mostly broad daylight and hours of fetch-and-repeat missions
I'm so frustrated that I can't even be bothered to write a "real" review, but here are the highlights:
Half of the game is spent in the terrorist headquarters where you can't really sneak, have none of your spy gear, and have to accomplish a series of timed missions with running disabled. You have to rush around the complex trying to beat the clock, while walking at a sedate pace. It's impossible to imagine how something so completely un-fun made it into a game at all.
Also in the HQ you have to play a series of mini-games, to help the terrorists build bombs or beat the high score in a half-assed target practice game. None of these mini-objectives are fun, they all REEK of busy-work.
Much of the non-HQ missions are done in broad daylight and outdoors. There are very few areas of the game where you can hide in a shadow. Instead you hide behind boxes or avoid the line of sight of the guards. Since I didn't give a crap about any of the "Scoring" in the game, I finished it in about 8 hours.
Of that, less than 1 hour was spent having fun. I haven't tried the multi-player because I'm so turned off by the game in general that I'm just returning it.
What my ratings mean: Gameplay: I should give it a 1, but the few stealth sequences that actually took place were as good as the real SC games of the past.
Graphics: The one thing they got right
Sound: unimpressive and barely noticeable. I could just as easily give it a 4, but the score was so low that I had to give them credit somewhere.
Value: If you're into the multi-player it might have greater value, but if you're just a fan of Splinter Cell like me, drop it to a 1 or 2.
Reviewers tilt: Ubisoft can kiss my ass.