Special Agent CJRavey goes deep undercover to pose as an out-of-shape videogames journalist, reviewing Splinter Cell on Xbox. (This review refers to the Xbox version - the PS2 version is largely unchanged).

All you've heard is more or less true. Secret agents creep around in the night using state-of-the-art gadgets, foreign powers are generally all corrupt, America represents truth and freedom - including the freedom to do dishonest and underhand stuff to protect that truth and freedom - and Splinter Cell is the best game on Xbox. OK, so I said more or less?

Whether Splinter Cell is the best game on Xbox largely depends on your taste in games, but if you like action / stealth / sneak-em-ups it will blow your socks off. And if you don't, you should try it anyway. After all, some games are so good they transcend the subject - who was interested in Italian plumbers before they picked up a Mario game?

A third-person action game that's like a super-duper cross between Metal Gear Solid and the recent Hitman 2, Splinter Cell is based on the secret near-future tales of Tom Clancy, is this year's must-have Xbox title.

In the game you play Sam Fisher, a top secret NSA agent who goes into situations where blazing in like Stormin' Norman meets Rambo would generally cause more trouble than it's worth. He looks very like Solid Snake but this is forgivable, not to say inevitable -how much variation in genuine stealth clothing can there be? The closure of Jed's Neon and Paisley Patterned Stealth Gear Shop tells a powerful story.

He sounds like Snake too and this is more to do with - to be kind - rules of the genre, or to be less kind, clich?. In fact if the game has one failing it's the gravel voiced, humourless personality of the whole thing. Sam Fisher may raise an eyebrow and ask 'who, me?' when his boss suggests he may have to use violence, but he's more like Dalton on the grumpiest, quipless day of his life than Moore on 'infamous gondola sequence' form. But to criticise Splinter Cell for a lack of comedy is like criticising the Mona Lisa for having no eyebrows. It's not something people will notice or care about - it's still brilliant. (What, you didn't notice that Mona Lisa has no eyebrows? Well, that proves the point).

There are many gadgets and gizmos in Sam's arsenal, from a fibre optic cable that you can push through keyholes for a quick peek to lock picks. The latter you actually use in an interactive way - slowly moving the left thumbstick until you feel the resistance of the lock (OK - the controller's inbuilt vibration) and manipulating further until each barrel of the lock clicks open.

Overall the game will be familiar to anyone who's played recent release Hitman, various quick-menus appear on screen, to allow you to choose a gadget, weapon or course of action. For example, stand near a door and you can either open it with A, or pull back and the option to 'stealth open' the door will appear on your action quick-menu. Sometimes you can get befuddled, be stood near someone you need to knock out - but also near a computer terminal, and far from the A button causing you to hit the chap you'll suddenly develop a fascinated interest in the computer whilst he pegs it. This is unavoidable, and if you've a choice of actions then the action menu will give you the option of scrolling down to either.

The B button makes Sam crouch down, the X button draws his gun - or a selected gadget - and Y makes him jump. Press jump near a wall and Mario, ahem, I mean Sam, will perform a wall jump, which propels him further into the air. If you're between two walls close enough to each other, a third press of Y will make Sam do the split jump for which he is already rightly famous. In this position, forming an upside down T shape with his legs and body, Sam can observe the action below him, and even draw his gun at any time.

If all this wasn't enough buttons to remember, left on the D Pad causes Sam to jerk his head like a school ma-am to make her pince nez glasses fall on her nose - though in this case the glasses are sophisticated night vision goggles, with (once the game progresses) a infra red heat sensor too. The white button has Sam creep alongside walls and the black button opens the menu for gadgets, gizmos, weapons and items - including those all important medi-kits!

In all, fast action and split-second decisions are easier to cope with than with Metal Gear Solid's rather cumbersome controls, but the demo course is a blessing and should be lapped up eagerly - don't worry if it takes you a while to get used to controlling Sam, it'll all be worth it in the end.

The game's graphics are fantastic - most notably the lighting effects, which also play an important part of the game. A meter on the screen shows how visible Sam is - creep into a dark corner and it will move to the left, come into the light and it will move to the right. Tuck yourself into dark corners and no one can see you. Of course, you can't see much either, but that's no problem for a man with night vision goggles. A black and white hue takes over the room, the depth of field restricts and everything that isn't near you goes blurry - it's clever stuff that's actually a lot subtler than 'everything goes black and white'. Put your heat sensing specs on and you'll see faint heat traces of people in another room.

Splinter Cell is a visual tour de force, simple as that. The real time lighting which can be demonstrated by shooting at a swinging overhead lighting, the smoke effects - it all looks fantastic and fortunately has thrilling, tense and ever-different gameplay to match. Although the whole thing is a stealth-a-thon it's different due to the AI of the characters.

Splinter Cell is just so full of little details and elements that make it worth buying that we could go on for pages, but quite frankly we'd rather be playing it than writing about it - and we reckon you should be playing it too. So stop reading and go buy it. That's an order.

CJRavey

+ : Gameplay rocks.
+ : Graphics rock.
+ : God damn, it just rocks.

- : Not everyone likes things that rock.
- : Um...
- : It's not tongue in cheek fun - but it was never intended to be.

It's the game that ensured steady Xbox sales this Christmas and admit it, you PS2 owners want it too! Despite having had your shield of feigned disinterest (designed to give people the impression you're not that impressed anyway and actually prefer MGS2) raised for the last few months, you should now lower it and accept Splinter Cell into your hearts… and inevitably make all those unfortunately common, but yet unavoidable, Metal Gear Solid 2 comparisons in the process.

Which leads us on to the first part of this preview. Is it better than Metal Gear Solid 2? And how much alike are these two games? For this preview we're going to assume that you haven't read our Xbox Splinter Cell coverage and if you have, then tough, we're going to cover it all again for the benefit of those, who up until this point, have not felt the need to find out what it's all about.

Splinter Cell is much like Metal Gear Solid 2 in the sense that your main motivation is to sneak about, drag bodies around and generally be a bit of a stealthy bad ass. Whilst the two games share a love for the same theme, the execution is much different. Imagine if you will, the difference between the two hospital dramas, Casualty and ER. Essentially they're both the same; they contain words that even qualified nurses suspect to be made up, scenes of surgical unpleasantness and a generous helping of domestic and relationship issues, which allow all us plebs to relate in some way to what's going on. However, despite the two shows being made up of the same core elements, the execution is startlingly different, with ER being more dramatised, exciting and cool and Casualty being stiff, miserable and incredibly depressing (but in a good way!). It's this kind of difference that exists with MGS and Splinter Cell.

As for which one is better, we're going to sit on the fence until the final review; we simply cannot judge PS2 Splinter Cell at this early stage. Sorry.

The first notable advantage that the PS2 version has over the Xbox version is undoubtedly the improved method of control, which is down to the PS2 pad being at least a hundred thousand times more comfortable and usable than the tubby Xbox pad. For any newcomer, the controls will initially be fairly confusing, but do the job as well as can be expected. One fault we're hoping to see rectified is the ever-so-slightly-too-slow motion once you're in gun mode. Should you hastily equip your gun whilst viewing the proceedings from above, you'll find that you're aiming at the floor and from here, lifting your aim upwards is painfully slow.

Generally though, things are looking good. Compared to the Xbox version, the graphics are already looking very classy. Aside from a little PS2 jaggy and graininess here and there, everything's pretty much the same.

The one major difference is the inclusion of a new mission for this PS2 version. As is the way of things, the delayed versions always contain more in order to cool the burn of having to wait longer for the game. 'Powerplant' is the name of this new mission, which contains four new levels. PS2 owners also get treated to approximately 30 minutes extra cinematics and a lovely new four-minute CG intro at the beginning.

Much of the lighting in Splinter Cell is dynamic, meaning that should you wish, you can turn lit rooms dark, by throwing objects at the lights, using your gun to shoot out the bulbs, or by employing the more traditional method of flicking the light switch to its 'off' position. It's handy to have dark rooms when your kill count is reaching high levels, as it's a better idea to store the bodies out of the way so that guards wandering around don't discover them.

Being that our man Sam Fisher is a stealthy, acrobatic fellow, it's hardly surprising to see the wealth of intricate animations on offer, from climbing, descending, wall-jumping and crouching… Some manoeuvres look a little too amusing though, as is often the case with games like this. The main source of literally minutes of office merriment for us, was when we not only noticed how it looked a bit like Sam was having a dump when in his standard crouching position, but how outrageous it looked when we introduced an unconscious and sprawled out enemy guard into the situation.

Anyway… As well as his natural skills, Sam has a vast array of weaponry that he can make use of. Out of all of Sam's items, the one we want a real life version of the most is the optic cable. This nifty little device allows Sam the luxury of an advanced look beyond the many doors that would otherwise entirely block his vision completely. All Sam needs to do is slip the optic cable under his door of choice and he can see most of what is waiting for him on the other side. The real life benefits of owning such a device is obvious, especially if you happen to be a dorm-dwelling university student who craves a peek into the mysterious world of the giggly girls who bed down in the room next door.

The most impressive aspect of Splinter Cell, is the way you often have more than one way of approaching and completing a mission. For instance, on one of the sections of the PS2 code we've played, you have to infiltrate a building via a restaurant. You can either go in the front, via the tables where customers would normally sit and enjoy their food of dubious origin, or you can go round the back, via the kitchen where all this very same food gets prepared.

Either way we needed to be in the kitchen, this is where the ladder we needed to climb was to be found. Entering via the front required a bit of stealth and surprise attacking, before then entering the kitchen and knocking out the unarmed chef within. Going in the back and straight into the kitchen is tougher. Despite an intention to avoid incident by quickly nipping up the ladder unnoticed, the chef's scream of terror and surprise as you enter, alerts the two guards in the front eating, who then surround you and try to gun you down. If you're quick enough, it is possible to grab the chef round the neck and hold him hostage as a sort of human shield, whilst returning fire on the guards, knocking him out once you've eliminated the threat, but it's tougher that way.

Of course, with this degree of choice and freedom, it's often the case that the loose mechanic will result in repeated deaths, as you struggle to figure out the best method of attack. And this is possibly the only area where Splinter Cell could frustrate to a point beyond the limits of many. If constant repetition interrupts the flow of the game, then a few weaker gamers could get tired and angry quite quickly.

Despite this relatively small worry, PS2 Splinter Cell is looking awesome. It gives a satisfying amount of freedom to the proceedings and makes things unpredictable (in a good way) as a result. Of course you can always demand more realism and more ways to injure your hostages, but compared to other games, the choice you are given is good enough. Based on how the Xbox version turned out, we suspect this to be awesome, however keep an eye out for our final review of this PS2 version, when we'll let you know for sure.

Jay Filmer

’Splinter Cell is a stealth action title set in the Tom Clancy universe. One of the key features is the lighting system – which is very realistic and gives a special look and feel to the game. You will have light and shadow, be able to creep through shadows – but you’ll create your own shadow and light zones, which can hide you or get you spotted.

‘The second focus is action movies, the third is gadgetry. Nothing sci-fi, but Clancy style – day after tomorrow. Technology like night-vision, or a spy camera which you place on a wall to give you another view. Anything you see is in research at the NSA. The online content will be new maps – it will be significant, not just to say ‘we’re online.’’

Our Hero

‘Sam Fisher – the lead character- is a trained Navy Seal. He’s not a naieve person, he doesn’t hide his feelings for some US policy; but he believes that he’s on the good side. We and Tom Clancy are convinced that this is realistic. Somebody somewhere is acting in the role of Sam Fisher…’

The PC and Xbox Versions

‘The PC version is similar to the Xbox version; we adapted the controls to mouse and keyboard. Do you want to play in your living room with your friends or on your PC? It’s up to you.’

‘No plan for PC online is defined yet. What does it mean to hide in the shadows with night vision goggles whene everyone has night vision goggles?!’

‘We will not make available the tools for Splinter Cell on the release – but some tools will be made by someone, as Unreal is our basic technology. What we want to provide for Xbox Live is something professional. We don’t want people to create things for Xbox Live – we can do that for ourselves.’

Splinter Cell versus Metal Gear Solid

‘The basics of the game – bringing the feeling of tension whether you save the day or create a big mess – are the same. But we are very realistic in our approach. With our Tom Clancy universe, versus the cartoonish world with Metal gear Solid, we give more control. For example, with the camera in Metal Gear Solid (which I respect a lot, by the way) if you want to look at something on the move, but you can’t – which can be frustrating.’

‘We’ve been called Metal Gear Solid killers – but we don’t want to kill them! The more good games the better – so the market can grow.’

‘We began the game two years ago, with between 30 to 45 people working on it depending on the period of production. Xbox represented more opportunity than difficulty. A major challenge is to make the cool features converge into something consistent. You give players weaponry, moves, light, shadow – tools, effectively – you want it to be quite open ended how he’s challenged.’

Realistic Stealth

‘It’s very important not to raise the alarm, or attract the attention of Non Player Characters. NPCs will raise alarms or call for back up. They have ‘states’ from quiet and relaxed to looking for you to take you out. You hide bodies so as not to raise the state and make your life difficult.’

Doing a Rambo…

‘It’s very difficult to shoot your way through levels. Some levels – i.e. the Chinese Embassy level – it would cause a war. You’re not a trouble causer, so you don’t kill people in this level.’

Colin Ravey