Review: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (360)

Chaos Theory, the third entrant in the Splinter Cell series, managed a superb 9/10 at Gamestyle; what made it a step above previous Splinter Cell games was the glorious co-operative campaign mode. Now as Sam Fisher and co leap onto the next generation platforms, a change of development teams has usurped next-gen superiority from the clutches of the white box. The Xbox 360 edition of Double Agent has been developed by Team Shanghai (the team behind Pandora Tomorrow, generally considered the weakest in the series) rather than Montreal (who were tasked to create the Xbox offering instead). As a result, the Xbox version is a completely different cup of tea from the 360 edition: while the core plot remains the same, level layout is slightly different and, most importantly for Xbox 360 Live users, the co-op mode hasn't survived the journey. There is still plenty of love for Splinter Cell: Double Agent, but there remains the nagging doubt that we're not playing the 'definitive' version.

What Double Agent does better than any Tom Clancy game ever created is introducing a plot that the player will actually remember after finishing. Once again controlling Sam Fisher, you start with a mission that reintroduces you to the series - along with thwarting a missile attack - after which you're flung straight into prison. It seems your boss Lambert has decided to send you undercover and gain the trust of a terrorist group called the JBA. This can only mean that choices will have to be made along the line. Trust plays an important factor; you need to not only gain the trust of the JBA, but also make sure the NSA still know that you're on their side. If you come to a crossroads where you have the choice of killing someone or saving their life, then you must make the choice depending on how low your trust is with them. It's a nice element to add to the Splinter Cell formula but it doesn't really make much of a difference to Sam - aside from the game ending when the trust disappears completely. So what if you blow up a boat? Sam Fisher will just brush it off as if nothing has happened. The only real emotional connection the character makes is in the FMV sequence following the first mission, but this is done more with facial expression and excellent music rather than vocals. More could have been done with this idea to really push it above the normal Tom Clancy standard.

Gameplay is your standard Splinter Cell stuff: use trial and error to make your way past guards, dispatching them in whichever glorious way you want. Fancy popping them in the head with your rifle? Fine. Or maybe you prefer the sneak up and snap the neck approach. Each to his own. Although alterations to the gameplay have been minor, some things have been changed: you no longer have a gradient light meter to tell you how dark the area is. Instead, you just have a light which flashes to green when in the shroud of darkness and yellow when you can be spotted by the enemy - it's a change that Gamestyle didn't exactly welcome. With the light meter you had a more distinct knowledge of how well-covered you were, but now it seems to flash from green to yellow in the blink of an eye. Looking at Sam, you could believe that you're well concealed one moment, but the light thinks otherwise, and vice versa. It also doesn't help that Mr. Fisher seems to get caught up on a number of objects in the room, sometimes even trapped on them completely, requiring a restart (the quick save feature is a godsend). Maybe a few more weeks play testing were required.

Splitting up the traditional Splinter Cell levels are HQ Assignments which are required to build up your trust with the JBA and NSA. As you calmly walk around their base of operations performing jobs for them, when their back is turned, you can quickly break into the restricted areas and gather important information. It's an important part of the game and one that has been handled rather well. The only downside is the lack of your trademark night vision goggles, making navigating the darkness a horrible experience.

After conquering the single player campaign (right up to the most disappointing ending since Halo 2), it was time for Gamestyle to venture online. As already mentioned, the absence of a proper co-op mode is heartbreaking to all Live devotees who have jumped to the good ship 360. Even though they've added what they call 'co-op' to the online options, don't be fooled - this is nothing more than the standard versus game but with bots. It's not a total loss, though; the versus game is what most kept Gamestyle returning to Double Agent way after completion. Team Shanghai have already been criticised for "dumbing down" the online mode to cater for newcomers, but that's not a criticism that Gamestyle shares. Apart from the vibration alert telling you when a spy is nearby, it's a fairly deep and involving experience. It basically involves a team of spies and a team or mercenaries; the spies have to steal files while remaining undetected and the mercs have the job of stopping them. The spies are what make it the most fun - Sam Fisher moves like an OAP in comparison to these guys. They can jump from one building to another, climb pipes with lightning pace and hide in places where the mercs can't reach them. It's great fun planning with your teammates and even more fun when you see a spy's lifeless body fall to the floor, snapping his neck on a table. Ragdoll physics have never looked so satisfying.

It's a shame that the overall package can't be as satisfying as it is online because, while it still has many things we've always loved about the Splinter Cell series, it's hardly the next generation offering we were hoping for. The fact that the original Xbox version has features that are missing on the 360 can't be overlooked - if we spend money for a next generation console, we expect to get better than what we had before. Maybe we have to wait till the 360-exclusive Splinter Cell 5 before the series truly shines again.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver