Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

When SC: CT was originally announced back in the spring, most gamers reacted with a stunned, "What? Already?" With only eight months originally scheduled between the two titles, gamers were either a) excited by the old school practice of developers quickly pumping out sequels, or b) were worried that Ubisoft was getting too ambitious and greedy by releasing yet another sequel too soon, and hence sacrificing quality in the process.

Those fears, while valid, can be somewhat alleviated by the fact that Ubisoft Montreal is now back at the helm; in fact, they have been working on SC: CT since the release of the original. This also explains why Pandora Tomorrow was given to Ubisoft Shanghai for development, as it is now obvious that Ubisoft's strategy was to create the two sequels simultaneously.

It is not surprising, then, that the story in SC: CT picks up after the original. It is 2008, and the USA is being hit with a series of devastating electronic warfare attacks originating from the Far East. Needless to say, only one middle-aged man in a slinky black wetsuit can save the world from these evil electronic terrorists. Yes, folks, Sam Fisher is back, thankfully still voiced by Michael Ironside. Lambert is back too, but sadly he will not be voiced by 24's Dennis Haysbert (instead, the original voice actor will reprise his role).

But who cares about the story, which has never really been a strong point of the series? It's all about being sneaky and stealthy, and SC: CT has made some significant improvements in that department. The biggest addition is the shiny new combat knife Sam will now have in his arsenal. When he grabs someone, he will hold the knife to the hapless NPC's throat, at which point you can either choke the NPC until he passes out (similar to Pandora Tomorrow's multiplayer) or kill him with a quick stab in the stomach. Ouch.

The knife isn't just a token weapon either. If an enemy becomes aware of your presence before you can grab him, you can take him out by slashing or stabbing him in the torso. The knife is also a versatile tool, allowing you to cut through materials like plastic sheeting and the paper walls of a Japanese house.

Sam's other weaponry carries over from the previous sequels, including his trusty but woefully weak pistol, and an improved modular SC-20K. When you have your SC-20K out, pressing the Y button lets you swap out the gadget launcher for a shotgun attachment, greatly increasing your close-range attack abilities. Since this is a stealth game, however, the usefulness of a loud shotgun will likely be limited to those rare moments when you find yourself in the middle of a swarm of bad guys.

Speaking of noise, a handy new noise meter appears below the light meter; get your noise reading too high and you will alert the enemy.

Sam enjoys a host of new moves and abilities that will really enhance game play. One of the weakest points in the series was Sam's poor hand-to-hand combat skills; all he had was the elbow strike, and he took his slow sweet time throwing it. Now you will be able to run up to an enemy, knee him in the groin and punch him in the face. Of course, don't expect to go Mortal Kombat on everyone, since while you're kicking groins, the enemies will be filling yours with bullets.

In Pandora Tomorrow, Sam could hang from his legs and shoot his gun; in SC: CT, he will have the added ability to grab and choke people below him as well. As seen in the E3 demo, he can also grab people through paper walls, pull enemies off balconies, and blow out candles. A big improvement is the ability to switch hands when Sam has his gun out; this allows you to shift the over-the-shoulder view from right to left, avoiding those annoying times when Sam's big head blocked things from sight. Even better, Sam can now lie prone and crawl under low obstacles, which will no doubt come in very handy.

Sam's door opening skills have also been given an upgrade. You will now be able to open it three ways: normal (like in the previous games), stealth (which allows you to control the speed and amount you open the door, similar to Rainbow Six 3), and bash. Again, the usefulness of bashing open a door in a stealth game is questionable, but there will most likely be instances where it is required (perhaps to get through an unpickable locked door?).

Sam has many other new abilities Ц including Predator-like "invisible" camouflage (but don't expect to go running around like an unseen ghost; it only works when you're perfectly still) Ц and some we haven't seen yet, but all of these additions seem to have come at a cost. For example, gone is the ability to stick to a wall and shoot around the corner. Granted, this wasn't really used a lot, but its absence is still surprising. Most disappointing is the disappearance of Sam's ability to whistle. This was one of the most useful additions to Pandora Tomorrow and was a tremendous tactical tool to lure enemies into the shadows. Hopefully Ubisoft will add it back into the final build.

Since it didn't seem fair that Sam gets all of these new abilities, Ubisoft has given the bad guys a few new tricks as well. Enemies will now have flares and light sticks with real-time dynamic lighting that is pretty to look at, but deadly for shadow-loving superninjas. Enemy AI has also been enhanced; rather than simply running up to Sam and stand there shooting, enemies will now seek cover and try to out-flank him, further increasing the importance of staying undetected. Enemies will also react to the weather and seek shelter when it rains.

For those who like exploring and hated the linear maps of the previous games, rejoice for the maps have been opened up with multiple paths to your objectives. And don't forget that the ability to cut through certain wall materials can also let you make your own paths.

The single player campaign is looking great, but what about multiplayer? Gamers will be pleased to find that Ubisoft has included a much desired two-player cooperative mode that further reinforces the teamwork aspect of Pandora Tomorrow. In a multiplayer demonstration, Ubisoft showed how two players needed to work together to get inside a building. One player boosted the other up to a ledge that would otherwise be too high for one person to reach. Once up there, the second person lowered a rope for the first person to climb. They then reached a hole in a ceiling where one Spy lowered the other on a rope, Mission: Impossible style, in order to hack a computer. Very cool.

Up until recently, Ubisoft had little to say about any adversarial multiplayer, raising concerns that SC: CT would be co-op only, leaving Pandora Tomorrow as the adversarial version of the series. But gamers can rest easy because Ubisoft has confirmed that the two-on-two Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer mode from Pandora Tomorrow will in fact be included in SC: CT, along with new weapons and gadgets, new moves, and three new game modes called Disk Hunt, Scenario, and Deathmatch (you've got to love the sound of that last one).

As can be expected in Splinter Cell games, the graphics are simply outstanding. For example, when it rains, Sam's suit glistens with wetness and as he moves, the reflections off his wetsuit change dynamically. Sam's appearance has been improved along with his animation, so he now looks and moves more realistically. Light emitting from candles and flares flicker to dynamically create realistic shadows. Overall, the visual improvements are more evolutionary than revolutionary, but still meet the high standards Splinter Cell fans have come to expect.

Needless to say, this latest installment of the sneaky adventures of Sam Fisher is shaping up to once again be a premier title. The only downside? Ubisoft has pushed the release date back from its original November launch for Xbox and PC all the way to March 2005. This, they claim, is because they could then have a simultaneous launch on all platforms, including PS2 and GameCube. Though this reasoning doesn't make sense (no developer would skip the lucrative Christmas buying season if they could help it), the real reason is likely that the game simply would not be ready in time for the original release date. There may also have been fears surrounding the crowded holiday release of mega-titles like Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Knights of the Old Republic 2 and others stealing customer dollars, along with Ubisoft's own Ghost Recon 2 (due November 30) cannibalizing potential SC: CT sales.