Secret Agent Man

It took just one game, the original Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell®, to catapult the "sneaker" genre into pop culture and create a lasting and memorable franchise. Since then, each new version has been greeted with critical and commercial success, and now, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent™ is beginning to take shape.

Double Agent proves that the
Splinter Cell series continues to raise
the bar for visual artistry.

I had a chance to sit down with the E3 build for Double Agent, and while I wasn't able to glimpse any multiplayer or cooperative modes, I did see some of the changes to expect in the single-player experience. The build presented five unique situations, with each one effectively demonstrating something new to the franchise.

Play as a covert operative masquerading as a terrorist.

Decision Time
Sam Fisher really gets the grit under his fingernails in Double Agent as he goes undercover with a terrorist network. Unlike previous installments, you aren't always be working covertly with Third Echelon operatives backing you up. This first scenario brings this fact home.

Sam walks into a broken-down room, where he's greeted by one of the terrorists and flanked by two guards. In the corner is a man badly beaten and screaming for his life behind a taped-over mouth. His fate is all too easy to guess, but the real tension comes when the terrorist hands Sam the gun and waits for him to prove his worth.

It's here that we see a change in the classic Splinter Cell presentation. Sam is rooted to the floor and the view changes to the first person perspective. Sam's arm slowly raises the gun, points it at the prisoner, and with painful deliberation, cocks the hammer back. What happens next is up to you.

Free Falling
The next scenario offered a glimpse into a more cinematic Splinter Cell experience, as I guided Sam in skydiving to a mission objective. Our protagonist not only shot through the sky at an alarming rate, but I controlled his movements as he did so. It's an immersive and altogether movie-like moment as you plummet along through the sky, fly through the clouds, and rapidly approach the ground below.

Get in undetected and use the environment to your advantage.

Scuba Stealth
After skydiving down to an arctic landing zone, I got another taste of the different gameplay element Double Agent provides. After trekking across a small glacier, I came across a box of scuba supplies, setting me up for another first in the Splinter Cell franchise. You actually control Sam underwater as he sneaks through the frozen ocean to his next objective. Like every other new element showcased, it was a visceral change to a more dynamic and cinematic experience.

Fly Time
It's common to find an exciting cinematic scene leading into a new level in the Splinter Cell franchise, but Double Agent takes it a step further, allowing you to experience these moments. In a helicopter, you fly down over a glittering metropolis at night to your next objective. However, as the pilot is killed, you have to struggle forward, lift him out of the seat and land the struggling helicopter on the top of the targeted building.

Stealth is your best friend … he'll never know what hit him.

By Daylight
In another twist, the last mini-level demonstrated a variable Sam Fisher has had little experience with: sunlight. This jungle environment drenched in a midday sun represents a challenge very seldom experienced in stealth games, and also highlights the visual heights the graphics engine is capable of.

Whether played on Xbox® or Xbox 360™, Double Agent proves that the Splinter Cell series continues to raise the bar for visual artistry. The gameplay requires split-second life and death decisions. Look forward to more coverage throughout E3 and beyond.

Article by Ryan Treit