Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory First Look

Sustaining a franchise is arguably one of the biggest challenges faced by game developers. Once a game makes its (hopefully positive) debut, developers must begin the struggle to successfully follow it up, with their attention being divided between satisfying existing fans, gaining new ones, and evolving the original concept. Ubisoft's Splinter Cell series is one of best examples of doing this right. The first two installments in the series, the original Splinter Cell and its follow-up, Pandora Tomorrow, are smartly crafted stealth action games that walk the fine line between old and new.

Somehow, they managed to make Sam Fisher look even badder.

The downside to this success is its tendency to create very high expectations for future installments. If there were ever a time that the Splinter Cell series could falter, it would be now, due to the high quality of its predecessors and the age of the current generation of consoles. Thankfully, Ubi's latest Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory, comes packing some stunning heat that will likely please and impress both fans and newcomers. We recently had a chance to meet with Ubi reps to receive both an update on where the game is at in development and a surprising demo of the PlayStation 2 game.

So how do you match or even surpass two top-notch offerings like Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow? If you're Ubisoft's Montreal Studio, you just channel some of the insanity that was last tapped when crafting the second game, gathering a team of more than 100 people in Montreal and calling your 50 friends in Annecy, France, to create an incredibly promising game that expands on everything cool about Splinter Cell and then some. However, since everything we've seen on the game has focused on the PC and Xbox versions, you'd think the PlayStation 2 and GameCube editions would be pretty far behind. This is actually not the case. It seems that Ubi Montreal has another team roughly as big as the PC and Xbox group hard at work on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions. Although the GameCube version wasn't on hand, the work-in-progress PlayStation 2 version of the game showed that, while the PC and Xbox games look great, the other versions won't be slouches in the graphics department either.

But before we begin extolling the virtues of what we've seen, here's a quick recap of the game's story: Chaos Theory will once again be set just a bit in the future--2007, to be exact--and will star Sam Fisher, the salty combat veteran voiced with world-weary charm by Michael Ironside. This time out, the game's story finds Sam stopping yet another globe-threatening conspiracy. Of course, things don't start out that way. Sam is initially sent out to track down an individual with sensitive information and ensure he doesn't spill the beans. But when Sam discovers that the simple algorithm he's sent to keep under wraps can be used to crash stock markets, cause blackouts, and even hijack ballistic missiles, it's on.

The story will unfold as you progress through the game's levels, which will send you on an adventure around the globe. While this may sound like the previous entries in the series, it's anything but. Chaos Theory's structure has been crafted to be nonlinear and allow you freedom to choose just how you do your job. Although you might think this means there's just a second route to your objectives, there's quite a bit more to it. Your objectives will actually shift depending on how you choose to progress through the game. Some can even be cancelled out if you choose a course of action that nullifies them, such as killing someone you were supposed to interrogate. Seeing as dead men tell no tales, in such instances you'll be forced to get your info from another location, such as computer terminal.

The specific mechanics have been fleshed out some since Pandora Tomorrow, affording you more flexibility as you sneak about. Sam's move set has been expanded considerably, offering even more ways to kill. We got a peek at a satisfying array of stealth kills performed from a pleasing variety of positions, such as hanging from a ceiling, hanging off a ledge, and the old standby of snagging someone from behind. PlayStation 2 and GameCube owners can also rejoice at their exclusive stealth move: a water stealth kill wherein Sam grabs his foe and drowns him. Besides the new death-dealing moves, Sam will also have a "shoulder switch" that will let you change which hand is holding your gun on the fly.

As before, your gadgets will play a big part in Sam Fisher's covert missions.

Sam's arsenal of weapons will vary according to how you decide to play through the game. At the start of each mission, you'll come to the new briefing screen, which will feature an assortment of talking heads that will vary per mission. Each person will offer some information on the task at hand, which should prove useful. Once you've gotten your fill of info, you'll go to a loadout screen that will let you decide what to take with you into the field. You'll have three basic configurations to choose from: stealth, assault, and Redding. The stealth package will lean more on gadgets and items to help you "ninja" your way to where you need to be. Assault leans toward ammo and firearms, as it will focus on running and gunning. Finally, Redding is the recommended assortment of weapons and gadgets as determined by William Redding, Sam's field runner. Once you've sorted your loadout, you'll be set loose for Sam's trademark sneaking and killing.