Splinter Cell
Ubi Soft shrinks secret agent Sam Fisher onto Nintendo’s portable platform.
Tags: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Categories: GBA Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Larry McCormick on Aug 18th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
 |
You’d be forgiven for assuming the GBA version of Splinter Cell would end up being a similar experience to the 8-bit Metal Gear titles and make use of an overhead view. I’m sure that was the type of game most people thought would have been the perfect fit for a 2D version of the 3D monster hit. Oddly enough, shortly after the announcement we learned that Ubi Soft opted to go with a side view for the GBA rendition of its big selling sneak ‘em up. Does everything that made the original such a hit hold up in this version?
 |
Right off the bat, you’ll notice that Splinter Cell’s graphics are in the upper echelon (yes, pun intended!) of what is available for the GBA. The backgrounds sport a lot of detail, the characters are large and the animation is outstanding. Super secret agent Sam Fisher retains almost every one of his moves from the console versions of the game – he can walk, sneak, run, jump, grab ledges, climb pipes, rapple, you name it. The generic enemies are a little dull, but there really isn’t much to complain about other than a few backgrounds and layouts that seem to repeat a little too often.
The sound doesn’t fare quite as well. The so-so music and sporadic sound effects don’t really do the game justice as they fail to convey the suspense of the original. There’s nothing here bad enough to make your ears bleed but there’s very little incentive to play with the volume on at all. Unless, that is, you’re a sound nut like me who just can’t play a game without hearing it no matter how bad or boring the audio is.
 |
With the switch in perspectives, some big changes have been made in the gameplay department. Let’s face it, the console versions have you sneaking around in shadows, peeking around corners, and generally doing things that were completely dependent on the third dimension. With the GBA’s lack of 3D hardware, Ubi Soft has decided to de-emphasize the stealth elements of the game and focus on platform play mechanics. Sam still has a few sneaky moves up his sleeve like ducking into alcoves and sneaking up on enemies while their back is turned, but the stealth mechanics are very limited in this version. Sam also still engages in picking locks and disabling automatic turrets. He also cracks a few safes for good measure.
 |
Many levels require lots of Prince of Persia style acrobatics… Sam will need to hop from one pipe to another, make long jumps that end with him grabbing a ledge at the last second and so on. Two of the most important features from the original game, the use of night and thermal vision, are accounted for but they are needed so rarely that it’s a wonder they were included at all. To top it off, you can only use night or thermal vision in rooms that the game lets you and it tells you exactly when to turn them on. Thermal vision in particular isn’t even available until the end of the game.
 |
Ubi Soft has incorporated a few little “mini games” into the adventure that bare a resemblance to Konami’s Sniper Scope. The first one actually involves taking pictures with a camera but there is no need to fret violence fans, the last two involve taking out the baddies with a sniper rifle. Presumably these little diversions are supposed to break up the monotony of the gameplay which really begins to lag at the halfway point. More diversity in the normal levels would have been a better way to keep things fresh, but the game never gets so dull that it isn’t worth completing.
One other thing that this game’s core audience will almost certainly take offence to is the fact that almost no enemies die in this game. The game is so sanitized that shooting enemies simply puts them to sleep. The same goes for knocking them out with Sam’s mighty (and awkward looking) elbow attack. For a game that is supposed to be a somewhat realistic experience based on Tom Clancy’s work, this is a tough pill to swallow.
 |
To sum things up, Splinter Cell on the GBA is a very different experience from the console original. If you’re looking to relive the thrill of sneaking up on your prey from a dark corner and then pounching on them, you’re in for a rude awakening. The game itself is pretty good at its core, despite the fact it gets repetitive about halfway through, but it simply isn’t the same type of experience that sucked in a legion of stealth fans.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
-Detailed graphics and animation -Fisher retains many of his abilities even in this 2D world -Five levels unlockable only with the GBA-GCN link cable and GameCube Splinter Cell |
6.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
-No killing (except in sniping levels). No dragging bodies into dark corners. Very limited interaction with objects -You can only use thermal and night vision when the game lets you. -Five levels unlockable only with the GBA-GCN link cable and GameCube Splinter Cell |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Splinter Cell for the GBA is quite different from the console title on which it is based. It is primarly a platform-action title in the vein of Prince of Persia with a few added stealth elements. The story has been hacked up so severely that you'll have no idea what the plot is about if you haven't plaued the original. The violence has been toned down which is surprising considering that the original wasn't all that violent to begin with. GBA Splinter Cell is still somewhat enjoyable as long as you approach it with knowing it's more of a platformer than anything else, but fans of the original will likely be dissapointed. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Posted by Larry McCormick on Aug 18th, 2003 and is filed under GBA Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
