An enjoyable game, but we should expect more from Ubi Soft.
Graphics: The visuals are nice. Nothing more. After the visuals of Daxter and Syphon Filter, it's hard to look at the grainy graphics and say "Wow!". However, you can shoot out lights and the enviorments look passable.
Sound: The sound is one of the better aspects in this game. Except for the problems with it cutting out or skipping, the ACTUAL sound is good. Michael Ironside is there, Lambert is there, everyone is there. Also, the "danger tunes" as I call them (when you are sighted) is there as well, and it all sounds good.
Gameplay: Obviously the most important aspect. Essentials is "meh". The problem everyone has with the camera is hyped-up too much, in my opinion. The camera works fine, most of the time. Also, the cool close-combat moves from Chaos Theory are all there. The most notable thing in terms of gameplay is the ability to save any time you want, a welcome addition to the portability. But that will be covered later. The overall controls take a little time, but once you do, they are fine. Also, the loading times are fairly long, so be patient.
Story: The story is not particulary good. It's made up of flashbacks of Fisher's past as he is being interrogated by the government. Fisher is being framed for doing something or other. I don't really know, I'm just going to wait for Double Agent to sort it all out.
Portability: All of the missions are long, just like the consoles, but you can save any time. This makes the play sessions as long or as short as you want, which is pretty cool.
Polish: The folks at Ubi Soft are always good at polishing their games. They failed this time. You will constantly see Fisher moving his head through walls, the music cutting out, and other problems that most definitly should not be there. All point to a release date that was simply too soon. A major shame.
Comparisons: There are two major games that I want to compare Essentials to, as I think it's unfair to Essentials.
-Splinter Cell: Essentials to Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Essentials is nothing like Dark Mirror! (I own both, so don't say I don't know what I'm talking about) I constantly hear people saying "Just buy Syphon Filter, it's better!", and it is unfair to compare the two. While they are both stealth-action games, Syphon Filter should be an action-and-a- little- stealth-added-for-good-measure-game. Splinter Cell is much more slow and strategic, and a little more trial-and-error.
-Splinter Cell: Essentials to Splinter Cell DS
Splinter Cell DS was some kind of sick joke from the boys at Ubi Soft. I hope. That game was ghastly. I'm serious. Just look at my review to see much how I hated it. Essentials is much better. (How can it not be!!) Just let Splinter Cell DS drop from your memory. It's better that way.
Overall: Splinter Cell: Essentials seems to be a great game, if it were given a couple more months of development. As it stands, it is simply a promising preview of what a true PSP Splinter Cell game can be. In the end, it's like trying to eat a crab. There is some goodness to be had, but the effort it takes to find it makes it seem lacking.
*Disclaimer*: I am a huge fan of the Splinter Cell series. I like it more then Syphon Filter, and I definitly like it better then the Metal Gear franchise. (Blasphemy, I know!) The storylines are rooted in real life, not some cliched story where there are hot women who want you in every single mission. And that's what I like. Sorry to any Metal Gear fans. (The mere 5 trillion of you) So, due to the fact that I like it so much, my score is going to be higher then someone that is a casual fan, so take that into consideration.