Customer reviews:

Customer Rating:
Summary: The game that started it all!
Comment: This, my friends, is a piece of history right here. Officially known as "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell," first released in 2002 for all sixth-generation consoles. It proudly boasts a little saying on the front cover: "Stealth Action Redefined." And yes, when it was first released, it totally did redefine stealth action. Let me explain below.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell was the first game to introduce stealth gameplay based on light and shadow. Now, thanks to this game, you didn't have to only use cover and obstacles to get past enemies. You could now hide anywhere there were dark shadows. This vastly improves the fun aspect and makes the game more realistic. To add on to that, you can also turn off light switches and shoot out lights to create additional shadows to hide in! You aren't limited to just sneaking from one dark patch to another.

Now, on to the actual gameplay. As every person on this planet knows, this is a stealth game in every sense of the word. You have limited ammo (at most 60 rounds) for both your pistol and rifle, and you can die with just a couple of shots. Even though your weapons are silenced, enemies can still hear the dying gasps of their comrades and immediately start shooting at you. And if they find an actual dead body, they run and sound an alarm. In some cases, that's automatically game over.

So, what's the solution? You have to move quitely, mainly through crouching, to dark shadows and use non-lethal means to take enemies out. In the first few levels, this means getting up close to them from behind and hitting them with your elbow or dropping down on their head from a higher vantage point. Later, when you acquire your rifle for the first time, you can use the secondary launcher to fire gadgets from there, mainly Sticky Shockers and Airfoil Rounds. After an enemy is knocked out, in the game world, he doesn't get back up, unless another enemy finds and awakens him, so just hide the body in the shadows if you don't want to waste the bullets and actually kill him.

The one thing that is terribly annoying in this game is the alarm system. If you don't hide a body in a dark place and you leave an area, an alarm automatically sounds. Three alarms and the mission's over. That is so retarded. Why did they do that if you've already eliminated all the enemies in an area? It doesn't make sense.

Now, you have to play this game on the Xbox to fully appreciate it. Any lesser system just doesn't cut it. The graphics are so incredible it's hard to believe. You begin to forget that it's just a game. Again, don't play this on the PS2 or Gamecube, (if you somehow still have them) or you'll be incredibly disappointed.

The story introduces us to the now iconic Sam Fisher, who has been enlisted by a secret sub-group of the National Security Administration known as Third Echelon. Fisher accepts and after a brief training session is sent on his first mission. Over the course of the game, he discovers that the new president of Georgia, Kombeyn Nickoladze, has been secretly invading Azierbaijan to acquire their rich oil reserves. He used advanced algorithms known as the "Masse Kernals" developed by Philipe Masse to hide evidence of the invasion. When the US and their allies intervene in the situation, Nickoladze goes into hiding and activates the rest of the Masse Kernals to cripple the US electronic infrastructure, causing death and massive chaos. Fisher investigates further and discovers Nickoladze has partnered with a rogue Chinese general, Kong Feirong, who has been giving Nickoladze nuclear waste in exchange for training and munitions. After destroying that alliance, Fisher learns that a nuclear suitcase bomb called "The Ark" has been smuggled into America and Nickoladze knows the location. Before he can give the location to the new president of Georgia, Varlam Christave, he's assassinated by Fisher in the Presidential Palace. The US military then finds the "Ark" hidden a short distance from Washington D.C. and safely destroys it.

This game is definitely one not to be missed. It totally redefined stealth action and gives you relative freedom to accomplish the missions and take down enemies however you like. It spawned a great legacy that continues even to this day. Buy it for the Xbox only, (if you still somehow have your original with you) and get ready to experience true greatness.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: hiding in the shadows?
Comment: this game took the phrase "hiding in the shadows" literally. when you hide from the bad guys it's almost always in a convenient shadow. at the beginning this is fine as you are running around a city at night, plenty of dark shadows. but then later you are inside buildings and bad guys can't see you if you are standing in a shadow in the corner of a hallway, with the lights on! wtf? how weak is that! then you are in the cia headquarters and you can hide from cia operatives in shadows that are in hallways! hilarious, i'm sure one could just stand in a poorly lit hallway in our nations secret agent headquarters and be just plain invisible. also sam moves awkwardly and the weapon controls are stiff and not fluid. another thing that was so lame is that he has a glowing pda on his back and a set of three eye goggles on his head that also glow. so whenever you're hiding you can see these four super bright dots and the whole game you wonder how the enemy doesn't see you. i'm a huge stealth fan, tenchu, metal gear, hitman, all fantastic and all have at least a minimal respect for reality, like when someone is looking right at you, they see you!!!! in those games, in order too hide, you have to be BEHIND a SOLID object or thoroughly camouflaged, not in a shadow in someones kitchen. it's like the makers studied how spiders hid from them in their homes and based that on how sam hides. so lame. the gameplay is kind of fun and the story is ok but it's too repetitive, always looking for shadows. it's like playing mario, jumping from mushroom to mushroom and brick to brick the whole game. whereas in tenchu you can hide on rooftops, behind things, under water, under buildings, in the ceiling, in bushes, etc. in hitman you can hide in the bushes, behind things, and where disguises. in metal gear you hide behind things, hang off of ledges, hide in air ducts, inside boxes, under tables, in closets, camouflaged in the underbrush, inside logs, climb trees, etc.

this game is a pathetic attempt at a stealth game, don't bother.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Holds up well...
Comment: This game's graphics look good still today. Played it on 360 backwards compatible system and other than not being widescreen the game looked good and played fantastic. Do yourself a favor and play this game.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: For The Inner Spy In You
Comment: One of the best series I've ever played, and it just keeps getting better! If you love a little bit of old school in your gaming area, but not too old school, this is the way to go. My boyfriend absolutely loves it, and so do I. Great game to buy, and cheap too!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: OVER-RATED
Comment: There are a few things this game does right, but one of the most important things it does wrong. The world that you are supposed to be immersed in is a failure. It's very robotic and way too simple. I guess the best way to put it is that it just feels fake. An example of a well done world is the game Fable. Now these 2 games are very different but my point is, when playing Fable, you kind of believe that this place could exist, if only in fantasy. But with Splinter Cell, this world could never exist, fantasy or no fantasy, because the overall execution is just plain crappy. I would look elsewhere if you're looking for a really good game.

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