ThaMaskedGamer
03-30-2005, 03:26 AM
Well from my perspective, this is not a bad thing, cause I absolutely love the Splinter Cell franchise, and I didn't think it was flawed. But after reading the reviews about how this game is sooooo wide open, I have to say after the first two levels I don't think so. I'm sure this will change, but I think a lot of people are going to see the first levels and say, hey i'm still getting my azz whupped.
Now, I must say, I immediately played the game on Expert mode. I don't how much of a change that makes, I would assume it does not make the game easier. To be fair, on the first level the alarming system is not present, you can now save the game at will, before you only got so many saves. The first level was quite long, but it still followed a fairly linear path. The next level is onboard a huge vessel at sea. There is quite a bit of divergent pathways, but nothing to write home about. But, the second level does introduce the alarm levels of past games. The difference here is the game will not stop because you trigger a million alarms or get into shoot-outs. However, your chances of now surviving a shoot-out, at least on Expert level are slim. First off, the more you fight the more guys come after you, then if you survive, they gear up with kevlar. Also, their weapons are way more powerful than your silenced compressed weapons.
Stealth is still the best way to go. I decided to try and be super stealthy on the 2nd mission, I tried not to directly engage on person. It is entirely possible. I began to notice poles, and ducts, and all kinds of ways to evade the enemy. I made it pretty far, going slowly, until I tried to sneak into a file cabinet behind a guy on a computer. He saw my shadow and war broke out. I decided to go with the flow, and I was quite shocked when they went to kevlar, that was impressive. Also, Lambert is annoying as hell when you set off alarms.
Anyway, the game itself is simply stellar in its presentation. Sometimes i just turn-off the nightvision and look at the levels, it is really astonishing. They continue to just raise the bar. I can not wait to finish the single player so I can jump headfirst into the meaty coop and versus combat on LIVE.
Now, I must say, I immediately played the game on Expert mode. I don't how much of a change that makes, I would assume it does not make the game easier. To be fair, on the first level the alarming system is not present, you can now save the game at will, before you only got so many saves. The first level was quite long, but it still followed a fairly linear path. The next level is onboard a huge vessel at sea. There is quite a bit of divergent pathways, but nothing to write home about. But, the second level does introduce the alarm levels of past games. The difference here is the game will not stop because you trigger a million alarms or get into shoot-outs. However, your chances of now surviving a shoot-out, at least on Expert level are slim. First off, the more you fight the more guys come after you, then if you survive, they gear up with kevlar. Also, their weapons are way more powerful than your silenced compressed weapons.
Stealth is still the best way to go. I decided to try and be super stealthy on the 2nd mission, I tried not to directly engage on person. It is entirely possible. I began to notice poles, and ducts, and all kinds of ways to evade the enemy. I made it pretty far, going slowly, until I tried to sneak into a file cabinet behind a guy on a computer. He saw my shadow and war broke out. I decided to go with the flow, and I was quite shocked when they went to kevlar, that was impressive. Also, Lambert is annoying as hell when you set off alarms.
Anyway, the game itself is simply stellar in its presentation. Sometimes i just turn-off the nightvision and look at the levels, it is really astonishing. They continue to just raise the bar. I can not wait to finish the single player so I can jump headfirst into the meaty coop and versus combat on LIVE.