"Been there, done that? Not quite..."

I wonder if Tom Clancy is actually the man behind all this Splinter Cell stuff. In the credits, you don't really see his name under the "Most Important Person in Developing this Game" section, so I think it's pretty clear that he just slapped his name onto this franchise for some extra green. I think there's something wrong with that, personally but... I don't really give a **** because Splinter Cell games are so damn awesome.

PRESENTATION:
Believe it or not, Chaos Theory manages to improve upon both its predecessors. Essentially three stealth games in one, CT will manage to keep all SC's old fans coming back and having newcomers easily learn the game with the flawless tutorials and instruction booklet. Honestly, everything that was great about Pandora Tomorrow is improved upon. However, if there was one thing I didn't like as much, CT's solo-mode had a story that was slightly less riveting than both its prequels. The exotic locations of PT are few and far between, and the overall plot is lacking in comparison to the original and PT. Nonetheless, Sam Fisher's still in it... and he's the MAN!
PRESENTATION: 9/10

GRAPHICS:
Wow, is this on the 360? No doubt, take everything from Pandora Tomorrow and enhance it to the billionth degree. Not just animations, the characters' facial expressions may be the best you'll see on the Xbox. The environments, while again not in the beautiful locations from PT, still look much better. Details both big and small are scattered here and there throughout the entire game, and I must say bravo.

Once again, the lighting is far from realistic, but still manages to be totally kick ass even more than before.
GRAPHICS: 10/10

SOUNDS:
Is it true? Amon Tobin really wrote the soundtrack for CT? Holy cow! It must be amazing!! Well, I wouldn't say that... If anything, it's just more of the same from the two previous installments. You get the exciting drumbeats when the action heats up, and the FMV sequences sport some nice tunes, but it's really nothing new.

The same voice actors are back for CT, and they brought Lambert's old voice back, which is good. Something odd is that the guards always had American accents... no matter what country you were in. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Lastly, there is not much news to report on the sounds. This is a good thing--they play a critical role in the gameplay, and everything sounds perfect.
SOUNDS: 8.5/10

GAMEPLAY:
As I said before, there are three ways to play this game: the solo mode, the co-op mode, and the versus mode. Solo mode stars Sam Fisher, AKA the man, and you must once again sneak your way around the world. There are some new features here--you have an addition to your goggles, the OCP, which allows you to see all electrical currents in the area. This is a useful tool for temporarily disabling cameras, or basically anything you don't want turned on. It adds a lot of strategy. There is also the EEV binoculars, which allow you to hack computers from a distance and listen to private conversations. Another addition is that now you don't have to interrogate/drag people to password-locked/retinal-scanner doors. Instead, you can hack them! It can make the game that much easier and exciting. Two other new things are the options to break a lock (rather than pick) or to slam open a door (useful for knocking out guards that are in your way). They make a lot of noise, so be careful.

There are also some new fun ways to kill people! YAY! Sam's got a knife now, so you can guess how that plays a role. My favorite though, is that now you can hang onto a ledge and pull a guard out from above you, and watch him fall to his demise. Very entertaining. Too bad your score gets lowered if you kill, though. That's definitely one of the lamest things in this game, besides the often times ridiculous difficulty.

A final important addition to note is the alert system. Unlike the previous installments, CT's difficulty simply gets much harder as you set off more alarms. My favorite quote from the game:
Sam: Let me guess... three alarms and the mission's over?
Lambert: No! This isn't a videogame, Sam!

Other than those additions, not much new has been added to the solo mode. Ultimately, it always comes down to sneaking around in the dark. Take that as a good or bad thing, but you can't deny that improvements haven't been made.

Like in PT, multiplayer has the great one-on-one mode, which is as good as ever with tons of great improvements. We also have the co-op mode, which is, in my opinion, a little bit better.

Co-op mode basically is what you'd expect when you have two Sam Fishers working together. Sure, they've got all the cool gadgets, but now they're twice as powerful. They use each other to get through levels--human ladders, human ropes, and, my favorite, the human torpedo. This is all innovative and clever as hell, but if there was one fault it would be that it doesn't last long enough. You can repeat the four levels they give you, but it will eventually get old. Still, you can always turn to the versus mode!

Overall, the gameplay in CT is once again amazing. Solo mode, while in the end it's nothing all that new, is still very fun. Versus mode is even better than in PT, and the new co-op mode is great while it lasts.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10

LASTING APPEAL:
The only way the solo mode will last you awhile is because you'll be dying all the time. There are multiple paths to take in some levels, but it really doesn't last you all that long. The biggest savior for the replay value is that multiplayer is both on and offline. Versus and co-op modes will last you and your friends a very, very long time.
LASTING APPEAL: 9/10

OVERALL:
Perhaps the best-looking game on any console this generation, Sam's latest game is one you can't miss. Though his solo mode isn't as exciting as the first two (it's still good though!), the multiplayer is where this game's at. Hell yeah. In conclusion: Sam Fisher is still the man, multiplayer modes are awesome, and you should probably buy and cherish Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory forever. The end.
OVERALL: 9/10 (like a 9.1, to be exact... yeah I'm weird like that)

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/07