One of the most annoying things in gaming is when untalented developers latch onto the latest fad and put it anywhere in their game, even if it’s totally inappropriate (want to skulk in the shadows during Tetris?). Stealth is the latest to catch the ebb of the ‘me too!’ tide and that’s why we were a bit apprehensive when Pandora Tomorrow went through our letterbox. We know the first one was pretty good but is ANOTHER stealth title something we can stomach? After beating it though, we can say we were wrong - this is excellent. Still doesn’t endear us to Tom Clancy though, the fat goon. Take the first level, which turns the whole genre on its head. You see some spotlights beaming down onto the courtyard and sigh to yourself, “Surprise surprise, dodge the lights, yadda yadda”. Then you have Dennis Haysbert, President Palmer in 24, playing Lambert barking orders in your ear - how cool is that?! Though here comes the twist - you have to stay IN the spotlights. What madness is this? Simple, by standing in the light the guy with night-vision whose overseeing the courtyard won’t see you. Genius, utter genius. This is a very clever game, offering all sorts of fresh ideas to an increasingly stale genre. A lot of people have moaned that this doesn’t make enough improvements on Splinter Cell but that is, to be frank, rubbish. After revisiting the original it felt quite horrible. The controls in Pandora Tomorrow are a lot more intuitive, everything is natural and feels like where it should be. For instance, you back yourself up against a wall by clicking the left thumbstick but in the original you had to press the black button - eh? Graphically it takes everything to an even higher level. Yeah, there seems to be a best-looking-game-ever every other week but this really is something special. The environments are incredibly detailed and atmospheric, ranging from the dank sewers of Paris to the luscious jungles of Indonesia via a train level which thrills with speed and tension - one of the best set-pieces of any video game yet. The presentation is something truly to be admired and it has a cinematic feel to the game, with an intriguing story, intricate news reports and the voice of Michael Ironside all contributing to the impressive nature of the game. It exudes talent and style from every pore, though it has the substance to back it up. If you missed out on the original Splinter Cell, you probably think this’ll provide an experience akin to Metal Gear Solid. You’d be wrong, as this offers a more hardcore approach - not necessarily better but different. There’s a greater reliance on patience and using the shadows. You could go round methodically shooting out lightbulbs, switching to the gorgeous thermal vision before creeping up and bludgeoning a guard. Usually going out all guns blazing will see you twitching in a pool of blood and spent bullets in seconds, so you’ll need to think before you act. Making use of your gadgets, such as the optic cable, will give you the upper hand - and make you feel cool too. Bond has nothing on Sam Fisher. But a word of warning - it’s hard but never unfairly so. Making one or two mistakes will often cause death or raised alarms, meaning you’ll have to restart from the last checkpoint, which are at times spread thinly. Often it will be your fault and you’ll know what you did wrong. Sometimes you can be unfairly caught out by an alarm but this only occurs on rare occasions. It can still be damn hard though to pull it off but practice makes perfect and you really shouldn’t be put off by it. One of our favourite elements about Pandora Tomorrow is the shift to a slightly less linear format. As the player you’re now presented with a far greater choice than before while sticking to roughly the same route. For instance, you could blow out the bulbs before laying siege to your bewildered enemies or you could climb up the pipe and avoid them all. Maybe you even want to cull them, hanging upside down from the pipe? Even the train, the most linear level of all, offers multiple choices, so you could go through the carriage or along the outside of the train. This even extends to the morals of your mission at one point and your actions will change what occurs at the end of the level. You can’t help but admire the attempt to provide more variety - there now appears to be at least two ways to dealing with scenarios. Not convinced? Look at a few solutions on the internet and not one will be written to the exact same instructions. If they are, it’s because some cheeky get plagiarised someone else’s work. We love Pandora Tomorrow. It’s hard but fair. And once you get in to it, you won’t stop until you’ve beaten the eight levels. In fact, that is our main problem with it - it’s just a bit too short. Apparently the PS2 and GameCube versions may have an extra level and some analysis of your performance, which will be useful additions. However, we’d still plump for the Xbox version with it’s superior controls, graphics and a multiplayer mode that has been acclaimed by many (see opposite). Even if you are a trigger-happy gamer this is well worth giving a go. Games this beautiful, this gripping and this entertaining don’t come along that frequently. Maybe stealth isn’t so bad..
Other Helpful Reviews for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
splinter cell pandora tomorrow is a super stealth game. it have anything what it shut have i even better like this one then double agent. it have great missions and cut scenes and great levels my favorite is the train l... Read Full Review
As I said in my previous reviews, Halo is the game that saved the Xbox from certain death. Arguably, Splinter Cell was the game that opened a new window for Microsoft's fresh new console. The newly formed archrival to So... Read Full Review
