock and investigate. The game is full of things like that. Besides a plethora of new acrobatic tricks, Sam also wields a knife this time around. While some people will have you believe that this is just an aesthetical change, it's really more than that. The knife will let you break locks, cut stuff open, gut people, and more, and while each of these actions could have been implemented differently, it does add a new layer to proceedings. In general, spreading the notion that this is the same old Splinter Cell seems like a disservice, because frankly, unlike Pandora Tomorrow, this experience feels brand new. As far as the story goes, however, this is indeed the same old Splinter Cell. I think it's probably an acquired taste, the way Ubisoft choose to tell these stories. It's meant to feel like it's happening in a real world, and true enough, the in game newscasts are just as boring as the real thing. The story is there for you to follow or ignore, though, and even if you choose to go with the latter, there's still stuff here for you to enjoy on a script level. Somehow it feels like the original Splinter Cell team feel more confident in exploring Sam as a character, and there are a bunch of callbacks to missions from his past career. These bits of info strike me as much more interesting to the average person than whether or not some Korean guy made some statement on TV. But hey, that's me. Ultimately, you can't foul an apple for being apple shaped, and criticising Splinter Cell for the way it tells its story is equally stupid. While it won't convert Metal Gear fans, It all boils down to this; other stealth games on the market don't come close. Most haven't even gotten a steady grip on the mechanics of the first game in this series, and Chaos Theory marks a general leaving of other things in a cloud of dust. Sam cuts through convention with his new spiffy knife, and delivers the pinnacle of stealth gaming, while at the same time sitting himself down with the best games this generation has to offer. By Simon Lundmark

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