Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

"Best game out right now, and the best in the Splinter Cell series."

This is one of my, if not my favorite game for Xbox. I picked it up last tuesday, and just beat it last night... I played it alot.. The game is awesome.

~Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay is perfect. The movements of the characters are very realistic. Sam moves like a real person, and he changes the way he sneaks around when you are sneaking up behind an enemy.. He gets ready to grab his knife, and moves differently than when you are just walking around with no one around. The AI is much smarter. The shadows aren't the safest place anymore. The enemies will take out flares and wave them around to look for you if you make noises that alert them, and they will use flashlights. They don't always do that, but you do see it alot. The missions now are less linear. There are more paths to take and more ways to complete your objectives. That was one of the few problems I had with the first 2 games, they were too linear. But this one isn't. You also have side-objectives that aren't required for you to complete, but they are there... Adds to the reply value.

~Graphics: 9.5/10

This game has the best graphics I have seen on any console. Even better than in the first 2 games. This game also has a cool weather system like in the first mission when it rains, Fisher and the guards all get wet and look wet, and when you go inside, you eventually dry off over time. The lightning you see behind the clouds in that mission looks cool too. This game brings back those lighting and shadow effects that the first 2 games were known for.. But they changed the lighting in this game.. It doesn't flicker and kind of "sparkle" in this game anymore, like it did in the first 2 games. That's one thing I was a little disappointed about, but the lighting it does have is still cool. That's the reason why I gave the graphics half a point lower, because although it still did have cool lighting, it was changed from the cool looking lighting effects the first 2 games had. The guns, gadgets, and all other sound effects all sound great.

~Sound: 9/10

The sound in the game is almost perfect. Problem was that every once in a while when you alerted a guard, the sound would cut out for about a second and then come back in to let you hear the guard say his little remark like "Am I seeing things?". The voices in this game are very well done, with Michael Ironside returning as Sam Fisher again, and the original guy that did Lamberts voice in the first game is back as Lambert in this one. Dennis Haysbert isn't Lambert anymore, Pandora Tomorrow, I suppose, was his only time as Lambert. I like the original Lambert voice more anyway, and am glad to hear it back in this game. Haysbert was still good as Lambert though. The enemy voices were actually pretty decent this time around too... There actually aren't any people who have horrible fake accents in this game anymore, like there was in the first 2.

~Story: 10/10

I really like the storyline of this game. The best storyline of the 3. I like all the games' storylines though. The storyline goes like this:
"The year is 2007. Japan's creation of an Information Self Defense Force is deemed a violation of international law and of their own Constitution and ignites rising tensions between Japan, China and North Korea. Facing North Korean and Chinese blockades of shipping across the Korea Strait, Japan requests US assistance in accordance with American obligations under Article 9 of the Japanese Post War Constitution.

Mounting evidence gathered by the I-SDF indicates that the devastation of the Japanese economy on the now infamous ‘Black Gold Day' may have been caused by intentional Information Warfare attacks.
As nations begin to mobilize and the United States activates the USS Clarence E Walsh, the world's premiere Electronic and Information Warfare platform and dispatches her to the region, Third Echelon gets wind of a small and seemingly unrelated incident that may end up having global repercussions…"

~Overall: 10/10. This game is a masterpiece, and is my new favorite game... Until the next Splinter Cell comes out, whenever that will be. Also, I haven't tried multiplayer or Co-op yet, so I can't tell you about that.

Rent or buy? BUY. It is well worth the $50, or the $55 is you get the Collector's Edition, which is the one I got.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/05