Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Preview

The added multiplayer aspect puts forth a rather interesting concept. It sets players to fight as either members of a spy branch of the Third Echelon or as a group of nasty well-equipped mercenaries. Naturally, your inventory and equipment will vary according to the team you've chosen to play with. The spy team was primarily designed to accommodate experienced Splinter Cell players. Playing in 3rd person perspective, this team will face a series of objectives; like hacking a certain amount of computers, or similar goals. Mercenaries are controlled in first person perspective and are left to operate with heavier weaponry.

It’s gotta be a rerun.

Mmm... something smells nice in here.

The admirable point in this multiplayer mode is that the spy team will actually feel like they are enjoying the single-player campaign. Except, of course, this time they get to compete against human-controlled enemies. Fair enough, the challenge of competing against human intelligence obviously works both ways. Anyways, the multiplayer mode features a specific storyline, support for online play, and customizable matches - i.e. setting the game for 2vs2 or 1vs3 matches, etc. Yep, unfortunately, this means the multiplayer mode is limited to four players per match.

Similarly to its predecessor, Pandora Tomorrow boasts many visual treats powered by the Splinter Cell engine: dynamic lighting effects, refurbished texture patterns, and more. The areas are going to generate a pleasing amount of details in the backdrop. Building models, and of course Sam himself, received an overall makeover, and now look a bit more polished than before. Sam's upgraded gadgets and moves indicate new visual moments as well as extra character modeling and improved animation. Some visual enhancements contribute to the gameplay as well. For instance, the recently demonstrated train level, unveiled that Sam has to look at the passenger reflections so that he can calculate his next move.

The game is currently in development for Xbox, PS2, GameCube, and PC platforms, and should be set loose on March 25, 2004. We're pretty sure this game should tickle the fancy of Splinter Cell fans everywhere, regardless of the platform they'll be playing it on. It's safe to assume PC and Xbox owners will probably be treated to the best visuals along with a nice Dolby 5.1 support for a more immersive audio experience (PS2 and GameCube will be get support for Dolby Pro Logic II). Considering how addictive and eye-catching Splinter Cell was when it came out, we see no reason to doubt the success of Pandora Tomorrow. The single-player promises to deliver an addictive experience true to the old game and we expect a huge impact with the all-new multiplayer mode. I especially like the idea of having the opposing teams play from different perspectives, as this might provide the needed dynamics and diversity to make the multiplayer mode a truly addictive experience.