UBI Soft Splinter Cell-Pandora Tomorrow X Box Action Review

Abbo

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 0 of 5

Price Paid:  $40.00 from Game

Summary:
I can't decide whether or not this game is better than the original SC, I have to start by saying I have my reservations about the approach taken towards the look of this game, it seems PT has a slightly cartoonee look to it in places which takes away a little of the realism factor but not to say that the graphics are bad by any standard. Playing is simple if you are familiar with the original as the controls are pretty much the same and the general tactics and funky moves are still around, I did like the introduction of the swooping from wall to wall thing and being able to shoot while hanging upside down. This game could be considered to be a bit of expansion pack from its daddy but that's not a bad thing. The developers had a finely tune game and keeping the formaular does make the game a little samey but that's fine by me because it doesn't seem to get boring. One thing that always stood out on SCPT and SC is the attention to detail and effort put into the programming, I don't think I have ever seen any clitches or slowdown. If you are into mowing into a room guns blazing and smoking everyone around you then avoid this, this game requires quite a lot of skill and patients, true enough it does have its fast paced moments but the key gaging your talent is to use you gun as little as possible. Its all about the stealth and if your not willing to wait around then this game will irritate you purely because acting before thinking will get you killed so be on your toes.

Spartan

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 0 of 5

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5,
2 votes

Price Paid:  $35.00 from Micro play

Summary:
I dont know why everyone is so hyped up about this game. I mean it is the new splinter cell one of the best games xbox has to offer but its nothing special. Really. I mean the animation is so much cheeseyr in this version. And they really need to spoon feed u or else the game would be imposible unlike the original. I this game they almost tell u to shoot out this lite and kill this bad guy. Its really anoying. And it happens at all the wrong places too. There was one time where i was lost in this underground place and had no clue where the objective was. So i finally find the ojective and lambert (who sounds much worse in this game along with grim) said go to the extraction point. OK now if i knew where that was it would help. And the game other than the places where u get lost are so linear. theres almost no way to do it differently. And the enemies have sharpend senses so they can see u in shadows and stuff but they dont have improve AI witch i hope they will fixe in Chaos Theory.

Faceless Stranger

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 0 of 5

Price Paid:  $50.00 from EB Games

Summary:
In a word fantastic. I had a great time on and offline with this game. Ubisoft has outdone itself with this one continuing the Splinter Cell Franchise. This game is the best multiplayer experience to hit Xbox Live to date.

Knot3D

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 0 of 5

Price Paid:  $60.00 from www.replay.nl

Summary:
"UBISOFT's SC:PT 'CELLS OUT',...A BIT."

SC: PT has nice new gameplay
additions but SC1 is imo, overall
more memorable and of better quality.
Don't get me wrong please, SC:PT is
still a superb game, but there are
clear signs of alterations in PT,
that Ubi tried to cater more to 'mainstream' gamers ; which kind of hurts the game, really.

Some examples ;
- jungle levels : while it seems to be the trend in games, the trademark SC gameplay is way better in tight urban levels where it belongs. The visibility
system is too often questionable 2 be considered as 'realistic' in those open jungles. While the vegetation looks great, it's still a very lineair path.
- FRAMERATE : while SC1 wasn't ultra perfect, PT's framerate is more prone to framedrops. It hoovers about 10 to 15 frames less than SC1 due to increased geometry and FX.
- ANIMATIONS : the lack of Steve Dupont's
(lead animator Ubisoft Montreal) animating skills is felt in PT, some new moves just look a bit more mechanical. Add to that a slightly lesser framerate and it then it really shows.
- NO improved AI. : while the guard's senses have been sharpened a bit, they still are a bit dumb. It's also disappointing to see that they don't have aggressive search and destroy teams which hunt you down once you've been caught like in the MGS games. This wouldn't be a problem if Sam could only take 1 or 2 hits, but now, it's just to easy and unrealistic. They now even employ this 3 stage alert system 'normal-flak jackets-helmets' protocol which in fact is a 3 stadium buffer system to 'forgive' the helpless mainstream gamer for his screwups.
- Various automated gameplay handlings : stuff like handling a door. Immediately you have 2 choose 'open door' or 'use optic cable'. While this may be convenient for the mainstream gamer, this feels very arcady. The same goes for the goggles which feature binocular function as well.
- Voice acting : the new Lambert sounds too artificial and Grimsdottir too forced strict and serious. The worst : the lack of cheesy foreign accents on npc's. While this may seems like a minor point, imo it was a very charming touch to the SC1 game. It just sounds wrong to hear Indonesians talk like Americans.

Despite these gripes, I enjoy SC:PT alot. Imo, the best levels are Jerusalem, Paris and Jakarta.
The cutscenes are polished and entertaining, and Sam get some nice character development. It's a little sad to see they are trying to alter his face a bit becuz imo his 'Clooney' look was very cool in SC1. Also, imo Sam's new jungle suit just looks NOT cool. All in all I would give SC: PT a 8.9 out of 10 whereas i give SC1 a 9.2 out of 10 (my favourite game Ico, my #1 scores 9.5 out of 10 on my favs list)

Dr. Swank

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 0 of 5

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Gamefly

Summary:
Back in February, 2003 Xbox owners got Splinter Cell, a suave stealth action game that put you in control of Sam Fisher, a super secret commando trying to stop World War III by alleviating a terrorist threat. Now a little over a year later, we have Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow featuring some slight visual improvements, a couple new tricks, and the addition of a very creative and addicting multiplayer mode.

The game once again puts you in control of Sam Fisher as he tries to take down a dictator along with his terrorist thugs, who are threatening to unleash a biological attack on America , an operation code named “Pandora Tomorrow”. It's up to Fisher to track down the dictator, his contacts, and put a stop to the whole operation together.