Seeing's how this is the fourth game, I will bypass explaining what a Splinter Cell is. There are two versions, and not just graphics-wise. Apparently, they're completely different games, sharing the major plot. There's the high-def version and the low-def version for the "last gen" systems. And the Wii. Aw, we still love you, Wii! At least you don't let off as much heat as a jet engine and take up twice as much electricity. And space. And oxygen. That's MY oxygen, DAMN IT! GRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHH!
Controls
I am not sure what to say about the controls. They definitely do not detract from gameplay in any way. The question is, do they enrich the gaming experience? Hmm. Well, there's nothing done which could not have been done with a controller, and constantly having to point the Wii Remote at the screen is a lot of work for how little is accomplished. Not as innovative as we'd hope for the Wii.
The only real problem is the sidling, accomplished by twisting the Nunchuk sideways. It's too sensitive, and it's too easy to get stuck on a wall. Needs to be disableable. What? Disableable isn't a word? You rotate the Wii Remote to pick locks, which I like a TON more than rotating the analog stick. I felt like such a fool when I used to rotate the analog stick.
All in all, the controls work fine, but like I said, it's nothing that couldn't have been done with a normal controller. Speaking of which, I wish they would have allowed the use of GC controllers- isn't it pretty simple to do? No engineering control setup, as we have them from the old Splinter Cell games. Anyway, the gun does not go wherever you aim however fast you aim, much to my displeasure. Perhaps they could have had a "realistic" mode and an "unrealistic" mode, one where the gun goes wherever you aim, but...I digress.
Weapons
As for weapons, let's begin with gadgets. You have the tracker, which lets you see where guards are over the entire map. Their location refreshes every few seconds, including which direction they're facing. There's a not-too-useful fingerprint scanner, amongst other non-useful and rarely-used kit. The tracker is just dandy.
There is a fantastic new weapon, which I just love. It is a dedicated Launcher, like the one on the SC-20K. This gun, called the SC-303 Compact Launcher, is roughly the size and shape of a large pistol, and typically you get it when you're not supposed to murder. It has new ammunition, exclusive to it: rubber bullets.
These function the same as Airfoil rounds, but you get --twenty- -four-- of them. I just love this gun. You also get some tranquilizer darts exclusive to it. They put people to sleep...slowly. Few things make you feel more cunning than shooting someone in the crotch four times with tranquilizers designed to put a human adult male to sleep with one shot. They won't be having children anytime soon! Hah hah hah!
It also has the OCP and, speaking of cameras, it has another new, Launchable item: the EMP ammunition (not exclusive to it). This gadget puts electronics (not just cameras) to sleep, permanently. Very impressive, not often useful, but sometimes, it's a life-saver.
You seem to get many more weapons in this game; both the Sniper and Shotgun SC-20K attachments are present at most times, but you do get a little less ammunition (seriously, who uses that stuff anyway?!). I miss the old loadout screen, but I can live without it. You also have airfoil, sticky shocker, and sticky camera rounds, sometimes six of each, sometimes less, probably dependent upon the trust meter.
Double Agent
Speaking of the trust meter, it will play an important role in your decisions. You're working for Third Echelon as a subversive, double agent ...at JBA (John Brown's Army). There are typically opposing directives, such as do not kill these guards, and do kill these guards. There are some tough decisions to make. Some are so tough they're easy, and it's the small ones that will get you. Sometimes you have to compromise and only kill half of the guards (as silly as that is).
Each time you complete an objective for the JBA, the trust meter will move a little to their side. The same is true of Echelon's side. The really, really fun part of this whole thing is balancing the trust meter. The better it is balanced, the more weapons you get (not to sound violent or apathetic, I do feel empathy for those poor, stressed guards).
The sad, sad part of this, is that you can balance the trust meter to the best of your abilities, thinking so hard of how to best complete the mission...but if you move too far to either side, and the other sees you as a traitor...all you have to do is go to a "contact" point and "pickup" more trust. Worse, doing this at the end of a mission sometimes gets you closer to the middle than painstakingly balancing objectives. It adds about a third of trust to the meter, where it needs to add more like a tenth. It should add just enough to get you by. But it adds a ton.
I went until the very end without once bottoming out the trust meter (it's sort of a "kill-millions-of-people-or-bottom-out-meter" thing), so it is possible. There should be some terrible death scene, Echelon turning on me if I went too far to JBA, and JBA killing me if I went too far to Echelon. But no. Regardless, this makes for terrific weight put on every decision if you pretend. Gah. You have to pretend.
The story is very...dramatic. Sad. Heavy. But enough with sad stories, heavy storylines, and dramatic premises. Onto the last quarter!
Splinter Cell
The first SC game I got was Chaos Theory, the third in the series. I went a long time without checking out the first or second (so is the curse of not numbering things). I was a lot duller back then.
What I love most about the SC series is messing with the guards. You can knock out a guard, then pick him up, and carry him to the edge of a cliff, and drop him off. Not to sound evil, but I find that hilarious. You go through all the effort of knocking them out, then drop them to their doom. At least they're asleep, right? Man, the dreams they must dream. You have the heat-sensitive goggles, so you can see if they're alive or dead. Typically, I will leave one guard alive per mission. Maybe two. If they answer a question or don't try to kill me, or honorably plead for their lives, I will let them live. Ask and you shall receive.
Opposite all this killing and playing tricks on the guards, but in the same mindset, I like to throw smoke bombs on dead guards, and make like they're having really bad gas. My brother finds this hilarious as well, and then I have to carry the guy somewhere, complaining all the way about how he smells really terrible. I sometimes bring other passed out guards to the dead one who's off gassing, and then they have to wake up next to a dead guard which is having a horrible case of post-death gas. Rofl.
If I kill someone I don't want dead, I will repeatedly try to revive them with a Sticky Shocker (it does NOT work, but it seems like it might). Oh, the joys of messing with guards in Splinter Cell. Call it cruelty, but it's fun. I don't know if it's "violent." I consider violent running through the mission, miserably slaughtering everyone with the knife, and being in the mindset that you're killing all these people. I don't do that, and if I feel something is too violent (such as shooting people in the face with the shotgun attachment), I don't do it.
So, used wrong, these games, this game, can express immense amounts of violence and cruelty. Used right, it can lead to hours of playing tricks on guards, ranging from shocking them to sleep when they're five feet off the ground on a ladder, to shooting rubber bullets at them from one patch of shadow, then moving to the next, each time snickering as they aim for where the shot came from as soon as they come out of their stupor. Poor stupid guards.
I give this game a 9.5 out of 10. That is, I highly recommend it, and someday I'll review the X360 version. Just as soon as I pick up an Xbox 360. It has a lot of the same buttons as Nintendo paddles, right?...cause that'd make me feel more at home...and Paper Mario is next up. I have downloaded it off of the Virtual Console already.
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