Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Posted November 27, 2006
The success of the stealth-based Splinter Cell franchise is arguably one of the reasons the original Xbox became popular. With the release of the Xbox 360, Ubisoft has much to live up to in delivering a next generation version of the Splinter Cell world. Considering the cross-console release of the title, many 360 owners are curious if the advances made within Splinter Cell: Double Agent are hampered by catering to the pervious generation of consoles. 
The presentation of the title is much like the previous renditions of Splinter Cell, yet the back story is somewhat limited for Double Agent. Sam Fisher, still the gruff patriot, returns for Double Agent only to be assaulted with the emotional news of his daughter's death. I found too little cut scene time was offered to expound on his suspect emotional state and the story suffers because of it. Sam decides to take the most dangerous assignment of his career and infiltrate a terrorist organization from the inside; hence the name of the game. Along the way, Sam is faced with numerous decisions and his faith to Third Echelon. Ubisoft's cinematic method of storytelling still works very well for Double Agent; mostly evident from tense tale that unfolds for the player. On an added note, Ubisoft provided multiple endings this time around; wholly dependent on a few specific decisions in the main storyline.
Gameplay:
The most interesting modification in Double Agent has to do with the amount of faith placed in Fisher by Third Echelon or the terrorist organization, JBA (John Brown's Army). These bars dictate the amount of negative actions they are willing to put up with. Nearly all the levels have multiple objectives that increase the faith meters for each side and key points in the game will require a decision for one specific side. Going with JBA over Third Echelon will spur a negative comment from Lambert and perhaps end the level. Balancing the meters becomes a necessity throughout the entire game. It's a delicate see-saw that adds an interesting twist on the rest of the gameplay.
Players will also notice that stealth isn't rewarded as much as it has been in the previous three games. While a few levels still require zero kills, popping a few soldiers in with the head with the silenced pistol can alleviate many situations. Also, the variable light meter has been ditched for a green / orange light that's strapped to Sam's back. Green means Sam is hidden and orange means move it! Puzzles are slightly easier to complete, but safecracking is still a pain in the butt. Fortunately, Sam gets a handy new enemy map to determine positions. Finally, the most noteworthy change is the complete absence of the health meter. Similar to Gears of War or Halo, Sam will regenerate when he removes himself from enemy fire. On the hard level of difficulty, this change almost becomes pointless as enemy fire is much more powerful. It's much easier to just reload a previous save.
Levels are split among a variety of foreign locales such as Russia, China, Africa, and Mexico. Interestingly, the terrorist headquarters are located in New York City; which leads to several return trips. A JBA headquarters level in NYC gives you 30 minutes to complete a variety of objectives for both sides. Many times, these levels become the most problematic as any sight of Sam in a restricted area forces a restart. Each return to JBA leads to a new area of the headquarters to open up for Fisher's prying eyes. The headquarters uses a variety of secure locks such as voice printing, fingerprint analysis, or retinal scans. Each JBA trip forces Sam to acquire access capabilities through some very creative choices.
The multiplayer has undergone a variety of changes, many of which have offended the Chaos Theory faithful. Most certainly, the game is much more forgiving for the beginner due to arcade-style alterations. For instance, the speed of the spy has been doubled, at the very minimum, and some crazy acrobatic moves have been added. In compensation, weaponry has been removed from the spy's inventory, leaving only defensive tools such as smoke grenades. On the other hand, mercenaries have gotten a bit of a boost to the power of their weapons and unique goggles to detect those troublesome spies. In each multiplayer level, spies are required to locate beacons which contain downloadable files. Mercenaries are in charge of defending the beacons and making sure the spies fail to accomplish their mission. Overall, mercenaries have an easier time rooting out the spies, so extensive communication between teammates is required for successful spy maneuvers. Double Agent also includes a co-op mode which can be played over Xbox Live. These missions will allow for easier character stat building and provide good practice for multiplayer versus matches.
The 38 achievements are split 60% / 40% between the single player and multiplayer respectively. Many of the single player points are awarded for simply finishing levels while other require collecting gadgets or JBA profiles. The multiplayer achievements are slightly tougher to garner. Most require extensive playtime to rack up the maximum amount of points. The co-op achievements are also quite fun to achieve; assuming your partner is competent. The entire lot of 1000 gamerscore points will take many hours to complete, mostly due to the extensive multiplayer requirements. While not incredibly creative, Ubisoft did a decent job creating a worthwhile achievement structure.
Graphics:
Visually, Double Agent is easily the best looking Splinter Cell game in existence, yet the 360 seems capable of much more. Sam Fisher's character model is exceptionally detailed, more so than any other console versions. Unfortunately, the same level of detail didn't go into improving the environmental textures and the muddy weather effects. The bump mapping just doesn't look as good as titles built for the Xbox 360's GPU. Also, the game has several frame rate issues when any major lighting effects occur. Fire effects, while fairly attractive, will send the frame rate into a fit; especially when using the zoomed gun scope. Multiplayer still doesn't have the level of detail seen in the single player game, but it has been increased somewhat compared to Chaos Theory.
Audio:
Michael Ironside returns for the voice of Sam Fisher as well as Don Jordan for Lambert. Ironside's deep resonant voice is truly the auditory backbone of the character. Unfortunately, the amount of witty banter when interrogating an enemy has been reduced greatly. Additionally, those entertaining enemy conversations have been dramatically decreased within Double Agent. In fact, the amount of voice work seems to be very limited for a Splinter Cell game. Perhaps time constraints?
The sound effects are pretty much identical to the previous versions. Only a couple of the newer gadgets will have slightly modified noises. Also, a couple of Sam's new moves, such as busting through the ice, will have new sound effects. The soundtrack is actually the best part of the audio experience this time around. The orchestral music appropriately increases tempo at tense areas and falls back when the heat is off. There is absolutely no need for custom soundtracks in Double Agent.
Conclusion:
Splinter Cell: Double Agent isn't the game most 360 owners where hoping for. While it's certainly an excellent entry in the series, it fails to surmount the success of Chaos Theory in many respects. It's certainly worth a look to play through the single player campaign and to check out the changes in the multiplayer. Spy aficionados and Tom Clancy loyalists will have a ball with Double Agent as well as those looking for more of an action based experience. Pick up Double Agent around the $30 to $40 range if interested in the multiplayer; otherwise knock out the single player story with a rental.
The presentation of the title is much like the previous renditions of Splinter Cell, yet the back story is somewhat limited for Double Agent. Sam Fisher, still the gruff patriot, returns for Double Agent only to be assaulted with the emotional news of his daughter's death. I found too little cut scene time was offered to expound on his suspect emotional state and the story suffers because of it. Sam decides to take the most dangerous assignment of his career and infiltrate a terrorist organization from the inside; hence the name of the game. Along the way, Sam is faced with numerous decisions and his faith to Third Echelon. Ubisoft's cinematic method of storytelling still works very well for Double Agent; mostly evident from tense tale that unfolds for the player. On an added note, Ubisoft provided multiple endings this time around; wholly dependent on a few specific decisions in the main storyline.
Gameplay:
The most interesting modification in Double Agent has to do with the amount of faith placed in Fisher by Third Echelon or the terrorist organization, JBA (John Brown's Army). These bars dictate the amount of negative actions they are willing to put up with. Nearly all the levels have multiple objectives that increase the faith meters for each side and key points in the game will require a decision for one specific side. Going with JBA over Third Echelon will spur a negative comment from Lambert and perhaps end the level. Balancing the meters becomes a necessity throughout the entire game. It's a delicate see-saw that adds an interesting twist on the rest of the gameplay.
Players will also notice that stealth isn't rewarded as much as it has been in the previous three games. While a few levels still require zero kills, popping a few soldiers in with the head with the silenced pistol can alleviate many situations. Also, the variable light meter has been ditched for a green / orange light that's strapped to Sam's back. Green means Sam is hidden and orange means move it! Puzzles are slightly easier to complete, but safecracking is still a pain in the butt. Fortunately, Sam gets a handy new enemy map to determine positions. Finally, the most noteworthy change is the complete absence of the health meter. Similar to Gears of War or Halo, Sam will regenerate when he removes himself from enemy fire. On the hard level of difficulty, this change almost becomes pointless as enemy fire is much more powerful. It's much easier to just reload a previous save.
Levels are split among a variety of foreign locales such as Russia, China, Africa, and Mexico. Interestingly, the terrorist headquarters are located in New York City; which leads to several return trips. A JBA headquarters level in NYC gives you 30 minutes to complete a variety of objectives for both sides. Many times, these levels become the most problematic as any sight of Sam in a restricted area forces a restart. Each return to JBA leads to a new area of the headquarters to open up for Fisher's prying eyes. The headquarters uses a variety of secure locks such as voice printing, fingerprint analysis, or retinal scans. Each JBA trip forces Sam to acquire access capabilities through some very creative choices.
The multiplayer has undergone a variety of changes, many of which have offended the Chaos Theory faithful. Most certainly, the game is much more forgiving for the beginner due to arcade-style alterations. For instance, the speed of the spy has been doubled, at the very minimum, and some crazy acrobatic moves have been added. In compensation, weaponry has been removed from the spy's inventory, leaving only defensive tools such as smoke grenades. On the other hand, mercenaries have gotten a bit of a boost to the power of their weapons and unique goggles to detect those troublesome spies. In each multiplayer level, spies are required to locate beacons which contain downloadable files. Mercenaries are in charge of defending the beacons and making sure the spies fail to accomplish their mission. Overall, mercenaries have an easier time rooting out the spies, so extensive communication between teammates is required for successful spy maneuvers. Double Agent also includes a co-op mode which can be played over Xbox Live. These missions will allow for easier character stat building and provide good practice for multiplayer versus matches.
The 38 achievements are split 60% / 40% between the single player and multiplayer respectively. Many of the single player points are awarded for simply finishing levels while other require collecting gadgets or JBA profiles. The multiplayer achievements are slightly tougher to garner. Most require extensive playtime to rack up the maximum amount of points. The co-op achievements are also quite fun to achieve; assuming your partner is competent. The entire lot of 1000 gamerscore points will take many hours to complete, mostly due to the extensive multiplayer requirements. While not incredibly creative, Ubisoft did a decent job creating a worthwhile achievement structure.
Graphics:
Visually, Double Agent is easily the best looking Splinter Cell game in existence, yet the 360 seems capable of much more. Sam Fisher's character model is exceptionally detailed, more so than any other console versions. Unfortunately, the same level of detail didn't go into improving the environmental textures and the muddy weather effects. The bump mapping just doesn't look as good as titles built for the Xbox 360's GPU. Also, the game has several frame rate issues when any major lighting effects occur. Fire effects, while fairly attractive, will send the frame rate into a fit; especially when using the zoomed gun scope. Multiplayer still doesn't have the level of detail seen in the single player game, but it has been increased somewhat compared to Chaos Theory.
Audio:
Michael Ironside returns for the voice of Sam Fisher as well as Don Jordan for Lambert. Ironside's deep resonant voice is truly the auditory backbone of the character. Unfortunately, the amount of witty banter when interrogating an enemy has been reduced greatly. Additionally, those entertaining enemy conversations have been dramatically decreased within Double Agent. In fact, the amount of voice work seems to be very limited for a Splinter Cell game. Perhaps time constraints?
The sound effects are pretty much identical to the previous versions. Only a couple of the newer gadgets will have slightly modified noises. Also, a couple of Sam's new moves, such as busting through the ice, will have new sound effects. The soundtrack is actually the best part of the audio experience this time around. The orchestral music appropriately increases tempo at tense areas and falls back when the heat is off. There is absolutely no need for custom soundtracks in Double Agent.
Conclusion:
Splinter Cell: Double Agent isn't the game most 360 owners where hoping for. While it's certainly an excellent entry in the series, it fails to surmount the success of Chaos Theory in many respects. It's certainly worth a look to play through the single player campaign and to check out the changes in the multiplayer. Spy aficionados and Tom Clancy loyalists will have a ball with Double Agent as well as those looking for more of an action based experience. Pick up Double Agent around the $30 to $40 range if interested in the multiplayer; otherwise knock out the single player story with a rental.