Double Agent Multiplayer Tips

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Double Agent™ offers an intense multiplayer mode, pitting a team of three spies against a team of three mercenaries. With Splinter Cell's penchant for upgrading its multiplayer modes with each new game, check out these tips and tricks to get up to speed.

This type of move won't fly in multiplayer.

Because the teams play drastically different from each other, the tips are split into two groups: One for the spies and one for the mercenaries.

The Spies
The spies play from the classic third person Splinter Cell perspective, and rely on stealth, misdirection, speed, and teamwork to win. Keep the following tips in mind to keep that extra edge:

• Run!: It may not be the most courageous move, but if you go head-to-head with a mercenary, you're going to die. They've got a gun, you don't. If you get caught, skedaddle and live to fight another day.
• Constant Communication: The single biggest downfall of any team is a lack of communication. When the spies go their own way and don't communicate enemy locations and movements to each other, success will be hard to come by.
• Hack and Leave: Unlike Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory, you can hack any terminal and continue making progress on a single file download. When you're hacking and a merc shows up, the best play is usually to move on to another terminal.
• Slow on Extract: Once you secure the file, your natural reaction will be to split as fast as you can for the drop off point. You'll be easy to track, however, when you're on the run, so unless time is critical, slow down and use your stealth skills.
• Lights and Exit: Before you hack an objective, make sure to douse all the nearby lights and, if necessary, break a window nearby to ensure a quick getaway. It will only take a few seconds, but the advantage will be worth the effort.

Watch your step as a spy.

• Gadget Variance: Make sure your team takes full advantage of the variety of gadgets offered instead of all focusing on one of them. A team of three spies should be carrying three different gadgets, like the noise jammer, flash bangs, and a health needle, to be most effective.
• Acrobatics: Look to take advantage of quick acrobatic maneuvers by punching the right shoulder button at precisely the right time. Instead of placing yourself carefully under an open ceiling tile, run beneath it and tap the button at the right moment to flip up into the open space. Pay attention to where you can take advantage of these moves, as the hint icons will disappear after a few plays through each map.
• Move Free and Slow: You don't have to worry about lasers, motion alarms, and security cameras in Double Agent, so you can feel free to roam free and easy from one room to the next. Your only worries will be the mercs trying to track you down. You may not be tripping any alarms, but you should still be sure to move quietly.
• Spy Routes: Remember, the maps are built with two types of movement in mind: The spy routes and the merc routes. If you're strolling down a hallway, there's a better way to get to your objective. Remember to use the vents, poles, zip-lines, and secret passages available to you. Watch again for the hint icons.

A prison map would hit the spot for downloadable content.

The Mercs
It's all about thrill of the hunt when you're filling the first person shoes of the mercenary. After all, you've got the fully automatic machine gun, grenades, and the new exploding drones. The following tips should put you in a better position to make the kills you need to succeed.

• Dedicated Zones: Each of the three mercenaries on a team should have a designated zone to patrol and protect in every map. A common and effective tactic is for two mercs to be assigned two terminals apiece, while the third merc guards the entrance and exit routes for the spies, as well as being available to aid the other mercs when a spy is spotted.
• Stealth Yourself: While no one is going to confuse a merc's ability to hide with a spy's, you can at least turn off your headlamp and not draw attention to yourself. Only when you're reasonably sure of a spy's location should you let yourself be seen.
• Learn Extract Routes: Once a spy has downloaded a file, they need to make it back to their drop point alive. While you may not know each extraction route when you first start playing, memorize the spies' most popular paths, including those you would take if you were a spy, or even better, the paths you take when you play the other side of the field.
• EMF Highlights: When dealing with skilled spies, the most effective way of discovering their location is through the EMF vision mode. If a spy is actively hacking or using any of their vision modes, they will be highlighted.
• Drone Choke Points: You may not be able to crawl into a vent yourself, but your handy drone can do it for you. Over the course of playing, you should discover the routes the spies take most often. Use your drones to choke these paths off at the beginning of a match to get an easy kill, or to force a spy to take another path.
• Constant Communication: Just like the spies, the most common pitfall of mercenary teams is a lack of communication. Call out spy locations to teammates with directions on where they're heading. Any intel is good intel.
• Sniper Surprise: If you're in a room with a smart spy, they'll be moving slowly to avoid detection. When you spot them, don't open fire right away. Switch to your sniper scope, track them, and put them down with a quick headshot. If they think they're invisible, you'll have all the time you need to line up your shot.

Each round of Splinter Cell multiplayer is filled with the tension of the unknown, but these tips should help you avoid some of the most common mistakes. Good luck!

Article by Ryan Treit