2005 has had
a lot of firsts. Two of them have to do with the biggest game series to bear
the Tom Clancy name: Splinter Cell. This was the first time in three years
that a new Splinter Cell was not unveiled at E3. This is also the first time
that gamers will get the chance to play a true, three-dimensional Splinter
Cell on a portable game console. It’s not for PSP, and although a Nintendo DS
version is expected to follow, this version was made for the least likely
platform: N-Gage.
Splinter
Cell: Chaos Theory for N-Gage is Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory for Xbox but in a
small, easy-to-carry package. The graphics aren’t as good, and there isn’t any
analog control. Oh well. Great games were made long before the analog stick
arrived.
The very
first thing you will notice when you play this game is the absence of hand-drawn
imagery. Sam Fisher isn’t the small, cartoon character you met a couple years
ago. The Sam Fisher you meet in Chaos Theory is big. He’s made up of many
polygons (or as a math professor might say, polynomial-gons), taking up a good
portion of the screen. The same can be said when speaking about his villains,
and any innocent bystander that might get in the way.
Chaos Theory
may be a game of spying and espionage, but that gameplay is based around a
third-person shooter environment. There are a lot of "WOW" moments to be had,
but my favorite was seeing how flexible the camera was. The angle can be
changed and the camera will circle Sam at the press of a button. It isn’t
always necessary to manage the camera – there were times when it stayed in
place, and times when the game repositioned the camera on its own.
Torus Games,
the developer of this ambitious and prestigious game, has pulled an unknown
amount of power out of the N-Gage. In short, it looks better than the first
Tomb Raider. Environmental realism is top-notch. Sam’s moves are just like the
ones he performs on Xbox.
I know that
this is based on the advanced Xbox and PC versions of Chaos Theory. Putting
that aside, when you play the first Splinter Cell for N-Gage and then play
Chaos Theory, it’s like playing Metal Gear for the NES before playing Metal
Gear Solid for the PSone. The transition is unbelievable.
N-Gage
hasn’t had a game this complex before, it hasn’t had a game that is
wholeheartedly a next-gen title. It had Tony Hawk and Tomb Raider, but what
console hasn’t had those?
The controls
are better than every third-person shooter I’ve played on the N-Gage. Players
can move in any direction, exploring and sneaking the way that Sam Fisher was
meant to. His patented gun-drawn camera is there, shifting from the third to a
near first-person view when activated. Sam can crouch, crawl and lean up
against walls. Eliminate the target with stealth and precision; shoot him with
a silenced gun, or quietly sneak up on him from behind. To pull the trigger or
snap a neck – what a tough decision.
Chaos Theory
is big on Bluetooth multiplayer, but mobile phone signal limitations make it
impossible to have true multiplayer over the N-Gage Arena. Hopefully one of
your friends has an N-Gage. If he or she does, and both of you have a copy of
the game, launch the co-op mode for an exercise in teamwork.
This is one
mission Solid Snake hasn’t had to worry about since he works alone. Learn to
take advantage of your ally in Chaos Theory. While one player distracts an
enemy, the other can sneak into a guarded (previously guarded) area. Take
enemies hostage and use ’em as shields when the others are alerted of your
presence. Team up for stronger firepower in deadly gunfights. These are the
most obvious things you can do with your teammate. Discovering the ones that
aren’t so obvious – that’s when the real fun begins.
N-Gage
doesn’t have too many games that can make people drop what they’re doing to go
buy the system immediately. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory has that power. It
exceeds expectations by becoming a must-play for every Tom Clancy fan. If you
already have an N-Gage, stop wasting time and buy the game already. If not,
now’s the time to consider getting one.
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Gameplay: 9.0
Unbelievably
close to the console versions. The levels, the controls, the freedom of
movement – we knew N-Gage had some power, but I don’t think anyone ever
thought it was capable of producing a gameplay experience like this.
Graphics: 8.0
We can’t go
hog-wild for pixelated N-Gage games now that the Nintendo DS and PSP have
arrived. Pixelation aside, Chaos Theory is a gorgeous game. They stuff more
detail into that tiny N-Gage screen than any game before it. Mark my words:
YOU WILL BE AMAZED!
Sound: 8.0
Intense themes of
espionage that only the Splinter Cell composers could produce.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Being a brilliant
secret agent is harder than it looks.
Concept: 8.0
Chaos Theory’s
N-Gage-exclusive content includes event uploading/downloading and a ranking
system. I’m not sure what the events will be (I guess we have to wait to find
out), but the ranking system is hardly a selling point. That said, Chaos
Theory’s concept gets two thumbs up for being the first of its kind on N-Gage.
Multiplayer: 9.0
Two-player co-op;
four-player deathmatch!
Overall: 9.0
Splinter Cell:
Chaos Theory is too good to be true. It makes the 2D version, which was
acceptable at the time, seem like a total waste in comparison. N-Gage has had
some stellar niche titles, but when it comes to the biggest and baddest games,
there haven’t been any that were more fun to review than this.
