A new venture in the Splinter Cell series that unfortunately takes a step in the wrong direction.
+ First of all there is the clear issue of the bugs and crashes. I encountered plenty while playing and it really is annoying and inexcusable. Sure, no game can be perfect but the other Splinter Cell games didn't have nearly the number of issues Double Agent had. During one mission, whenever I would try to reload a save file the entire game would crash which made it extremely to get through the level. As far as in-game issues, a lot of times NPCs would get stuck when there was nothing in their way to obstruct them. Another instance, an enemy opened a door and then a new door spawned in its place so the enemy was stuck with the walking animation and suddenly there were two doors on one hinge. Next off, you can clearly tell this was a bad port and never optimized for the PC. Often times whenever I would try to save and load a game, it would ask me five times in a row whether I wanted to save the game and I would have to click through the same exact screen over and over and finally it would randomly decide to save or load. The in-game problems of bad porting can clearly be seen in the action menu. For the other Splinter Cell games the action menu would appear as a list in the top right corner of the screen and you could easily scroll from top to bottom. Now, the action menu appears right in the middle of the screen. Not only does it take up a significant amount of space, but it is also arranged in a cross with big fat icons instead of words. It's a pain to try and maneuver and it's clumsy when you're trying to react quickly. Likewise, the inventory faces the same problem and you can tell it was optimized for a direction pad on a controller. I have no issue with ports, but if you're going to port a game from a console, at least be aware that the default input device for the PC is a keyboard/mouse and not a controller. Another huge problem involves the HUD. Chaos Theory had it perfect with the light meter and audio meter. This game? It gives you one small circle on the bottom left of the screen that can be either green, yellow, or red. It's a completely useless feature not only because the colors green and yellow are so hard to distinguish, but it gives you no indication of how stealthy you are being. Also, you basically have no health meter. A shield icon will only appear when you get injured but it gives no indication of exactly how much health you have left. But I did notice that you do have regenerative health which is completely horrible and unnecessary addition to the Splinter Cell franchise. With such an emphasis on realism, regenerative health is the worst decision for this type of game. Granted, health kits restore instant wounds aren't exactly real either but it's a lot better and easier to cope with than regenerative health. With that being said, the game itself takes a big departure from the other Splinter Cells. One noticeable difference is how a majority of your missions you play without your signature goggles (for night vision, thermal, etc). Also, a lot of the missions you play in daylight. So right off the bat you can't rely on staying in the shadows and sneaking around in night vision mode. There are also a new breed of missions when you're back at the JBA hideout where you are given a time limit and instructed to complete as many missions as you can. I was torn as to how I felt about these types of missions, but ultimately I thought that even though it fit the story and the scenario, it just didn't feel right for a Splinter Cell game. A stealth game should be about patience and caution, not about rushing around trying to complete as many missions as you can within 25 minutes. On a similar note, Double Agent features two factions (the NSA and the JBA) and each group has their own mission objectives for you to complete. A lot of the objectives are optional and completely up to your discretion whether to do or not, but they do have consequences on your trust for both factions. You must balance your trust between both factions while not giving yourself away. Besides that, the game seemed to lean more towards an action/shooter game and began to stray away from the true stealth missions that were so enjoyable in the other Splinter Cell games.
Story/Presentation: 4/5
+ Surprisingly, as much as the gameplay was one of the worst in the series, the story was in my opinion the best in the series. Which is unfortunate that they couldn't have combined both. You are once again Sam Fisher, but this time you become a double agent (hence the title) and go undercover in the John Brown's Army (JBA) to help spy for the NSA. Due to the fact that you're trying to split your loyalty and convince the JBA that you're on their side, there is a real delicate tension that is made, especially when you are forced to side with one faction or the other in high excitement situations. At times it seems like the story jumps around a little, and the start of the game feels rushed. Also, the end game ends way too quickly after you've completed the last mission and it doesn't give you a good cutscene or anything to let you know how everything concluded which is disappointing.
Graphics: 4/5
+ One constant in the Splinter Cell series is the graphics. They always get just a little better, and this game is no exception. One thing to note: it is a little weird to see Sam Fisher with a shaved head.
Value: 2/5
+ I managed to finish the game in less than 10 hours, which is the shortest of all the Splinter Cell games I've played. Also, of those 10 hours a lot of it was spent trying to work around crashes. Also, a significant amount of time was spent replaying certain sections that were unclear or broken. So really the actual game time is significant less. It's just another reason this game was real disappointing, especially since I thought Chaos Theory reached a real high in the series. If you really like Splinter Cell games go ahead and give this a shot just to stay in the lore. But it strays too far from the proven formula of the other games and is riddled with bugs, crashes, and poor design.