Video game 'Double Agent' pits player between government, terrorists
By Andy Brownfield, Staff Writer
April 21, 2007 | noon
Sam Fisher reprises his role as a “Splinter Cell” in the government’s black-ops division of Third Echelon in the latest installment of Ubisoft’s “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell” series of games, “Double Agent.”
“Double Agent” takes place shortly after the events of “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory” with agent Sam Fisher flying to Iceland to investigate suspicious activity at a geothermal plant. During the mission he discovers Red Mercury, a substance that can be used to produce a fission bomb the size of a baseball. However, he is pulled out before he can complete the mission and informed of his daughter’s death at the hands of a drunk driver.
Back in the United States, Agent Fisher is reassigned to a new mission. A third party has stolen the Red Mercury from Iceland and is planning to sell it to terrorist groups. Stricken with grief over his daughter’s death, Fisher has no problem causing trouble and getting himself thrown into jail. From there, it’s his job to make friends and break out with Jamie Washington, a member of John Brown’s Army, a terrorist organization planning to purchase the Red Mercury and use it against American citizens. It’s Fisher’s mission to infiltrate the JBA and prevent them from using the Red Mercury while also obtaining information about the sellers.
“Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent” is available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, Xbox, Playstation 2 and GameCube. With the superior power of the next-gen consoles, two different versions of the game were made, one for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, and one for the current-gen consoles. While the two versions share the same name and operate under the same premise, the story lines, plot twists and level designs are different. The next-gen version even boasts an entirely new engine while the current-gen version plays more like classic “Splinter Cell” games.
The premise of the game is simple. After infiltrating the JBA, Sam Fisher must prevent them from using the Red Mercury on American citizens. This is where the simplicity ends, though. Each decision you make within the game affects a “trust meter.” This includes each objective you complete for either side and even whether you decide to kill or sneak past your enemies.
Complete an objective for one side (Third Echelon or JBA), and they trust you more. Complete an opposing objective, and the meter moves a bit to the other side. How much either side trusts you at any given time also affects the amount and types of equipment that you’ll receive at the beginning of each mission. If the meter goes too far to either side, the opposition may have you perform a special mission in a specific amount of time in order to prove your trustworthiness. Your actions within the game affect the outcome, and multiple endings are available depending on how the story goes.
As with all of the “Splinter Cell” games, stealth is emphasized over force. Fisher is only given a small amount of ammunition at the start of each level, and very rarely is he able to find more. Fortunately, on any given level, there is a multitude of ways to deal with enemies. You are given an arsenal of gadgets to either distract or dispatch enemies, and, coupled with your stealth skills, there is rarely an encounter that you can’t just avoid altogether.
“Splinter Cell” is often compared to the “Metal Gear Solid” line of games, but as far as stealth mechanics go, “Splinter Cell” is more innovative and more fun to play. Where Ubisoft did go wrong, however, was with the online multiplayer.
Unlike previous online versions of “Splinter Cell” in which players were pitted against “spies” or “mercenaries” in a stealth battle in which each group received its own special gadgets, the online mode of “Double Agent” is a dumbed-down version that echoes “Halo” more so than “Splinter Cell.” Maybe they hoped to attract more players with the simplistic style, but it loses just about everything that makes it “Splinter Cell.”
Other than the multiplayer, “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent” is the reason why the stealth genre thrives. It offers challenging but addicting game play and a deep, involving story line, stealthily robbing players of hours of their free time.
---For more information on “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent” or any of the other “Splinter Cell” titles, visit Splinter Cell’s official Web site.
Title: "Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent"
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: stealth/action
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Rating: Mature 17+
Modes: single player, co-op, online multiplayer
Score: 8.5/10