The Splinter Cell Megathread: Stealth just ain't what it used to be

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The Splinter Cell Megathread: Stealth just ain't what it used to be

Dice Dingus: May 4, 2010

Thank you for reminding me how many hours of my high school years I burned on running around blindly as a merc and getting completely ruined by my best friend while screaming like a slasher flick victim. :swoon:

# ¿ Feb 7, 2013 02:08

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:34

Dice Dingus: May 4, 2010

ARACHNOTRON posted:

Chaos Theory co-op over XBL (or split screen I GUESS) was the best thing in the entire world, forever. Just two spies dicking around, doing whatever. Walking up behind guards and whispering into the microphone so that they freak and turn around, only to get punched in the face or knifed. Good times.

I never had friends patient enough for me. I could spend a couple hours on a particularly good mission, just so that I could soak in the ambiance and do absolutely everything right.

Something about the way Chaos Theory depicted offices and other ordinary places in their brief abandonment by night coupled with that soundtrack are probably a big part of why I'm such a sucker for corporate espionage stories and other cyberpunkery.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2013 03:55

Dice Dingus: May 4, 2010

rizuhbull posted:

When the xbox came out Splinter Cell was one of the first games that actually felt next-gen. Plus it had that totally cringe-worthy "name of the game" opening. It was 2002's Dragula. But yeah, next gen. Lighting that affected gameplay, intricate character movements like wall jumping, so much attention to detail coupled with ridiculously high production values. Yeah it was on a bunch of platforms but if you really wanted to play it in all it's glory you needed it on Xbox.

I gamefly'd the HD collection a couple months ago. Way more difficult than a modern gamer would think. I beat it as a young teenager but gave up after a few tries during the CIA mission (I think it was). Games today really do spoil us. Even on normal, the original Splinter Cell will gently caress your poo poo. I think most of it's difficulty came from it's linearity. There was really only one, maybe two at most, ways to get through the sections. I remember Chaos Theory's co-op was worse if you had the PS2 version. Man, all those sweet co-op moves you could do with a partner. Why don't we have that in gaming anymore? It had so many features that no one bothers with now-a-days. It's sad how advanced games got, only to have it recess. Last-generation was the golden age of games . Pupils looked around, faces contorted, enemies would writhe and suffer on the ground (Hitman Blood Money). You could even give voice commands to your A.I. Squad in Socom, and they were pretty drat competent about it too! You could do all that with a $30 headset that came with the game. You didn't need no poo poo tracking $150+ bullshit (gently caress you, Kinect and Move).

Conviction is a fun game, but it's a bad Splinter Cell. It's the DMC of Devil May Cry. A good game on it's own, but a poo poo return. Splinter Cell had those Hollywood-climactic moments too, but they were always spread out, usually towards the end of the game. The contrast between stealth and wrecking fools was glorious. It's the rock show moment in Alan Wake, that big payoff. Plus it made the game's memorable. I remember reading the previews for Conviction. Ubisoft had all these ambitious ideas like melee weapons and whatnot. Someone should post that stuff if you can find it. I'd like to know I'm not the only one to remember.

Thanks to you dweebs I popped Chaos Theory into my 360 last night, and you aren't kidding, I couldn't get through the Maria Narcissa without raising an alarm thanks to all those drat narrow corridors and fiddly angled lights.
But it also reminded me why ever since this game I've always loved the stealth class in any game that gives you option, Sam Fisher. The man who can slip inside anyplace, anywhere, and not just accomplish a mission quietly, but so quietly that nobody even knew there was an infiltration.
He's grim, nihilistic even (what else drives a guy with a daughter to go on one-man suicide missions?), but he makes his own fun.
Much more fun than ROGUE MAN ON THE EDGE DEAD DAUGHTER Sam from the recent games. :sigh:

...Also, it's set in the near future of 2007. :haw:

# ¿ Feb 8, 2013 19:30

Dice Dingus: May 4, 2010

Now, speaking of Double Agent, I loathed that game when it first came out for it's traffic-light stealth tracker that made everything feel like a crap shoot when it came to avoiding guards, whereas the mechanics of Chaos Theory felt perfect.

And yesterday, I found something extraordinary. For some bizarre reason, Ubisoft sent the same plot pitch for DA to both Ubi Shanghai, who did the version for the fresh new 360 as well as the PC, and also to Ubi Montreal, the Chaos Theory guys, who built the same story in CT's engine for Xbox and PS2. And yes, it has light and sound meters!

Unfortunately other than that it's a transparently obvious rush-job, but when I think of it as an expansion or mod for Chaos Theory (and I did only pay five bucks for it) it's feeling pretty good, and it plays exactly the way Chaos Theory did. There's even co-op!

# ¿ Feb 20, 2013 10:26

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The Splinter Cell Megathread: Stealth just ain't what it used to be