I too never got into the previous SC and I’m loving this one. Timed missions and mini games are no big deal, with liberal use of save any time you can avoid any frustration. I think the key factor that is keeping my interest in this SC title while previous iterations failed is the next-gen graphics which adds a lot to immersion. I was blown away by the Shanghai level. Again, I suppose if you have played similar levels in the past then it might be too much MOTS gameplay.
Yea, played the co-op stuff in Chaos Theory, which were pretty nice. I agree that the AI can be a handful in these challenges. They’re too damned good! I feel like sometimes the gadgets don’t work to great effect either, sometimes flash grenades make the mercs spin out of control revealing their back for an easy necksnap, other times, they trudge on as if I never threw one down.
Also, they respawn very quickly and almost intentionally close to the hack point you are at. Still, I really dig on the mode and the focus on cooperation without just endless versus matching. Feels wonderful nailing a gold medal too. Plus, no damned prox mines like in the previous SC multiplayer modes!
Yeah, the Shanghai level was really impressive visually. I spent a fair few minutes just looking at the cityscape from the side of the building. Not seen as convincing a skyscraper environment in any game - usually you can detect some kind of loss of detail in the city below or a skybox - but that was pretty perfect.
Egads the Kinshasa level is stunning. And here I thought the cruise ship and shanghai were beautiful setpieces, but climbing that radio tower and overlooking the entire level is truly a sight to behold.
Also, this game has really come unto its own in the latter stages. The moral decisions seemed superfluous in the early game, but beyond the cruise ship, your albeit ‘few’ select decisions really carry some weight in the narrative and progression beyond what I had expected.
This franchise could also really use more Kinsasha-esque levels. I mean it’s a huge sprawling playground to sneak or shoot through with optional objectives popping up as you proceed with a finale that will dramatically impact the flow of the game based on a player decision. (One in which will even add an entire bonus mission directly following!)
Very effin cool.
It’s really nice to see Splinter Cell break away somewhat from it’s own formula, and at first I scoffed at the ‘double agent’ tag as a misnomer of sorts, but the way this game has ended up playing out, I’ve really altered that impression. Really hope the next game pushes the concept further.
So Gamespot is reporting that the Xbox/PS2 versions of this game are completely different(in the recent reviews) and actually flesh out all the little plotholes missing from the 360 port?
I guess the graphics and versus mode are exclusive to the $60 gouging, but the last gen version has a tighter narrative, co-op missions, and some other stuff.
What the hell? The review even recommends buying both versions, just to experience what WASN’T included in the other version of the game I already bought. What is this Pokemon?
I believe they were done by different development teams and are completely different in terms of content. The singleplayer missions are reportedly longer and better designed in the current gen version, and both versions have exclusive missions that aren’t in the other. The current gen version also has Chaos Theory style co-op missions (and a lot more of them than there were in CT) and a different versus mode.
What the hell? So what stuff will the pc version get? Who must I mass e-mail to get my CT style co-op back?
Yeah, I’ve played both and the Xbox 1 version is superior to the 360 version in all but graphics.
Man, the first splinter cell turned me off for a good few sequels. Way too linear (for me). Way too many “Fission Mailed” states. Horribly animation driven state machine gameplay (waiting for your turn to interact while some over-long transition plays).
And each new one has claimed to fix problems in the previous ones. “Previous games too linear? Now it’s MORE OPEN! INNOVATIVE NEW MULTI PATH GAMEPLAY!”. Ahk. Calling a “multi-path” game “open” is like calling a railroad system “off-roading”. More choices, sure, but each of them pre-scripted - hardly gives you an order of magnitude of new choices.
This new one has such good reviews… I’m really tempted to try it out. I just wonder if it’s not a refinement of a game that I know I don’t like, rather than actually addressing the fundamental problems. I really like stealth gameplay, and I can put up with linear levels (it’s just the claims that they’re NOT linear that piss me off). But are the controls really “windowey” - like, you can’t break their pretty, overly long animations?
Bezzy, I would say you probably wouldn’t like DA. The single player is still very much a typical Splinter Cell, for better and worse.
(The main change in gameplay is with the multiplayer, which is streamlined and tidied up into a neater package.)
-Tom
I received the PC version (DVD) of SC:DA last night. I’ve only played thru the tutorials and first mission.
- Installation took up 10 gigabytes
- From the Control setup you can’t change the mouse button settings, which were locked on left button=fire and right button = altfire
- I had a few cases where the launch program would error out claiming the DVD could not be found. After I selected the DVD drive in File Explorer and then launched the DVD was detected.
- Runs ok on my 2-year old AMD 3800+ system with 6800GT card, but runs slower than Chaos Theory
To remap the mouse keys you can edit the following config file:
\Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent\SCDA-Offline\System\SplinterCell4User.ini
I mailed Ubisoft support on the mouse-config issue and they auto-replied back they would forward the suggestion to developers and marked the ticket solved.
One major GUI difference from previous PC versions is the Interaction interface. In previous Splinter Cells, moving Sam next to an interactive item would bring up a small text-based menu in the upper-left corner of the screen. If you wanted to interact you held down the interaction key and used the mouse to make a selection.
For SC:DA a small graphical icon appears right under your character, and you have to press the icon and then scroll thru more icons to make your selection. It’s a little annoying since the icons are large and I can’t immediately tell what each action means, which I’m sure will come to me.
I assume this interaction interface works the same way on the console systems. This interface change reminds me of the console-related changes that impacted Deus EX: Invisible War for the PC. Fortunately people were able to mod the gui to make it more PC-friendly, so I hope I can do the same for these large icons in SC:DA.
There have been a few undesired side-effects to mapping keys manually in the INI file. I have the ALT-key mapped to secondary fire and when I use the pistol to disrupt lights the game won’t let me put away the gun until I subsequently fire a shot.
In the INI file there is a developer comment to avoid mapping the ALT key since ctrl-alt-tabbing to windows would not work. The ALT key wasn’t a problem in previous SC versions.
Another minor annoyance is with the in-game keypads that are now activated as in the console version, adjusting the number selection with the movement keys. I liked how in the old PC versions you could use your numeric keypad. The console-based selection is a little cumbersome.
I try the game again but the lack of PC-control customization and console-interface leftovers are very irritating.
Here’s the official SC:DA PC Forum for updates and other user experiences.
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/3651075192
Well sounds like shit. Guess this will be the only SC game I won’t actually be buying. Good job Ubi.
I got the SC:DA my colleague cant play right now at home and played through the first 5 missions. After mission 1 you get a strange dialogue between Sam and Lambert, which does not make any sense. Then I read about “current gen” vs. “next gen” and it makes perfect sense :( what a letdown.
Okay I’m so very late to the party, but is anyone still playing this? I’d like to find some people to go through the co-op missions since I just got this last week.
Which version? 360 version doesn’t really have co-op missions.
I really feel bad; I haven’t really touched this game. I did the tut mission and the jailbreak but that was it. There are just too many good games out; something had to give and Splinter Cell was it. :(
Orpheo, there’s most certainly co-op in the 360 version. It’s not the scripted single-player style missions like you get in the PS2 (?) version, but there’s definitely an incentive to hook up with someone you know and clear co-op missions vs. bots. In fact, IIRC, isn’t it one of the ways you can unlock maps?
Of course, I can’t imagine anyone’s still playing that thing. Gosh, it must be, like, weeks old by now. Will it still even run? :)
-Tom
I admit I didn’t actually try it, but it looked like it was just the multiplayer maps but with bots playing the mercs. Is that not accurate?
I got it for Xmas on the 360 and have only played a level or two. I’m willing to participate in some co-op mayhem.
Orpheo, that’s correct. But they’re organized into a series of co-op challenges (some of which are actually co-op competitive!) and I’m pretty sure they’re part of the game’s unlockabilitudeness.
-Tom