N-Philes

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow

Posted by Archived.

This review lives in a vacuum. It's a review of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow on Gamecube. This review doesn't care that there is an Xbox version out there with a multi-player online mode that isn't available on the Gamecube. All this review cares about is whether or not Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is a good game on the Gamecube. If you're looking for what the game isn't, then check out "professional" reviews. They'll gladly tell you. I'm here to tell you what the game is.

Following in the footsteps of the first Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow thrusts gamers into the role of Sam Fisher, an agent of the US government. He is a Splinter Cell, an agent that if he is caught all knowledge of his being will be disavowed. He also has the fifth freedom, freedom to kill when necessary. As such it is in his best interest to stay hidden at all times possible, not to be spotted, and most definitely not to be caught.

Those who have played the first Splinter Cell will be glad to know that the same amount of stealth that filled the first game is back in the second. There are just as many instances to be nice and stealthy, hidden in the shadows, tip-toeing past guards less than a foot away without being spotted. Pandora Tomorrow even does a better job as far as the shadows go than the first game did, in that the game is darker. There is less of a reliance on the shadow meter which tells how dark an area is, and more reliance on just how dark the game looks. It gets so dark that there is no option but to use night vision, or thermal goggles.

The developers of Pandora Tomorrow took the game in a bit of a different direction as far as missions and levels went. While the first game took place mostly indoors, the second has more outdoor missions where Sam must crawl across more open spaces, sometimes in the middle of the day. There are also a couple levels that take place inside very tight enclosed spaces like submarines and trains. These missions only up the tension involved as playing as Sam, which any fan of Splinter Cell will tell you is where the excitement in the game comes from.

Pandora Tomorrow also offers the gamer different paths to try out in a couple of levels. The very last level is a great example of this as there are a whole bunch of catwalks to choose to take. Try and sneak past the enemy, leaving him alive, or take him out and find a place to hide the body. The option certainly helps the game feel less linear, though it still comes down to trial and error at many parts of the game.

In honesty that is one of the most annoying aspects of the game. It seems that it has more areas than the first game where a single alarm and it's mission over. While there are a couple of levels where not even a multitude of alarms mean anything, the single alarm missions do become frustrating. At least the game does play fair, and more often than not you know why an alarm has been raised.

Sam has a couple of new moves and gadgets. Admittedly, Most of them are pretty useless. For example he has the ability to hang by his legs from a pipe, and shoot, but it's a maneuver which is never really needed. He can also do a spin to get across door openings without being noticed. This is used a bit more often, but still not really a major move. What is used is a new camera jammer Sam has, which stops cameras that he can't shoot out from seeing him.

This game gets an N-Philes score of B.

Like I opened with, this review is a review of this game. And given that, Pandora Tomorrow is a winner. Those who liked the first Splinter Cell and just want more of the same shouldn't hesitate on picking up Pandora Tomorrow. On the whole I probably enjoyed the first one more, simply because it came first and was a new experience. Some of the levels, though, make up for it, and bring you back to that level of excitement and tension which I don't feel any other game has ever matched. There have been a couple of rumours of bugs, one which I personally came across, but they're not game-breaking, and don't always happen, so it doesn't ruin the game. In the end, if you liked the first one, you'll like this. If you didn't, Pandora Tomorrow won't change your mind.

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