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By Ryan McCaffrey, Assistant Editor, Official Xbox Magazine
When we score the first two games in a series 9.6 and 9.5, respectively, we're excited (to say the least) when the third title in the franchise hits our doorstep. Such is the case with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell®, the stealth-action series masterpiece that's generated huge sales, huge critical acclaim, and huge popularity since its debut in late 2002. The latest iteration,Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Chaos Theory™, is going to blow you away.
First things first: Before I go on, it's important to mention that, as you'll inevitably get excited about the forthcoming paragraphs, you can play Chaos Theory a month before it comes out, as in right now. Simply pick up the March issue of Official Xbox Magazine, which is on sale now, and check out the first mission, titled "Lighthouse". Shameless plug: The same disc also contains an offline or online demo of Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict as well, which is two months before that game releases.
Moving on, the first thing you'll notice about Chaos Theory is that it doesn't look like an Xbox® game. It looks like it's from the future. The graphics, quite simply, put everything else on Xbox (Halo® 2, The Chronicles of Riddick™: Escape from Butcher Bay, DOOM 3™, etc.) to shame. It looks that good. The stunning real-time lighting engine is more realistic than ever, the characters and environments look fantastic thanks to advanced use of normal mapping and bump mapping, and the disturbingly accurate Havok physics engine is employed to make the bodies react more realistically when shot or dropped.
But beauty only takes a game so far. It's the gameplay that matters, and the newest Splinter Cell delivers in spades. Sam's got a ton of new super-spy moves, such as a punch to the back of the head, an upside-down neck snap, and all of the new options available to Fisher with his new combat knife. We're talking belly stabs, throat slits, shoulder gouges, and more. And, his trusty SC-20K rifle now features sniper and shotgun attachments. Before each mission, you choose your loadout: stealth (many gadgets, few bullets), assault (vice-versa), or a middle option. The bottom line is that you're empowered to play the game how you want, whether you want to run and gun, blasting anyone in your path, or stick to the shadows, never alerting anyone to your presence and choking foes from the darkness.
Chaos Theory also packs the return of the popular Versus mode from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Pandora Tomorrow™ that pits spies against mercenaries, as well as a wicked-cool cooperative mode that will hook you. I'll talk about those next time. And, read my full review in the April issue of OXM.
Livin' Live I mentioned this last week, but it's cool so I'm plugging it again. We're starting a new feature in OXM called "Homemade Halo." Send in your best user-created Halo 2 game types that you've been playing on Xbox Live™ to letters@officialxboxmagazine.com with the subject line "Homemade Halo" and we'll pick our favorite each month and award the winner a prize.
Tip of the Week The Ghost in Halo 2 has a gas tank that's able to be shot and, thus, exploded, much to the dismay of the pilot. Can you find it?
