The first game rocks! You are an agent, kinda like James Bond but without the girls. You'll mostly hide in the shadows, waiting for that moment to pounce on the bad guy. While the stealthy-hide-in-the-shadows won't appeal to you much, the gameplay and the atmosphere is right in there. This time around, you'll go undercover to take down an indonesian badass Suhadi Sadono, who was seen blasting the American embassy at the beginning of the game.
The graphics has gone up a notch and you'll sure need a helluva system to play it on. The game's pretty but since most of the time you're sneaking in the dark, well... Almost everything in the game cast shadows. There's this fishing net with the zigzaggy lines, even that casts shadow realistically. The shadows rendering's that's whats heavy. Switching to night vision (which you'll be doing most of the time) tones down the heavy stuff and looks great. I really like the thermal vision (borrowed the tech from Predator) which looks downrite cool. You control Sam Fisher in 3rd person view. The neat thing is when you draw your silencers, the view sort of got focused; as if a cam view from his right shoulders. Neat.
Sam's still got that cool moves like before and some more. There's a different kind of split-jump which you can execute in a tight space. From the old split jump position, you can lean left or right and from there you can get hold of a ledge high above you. An improvement, you can now open the door on the go while carrying a body. There's this new SWAT turn, which looks cool and gimicky. That move will make Sam completely invincible. The gadget you'll be carrying is the same as before, like the sticky shocker, distraction cam, the lot. This time you'll be given the whole thing at the start of any mission, neat!
The story is more believable this time around. You're up against a real threat and there's intense moments once in while. I liked the train mission, cool stuff. What were you thinkin' Sam, hanging on the side of a moving train? And the story seems to tie with the multiplayer aspect of the game. I haven't give it a try, but by the looks of it, i'll bet it's fun! It's like Counterstrike played stealthy like and alot more coop. My only thing about this game is how linear it is. There's really one route to move on but the execution is up to you. It does fit with this kind of game though. The multiplayer part is the king! The singleplayer...well...it will only hook you for so long.
Oh yeah, Michael Ironside (of Starship Troopers) does the voice for Sam Fisher. It sounds great with him, and the gruffiness of his voice can even match Solid Snake's. The stealth thing may make Splinter Cell a bit like Metal Gear Solid, but it is more realistic what with no radar and all.
My rating : 6/10 (the game is sooo linear!)
