Sam Fisher's debut on the 360 is fantastic.
GAMEPLAY (9) - DA goes for a new approach that gives you a nice change of pace. Sam is working undercover with a terrorist organization so the missions change back and forth between going to exotic locations such as Hong Kong, Iceland, Africa and even a cruise ship where you'll be doing typical Splinter Cell assignments, to being back at the terrorist HQ where you'll look for opportunities to slip off on your own and attempt to uncover secret info that you can send back to your buddies in the NSA. The missions at the HQ can be the most nerve racking, as you can't get away with attacking anyone or ever being seen in a restricted area. However, with a little patience these missions can be accomplished with minimal frustration. You'll have all of the great gadgets you'd expect from a SC game, from simple lockpicks to more elaborate equipment such as an ultrasonic emitter that will draw away guard's attention. There are so many different devices that I actually didn't get to try out all of them, and this is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to trying the game out again. The controls are very smooth and responsive, and a symbol will appear if you're in a position to do an elaborate action such as rappelling down the side of a skyscraper or grabbing an enemy from behind and interrogating him or knocking him out. A big plus for this game is the ability to save at any time. Hardcore fans may think this cheapens the game but all I know is that it save a lot of potential frustration for me, and allowed me to experiment with different approaches since i knew i wouldn't have to start over an entire level if I failed. It should also be pointed out that this does not involve just missions in dark office buildings. As I mentioned before there are many different locations to go to, and most of them will be in broad daylight, which made it much more interesting IMO.
GRAPHICS (9) - This series has always been known for great visuals, and as you'd expect the step up to the 360 was taken advantage of. Character's details and animations, as well as beautiful environments and lighting are top notch and add a lot to the experience. Being in the middle of a blizzard or climbing on the outside of a skyscraper in the middle of a fireworks display, all of the ares are fantastic and need to be seen in action in order to be fully appreciated.
AUDIO (9) - The background music is typical Tom Clancy themes, which means you're getting a superb soundtrack with tunes that fit right along with all of the tense moments you'll be experiencing. Sound effects, obviously important for a stealth game, are excellent and are a great help as you make your way through dangerous areas. Once again Michael Ironside does the voice for Sam Fisher, and what can I say, no one does it better!
VALUE (8) - On the one hand you can get through your first playthrough in probably about 10 hours or so. However, this game does have great replayability. As I mentioned earlier the game gives you many different gadgets to use, and I wasn't able to take advantage of all of them in the first playthrough. Plus, there are also different approaches to reach your goals plus every mission has a few sidequests that will give you bonus gadgets and weapons if you can accomplish them in addition to the main mission. In my first playthrough I was mainly concerned with just getting the main mission done and then getting out alive. now that I'm a bit more confident I'm looking forward to going bak and trying to get some of those sidequests completed. The SC games have built a good reputation as far as the multiplayer, and even though this game is two years old I see by the forums that there are still plenty of people that enjoy the MP portion as well.
SUMMARY (9) - As I mentioned earlier, this game takes a different direction with the Double Agent approach, and it makes for an immersive experience. Story wise Double Agent goes much deeper than previous SC games, and throughout the game you'll be making decisions that will affect how much trust the terrorist and the NSA have in you, which adds another dimension to the experience. All in all this game was very well done, and while this is obviously recommended to stealth fans, I would recommend this to almost all gamers as it is definitely not as daunting to players that are new to the genre. Do yourself a favor and try it out!