Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Solid"

Note: I base my reviews on how the game stood up to their time. For example, I don't compare PS2 games to Xbox 360 games.

Since I don't have an Xbox or a PC able to run this game, I of course got the next best thing. The PS2 version.
I have never owned an Xbox and so never got a chance to play that version of Splinter Cell. Just to let you know. I have never played the multiplayer part of the game so that part will not be reviewed.

You play as, who else, Sam Fisher who works as an agent of Third Echelon, a part of the National Security Agency or the NSA for short.

What starts out as a mission to capture a terrorist who is delaying the release of the smallpox virus by telling people "Pandora Tomorrow" on the phone later turns into a mission to stop a madman from releasing the smallpox virus into LAX airport in the US.

The game is made up of around 10 levels in which you must sneak your way through to complete various objectives. You accomplish this by using a variety of moves like grabbing people from behind and knocking them out. Or just elbowing them in the back or the face also knocking them out.
There are times in the game where you must use your little AI friends to get past retinal scanners and to obtain information by interrogation.
You can attract guards by whistling, then with their back turned you can run by or knock them out.
This is a stealth game after all so most of the time you will stick to the dark like Batman and move quietly while a nearby guard has no idea that an NSA agent is walking right behind them. It's kind of a shame that most of the game is too dark to play without turning on your night vision goggles, because the lighting effects are very well done. Sam Fishers' suit looks almost real because of the lighting effects. A good example of the graphics and the lighting can be seen in the beginning of the 2nd level when you infiltrate the cryogenics lab. You'll see when the level starts.

Each level takes place in a different location in various countries. A few levels take place in jungles in Indonesia, one in the streets of Jerusalem, two in France (one in a cryogenics lab and another on a train), and another in the LAX airport in Los Angeles.
Did I mention that you get to infiltrate the CIA?! Awesome!
Each level is detailed and requires patience to get through especially the first time through when you're totally unaware of what to expect. You will fail missions a lot. Whether it was because you got a guard's attention and got shot too many times or because you set off too many alarms. This game requires some memorization through trial-and-error which will definantly turn off some gamers. But it's because of this type of gameplay you feel as though you really accomplished something after beating a level.
Unfortunately, each level is interrupted by quite a few checkpoints and loading screens. Seriously, I'm not going to die that often. As soon as you start a level, the game asks if you want to save then starts doing the whole "please wait, checkpoint" crap. Impatient gamers might also be turned off by this. You'll get by two guards, open a couple of doors then...Checkpoint! Knock out a couple of guards, disarm a bomb...Checkpoint! Then you'll have to deal with a couple of long loading screens in each level that shows some kind of short animation along with a short summary of the mission objective. These last for a minute or so. As soon as one of these appears, you might as well put a Hot Pocket in the microwave and grab yourself a Pepsi.
Each level requires you to pay attention to your surroundings whether that involves memorizing a guard's patterns or watching out for cameras or avoiding mines using your thermal goggles.
Of course you'll get a large number of cool James Bond like gadgets to help you get past these hazards. Sorry, no laser watch included.

Empty can: throw them to distract nearby people
Lockpick: Pick open locked doors, duh
Wall mines: attach them to a wall and when a guard walks by...boom. You obtain these by disarming the ones your enemies set up.
Flares: Throw these and a guard will go to investigate. Then knock him out.

You'll also use guns. Using them is not encouraged since you should be getting by without killing anyone unless told to. You get a silenced pistol which you'll always have. You also get a SC-20K which you'll get to use in most of the missions but not all. In some missions you'll have to retrieve you SC-20K before going on with your mission. This particular weapon is special in that it can shoot things other than bullets by using the L1 button.

Airfoil rounds: Stuns an enemy. Shoot them in the head to knock them out.
Smoke Grenades: Shoots out smokes and knocks out nearby guards.
Sticky Shockers: Acts like a taser.
Cameras: Sticks to walls. Use them to look around. There is another kind of camera that can be used to attract a guard then shoot out gas to knock them out.

The enemies themselves are funny in my opinion. When you shoot out a light they're like "What the hell?" then they're like "The light broke!" No duh, Sherlock, I shot it like 2 minutes ago and now you notice? Then the guy walks off. Does he ever stop to think that maybe there's a secret agent shooting out lights just to watch you act retarded?
Or sometimes you'll make noise then a guard's like "Must've been nothing." Hello, NSA agent right here. Or in the cryogenics lab, I turned off the light and one of the guards yelled out, "Who did that?!" It's hilarious. The AI's alright. It's not bad, but they're not the best.

One thing that really bothers me is some of the voice acting. Not of Sam Fisher or anyone in the NSA. They're real good. It's that of the guards and civilians. You can be in Indonesia, France, or Israel. Everyone speaks fluent clear English. Shouldn't people in Israel speak Hebrew? I'm pretty sure people in France speak French. They should at least have an accent.

After each level you will be shown your statistics. How long it took you to beat the mission, how many people killed/knocked out, alarms triggered, bullets shot, etc. I found myself going to each level multiple times trying to beat a level as fast as possible without triggering any alarms just to look at my stats and say "Ha beat that!"

Overall, a solid game. If you can get past the long loading screens and frequent checkpoints, you'll find a great stealth/action game. You can get this game brand new at Best Buy for $10. There's no excuse to not play this game with a price like that. This game is definantly worth your time.