Splinter Cell Preview

For most of us, Sam Fisher needs no introduction. If there are some of you who are not familiar with Sam Fisher or Splinter Cell, however, you should take a moment to read our review of the Xbox version of the game.

Sam’s going in!

Mmmm... Black & White. Very arty.

In short, Sam Fisher is a veteran NSA operative whose task is to act as a ‘splinter cell’ of the US government, dealing deadly and efficiently with any potential threats to the security of the United States. Xbox gamers have already had the pleasure (and I do mean the pleasure) of playing the full version of Ubi Soft Montreal’s digital masterpiece, so it’s only fitting that the PC gamers get that same kind of privilege as well.

The PC version of the game is well on its way; the latest reports are indicating that Splinter Cell for the PC should appear on the store shelves on Feb. 18, which isn’t that far away. Recently, we received UbiSoft’s latest beta build of the game, which is fully functional and offers a full set of missions that will be available in the final product; boy, are we glad we got it!

The PC port retains the dynamic shadows and lighting and coding for soft bodies and pixel shaders that made the console game so popular. On top of that, you get to play on high-resolution monitors, making all of those previously blurry background objects crystal sharp and easy to spot. Even the PC beta build that I got to test had a solid frame-rate on my rig (Athlon 2200 XP/GeForce Ti 4600), and I played the game in 1280 x 1024 and with all of the graphics details maxed out. There’s obviously more room left for improvement in terms optimizing code and ironing out various minor visual glitches (flashing textures, gamma problems and such), but, even as it is, the PC version is quite playable on mid-range PC’s (with the detail settings at medium and in slightly lower resolutions).

As was the case with the Xbox version, the fantastic use of the next-gen Unreal code is totally in the function of the gameplay. The engine delivers some dazzling visual treats and also creates an environment that is essential to the sneaker-shooter gameplay that is so highly emphasized in the game. The physics engine is just as good as in the Xbox version, and the rag doll physics model is implemented in full effect. Nonetheless, I must say I would’ve liked to have seen some kind of improvement in the physics model, as today’s PC’s offer plenty more CPU power to play around with than what you can find in the Xbox. This would, however, require a lot more time and effort, effectively rendering the February deadline impossible. Instead, the developers concentrated on successfully porting the Xbox version rather than building on it. The same can be said about the animation, as Splinter Cell is still missing the stair animation for Sam Fisher, an omission that I find rather weird. I may not know too much about character modeling, but I do know that adding another motion-captured move couldn’t be that much of a problem.

The question here is whether or not you were expecting to play an upgraded version of the Xbox game or just a successful port. If you were expecting to play the former, then you might be in for a bit of a disappointment. The development team concentrated on making sure that every aspect that was present in the Xbox version is somehow translated to the PC, and, in those regards, Ubi Soft Montreal did one helluva job. The PC controls work perfectly, and the idea to adapt the analogous input of the game pad (predominantly used for sneaking in the Xbox version) for the mouse and keyboard combo by using the mouse wheel is absolutely perfect. It is very intuitive and easy to use.

Smile, you’re gonna be dead in a few...

Sam likes Chinese food.

In regards to aiming, mouse free look, the natural choice of every true shooter fan, makes aiming and gunning down bad guys in Splinter Cell (PC) much easier. More intuitive aiming actually has a strong impact on the gameplay, making it noticeably easier to just shoot the opponents rather than cunningly sneak past them. Luckily for us, the development team has taken this into account, and has subsequently balanced it out by making the enemy AI slightly more alert than they were in the Xbox version. In addition to this change, I believe the PC opponents have more powerful guns, which makes them as deadly as their Xbox counterparts, in a slightly different manner and under slightly different circumstances. Naturally, this shifts the focus back to the sneaker facet of the gameplay, which is exactly how gameplay should work in Splinter Cell.

Unfortunately, not all of the entertaining features from the Xbox game made it into the PC version. Due to the lack of proper force feedback support for the PC controllers, some minor aspects of the gameplay, like lock picking, simply couldn’t be translated to the PC with the same degree of success. Not that this omission thwarts the gameplay experience in any way, but it’s still worth noticing.

All things considered though, Splinter Cell for the PC is obviously going to be the sole reason why many hardcore PC gamers will stay glued to their monitors for days on end. The PC version doesn’t bring anything radically new over the Xbox game, apart from the higher resolutions, positional audio and possible improvements in the quality of the FSAA (full scene anti-aliasing). Overall, there are precious little additions that will make you want to rush out and buy the game if you have already finished it on the Xbox.

On the other hand, if you’re a hardcore PC gamer who’s yet to play Splinter Cell, this port will probably become one of your favorite games of the year. Splinter Cell has it all: an engaging storyline, memorable characters, fantastic sounds, gorgeous visuals, and addicting, challenging, and innovative gameplay. Ubi Soft has really done a fantastic job with the Splinter Cell franchise, and I personally cannot wait for Splinter Cell 2 to appear on the Xbox. Of course, being a bona fide PC fanatic, I’m going to finish the game again on the PC if for no other reason, then to enjoy the crisp and sharp Splinter Cell graphics on my 21" Samsung monitor.