Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Xbox 360)
Ubisoft’s Sam Fisher has managed to live through the Cold War and save the world from its aftermath as information became the currency of freedom replacing nuclear weapons as effective deterrents to peace. Proving that a politically charged Clancy-esque techno thriller wrapped within the trappings of the modern world can give life to the shadows behind that secret war, the Splinter Cell series has become a player in the field of covert warfare dominated on consoles by Konami’s Metal Gear. Now in its fourth major chapter, Double Agent, fans will once more don trifocal goggles to sneak, assassinate, and save who they can as Sam finds himself without cover and without his old friends to back him up. It’s a black bag that’s filled with much of the same things that would-be spies have come to appreciate, but some may end up wishing that there was more to it than in simply sending their favorite spy to new locales.
Double Agent
Sam Fisher is back for the fourth major installment of Ubi’s Splinter Cell series, working once again for the government as an operative working from the shadows. The title starts off by dropping Sam from the night sky over Iceland to investigate suspicious goings on at a geothermal plant. When the mission is over, he returns only to discover that his daughter had become the victim of a drunk driver in his absence. The Cold War warrior is devastated by the loss and is given leave from his work. But for Sam, it is only the beginning.
Hoping to get his friend back into the world of the living, his chief, Lambert, presents Sam with an opportunity as an undercover agent tasked with infiltrating a domestic terror organization known only as John Brown’s Army. The JBA has just come up on Third Echelon’s radar and when that happens, it can only mean that something bad is on its way. Staging a series of mock crimes for which Sam is eventually sent to prison for, he is put in a cell with Jamie Washington who happens to also be a JBA member.
After several months, Jamie comes to trust Sam enough to let him in on an escape plan that he had been working on. All he needs is a partner and Sam is just the man. Before long, Sam will become a part of the JBA, introduced to its leader, Emile Dufraisne, and find his loyalties tested between his new ‘friends’ and that of those who still sign his paychecks, the National Security Agency, as he plays a dangerous game to survive both sides.
Sam I Am
Fans of the Splinter Cell series will find themselves at home with the controls and the atmosphere found within the latest chapter of the stealthy franchise. For newcomers, this next-gen title will take them through the basics thanks to a tutorial that takes place outside of the main game. The 360 controller makes many of Sam’s fancy moves and sneaking skills easily available and before long, players will be back in the thick of international espionage done at knife point.
Sam can use a knife for when he needs to surgically silence the people in his way, or a handy palm strike for when he needs to get his point across without unnecessary collateral damage. His ability to get in close and quietly take out people that don’t understand his job will be extremely useful given his new life as a double agent. He’ll even be able to take out bad guys from beneath the ice as he swims in below them, pulling them down to his world with a cinematic move that you’d expect Liev Schreiber’s character from “The Sum of All Fears” to do. He’ll also have access to weapons that help improve his odds of survival, but Sam’s work is best done when no one knows that he’s around. Going in with an automatic rifle to kill everyone is the fastest way to see him die quickly. He can take a few hits for the occasional mistake, but he’ll fold faster than Britney Spears’ first marriage if he’s exposed for too long.
Later levels take place out in the open daylight leaving Sam with even fewer places to hide behind. But in a bizarre change, the light meter that had been a staple of the series since the beginning has been replaced with a stop light type of indicator. So much for finessing the meter while trying to get in as close as possible to a particular objective. Its three colors pretty much tell the player that they’re safe, should be careful, or start running. While it took some getting used to and works as intended, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a far cry from the more sophisticated feel of the previous system of allowing the player to gauge their own safety than in relying on what can feel seem like cheap, color coded hints.
One of Sam’s gadgets will also turn him into a hacker and safecracker at certain points in the game allowing him to break into PCs or through digital locks. It works by letting the player pick out a set of numbers that the unit discovers as its brute force efforts to break security discovers them. The player is also left with only a few seconds to look through the listings for the decrypted digits before failing. It works and is pretty fun, and if the player is on the NSA’s good side, they’ll also get a special gadget that allows the player to crack the encryption in one go…at the risk of setting off an alarm. Proving that Nokia also has a phone that has X-ray vision, Sam will be able to spin and turn tumblers Bond-style in an effort to find the right combination that will open whatever he’s trying to get into. Picking locks are also back and if he’s still on the NSA’s good side, he’ll get a special set of picks that will help make it easier to get into places where he’s not exactly wanted.
For would-be spies that aren’t as adept as Sam at slipping in between slivers of light, the ability to save anywhere makes a comeback which can save a lot of aggravation in having to penetrate yet another insurmountable security system again and again. This is especially useful as Double Agent presents its choices to Sam as to whether or not he should do good, do evil, or do both. This can also turn the game into a series of trial and error exercises which can take away some of the tension, but it also continues to be a welcome option.
Too Many Secrets
In the latest twist to the franchise, Sam’s role as a double agent will affect much of what he will be asked to do as well as what he has to do it with. His objectives in any mission will be balanced between what the JBA wants done and the NSA’s secret requests, with both sides wanting him to do something that will earn trust with one but may damage his standing with the other. Hurt too many civilians or allow the JBA to kill an informant, and the NSA may start to think that’s he’s in too deep. Act suspiciously around JBA headquarters or fail to execute certain orders in order to protect the NSA’s interests, and the JBA may start to think twice about their new friend.
Both sides have different benefits depending on what the player decides to do. If the NSA trusts Sam enough, he may end up unlocking certain gadgets for use in the next mission. For the JBA, he’ll have a lot more leeway in getting to places where he’s not supposed to, making it easier for him to keep tabs on their activities. The story may also change depending on how much trust Sam has with either side, opening the door to certain opportunities or cut scenes that may not otherwise be seen. It’s completely up to the player on how far they are willing to go, or how well they can play both sides.
Sam’s mission is a failure if he loses too much trust from either party, but it’s also relatively easy to maintain a high degree of it as long as the player is careful. Helping in this is a dual ‘trust meter’ displaying an abstract measure of Sam’s standing with both parties. On one hand, the meter makes it easy for the player to gage the effect of certain calls. On the other, it can feel like an unrealistic add-on in seeing Sam’s relationship with either faction displayed in this kind of manner like so many other options in his PDA. But it works well enough to keep the player on the balance beam of trying to be everyone’s friend or enemy.
While it can be fun being a double agent, the story still suffers from a few things that players will need to simply take for granted. When Sam starts out in prison sharing a cell with JBA soldier, Jamie Washington, there’s really not a lot to go on that establishes that kind of trust that Jamie puts into Sam. And when he finally meets Emile, leader of the JBA, his first mission is something that one would expect to be given to someone more seasoned and not to someone that the group had just met. Hints are dropped that Emile is aware of Sam’s special skills and these convenient holes in the plot are left unanswered including how the JBA is able to get the kind of equipment that the NSA had supplied Sam with in the past. This is probably intentional, to be revealed as part of a larger arc much like what the first Splinter Cell had started with its take on information warfare, leaving such questions for the next chapter. Players may have to wait until then to find out if these and other loose ends are going to be tied up.
A few other holes are harder to justify. At one point in the game, depending on what the player chooses to do, a major demonstration of a new weapon will either succeed or fail. If it fails, the consequences can get personal. But in the greater scheme of things, the plot continues to move ahead as if it had succeeded. I’m not sure of the kind of friends that the JBA has, but I would have expected them to be a little less understanding if the demonstration of a major WMD that they were all expected to use had spectacularly failed. To a lesser extent, some of what Sam does might be a little too suspicious, but after doing a job or two to get back into the good graces of any particular side, everything is alright again. The double agent angle could have been a much more thrilling addition to the story if there were lasting, moral consequences to some of his actions, but as it is, it feels very safe to make one or two ‘mistakes’ only to make up for them later. Fans of Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell” series might find that Sam’s new friends in the game have a lot of leeway in comparison to when it comes to trusting complete strangers.
But despite its flaws, the story is still the strongest part of this game since much of the rest of it can feel too much like an unchanging formula. That’s not a bad thing, per se, and the creative ways that Sam can get both into trouble and out of it with his skills fill the gameplay with surprises. Several of the missions in Double Agent, especially the special final job should players manage to get to it (at least on the PC and 360 versions of the title), are really well done and can catch those expecting more of the same off guard in a dramatic way.
As much as “Metal Gear Solid” has established a set of core expectations for its main protagonist, it has also continued to evolve what he is able to do across its major chapters. But even then, the series has also tried to do a lot more to keep players interested in pursuing what can feel like more of the same by being creative in what it throws at the player, largely succeeding. Splinter Cell looks to be following the same trend in terms of pushing Sam Fisher to the edge to find out what he’s willing to do when his back is against the wall. For newcomers, it might not matter as much but for veterans, it can be an experience to see these kinds of changes in their favorite spy. In that sense, Double Agent has managed to pull it off.
Crouched in the Shadows
Fans familiar with Splinter Cell’s dark world will be surprised to see Sam out in the open in more than a few missions, from the war-torn, daylit streets of an African city to dangling across the face of a high rise hotel at night. It all looks pretty good on the 360, especially when rain is falling and you can see it glisten off of his grizzled face as he sneaks to his next victim. The world that Sam will be fighting through is filled with a lot of variety and detail, something that hasn’t changed from the previous chapters and has only become more daring with every mission. The animation is also top notch, especially for Sam’s facial expressions when he gets caught somewhere he isn’t wanted, ending the mission.
Voice work for everyone in this latest spy thriller is very well done as is typically a hallmark of the series, with each of the main characters in the story coming across as individuals complete with their own quirks. Michael Ironside’s growling vocals return for duty along with a host of others that turn Double Agent characters into cinematic additions to the gameplay. The music is also typical Splinter Cell, with its own unique sounds accompanying Fisher everywhere he goes with a low key approach to much of what he’ll be doing. It’s not as memorable as Amon Tobin’s previous work in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, but it manages to fit in with the subtle undercurrent of Sam’s new profession. The sound effects also make every footstep something to worry about as the player tries to get around a patrol, wondering whether or not the crunching dirt will accidentally get someone’s attention.
The story is also told in-game through communications and special scenes that blend in with the gameplay and can turn up unexpectedly to keep the player on their toes. Much of the presentation works and flows well without making it seem like the player is being pulled away from the experience other than the load screens that come up in between the missions that they’ll be undertaking. The loads aren’t particularly short, either, as it can sometimes feel that the game is trying to share some of Sam’s age with the player.
The AI for the enemy also can feel a bit more persistent in searching for strange sources of noise or suspicious activity. Particularly sneaky players can even raise the difficulty level to make the guards even more alert. Although hiding bodies is an important thing to keep doing, it’s not as tied into Sam’s later activities as it was in the early Splinter Cells where a body left out in the open might actually come to haunt the player later on as the alert level is suddenly raised. Much of the basics have been left alone, though, allowing Sam to interrogate enemies that he can put into a neck lock, dragging them away behind some crates to knock them out or to finish them off. Some of the things that they say continue to share in Splinter Cell’s habit of interjecting some humor into an otherwise serious title, making it something that players hoping to hear everything can look forward to challenging themselves with.
The levels can also offer a variety of ways for Sam to sneak by or take out his enemies as he continues on his merry way. While they can feel linear, they do allow the player to try and look for alternative ways in getting the job done. Can they rescue that person beneath a burning bus caught in the crossfire between government soldiers and rebel militia by taking out the soldier standing next to it? Or can they be sneaky enough to pull the person to safety by coming up from another angle through a broken sewer pipe? Many of the levels offer this kind of branching spy work, hidden behind many of the details which can make them easy to miss.
Multiplayer
The latest Splinter Cell also features a multiplayer component for challenging potential spies and mercenaries over Live! as in previous chapters. Multiplayer has a handful of maps to start out with as others are unlocked depending on how many games you can successfully win as either side in the fight. Co-op also makes a return with a series of missions that take place alongside Sam’s missions as Third Echelon agents help set up, or clean up, some of the scenarios behind the scenes helping to extend the overall storyline.
Double Agent’s multiplayer is still packed with plenty of options and gameplay modes, although a few changes to how both sides play out might not appeal to longtime players hoping for more. It would also have been nice to be able to see a list of games as opposed to simply choosing a set of conditions and then ending up in a game with lopsided teams, or with only one other person instead of full teams on both sides. The maps are small enough to keep the action fast and there are tutorial videos available to briefly show off what both sides are capable of doing. So even when the single player is complete, multiplayer can continue to make things exciting especially with its co-op set of missions.
Company Man
Double Agent serves up what Sam Fisher’s longtime fans expect by giving them more to do than simply sneak from one objective to the next with a double agent twist to his modus operandi. While it’s an exciting adventure into the shadows of another secret war, Sam’s new outlook on life may not be enough to shed an all too familiar feeling of having done of much of the rest before. The story isn’t bad, but changes to certain single player aspects including its unique multiplayer may take some getting used to by veterans of the series. But Double Agent is still very much a covert ride into the shadowy world of espionage, betrayal, and delicate subterfuge. Sam Fisher continues to do what he does best and for most of those who want to return to the knife’s edge of his shadowy lifestyle, these familiar shadows are ready to welcome them back.
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