The core gameplay mechanics remain largely unchanged, so Splinter Cell fans will feel right at home from the start. You control Sam Fisher as you sneak your way through huge buildings and areas towards a few pre-set objectives, then hide in the shadows and find the best way to sneak past guards undetected or take them out silently. Fisher is now more agile than ever and boasts a wide array of abilities, weapons and gadgets to help him on his missions. Control is initially quite complicated, but doesn't take long to get used to do. All of Sam's movements are controlled via the analog stick, with varying amounts of movement effecting the speed in which you move. Pushing the stick all the way makes him run at full speed, while slight movements are required to stay silent whilst sneaking up on an enemy. The Y button controls all of Sam's more athletic movements, be it climbing boxes, jumping onto an above pipe, hanging from an edge of a platform or split jumping in a narrow hallway. The A button is for interaction. Grabbing enemies from behind, activating computers, crawling into vents, opening doors, rappelling down ropes and even interrogating captured enemies are all performed with a single button press. For action such as opening doors which offer you multiple ways of opening the door (do you open the door normally, open it slowly to remain quiet or kick the door down?) a simple drop down menu appears - brilliant.
All of Sam's weapons are controlled via the X button. His trusty SC-20K automatic rifle returns, once more filled with gadgets and weaponry. Its primary function works just like a standard rifle, but it's the secondary functions that are all too valuable to the player. With a tap of the L trigger you can use things like powerful shotgun rounds, wall piercing sniper ammo and even things like smoke grenades. You also have some less lethal options. Sticky cameras not only allow you to get a view of a room from a different angle, they also can release sleeping gas, ideal for taking down distant enemies silently. Sticky Shockers and Ring Airfoils also offer silent ways to incapacitate the enemy. The d-pad is again home to all of Sam's different goggle vision modes. The self-explanatory 'Night' and 'Thermal vision' return along with a new vision mode known a 'EMF vision', which shows up any electrical devices in the area such as lights, computers, etc. Pressing the 'back' button will bring up your 'OPSAT'. Here is the place where all mission information is stored such as your mission goals and a rough 3D map of the level. Notes and Data regarding the mission are also stored here, as is information on any equipment you are carrying.
Surprise!
Chaos Theory has some new important additions that greatly improve the game. First off is the inclusion of a knife. With a tap of the R trigger, Sam can use a knife attack for quick, lethal takedowns. Be it stabbing an enemy in the gut or delivering a quick slash to the throat, the simple fact you are now able to engage in combat improves the game no end. In the previous games you were pretty much useless when you were spotted which more often than not ended in death. Now, even though an enemy will call for help if you're spotted, you can at least fight back and defuse a situation instead of being helpless against a squad of enemies. The knife is not just for dealing with the bad guys, it can also be used to cut into tents and paper walls which create another routes to approach your objective. Next up is the new secondary function for the pistol, the OCP (Optically Channeled Potentiator). The OCP allows you to disable all electrical devices for a short period of time, and it's completely silent. This means you can temporarily turn off light, disable cameras and disrupt computers, all in silence. Not only does this mean you can move through areas without making a noise, you can also confuse enemies by playing with certain things. By making a light flicker or a TV screen turn off will usually pull an enemy away from their set walking pattern. So with just the knife and the OCP you can now deal with enemies and environments in more ways than ever before.
Sam's abilities also extend your options further. You can now hang from ceiling rails, hidden from the enemy, then strike them with the knife or with a choke attack. Ledges also provide more options to the player as you can now shimmy along edges and then pull any enemies over so they fall to their death. With just these few additions, Chaos Theory finally makes stealth fun. It gives the player more ways in which to do something and more rewards for when they do. There's also some smaller changes that go a long way in improving the game, like the sound meter which is now visible on your HUD. This shows the level of noise everything you do makes and has a marker showing the level of ambience noise in the surrounding area, something we feel should have been in the series from the start. For example, by turning on radios or waiting in loud areas you can completely mask the noise of your pistol shots, ideal for 'silent' kills. It also highlights what noise you're making when you're moving so it's easier to keep quiet when following an enemy. Your binoculars have now been improved and are a much more useful tool than before. By passing a reticule over an object it will identify the ways in which you can interact with it. It'll show anything that can be affected by using your OCP, things that can be hacked and even things that can be used wirelessly. Some PC's for example can be accessed remotely by simply focusing your binoculars on the screen and pressing the A button to upload the info onto your OPSAT. The binoculars can also show dangers such as explosive objects.
The AI for the most part is excellent, especially for its genre. In a first person shooter the AI simply has to do its best to shoot you and concentrate on not getting shot itself. In a game like Splinter Cell, the enemies have to act as if they have no knowledge of your presence, then react to full-alert in an instant - and it rarely fails to impress. Guards are intelligent. They'll notice turned off lights or broken door locks. They'll also act realistically at times. They have conversations, smoke cigarettes, yawn, watch TV, but all the time are ready for combat. When in combat, they co-operate and use cover better than ever before. From a gameplay standpoint, this is by far the deepest, most polished game in its genre. While the core gameplay hasn’t really changed a whole lot since the original Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory is much more the game we've been expecting from the start. The main reason is the sheer quality of the environments. Progression is now less linear so you're arem't stuck to a straight path anywhere near as often as before. Rooms themselves offer far more routes and options for the player to make use of. There's more pipes to climb, more rails to hang from, more narrow corridors to split jump in - basically more everything. Linearity has always been one of the biggest problems of the series, but with Chaos Theory there's usually multiple ways of doing things. The fact that you can now manually quick-save at any point during a mission extends your willingness to try different things further as you no longer have the fear of replaying long sections if you make a wrong decision and die. UbiSoft has improved on what was good and fixed alot of its faults.
Help, I'm stuck!
It's still not without its faults though. The Story again is a weakpoint and on the whole will be totally lost on some players. While the likes of say, Metal Gear Solid, uses alot of memorable faces with 'simple' names, Splinter Cell still has too many characters which are only mentioned through speech or text with very little visual identity given to the player to remember them with. The fact that most of thier names are complicated foreign names means that you can often get confused as to who is who alot of the time. The story itself is pretty solid, but it shouldn't be so hard to follow. The lack of outdoor levels disappoints somewhat given that the jungle-like levels formed some of the better missions in Pandora Tomorrow. While we don't think the game suffers from it, we're curious to how some jungle based missions would have worked with the new additions found in Chaos Theory. Also, Chaos Theory is home to some shocking product placement throughout. The opening few cutscenes show Sam chewing on his 'favourite' AirWaves gum, then later has him climbing past a giant Ax/Lynx deodorant sign before interacting with his Nokia phone. The latter two aren't so bad, but the blatant AirWaves advertising is something we'd rather not see in games (Anyone who has seen I-Robot will know it's basically a ninety minute advert for Nike, Audi, Sony, etc).
But the new co-operative mode will soon make you forget any minor faults like that. There are only four missions, but they are each simply superb. Co-op mode really is all about teamwork and the specially designed levels call for some new moves. The first is being able to help each other up to high places. By throwing your teamate up to a ledge you can then use his body as a ladder. You can also throw each other over dangerous areas such as laser grids or simply use your partner as a weapon by throwing him at an enemy. You rappel your partner safely down high walls or from narrow vents and if injured or knocked-out, you can heal each other with a miraculously beneficial adrenaline shot. Co-op play means you can deal with things differently too. One player can scramble a camera or a drone gun while the other gets past, or you can team up to dispatch enemies easier.
Pleasingly, Pandora Tomorrow’s much-praised 'spies vs. mercenaries' multiplayer mode makes a return. It's a four player game where players pair up and play as either a spy or a merc. As a spy you have the typical third-person perspective and will have the task of completing a number of objectives using all the gadgets and abilities at your disposal. Playing as a merc changes to a first-person viewpoint, and of course, your goal is to stop the spies at all costs. There are 11 maps in total, all of which are far bigger and more interesting than in the previous game with more switches, vent shafts and crawl spaces to navigate your way through. There are three game modes. The first game type is the story mode which intends to make things feel more like a single player being played by humans on both sides than the tight maps of Pandora Tomorrow. As spies complete one task, a new section of the map becomes available along with a new set of objectives. Other modes include a 'disc hunt' mode where randomly placed discs are placed on the map and need to be retrieved, and a standard deathmatch mode for those who like to keep things simple. Overall, the multiplayer mode is top-notch, though you must be prepared to put in the time to learn the maps. Playing this with random strangers isn't fun, if they know the maps and you don't you're going to get slaughtered, while if you get partnered with someone who doesn't know his way around and you do they will soon become a burden more often than not.
That's going to hurt in the morning...
The Splinter Cell series has always been graphically impressive and Chaos Theory is no exception. From the subtle shine of Sam’s suit in the rain of the opening level to glow of neon light in the later missions, the attention to detail and special effects are exceptional. The character models are incredibly well made and the animation throughout is also top drawer. Fisher, in particular, has always moved well in the past, but standard is just that little bit higher this time around. The incredibly-detailed environments once again return, and they look better than ever. But the real star is the game’s lighting, which is the most sophisticated ever seen. The textures are super sharp too and highly realistic looking. The addition of rag-doll physics adds alot to the game as it makes disposal of bodies highly rewarding. If there's one complaint it would be that the Night vision isn't quite as clear as in past games, but maybe that's an intentional thing. Apart from the multiplayer Vs mode which doesn't look as good as it uses a different engine (the old Pandora Tomorrow engine), the whole game is in 16:9 mode too. A truly beautiful game.
Audio-wise the game is equally outstanding. Music is used sparingly, but what there is is of high quality and fits the game perfectly. The music picks up when you're discovered and then and fades back out when things are safe again. The sound effects are authentic and the use of 5.1 is some of the best ever with the noise of each guard soundbyte, each gunshot and each footstep accurately relayed from their respective positions, all of which help create superb ambience. The game’s voice acting on the whole is adequate, but nothing out of the ordinary. Sam however is full of fantastic one liners. In previous games he's always been a pretty generic character, but in Chaos Theory he comes alive. He's much more gritty and cocksure one liners rarely fail to humour the player.
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is packed full of longevity. The single player campaign is around 10-15 hours long, but it's the rating system that really adds to the games lifespan. A percentage score out of 100 is given on your stealth performance at the end of each level. Each time you kill, each time you're seen or set off an alarm counts against your final percentage. Finishing missions 100% will take alot of practice and giving the increased freedom of Chaos Theory, missions are far more replayable than before. Of course, the co-op, Vs mode and the prospect of downloadable content extends Chaos Theory's value for money through the roof.
Chaos Theory is what Splinter Cell should have always been like. With increased abilities and more interactive environments in which to perform them in, Chaos Theory gives the player something they've been wanting for a long time - choice. You can now choose your own path more often, choose to engage in combat rather than being forced to just hide around in the shadows exclusively. With your newly equipped hunting knife, you're no longer a sitting duck when spotted so you don’t have to be so cautious anymore. You can choose to have a little fun and go gun crazy, you can throw enemies off cliffs, pull them down a set of stairs or simply torture them from the darkness above. Sure, its story is lacking decent presentation and many will miss out on things because of it, but it doesn't spoil the game as it doesn't rely on its story to make it good. Just as a single player game Splinter Cell Chaos Theory would still be a great game, but with the excellent co-op and Vs multiplay, it's one of the Xbox's finest.
I actually started this again today. Rarely I replay games these days due to lack of time, but something is pulling me to play the game again. I just got 94% on level 1, I didn't think that throwing unconcious bodies over an edge would could as deaths 
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