Right time for another post and this one will be on the Splinter cell game Chaos theory. So let's get on the infrared goggles and let's give it a look....
So a bit about the plot as the story begins with Sam Fisher (voiced by Michael Ironside) arriving at a lighthouse in Peru where he is trying to locate an American computer programmer, who has been captured by Peruvian separatist group called "the peoples voice". The programmer, Bruce Morgenholt is working on algorithms which are weaponised and have the potential one of the future super weapons of the century. However Sam is too late to save Morgenholt who is killed and the weaponised algorithms are released. Sam then boards a luxury ship, the Maria Narcissa and he assassinates the leader of the People's voice group, Lacerda. However after this unknown people use the algorithms to black out Japan and the Eastern seaboard and apparently Japan suffered similar attacks in the past which caused the crash of their economy. Sam then follows up a lead of a man who was working with Morgenholt, Abrahim Zherkhezi and then soon discovers that Zherkhezi is being protected by a friend of Sam's, Douglas Shetland. Sam's investigations next lead him to Hokkaido where he meets Shetland and also discovers that Shetland has been working with an arms dealer named Milan Nedic, who Sam later kills but Shetland soon kills Zherkhezi and flees. And from this point on the plot (as they say) thickens as Sam must try and find a way to stop the weaponised algorithms being used again in a way that could lead to World War III....
Chaos theory is another fine entry in the the Splinter cell series which saw the franchise a slightly darker tone than the previous two games, however the game itself still maintains the dry humour and banter betweem Sam and his counterparts. The game also introduces plenty of new features in terms of its gameplay, stealth and weaponry. Stealth wise Sam this time can now (on the opposite end of the stealth spectrum!) raise alarms without the game automatically ending and the enemies when alerted they can become more ready for combat by using bullet proof vests and helmets and he also has an ambient noise sensor which detects when enemies are close by, this is also reflected in the volume of the music too in the game. Sam can now also perform close quarter combat aswell against his enemies an additon to the usual interrogation at knife point Sam can choose to either use a lethal or non-lethal takedown. Sam can also dangle from the ceiling and kill or incapcitate someone from above by either breaking their neck and using a chokehold and he can even grab people and pull them over railings while he is hanging from a ledge. The game also incorporates a new feature in the use of cryptography and there are certain sections in the game where Sam needs to hack security cameras or control panels to gain access to rooms or other areas and the game features a tutorial on how to do this.
In terms of the game's weapons there is a new addition in that Sam can now select from three different kits, a stealth, an assualt kit and also the kit recommended by one of Sam's colleagues, Redding, which gives a balance of both the stealth and assault kits. Sam also has a new feature built into his handgun, the OCP (optically chanelled potentiator) which Sam can fire at electronics and disable them for a short while such as lights or security cameras. Sam's machine gun, the SC-20K has some new features added to it as well such as a launcher that fires non-lethal weaponry, a shotgun attachment and also a sniper scope for long range. The SC-20K can fire non-lethal object such as sticky shockers, airfoil rounds, gas grenades and gas grenades and the sticky camera, which can be used to display an area around where it is fired and can also fire out sleeping gas to knock out enemies. So in short the SC-20K is very much a multi-purpose assault rifle which Sam couldn't do without in this game!
Moving onto the game's graphics for its time Chaos theory is pretty impressive visually and again the game's environments are pretty varied given the different locations Sam travels to such as Japan, New York and Peru. The character models however are perhaps little cruder looking than before particularly Sam's character model which looks a little unusual facially. This was also the last game to be made prior to the high definition titles that followed in the series starting with Double Agent so naturally the graphics here would never match the quality of them but they are still pretty good regardless. Voice acting wise the game is excellent yet again as Michael Ironside reprises his role as Sam Fisher and it would be hard to imagine anyone play the part any better than he does. Ironside also get's some good lines of dialogue as the game's script is quite witty and amusing and an example of this is in the scene where Sam says to one of his team, Anna "Grim" Grimsdottir, "lasers are so...." and Grim says "Nineties" and Sam says "I was going to say "seventies". Could you please stop making me feel old!" and Grim replies "I've got bad news for you, Sam, you are old!". And later on Sam says to Grim "You mean I have to take one for the gipper?" and Grim says "Dude, what does that even mean?!" and Sam replies "Forget it, Grim, you're right. I am old!". The other voice actors are also very good and include Don Jordan who reprises his role as Sam's superior officer, Irving Lambert and also Claudia Besso as Anna Grimsdottir as well as Thor Bishopric (good name!) as William Redding both part of Lambert's team.
And I cannot forget to mention the game's music score by the Brazilian composer, Amon Tobin, which remains one of the most unique and brilliant video game scores out there as Tobin combines all sorts of different musical styles in a score which is a mixture of electronic and traditional instruments. And the pacing of Tobin's music is also quite frantic as there are certain pieces of music such as the opener "The Lighthouse" which starts off great with an atmospheric sounding violin and bass comes in and it builds into a chaotic crescendo. So Tobin's score might sound quite barmy in places but its also highly impressive and it remains one of my favourite video game scores as well thanks to Tobin's creativity and unique sound and it compliments the game perfectly.
As for any flaws.... well OK Chaos Theory does some niggles, first off I felt the movement in the game could occassionally get frustrating especially when Sam is in close quarters in certain parts, especially in the lighthouse at the start of the game, Sam could easily get spotted by guards due to the constricted spacing in the game's level. The game also feels a bit more convoluted in terms of its gameplay than before as Sam has an overwhelming amount of options open to him in terms of his combat equipment. And the game also features some annoying non-lethal weaponry such as security tri-rotor devices which are used in one level and do nothing but easily attract the attention of nearby guards and thereby blowing Sam's cover. The game's difficulty level is also arguably higher than the other game's in the series which can at times make it a bit frustrating to play and it tends to become quite difficult towards the end, especially during the sequence where Sam fights against Shetland and he has to try and diffuse the timers on explosives that Shetland has set and quite often Sam can be shot on sight. Then there is the cryptography which is used to hack into security doors etc, which is actually quite complicated in this game but it was more simplified in Double Agent, but here it will have you scratching your head as to getting the right combinations so it can be a real pain in the ass to get right.
But those niggles aside Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is a very solid entry in the game's series and is still well worth checking it even if its availability is somewhat limited to the Xbox 360 and also PC where you can download it via Steam.
And well I shall leave yee there for now and will be back soon with another review of sorts.
Until then bye fer now.
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