 "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent")
Even though we may appear clinically insane at times—don’t worry we’re not totally off our rockers yet —and the only reason we’re reviewing the PS2 version of Splinter Cell Double Agent is because unlike most ports, this is an entirely new game and is no where nearly as crappy as its PC counterpart. Like I’ve mentioned nearly a thousand times before, the PC version of Double Agent was plagued by all sorts of problems so I took it upon myself to pick up the current gen version to satiate my hunger for some stealthy espionage goodness.
As far as the game’s core story goes, it’s still the same as it’s next gen and PC counterpart; Sam Fisher’s daughter has been killed in an unfortunate and tragic accident so with nothing to live for, he undertakes a mission no sane agent would and that would be bringing down a highly diabolical terrorist organization called John Brown’s Army, AKA the JBA. Besides the story, certain gameplay mechanics like pleasing both sides is still maintained here; only different is that the interactive moral dilemmas (remember those moments when you were made to shoot an innocent man to provide your bad-assness?) which were pretty intense in the next gen version have been toned down a bit here.
And that ladies and gentlemen is pretty much where most of the similarities end, and Double Agent for the PS2 feels a lot less like a port and more like a direct successor (which it actually is) to Chaos Theory. The first and perhaps the most obvious difference between both versions is unlike the next gen version, missions in the PS2 version only take place at night and this takes the gameplay back to the “move in the shadows” territory (something I definitely prefer). As far as mission variety goes, there are tons on new missions in here (that’s why I said it’s like a brand new game) and a lot of the missions from the next gen version are here, only a bit differently (night instead of day). A lot of Sam’s moves and gadgets (why wasn’t the finger scanner there in next gen versions?) that were omitted in the next gen version have re-appeared here and certain activities like hacking are totally different on the PS2 (and it’s a lot better mind you).
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Visually the PS2 version really ended up surprising me since it looked a lot better than I imagined. Even though it lacks the visual oomph even the Xbox (not the 360) may pack, it’s still a good looking game, complete with fluid and good looking character animations, descent lighting and no ‘omg those textures make my eyes bleed’ kinda textures; oh and don’t worry, the frame rate holds up pretty sturdy as well since there isn’t a lot of action going on at a time (remember, it’s still a stealth game).
After playing the PS2 version I’m confident Ubisoft could have done a brilliant job with the PC version had they not rushed it so much but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. If given a choice I would definitely go in for either the Xbox or the PS2 version in case you don’t have an Xbox 360; stay as far away from the PC version as humanly possible and if you need more convincing, kindly head on over to our PC review right here.
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