Splinter Cell

Splinter Cell is one of the first of the Tom Clancy games. Splinter Cell is also a genre defining stealth action game. As opposed to Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell has intuitive controls, and an original use of lighting.

The gameplay of Splinter Cell focuses on the use of lighting and using the darkness to the players advantage. Splinter Cell gives players the opportunity to be a modern day ninja. With a host of gadgets, and  a slick pair of goggles players are well equipped to take on the terrorists threatening the safety of our society. That’s not to say that with all these gadgets, it will be a walk in the park, in fact, it is far from it. The enemy AI is smart cunning, and will not hesitate to shoot on sight, provided they ever see the player. The core of the game is all about creating darkness. It soon becomes second nature of the players to shoot out lights everywhere they go. This does get a bit tedious, but the payoff is well worth it. Luring enemies into a dark room for players to prey on is absolutely priceless. Using the environment to the players advantage is highly encouraged.

The game has items such as soda cans, glass bottles, and rocks to simply mess with and distract the enemies. Splinter Cell gives players a pretty nice gun with some really cool attachments. Said attachments can be used to scout ahead, knock out enemies, or even create distractions. Strategically placing a sticky camera to see what is up ahead can help in plotting out a course to avoid detection, or just to see how many baddies there are. This is the beauty of Splinter Cell’s gameplay.

Players can use the environment, sneak past the enemies without touching them, or just waste them all. Some levels force players to not kill any enemies, it doesn’t mean they can’t knock them out however. Players can challenge themselves to avoid enemies all together. Easier said than done of course. Splinter Cell can go either way between predator stealth tactics, or evasion stealth.

The sound design and score of Splinter Cell lend themselves to the gameplay. If played with a surround sound system, players can hear what’s behind them. The music of Splinter Cell gets things going when the going gets tough. High paced energetic score when there’s action, and slick quiet music when there’s sneaking to be done. All around the sound of the game is essential to the whole game.

All in all, Splinter Cell is a fantastic game. It has earned it’s place among the greats. Splinter Cell is an iconic game that belongs in your game library.