Mutliplayer Special: Mercs vs. Spies

The Xbox Live™ (and system link) multiplayer component of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Pandora Tomorrow™ is a brilliant achievement. The multiplayer mode gives you two very different, extremely well-balanced ways to play.

Who really had the upper hand—spies or mercs?

If you prefer the stealth of Sam Fisher himself, you’ll want to slip into the light-sensitive togs of the Shadownet spy team. If violence, a first-person view, and head-butting is more your style, you’d make a perfect member of the Argus Mercenary team. Shadownet is sort of like a mostly nonlethal, even more invisible version of Sam Fisher, except in a two-man team, while the Argus mercs fill the role usually played by the A.I. in single-player mode.

Shadownet weapons aren’t lethal, but have other uses.

Shadownet Operatives
The nameless Shadownet spies can perform most of the same moves as Sam Fisher, with a few key difference that you must familiarize yourself with before launching your espionage career on XboxLive.

• You have but one goal. You are not there to save anyone, protect any hostages, or negotiate. Your sole purpose is to reach those vials and (in order of increasing difficulty) neutralize them, sabotage them, or extract them. If at all possible, you must protect your teammate, too. Killing is not your aim—but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be good at it.
  
• You are a ghost. You know how Lambert is always riding Sam Fisher about how he’s paid to be invisible? Same with ShadowNet. You’ll be on the way to a better ranking if you’re never seen. But, don’t waste time, and do not sit there running your electronics. But, don’t waste time or sit there running your electronics. If you do, the guards will nail you every time.
  
• You must have a photographic memory. Or close to it, anyway. Your efforts will only be effective if you can get in and get out quickly and reliably, and that means knowing the best ways in and out of any area. Some maps are much larger than others, which means you’re going to have to do your homework if you want to be anything more than target practice for high-level mercs.
  
• You must have an eagle eye. As mentioned previously, reliance on electronics can be suicide, since electromagnetic activity shows up as plain as day for in the guards EM vision. You need to learn to spot cameras and motion detectors in the dark, disable them quickly and only use your special vision modes when you absolutely have to.

Shadownet spies aren’t shadowy when moving.

Argus Mercenaries
Who’s the face beneath the impassive mask of the cold-blooded security guards that protect the lethal vials of terrorist-planted viruses? Darned if it ain’t you, buddy! Don’t think that this is going to be cake just because you’ve eliminated countless tangoes in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® 3.

• You have but one goal. Eliminate the spies, period. This makes playing as a mercenary seem like the “simpler” option, and indeed, beginners would be well advised to go the mercenary route if they’re concerned about their espionage skills.
  
• You don’t have thermal or night vision. What you do have is even better for your purposes: motion detection and electromagnetic vision modes. As soon as an alarm is triggered nearby, hit the motion detection immediately, and you might catch a fleet-footed Shadownet operative trying to make his way out of the danger zone. If you suspect you’re in a room with a spy who’s frozen to avoid detection, hit the EM vision, and any gadgets he’s using will shine like a torch.
  
• You must know your job. Know the territory you’ve been hired to protect. Place mines on the containers and then post guards at key access points for the spies, especially those pesky ventilation systems that are so tricky for guards to fit inside.
  
• You are only as good as your equipment. Make sure to outfit your guard with the tools you find most effective. Personally, I don’t have much use for the taser, for example.

Ultimately, only practice and extensive Xbox Live play will make you a true Pandora Tomorrow expert. But, you’ll be having so much fun you’ll hardly notice that you’re in intensive training. See you online!

By Ben Barker