MEMBER PROFILE FOR Stifler
Average Overall Score Given: 9.00000 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 905
Reviews
Enter the Matrix
Overall: Being it's the Matrix, it's great to finally have a game on the movie. The fact that the game is licensed makes the game a lot more valuable...unlike Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.Gameplay: Compare it to Max Payne all you like. Max Payne took 'Bullet Time' from The Matrix. The only difference is Atari has done it right. The game will take any gamer less than 10 hours to complete, double that length if you play the game on the hardest difficulty. The Hacking section is a great asset to the gameplay, and offers timeless moments cracking.
Graphics: Shiny did a fantastic job with the visuals. The cut scenes are brilliant. Mostly, the character models are great, but Niobe looks off, and the agents look all too alike.
Audio: The theatrical touch in the sounds livens up the mood a great deal. I like how the music gets more intense as a difficult moment approaches.
Suggestions: Despite the mediocre reviews, ignore it all and work on a sequel to the game with better enhancements, multiplayer, and sharper character models.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Overall: Infiltrate terrorists' positions, acquire critical intelligence by any means necessary, execute with extreme prejudice, and exit without a trace. You are Sam Fisher, a highly trained secret operative of the NSA's secret arm: Third Echelon. The world balance is in your hands, as cyber terrorism and international tensions are about to explode into WWIII. You alone have the fifth freedom. Will you live by it, or will you die by it?Gameplay: Without a doubt, Tom Clancy?s Splinter Cell is going to amaze you, but with that, it will amaze you with everything you very eyes are going to see. While it?s simply gorgeous to look at, don?t be fooled at all by it looks because awaiting for you is a difficult and very challenging game at hand. You control the game at your thoughts and your instincts, not the radar.
There are a few things you have to get straight when you play Splinter Cell. Missions will completely vary from tasks to lengths and to the goal Sam has to achieve in the mission. What makes it all interesting is that each mission doesn?t always call for the same thing. Some missions will be asking you to come out eliminating your enemies while others will ask you to take the mission one small step at a time. You?re going to have to break into a building, and coming in firing is going to send you six feet under in no time. You have to be aware of your surroundings, and your presence in the area. Do the guards sense something wrong, or is there even anyone in the vicinity. These are all points you have to take into consideration.
What does this mean for you? Well, if already you?re not liking what you hear (nobody feels this way right?), then maybe you should be looking twice at Splinter Cell because the game does hold a handful of difficult which require extreme patience and strong maneuverability in a few moments of Splinter Cell. Why is this so? Mainly because this is the closest to real like that you?re ever going to experience as a spy. No one can come closer to giving you a more perfect role where many have their lives depending on you.
Getting to the main man himself, you, the gamer will experience the life of Sam Fisher, a spy with the right to steal, destroy, and assassinate to ensure that American freedoms are protected. Come to think of it, this sounds like James Bond but only in America. Thinking of it again, James Bond doesn?t even compare to Sam Fisher at all. Physically, Sam Fisher is set and trained to get the job done, and get it done right. As he is strong mentally (you have to be too), he is also strong physically with a few athletic techniques he uses to ensure that his stealth isn?t corrupted. There are a vast number of techniques Sam can use but what makes everything smoothen out is that missions won?t rely on Sam?s ability to maneuver into a split jump 15 feet in the air in a narrow hallway just to avoid an enemy. All of Sam?s physical and mental capabilities are brought together to ensure that you?re going to have to eventually use everything Sam?s got up his sleeve. For every sticky situation that you seem to get yourself into, there?s something that Sam Fisher has to avoid the problem.
As I continue to tell you more about Sam getting into sticky situations, besides his own physical power, he?s also got an ace in his hand as he is equipped with the most versatile and unimaginable gadgets up to date in stealth/action games. The ?Sticky Cam? is the best example of a truly perfected gadget. When sensing enemy contact around the corner, Sam can throw the Sticky Cam which is able to attach itself to a wall and from there Sam is able to see what lies ahead in the room. Let?s also not forget Sam?s headset which has multiple vision modes.
As far as weapons go, there isn?t many on board. For some it might be a total disappointment but the truth is that it?s the realism in areas of the game like this which make it shine. Spies can?t be having machine guns, rocket launchers, and shotguns equipped with them. One wrong move and you can make a sudden sound alerting a guard. The lighter Sam is the better, and Sam is usually equipped with a light but powerful pistol good enough to send a man down.
To their advantage, good spies always use their environment to their beneficial usage, and Splinter Cell is no exception. Sam can fully make use of his local surroundings for self defense, receive some useful information, or for shielding. Practically everything is interactive such as Sam taking pop cans out of a recycling bin and throwing it.
As an area of the game which can make it or brake it, the AI is nothing but spectacular and shines with greatness. AI completely delivers a knockout out to Metal Gear Solid making it?s enemy AI look like unintelligent?well you get the picture. The AI is too good for words because it can really surprise you at so many times. First and foremost, guards are not stupid. If they hear something, there going to check things out. If they find nothing, they?ll think their dreaming or get discouraged. Now here?s the part where most people will believe that they give up, but they don?t. They?ll be back to see if there was something they missed, and that?s usually when they?ll surprise you with a little spy work of their own.
It?s all these elements which Splinter Cell excels in which makes this game so advanced yet so amazing at the same time. You won?t want to put it down at all.
Graphics: No, this isn?t a television show or a movie, this is a videogame, and although overall the differences are very minuscule. This is Splinter Cell folks, in all its glory and presence. This is obviously one of the couple games that have dared to test the limits of the Xbox and just thinking about it, Splinter Cell is really the new visual champion (Strangely enough, Halo can?t compare to Splinter Cell). UBI Soft has accomplished amazingly new dynamics and standards in lighting effects and overall, everything (Don?t forget animations). Putting together the stunning gameplay and the lush visuals, you?re getting the complete package, but the story doesn?t end yet.
Getting into more details, the lighting effects in Splinter Cell set an absolute high bar in lighting accomplishments. After viewing a few scenes from the game you?ll fully understand what I?m talking about. The fact that Sam can use the lighting to his own advantage is something to smile about. Sam doesn?t like all these light, why not shoot the light bulbs? They?ll bring darkness to your area making your mission a little more stealthier.
Sam himself possesses great movement and physical ability. With unimaginable detail, Sam?s apparel has him dressed in complete spy clothing equipped with the usual goods he needs for his mission. Sam?s very fluent in his movements, not blotchy or uneven. Other characters posses great animations as Sam himself, but don?t seem to have the touch Sam does. Nevertheless, everything works.
Audio: Splinter Cell continues its successful role with amazing sound which include outstanding voice acting, music score, and sound effects. To top everything off, Surround Sound is an available feature ready for action.
Michael Ironsides (TopGun, Starship Troopers) enters in as the voice acting for Sam Fisher. Ironsides has past history and steps in to voice act Sam?s voice terrifically. Sam must have an efficient spy/operative voice because there?s no point in putting any ordinary voice in, you want everything together. Fortunately, this was a good decision. Sam Fisher happens to talk a lot during the game and he voice is always steady and calm, the way a spy should always be.
The musical score itself likes to keep a role in the game. When the music picks up, it?s a grave warning that something bad or wrong is going to happen. Always keep on alert when the music starts picking up. Watch your surroundings.
Not leaving anything out, the environments are just as well audio enabled in Splinter Cell. Usually, you can receive vital signal or signs from noise coming from your area. It can lead to a guard coming into your room to police arriving to a concern.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
