Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

I even spent like 40 minutes just playing with the curtains and throwing stuff. The split-jump (Jean Claude van Dam style) is especially sweet.

The gameplay seems to be a cross between Thief, Deus Ex, and Hitman.


Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell   November 5, 2002
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell has been compared with the up and coming Metal Gear Solid 2:Substance for XBOX. There is no comparison. Splinter Cell is the best game created thus far for XBOX. The shadow and lighting effects are just amazing, not to mention the night vision and thermal vision modes. Even the A.I. is smart. For example, turn off a light switch and watch the gaurd look clumsily around in the dark for the light switch. By then you already grabbed him from behind and are holding a gun to his head. The thermal vision is especially cool because after you shoot a gaurd and kill him, just switch on the thermal vision and watch his body heat disappear. Even during the right time, you can do a Jet Li-style split jump and stay between two walls and wait until your opponent walks under you. Again, at the right time you can jump on top of him and knock him out. Anybody who has an XBOX should buy this game immeadiately.


The hype is justified!   November 3, 2002
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I am always suspicious of an overly-hyped game, but Splinter Cell left nothing to be disappointed about. If this is a taste of what's down the road for video games, I'll have to quit my job! The graphics are super, game play and sound awesome, and the implementation of the stealth concept is powerfully convincing.

I have only three minor issues with the game. The first is that it takes a bit to get the controls down. Not a big deal, just a forewarning. What really bugged me was that pistol aiming was too slow. The number of bullets it took to put someone down was also on the unrealistically high side. You could be right over someone and shoot him in the back of the head, and it still would take a couple shots.

These minor flaws aside, the game if simply awesome!


The demo is horrible. Very horrible.   November 1, 2002
 2 out of 62 found this review helpful

Cumbersome, awkward controls. Stiff, robotic and unnatural animation. Sub-par graphic design. It reminded me of a 3rd person version of the 1997 N64 game Goldeneye, more than anything else. I read a comment in 'The Official Xbox Magazine' in their review of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 2- Substance: "It's good, but it's no Splinter Cell." I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. They're acutally 100% correct, but not in the way they meant it. The demo made it painfully obvious that Splinter Cell isn't worthy to scrape the grime from under MGS's toenails. If you want to play a quality stealth/action game, skip this weak attempt and go for the King of the Genre, MGS.


Splinter Cell - The best game for the Xbox this year.   October 18, 2002
 10 out of 20 found this review helpful

Hands down. It's no contest. Seriously, there isn't another game like it on the Xbox, on the PS2, on the PC (until Splinter releases on that a couple months afterward).

What sets this game apart is its revolutionary use of shadows. You hide in them and try to avoid enemies (but you can take them out if you absolutely need to). The main character, Sam Fisher, can do all these neat moves, like rappel down walls and use night and heat vision goggles. Just check out the screenshots and the moves, and you'll see. There is no contest. THIS IS THE GAME TO HAVE!