Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Verdict: Familiarity breeds contentment.
For Xbox 360, also PC, PS2, Xbox, GC.
Rating: 4/5
The world that Sam Fisher exists in seems to be one of perpetual night, soaked in rain and framed by shadow stealing flashes of lightning. You’d think he might get tired of seeing everything in ‘Most Haunted’ hues of green and you’d be right - Double Agent not only sees Sam go undercover and tread a fine wire between what’s right for the mission and right for his humanity but also sees him sneak in altogether brighter places.
With the story kicking off with Sam in prison, attempting to infiltrate a terrorist group, he’s stripped of his usual gear and must escape using his bare muscle and wit. To knock out or kill the prison guards on his escape sums up the underlying morality at play throughout the game as you juggle with what are essentially good/bad meters represented by the government agency and the terrorists. Trying to please both is a difficult task but one which reaps the most rewarding and tense gameplay.
Alongside these significant changes, Double Agent further streamlines the Splinter Cell experience with intelligent doses of evolution within its controls, enhancing the context sensitive setup and subtle analogue and rumble mechanics.
Online play offers co-op missions and the biggest departure from the game’s single player - Spy Vs Mercenary matches. Playing as either a nimble super spy in the third person or a heavily armed mercenary in the first person, you must either retrieve or protect data utilising your unique strengths.
Spys are unarmed but can perform feats of acrobatics, stealth kills and use high-tech gadgets. Mercenaries have big guns, a torch and the growing rumble of a heartbeat to let them know when the enemy is near - how it’ll work on the PS3’s rumble-less controller will be interesting to see.
As a complete package it’s hard to fault Double Agent and it’s a great looking game with outstanding audio but at the end of the day it is just more of the same.
As gruel goes though, it’s mighty tasty.