Games: 'Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory'

By Julius Pecson
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely play it. 3 — Good: Worth playing despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the license or series, don't bother. 1 — Poor: You'd have more fun playing Pong.

Console: Xbox (also on GameCube, PS2, PC)

Developer/publisher: Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft.

Genre: Stealth action.

Number of players: 1i2 (1i4 online).

ESRB Rating: Mature (violence, blood, language)

The premise: It's 2007, and information warfare has become the most dangerous threat to global stability. With an already tenuous relationship between China, North Korea and Japan, it's up to the Third Echelon's most elite black-ops agent, Sam Fisher, to infiltrate deep into hostile territory, collect critical intelligence and eliminate any source of the information attacks.

Game play: With this third installment in the popular stealth franchise, gamers should be familiar with the basics of Fisher's protocol.

You'll need to seek solace within the shadows, using a variety of stealth moves and abilities as you try to operate undetected. An arsenal of high-tech weapons and gadgets — such as the thermal and night vision goggles — is at your disposal, facilitating your mission objectives and allowing you to hack into computers, pick locks, slip past security cameras and more. The "Spies versus Mercenaries" online multiplayer makes a triumphant return with a few new levels and game play tweaks. New to the series is cooperative play via split-screen or online, where two spies must work together to accomplish any of the four specially designed co-op missions.

The good/bad: In the two previous games in the series, mission paths and objectives were very linear. Fortunately, the campaign in "Chaos Theory" is considerably more open-ended, giving you more freedom to accomplish objectives with a variety of means. Now, the mission won't end if you accidentally trigger an alarm, but instead the guards will become more vigilant in their search, forcing you to change your approach to the situation. Another cool addition is the sound meter.

In one example, if you want to sneak up on someone without him hearing the squeaking of the floor under your feet, you would have to wait for a passing truck that makes enough noise to mask your movement.

One annoying problem is that a brief pause for the game to load happens when the enemies shift from unaware mode to cautious or aware mode, which not only takes me out of the experience but pretty much allowed me to predict when an enemy has seen me.

My take: The game is visually breathtaking with a nice balance between stealth and action, single and multiplayer. "Chaos Theory" is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the Splinter Cell series. For those who enjoy high-tech espionage, be sure to pick up the Xbox version for the best experience.

Julius Pecson, a student at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and a longtime gamer, reviews games on various consoles for The Honolulu Advertiser.

Have a game or CD you want to review? Reach Island Life deputy editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.

UPCOMING VIDEO GAME RELEASES
Dates are tentative.

Playstation 2

• April 15: "Digimon World 4"
• April 19: "Ford Mustang Racing"; "Stolen"; "Psychonauts"
• April 25: "Area 51"
• April 26: "Motocross Mania 3"; "Predator: Concrete Jungle"; "Stella Deus"; "Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2"

XBOX

• April 18: "Star Wars Sith vs Jedi 2PK"; "Close Combat: First to Fight"; "Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict"; "WWE WrestleMania 21 with Bonus!"
• April 19: "Ford Mustang Racing"; "Stolen"; "Psychonauts"
• April 25: "Area 51"
• April 26: "Motorcross Mania III"; "Predator: Concrete Jungle"

Gamecube

• April 15: "Digimon 4"

Gameboy Advance

• April 15: "Tokyo Xtreme Racer Advance"
• April 30: "PokÚmon Emerald"

Nintendo DS

• April 18: "Polarium"
• April 26: "Pac-Pix"; "Puyo Pop Fever"

Sony PSP

• April 19: "Smartbomb"; "ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails"
• April 25: "NBA Street Showdown"; "FIFA Soccer"; "MVP Baseball"

List provided by Toys n' Joys, with shops in Kaimuki (735-4546) and Westridge Shopping Center (487-8697) in Pearlridge. See www.toysnjoys.com.