Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Year : 2002

Developer : Ubisoft Montreal

Publishers : Ubisoft

Admittedly, I am not a gamer that is well versed on Stealth games. While I did love, and complete the OG stealth game Thief : The Dark Project back in the day (which I brag about, as that one was pretty hardcore even for its time when games tended to be more difficult), my experience with the genre has been limited post-Thief. So I was pretty excited when I launched the original Splinter Cell game of the famous series that I have heard so much about, having no idea how it was going to be like.

Well, let me say I have seldom met a game where my opinions were this mixed.

AN INNOVATIVE STEALTH EXPERIENCE

Okay, when I started playing this game I was immediately in awe of it. First of all the visuals are breathtaking, thanks to the amazing work on the lighting and shadows, and stand up even to this day. For a 2002 game that is a pretty impressive achievement. The game has more graphical realism, map design, and atmosphere than half of the games I play today. Not only that, I loved the game's style. How exciting and tense the missions were, and how realistic the difficulty was, making me feel like an actual spy. And the movie set is just so damn impressive and cool. Jumping from wall to wall, and hanging between the walls with your legs spread open, slamming on the enemy that passes below you like a freaking ninja? Get out of here, awesome stuff. I was also pretty impressed of the possibilities with the gameplay, how you can achieve your objectives using varied tactics, and adopting different methods. 

You can knock out your enemies, kill them with silencers, sneak past them after patiently memorizing their patrol routes, distract them by throwing objects, or turning off the lights. You have night and thermal visions at your disposal, and quite a lot of different gadgets to try from sticky cameras to shock pellets, and in the end you develop your own unique style. Very impressive stuff for an old game. The story of the game also works, it is more or less grounded as a spy game should be, and not over the top.

THE DIFFICULTY

However the more I played, the more I have realized how unpolished it felt in today's standards. Which means, the game is difficult as heck. Look, I am a seasoned player okay (in general I mean, not with this genre). I was forged in the fires of the 90's and even early 2000's games which could be very obscure and unforgiving, and you were expected to figure it all out after tens of hours of gameplay, or like none at all, and you had to literally call the company that made the game for hints  (this is of course before Internet was more widely available), or call your awesome friend who bragged about beating it. But of course in the end I was almost always a PC gamer, so I admit that console gamers were even more hardcore than us. After all we had at least quick saves most of the time.

Anyway, I found Splinter Cell very difficult without abusing quicksaves, unless I have time enough to spend weeks and weeks to master it, or just get lucky with the umpteenth try. And there was my gripe with this game, the only one actually. I didn't feel like I accomplished anything at the latter half of the game. Even after adopting my own sort of checkpoint approach, and save sporadically, I don't feel like a master spy. I feel like someone who tried so much and so hard, in the end I happened to succeed on it. That is not what I personally would want from a stealth game. After all anyone can finish any game if they spend enough time with it. But I want to play a challenging stealth game that I can beat without relying on insane amounts of meta-gaming, and want to feel like I pulled it all off because I was careful and smart.

There are a lot of scripted events in this game, and you are caught or killed before you even register what is going on. I'd like to have a shot, think fast, and survive without resorting to multiple reloads. 

Now what were the particular problems with the difficulty in this game? Well first of all the line of sights can be a bit wonky. You can be spotted at places you shouldn't be spotted, like behind covers, and especially cars, where you visually seem safe, but somehow enemy has eyes on you. Or literally, expose only your pinky finger in corners, and a camera would pick you up. Don't even get me started on the Abottoir level, where the enemy can literally see through objects (how I kept being spotted in the mine field behind several boxes is beyond me, and yes I had the shadow patch). 

CLUNKY ASPECTS

Another problem is the fact that it is extremely difficult to grab a patrol from behind unless he happens to stand still, or walks at a turtle pace. In example in the Chinese embassy mission, I was perfectly invisible between two dumpsters, and the soldier is passing by my hiding place. I literally can not grab him or knock him out without alerting him (barring the use of gadgets) and everyone in the vicinity. Frankly, I can't help but find this pathetic for a top spy-commando with tons of experience.

If I use the lowest speed to tail him, I can't catch up to him. If I use even slightly higher speed he hears me. The best I can do is to punch him as he turns, and punch him one more time to knock him out, and that works half of the time, but also alerts nearby troops. Don't get me wrong there are methods to make them stand still, i.e. causing a distraction nearby like breaking a bottle, or shooting off lights. Or you can just use your special gizmos on him, like the shock pellete. But it feels like the idea in my mind should be possible for an elite commando.

Yet another gripe I had with the game was how terrible this top-of-the-field commando's aim was. You have to stand still for a few seconds to be able to hit anything beyond a foot (or hold your breath for sniping them which is fair). You know that Pulp Fiction scene where the guy comes out of the bathroom, empties his chamber on Jules and Vincent, yet none of the bullets connect and Jules concludes it was an act of God? That is what I have felt playing this game, only I was the shooter. Meanwhile I take the first shot at the enemy and he literally spins, and feeds me several assault rifle bullets from thirty meters away in extreme marksmanship, and I am dead in a few seconds. You can literally miss a lightbulb in front of your face even after aiming for a few seconds. Come on man, it is embarassing.

I know, the developers obviously made it this way because this is a Stealth game. You are not supposed to blast your path apart with flashy moves and precision shots, like an FPS game. That'd be fine if the game did not force you into action several times in the game. Frankly most of the times you manage to survive even on hard difficulty, but there are a few instances where it feels extremely unfair, and more tricky than it should be. There's a battle in the final level of the game that made me pull my hair out to beat, and I had to memorize where the soldiers were coming from, and killed them all off like I was a psychic knowing events before they happened - more metagaming.

Yeah yeah, a lot of players would tell me to "Git Gud." I don't particularly care, you can be someone that enjoys that kind of difficulty, that is your preference, and it is great. But I am not such a person. I can git gud, but I have to feel like it was a fair challenge. And I actually got a lot better at the game the more I played it. I completed the game on hard difficulty without abusing saves. But I didn't accomplish it from any kind of place that I felt was close to master planning, nor did I feel like I earned it with my smart plays. I mean I did use my brain, and come up with methods to complete the task at hand, but only after insane amounts of trial and errors, and meta-gaming, or I simply got lucky. Times I formed a plan in my head, and actually realized it in the game's missions (even after careful observations and planning) were uncommon.

VERDICT

So yeah, that is my review of this game. The game is an amazing accomplishment, very creative, in most aspects still remains relevant in present day. It is undoubtedly a vital step in the evolution of Stealth games. But it was not fun as it could have been, at least beyond a certain point. So I am going to rate this game by modern standards, which means my own enjoyment in this present day lol. Which is still a high rating, but with a more polished, slighty less punishing gameplay, this could've been one of my most entertaining experiences.

So your enjoyment on this game will totally depend on your preferences. If you are after a difficult experience where you have to have tons of patience, and are okay with continous reloads then you will definitely love this game. If you are after a more fair challenge, and want a game that flows better where you don't fail by the minute, then I suggest you to try other Splinter Cell entries, as they are said to be a lot more approachable.

RATING : B