This is the first of the Splinter Cell games to be released on the " Next Gen " gaming consoles and I must say, the High Definition makes it look amazing.The Splinter Cell franchise has become one of the biggest and most important in the past few years and helped redefine 3rd person stealth games.

This is the forth title and by far the best. The gamesplay hasnt changed so much. But now the choices that you have to make effect the game and the final outcome.You play Sam Fisher a double agent whith big desicions to make.Do you Kill too many criminals and you?ll blow your cover or if you Hesitate too long and millions will die. Do whatever it takes to complete your mission, but get out alive.



Storyline:

To stop a devastating terrorist attack, you must infiltrate a vicious terrorist group and destroy it from within. For the first time ever, you get to experience the relentless tension and gut-wrenching dilemmas of life as a double agent. As you infiltrate a terrorist organization in its American headquarters, you must carefully weigh the consequences of your actions.

The controls like most Ubisoft games ( ie. Ghost Recon ) are fairly easy to get used to and to master. I found the game fairly easy to control throughout. You get to use hundreds of weapons from normal guns to black market terrorist weapons and the latest NSA gadgets.

The first level starts of failry easy, probably to lure you in. You have to infiltrating a geothermal plant in Iceland with a young sidekick in tow. This level is the most easy but still not a walkover by no means. Throughout the game you get to explore vast parts of the world including Shanghai, Iceland, and large ships, tankers and office buildings galore. At the end of the first level Sam hits rock bottom with two losses in his life. This emotional turmoil then ignites the rest of the game and sets the scene for the choices you must make as Sam Fisher.

Early on you find yourself in the company of a group of terrorists called the JBA and in these levels there is a range of tasks to complete with a number of sub-objectives. The first is having to decide whether to kill a helicopter pilot: If you kill him you gain the trust of the JBA but an innocent man dies. If you do not, you lose the JBA's trust, but grow the confidence of the National Security Agency and keep a man alive. These type of choices happen throughout the game and make for some interesting gameplay.

As the game progresses, the decisions get tougher and tougher leading to decisions that could cause the deaths of thousands of innocents.





Graphics:

With this being the first HD game it is by far the best graphically and blows all the others away. Im not sure how this game will stand up to the Wii and PS3 versions but the graphics are amazing and this looks to be one of the better graphical games on the 360. Im not sure how it will compare to games liek Halo 3 and Gears Of War when they finally get a release but at the moment it blows away games like Ghost Recon and Battlefield 2.

The sound is used well in this game to create a feeling of tension throught the game. Sections of the game are quiet and you can hear only footsteps and small noises. It realy can create an tense feeling whilst playing. The there will be a loud noise or bang to break the silence. It all is done rather well.



Multiplayer:

Now with nearly all newly released 360 game the xbox live part of the game is just as good and the normal game and this game is no different. Playing Splinter Cell online is great fun. You split into two teams Terrorists and Agents. The agents have to download infomation from computer terminals and carry only knifes. The terrorists have to defend the stations and have machine guns. Whilsts playing you use the headset to keep in touch with your team mates and work together.

I found it particually amusing when i crept up behind a terrorist and grabbed him round the neck. You can then talk to the player on the opposite team. This guy started almost crying pleading " dont kill me " neadless to say i did.

The one player game can be played more than once as each game can turn out different which makes for some good playing. But with xbox live this game can have a very long life span. I can see myself playing this game for a long time.

Overall I found ths game alot of fun. It was a twist on the other games in the series but a change for the best. The desision making and online addition make it the best in the series by far.

Storyline 9/10
Game Play 9/10
Graphics 9/10
Sound 8/10
Multiplayer 10/10
Life Span 9/10

This game is given the console-central seal of approval.











mcfaddenben - console-central network