DAY 273 / GAME 273 Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex

DAY 273 / GAME 273

Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex

      Ghost in the Shell was a very popular and influential anime film based off of a fantastic Japanese comic from the late 80's.  With an already rich backstory and collection of supporting characters, there was a lot of room for this property to grow.  We've seen an extremely good animated tv series, two movies and two videogames.  One for the PlayStation and one for the PlayStation 2.  

     I discovered the 2002 anime series release, Stand Alone Complex a few years later and slowly watched my way through it.  It took a little bit since I was determined to only purchase the special edition DVDs as they included the DTS audio copies and this show featured some very high quality 5.1 surround audio.  After I had made my way through the two seasons that had been released I still wanted more.  It was easily one of the best anime series I had ever seen and certainly the one with the highest production value.  I can't remember if I had stumbled across the PS2 title at random, or if I had looked it up, remembering that there was a PS1 release at some point.  But either way my enjoyment of the TV series pushed me to grab this without a second thought on it's possible quality.

     Luckily for me, the Stand Alone Complex PS2 title hit all the notes.  It not only contained a unique and separate storyline from the series, adding some more content to the fantastic world, but was also simply a well rounded and executed title.  GitS:SAC follows Section 9, Japan's equivalent of Splinter Cell's 3rd Echelon, as they work to eliminate terrorist plots.  This PS2 title even includes all the English voice cast so not only does the game certainly look the part, but also sound it as well.

    Stand Alone Complex may include the entire series' cast, but has you controlling the two primary characters, Major Motoko Kusanagi and second in command Batou.  As is the case in the series, Batou handles the role of primary assault, more of a run-and-gun character while the Major is a little more stealthy, relying on her acrobatic skills and her ability to Ghost Hack the enemy in order to infiltrate certain situations.  
     Cavia, under Bandai's direction did a fantastic job of keeping the entire game on-point.  It feels very much a part of the series from all aspects and looks absolutely fantastic on the PS2.  Though the series is so rich you could have certainly created a much more memorable title, at the same time I can't say that this failed as it still felt as if I was playing through a few episodes of the series and the character connections were still strong.

    Though both games were definitely under-promoted and most fans probably didn't even know they existed, I've got high-hopes that someone will take this property soon and make a third game.  There is so much that can be done with this property, especially now that console/pc power has come so far 12 years later.  And since the series is still under production, with a third season just recently released the timing couldn't be better.

DAY 272 / GAME 272 Metal Gear Solid 2

DAY 272 / GAME 272

Metal Gear Solid 2

      Metal Gear Solid was pretty innovative for it's time, but Konami and director Hideo Kojima aimed to make the sequel a real glimpse into the future of gaming.  I remember seeing a lot of teaser videos before this game came out, showing of all kinds of new tech including intense simulated weather, fantastic A.I. and fully destructible table contents.  Remember though, at the time seeing an entire table full of glass bottles getting shot and shattering everywhere was groundbreaking.  

     Metal Gear Solid 2 really was an epic accomplishment, as Kojima's works tend to be.  Easily 1 part movie, 1 part game and 1 part existential postmodern artwork.  Not only was the game great because it was a well-built, ahead of it's time espionage shooter, but also for it's incredible real-time cutscenes.  Cutscenes which tend to run over-time, I was almost late for work a number of times when I found myself completing a section only to trigger a cinematic that ran on for well over 10 minutes.  I didn't want to skip it and miss some major story points, but I also needed to save the game (which happened after the cinematic).  

    Metal Gear Solid is another series that I can't possible wrap my head around the plot.  I can't even finish a whole game before I've lost what happened in the beginning.  It doesn't help that Kojima throws twists at you like revealing that the entire game was actually a simulation (inside a simulation?).  If I remember correctly, the ending of MGS2 finds Raiden looking at his dog tag, which then features your name which you enter at the start of the game.  Which was so impressively rendered in realtime it was almost freaky.

    MGS2 was a very beautiful game.  As is the case with all Metal Gear Solid games, the engines are always way ahead of their time and Konami really made the PS2 sing.  The rainy cargo ship at the start was one thing, but the warm, setting sun off the water while you ran around the oil rig was simply breathtaking.  All this and it hardly looks dated since they managed to accomplish such fantastic style in the levels and designs.  It really lends itself well to the HD re-releases that we've seen recently and some more I believe are on their way.

   Metal Gear Solid may not be for everyone.  It's really rough on the brain, but pleasing on the eyes.  Though I haven't necessarily been interested in the most recent MGS release, I have always had a special place for the series.  There really is nothing else even close, Kojima has made sure of that.  With that in mind, I'm very excited to see what he does now that he'll be working on the next Silent Hill title.  Hopefully I can understand it.

DAY 271 / GAME 271 Kirby's Dreamland

DAY 271 / GAME 271

Kirby's Dreamland

      Back when I owned an original Nintendo GameBoy, I never really purchased many games for it.  My Dad bought it for me second-hand and got what seemed like a fantastic deal.  I have no idea what he paid for it, but it came with everything; a case, screen magnifier, a speaker add-on and a whole bunch of games.  I have a hard time remembering which games, since it was back in 1990, but it was about 8 or so great games that included Mario Land, R.C. Pro Am, Turtles 1 and 2, and Escape from Camp Krusty, among others.  In the end, the only games I bought for this system were Super Mario Land 2 and Kirby's Dreamland.

        Kirby's Dreamland was pretty easy, although I had no idea this would be the case until after I bought it.  Apparently it's creator, Masahiro Sakurai, designed the game specifically to be playable by beginners.  Even at a young age I found this game easy to the point where it almost detracted from the overall experience.  Regardless, Kirby was a charming new game with a unique play mechanic.  Kirby, who is some kind of hungry marshmellow, or ghost, or something can suck up whatever he (or she?) sees.  He can take big gulps of air and float around, which helps you navigate certain levels, then puff those out to damage enemies.  He can also inhale whole enemy characters only shoot them out at another one, destroying both.  In later games, Kirby actually takes on particular traits of whatever he consumes, but this wasn't introduced yet.

   Kirby is pretty straightforward.  Your typical side-scrolling platformer where you navigate left-to-right in an attempt to reach the end goal, which often includes a boss enemy.  In the end, Kirby strives to defeat the evil King Dedede, who has stolen all the food in Dreamland for a midnight-feast.  And Kirby, being the fat little kid that he is, is obviously upset.  It played quite well for a title of it's age, featured a great little soundtrack, bits of which we hear now and again in new Nintendo titles, and also had some nice little animations.  Kirby himself, being a circle, squishes and pulls and stretches for all kinds of poses which really push the charm for this title.

    Kirby's become a pretty well-known character in the Nintendo universe, a favorite for some especially within the Smash Brother's games.  And although I never grew overly attached to the obese fellow, this was a solid little title that I actually just picked up again for $2.50 on the Nintendo 3DS for memories sake.

DAY 270 / GAME 270 Homeworld

DAY 270 / GAME 270

Homeworld

      For some reason I keep thinking about this game and continually forget I haven't written about it yet.  Homeworld was one of the only Real Time Strategy games that takes place in space and with that one of the only ones that takes place in 3 dimensions.  Released in 1999, Homeworld gives you control of either the Kushan or the Taiidan as you take the remaining 600,000 members of each of their planets on an exodus that includes both revenge and the search for their origin.

   Homeworld was just perfect, with nothing else like it.  Floating your little ships out of their colossal mothership, with their trailing blue jets and their muffled radio chatter.  Organizing your ships into various formations and launching them into orbit around a piece of salvage as another wing circulates, keeping watch for raiders.  

      Homeworld was most enjoyable simply for this fantastic atmosphere it created.  Floating around in space, with a frozen crew of 600k, felt lonely as you jumped faster-than-light from point to point on a journey to discover your true home planet.  Between the map view and the camera view Relic managed to create a game that was easily manageable even though you had to focus on a large number of ships traveling in a sphere about your primary mothership.  You could back the camera way out to get a good view of what was going on, but also close in real tight on any one ship to get a great view of the current action including watching individual gun turret animations.

      Homeworld received a standalone expansion, Cataclysm, as well as a sequel a few lears later which I never really knew for sure existed.  Both Cataclysm and it's predecessor featured incredible ship designs.  Designs which were simple enough, with great silhouettes which made them easily identifiable; an important point both for looks and for gameplay when controlling a vast array of crafts.
         Both games also featured an incredible, award winning score, primarily ambient, including a fantastic rendition of the very recognizable Agnus Dei from Samuel Barber.  A piece that I can no longer hear without instantly imagining the voyage jump of the Kushan mothership.

     It's been much too long since I've had the chance to enjoy this game.  Thankfully I'm not the only one that feel this way and the property has finally seen the light of day.  Sierra and Relic have passed Homeworld onto Gearbox and Blackbird Interactive who will be making both a brand new game, Homeworld: Shipbreakers and an HD remake of Homeworld 1 and 2.  Both of which I feel will be day-1 purchases for me.  Colour me very excited.

DAY 269 / GAME 269 Grand Theft Auto

DAY 269 / GAME 269

Grand Theft Auto

      In looking back to Grand Theft Auto IV in my previous post I started to remember about how much fun and how smart a game the original Grand Theft Auto really was.  And although I never really put a ton of time into it, the time I did spend racing tiny cars around and splattering pedestrians all over the sidewalk was a memorable one.  (Let's not read into that too much.)

        Grand Theft Auto came out at a time where fully 3D games were becoming very popular and so it stood out for it's simplicity.  GTA is pretty much one of the only top-down, fixed camera sandbox games.  Looking down at your chosen misanthrope, you run around screen, able to shoot at anything around you, swing your bat and most importantly, steal and drive any car on screen.

       The basic underlying game mechanic was simple.  You're looking down at a map of a city in motion.  You can walk up to any car and steal it, whether it means breaking into a parked car, or jacking a car stopped at a streetlight.  You receive missions throughout the game, most of which involve stealing cars and dropping them off at set locations.  Unlike the more modern versions of GTA, this first title really focused on the driving.  Spending time outside a car was dangerous, especially since you had a limited amount of lives.  In a car?  You've got a metal shield.  You can run guys over who are shooting at you and you don't have to worry about getting run over.  

     The game was released in '97, so a lot of these kinds of controls and the physics the engine had to handle where nothing entirely new.  So while the game itself was fairly unique, it handled real well and ran great on most any machine.  I remember someone always had a copy of this on a floppy disk when I was at highschool and you could most always catch someone playing it in the library when the staff wasn't paying attention.
     But similar to the newer GTA games, the majority of the fun was had by simply driving around wrecklessly through this city, drifting around corners, darting around traffic and getting into high-speed chases with the cops.  Simply enjoying the world and the game at it's most basic sense kept you entertained for hours.  

     I have a serious hankering to play this game now, too bad I have no idea where to find a copy.  At least, a legit one.

DAY 268 / GAME 268 Grand Theft Auto IV

DAY 268 / GAME 268

Grand Theft Auto IV

      Grand Theft Auto has come a long way since it was an addictive top-down hit-and-run simulator from 1997. 10 years later, GTA IV resembles very little of the original but has also become one of the ultimate sandbox games on the market.  For those unclear on the term, a sandbox game is one where you are basically free to do anything.  In Grand Theft Auto, nothing is really forcing you to follow the main story and it's missions.  You can make your own fun simply driving about and exploring the world around you.  

        I enjoyed Grand Theft Auto 1, but didn't get very far in it.  I played a ton of GTA3, the first 3D game in the series, but never became very attached to it's story or the city.  It really was just hours of blowing up cars and getting into high-speed chases.  I skipped the next couple, though I heard great things about GTA: San Andreas, and didn't get into another Grand Theft Auto game until IV was released.                 
                 

         The first title in the series to show up on the current generation of consoles, (well, now the previous generation) Grand Theft Auto IV was a spectacular jump up graphically.  The game engine is incredible and the results are a city that looks gorgeous, especially when the sun is setting over the water, car driving that is an absolute blast not to mention driving a boat, motorcycle and a helicopter, and some pretty incredible multiplayer.  There is an online mode where you have to race against your opponent from one point to the other on the map, by any means necessary.  

      Grand Theft Auto IV stood out in particular for me more than any others in the series but it wasn't because of anything I listed above.  There are many other great sandbox games out there that also look and play incredibly, but what made GTAIV so great was that I was actually drawn into the main story and it's missions for once.  Although I still have never completed the whole game, I actually played through much much more of this storyline than in any other GTA title released.  The characters were interesting, well acted and well animated.  The story drew you in and forced you to explore the world around you.  

     I consider GTA IV to be a real accomplishment.  It's a vivid, living city that feels much more serious that it's satirical facade.  It's the kind of game that you can spend hours upon hours in without actually touching the primary game and simply enjoy the world that Rockstar built for your entertainment.  With how much I loved GTA IV, I'm surprised I didn't jump on GTA V right away after it was released this past year, (Or was it last year?) I suppose I just had too many games on the go at the time.  I really should get around to it though.  Or at least finishing playing GTA IV, that would be a good idea too.

DAY 267 / GAME 267 Bravely Default

DAY 267 / GAME 267

Bravely Default

      Not too long ago Nintendo announced they were bringing a very popular role-playing title over from Japan and localizing it for North America.  I first saw a ton of content regarding this game, Bravely Default during a Nintendo announcement video and was pretty impressed.  I was certain this was being announced for home console since the video showed content that was pretty high-end for anything less.  

    Turn out, it was to be released (and already was released in Japan) on the Nintendo 3DS, their handheld console.  And even though handhelds like the Sony VITA and the 3DS have proven very powerful I'm still impressed since I'm stuck in the mindset that handheld game consoles are all big grey bricks with unlit 140x180 black and white screens.
     Of course, Bravely Default is impressively far from that.  I downloaded the demo they made available pre-release and I was absolutely engrossed.  Though I was more impressed by the overall battle system and the ease of play than anything else.  As it stands, Japanese style RPG games are not my cup of tea.  Not because they aren't great, but rather that I am no good at them.  Bravely Default however, reminded me of Final Fantasy Online, which I wasn't much better at, but it was familiar and that kinda got me started.

    After playing the demo it was clear I was going to enjoy this game for many hours, and so with that I went ahead and actually pre-ordered the special edition of the game.  Something I rarely do and have never done with a handheld title.  Of course, it was well worth it in the end.  Before I put the game down, which was before I had even completed about 60% of the game, I had hit over 50 hours of gameplay; most of which was on the commuter train to work and back.  I really just couldn't put this game down.

    Again I'll bring up just how amazing this game looks.  Square Enix managed to come up with an incredible way to take advantage of the 3DS's stereoscopic 3D screen.  The 'overworld maps' which you walk around in between battles and cinematics are basically all these incredible paintings which are perfectly overlaid onto 3D structures which means they properly move with the camera and have a strong depth to them.  The results are something unlike anything you've seen before.  The addition of a nighttime and daytime versions of each painting, the nighttime versions which feature some spectacular lighting really is the icing on the cake at that.

   Bravely Default is yet another game that has so many incredible aspects to it that it can't be summed up in one post.  The combat is fun and not overly complicated, the job leveling system is great and adds variety to what kind of team combinations you can come up with, but also allows the story to still feed from the primary 4 characters.  Graphically the game is incredible and the soundtrack equally so.  This is easily the most surprisingly impressive games I've played for a long time and I do highly recommend it if you can stand JRPG games in the least. 

DAY 266 / GAME 266 Amped 3

DAY 266 / GAME 266

Amped 3

      Though I am known for enjoying a wide range of games, there still exists a large number of genres I haven't really explored.  I rarely play sports titles, dating sims, RTS games, city simulators or skateboarding and snowboarding games.  I've watched a whole bunch of other people playing Tony Hawk and I once tried the Skate demo; I've seen 1080 on the N64 and SSX, but never went out of my way to buy any of them.

      However, on one of my birthdays a good friend of mine whom I snowboarded with regularly bought me Amped 3 for the Xbox 360.  It really was a brilliant game I had never heard of.  Amped 3 is exactly what I needed for the summer months when the snowhills aren't snowhills at all and instead covered in sad dirt and rocks.
         The controls are fantastic, the physics reliable and the whole thing looks as crisp as a nice cold day at the slopes.  Being on a modern console, view distance is not an issue and standing atop of a huge mountain you can see the path you want to take all the way to the bottom.  A path full of mini-games, story bits and all kinds of natural and man-mad terrain.  

     Amped 3 isn't just about going downhill either.  Though it's not necessarily the main focus of the game, there is a neat little story that you can make your way through by completing various challenges in order to earn money.  It's bizarre and full of crazy cutscenes which follow all the kinds of themes you'd discover on the print-side of a snowboard.  Design heavy paper-puppets, anime and life-action videos are littered throughout the story and each look like they were hilarious to produce.  It's a nice touch to a game that you may otherwise get board of.  (But you don't.)

    Amped 3 is the kind of game you can pop in the tray anytime you feel like relaxing, having friend over, or if you want a game for the kids to play.  Since you're always sliding downhill, it's fun even if you're not doing it right.  And of course, it's perfect for the summertime when you just can't make it to the slopes, just as playing MotoGP during the winter cures my motorcycle blues.

DAY 265 / GAME 265 American McGee's Alice

DAY 265 / GAME 265

American McGee's Alice

      I have, from a very young age, been a huge fan of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland as well as it's many adaptations.  I'm not sure if it was true or not, but I remember specifically while in grade 1 or 2 my mother gave me her old copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.  I remember having read it, but it seems awful young to be reading that book.  And yet, I know I had because I remember noting the differences between the books and the Disney animated adaptation, which I absolutely adored.  If it was the case, it was certainly the first novel I'd ever read, maybe that's why it's always stuck with me.

     More likely though, the reason Alice stuck with me my entire life was the fantastic world that was presented and the obscure designs that inhabit it.  Everything from Carroll's original sketches, both literary and pencil, to the Disney designs, to the dark and modern viewpoint described by American McGee.  McGee's Alice was the first time I'd seen someone take the Alice property into such a borderline horror genre.  Enjoying both horror and the whimsical Wonderland stories, this was such a fantastic mix for me.

    American McGee's Alice takes place after the events of Through the Looking Glass.  In his own 'fanfiction', Alice's home catches fire at night and she is the lone survivor.  Suffering from extreme survivor's guilt and concerned that the entire thing was her fault she is admitted into an asylum.  During this time she is in a catatonic state and stuck inside a twisted Wonderland where things are falling apart, mirroring her state-of-mind.  Like the sequel, Madness Returns, McGee is sure to include elements of the Carroll stories that tend to be left out of most other fiction.  Alice feels like it has been created by a fan of Lewis Carroll's works, which is probably why I appreciate it so much.

    American McGee's Alice may not be as beautiful and polished as it's sequel, but it was a fantastic start that proved how well the Alice property can be translated into the video game world.  It features incredible designs that are reminiscent of the original Lewis Carroll sketches and deep dark alleys of the Wonderland world.  I've yet to take the time to play much of this one again after playing Madness Returns, but perhaps one day I will try to.

DAY 264 / GAME 264 Super Mario Land 2

DAY 264 / GAME 264

Super Mario Land 2

      Back when I first owned an original black and white Nintendo Gameboy it was the only Nintendo system I would own for a while.  And so, it was my only chance to play the Mario titles I'd always wanted to.  Unfortunately Nintendo never directly ported any of their Mario 8bit titles from the NES home console onto the Gameboy and instead created a unique series specifically designed for the hardware.  The first game, Super Mario Land, was a little bizarre and though it featured a lot of the standard Mario gameplay it also contained a lot of weird new designs that were never seen again.  Super Mario Land 2 brought the series closer to it's NES counterparts, but still featured a unique take on the games.

     Mario Land 2 was a huge jump graphically above it's predecessor from 3 years prior.  It actually looks pretty impressive considering the limitations of the hardware at the time.  Designers decided to slightly alter the camera view, tightening the field of view and increasing the size of the sprites on screen.  The upside was that now we saw more recognizable artwork with more detail, but the downside was that you saw less of the level onscreen at once.  This was not a uncommon choice among portable games with major resolutions restrictions but often meant levels that required a lot of running and jumping became more difficult since you couldn't tell what was coming up soon enough to make quite judgement calls on platforming.  Though, as I remember it, Super Mario Land 2 didn't really have that much of an issue.

    Mario Land 2 also added a feature that I was very happy to see carried over from my favorite Mario title at the time, Super Mario 3.  This was the addition of the overworld map for level selection.  Having all the levels graphically represented and laid out this way made the story and location feel more tangible and memorable.  Rather than simply running left to right, from level 1-1 to 4-3 and so on.
     Mario Land 2 also added a save-game feature, which was very useful and a number of other powerups that were similar and still unique to this game.  Not unlike the raccoon tail, in this game you could pick up a carrot which gave you bunny ears, providing you with similar powers.  You could also get a fire throwing power, but instead of a flower the pickup is represented by a feather you wear in your cap.  I'm really not sure how the two are related.  Not that a flower makes any more sense.

    Super Mario Land 2 was really a strong game overall on the GameBoy platform, really showing off what you could do with the basic hardware.  I played it through multiple times both when it came out in '93 and much more recently.  Nintendo has even released this title as a downloadable, playable on the Nintendo 3DS portable console.  If you've never tried this one before, it's well worth the price of admission.

DAY 263 / GAME 263 Splinter Cell

DAY 263 / GAME 263

Splinter Cell

      Last in my series and first in release would be the original Splinter Cell game.  The only title in the series that I played on PC, I actually had to put this one down near the end due to a graphical glitch that prevented me from completing the oil rig level.  

    Nevertheless, this was the game that started a legacy.  During a time when 'stealth combat' games were limited to Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell added a bit of realism and serious tone to the genre.  Based on the works of author Tom Clancy, Splinter Cell revolved around the actions of American NSA special operative operation that were a lot more grounded in reality.  

      Splinter Cell follows one NSA field operative of a secret branch known as Third Echelon.  An ex-black ops agent, Sam Fisher is a silent one-man army 3E uses to prevent cold-war disasters.  Equipped with a range of high-tech weapons and gadgets, Sam sneaks in and out of locations unnoticed, quite often restricted to using only non-lethal actions.  Like Metal Gear Solid before it, you find yourself knocking out or avoiding cameras, laser tripwires and hiding the bodies of the incapacitated as to not tip off guards of your presence.  Otherwise you risk failing the mission and having to start over again.

       This first Splinter Cell may be my least favorite of the series, but that's not bad.  Ubisoft did nothing but improve on the games from hereon in.  I don't necessarily hold anything dear from this particular game, as I'm not necessarily into the plot that much.  But I know that Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory, Double Agent, Conviction and Blacklist wouldn't be the same, or perhaps even be around if it wasn't for this one first groundbreaking game.

DAY 262 / GAME 262 Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

DAY 262 / GAME 262

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

      Around the same time I grabbed Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory I also purchased the previously released title Pandora Tomorrow.  A few friends of mine were talking about how great the Splinter Cell multiplayer was, but I was confused as to which title they were specifically discussing.  Pandora Tomorrow was released only a year before Chaos Theory and only two years after the first Splinter Cell game, so all three were usually on the shelves together at similar pricing.  In the end, Chaos Theory was the title to have, but I originally picked up Pandora Tomorrow since I had found it dirt cheap and figured I had a 50/50 shot.  







      In the end it was just as well.  Since I only played the single-player campaign for both of them, it was appropriate that I started the story in chronological order.  Not that I remember what the story was at all.  I do enjoy the games and I have no issue with the narratives but they tend to fly over my head at times and I have a hard time recalling which government sector decided to pretend they were another one and launch tactical nukes at some country pretending to be another.  Or whatever.  I appreciate how closely they come to actually military spy activities and other politically driven agendas, but really I play for the unique gameplay that is solid and a story that is serious would pushing corny since they hire some terrific voice actors including Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher.



    Pandora Tomorrow was nowhere near as polished a game as Chaos Theory  but it's big addition to the series was introducing the high-quality unique multiplayer experience that we saw so much of throughout the rest of the games.  Even though I never did play any of it.

    Instead, I simply enjoyed it's extremely polished gameplay that forced you to think about your actions and consider each enemy encounter as a puzzle.  One where you have to figure out how to either sneak past or incapacitate a group of guards or operatives who stand between you and an objective without alerting everyone else in the area.  The tools you carry with you and the skills you have from the beginning more than aid you in your missions and figuring out a puzzle feels like an incredible accomplishment.

   Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was my least favorite of the series, next to the first one.  But it was still a fantastic game that was incredible to playthrough.  Splinter Cell really never missed when releasing a title, each and everyone really managed to please, at least as far as I'm concerned.

DAY 261 / GAME 261 Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

DAY 261 / GAME 261

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

      It seems to me that each Splinter Cell game is the best Splinter Cell game in their own right.  Chaos Theory was particularly notable for having an incredible multiplayer mode, Spies Vs Mercs, which I kept hearing about from friends and the folks at Penny Arcade.  Everyone sounded like they were having blast playing the most interesting online mutliplayer I've ever heard of.  Really at the time online games consisted primarily of FPS deathmatches, some RTS games and early MMOs.  Meanwhile, Splinter Cell featured some great mutliplayer which pitted players split into two teams against each other; one teams as spies, with a skillset similar to Sam Fisher in the single player campaign and a second team as mercenaries, with a skillset closer to the AI.  

    Even though I bought Chaos Theory primarily to experience the multiplayer portion of the game, I never did get a chance to try it out.  It wouldn't be until Double Agent was released that I got around to playing a Splinter Cell game online.  Nevertheless, Splinter Cell 3 ended up being an incredible game.  I had played the majority of the first Splinter Cell game in PC back when it was first released and I was reasonably impressed, but Chaos Theory really nailed the game down in terms of atmosphere and style that was only slightly lacking the first time around.  Graphically it was much improved over the older two games and really pushed the limits of the original Xbox.  I remember I had purchased Chaos Theory during a time when the Xbox 360 was first released and it looked so good that I actually put off buying one.  

       Chaos Theory was really a much different Splinter Cell game than what we see now with Conviction, Blacklist and to a certain degree even Double Agent.  The non-lethal, super secret spy stuff was really pushed hard and a lot of it was lost after this game.  You had to really try levels over and over to make you weren't detected and a lot of features were just completely discarded after Chaos Theory.  Ambient light and sounds levels were more important to keep track of, in order to stay hidden.  Lockpicking was actually a thing you had to do and your weapons were much different.  Unlike Conviction and Double Agent, you had one weapon, the SC20, which was a multi-purpose rifle capable of firing non-lethal rounds as well as distraction tools and sticky cameras.  Ammo was very limited and you really had to make sure not to waste anything.  Plus, Sam Fisher had some great moves that included preforming the splits between two walls in a hallway to hide near the ceiling, where he could then drop down and incapacitate the enemy.  It was practically a signature Sam Fisher move that I'm surprised hasn't returned it the most recent games.

     I'm pretty sure when most people remember Splinter Cell they remember Chaos Theory.  It was easily the most popular and best representative of the series.  It also featured the most recognizable and unique soundtrack composed by Amon Tobin, one which I was lucky enough to have purchased on vinyl.  If anyone reading this has never played a Splinter Cell game and wants to give it a go, I'd say this is definitely the one to start with, especially since it's available in HD for most current platforms.  

The insert poster included with Amon Tobin's Chaos Theory soundtrack.