An overall fun stealth game, but lacks what made Metal Gear Solid games so great.
You take on the role of Sam Fisher, a gruff man of few words and fights alone. Except there won't be much fighting here so if you're a fan of Rainbow Six than this may not be your type of game. You do kill, but the point is stealth so a lot of times you can't just kill someone. You'll have to kill them, then find somewhere to hide their body so it won't be found. Everything is very realistic and complex.
There are plenty of cool gadgets like an action film would have. All those cool stealth gadgets you've seen in the movies are probably all here. There are only two guns in the game. An assault rifle and a pistol. You'll use the pistol most. The game goes by missions so it's not all set up and for exploring like in Metal Gear Solid.
Sam Fisher can do some pretty sweet moves. One of my favorites is in which he jumps up, then contracts his legs on an upper wall to stay between the walls. You can only do it on narrow passageways, but it's a great way to use stealth, as after an enemy passes under you, you jump down and get him in a chokehold.
Speaking of chokeholds, Sam Fisher can use enemies as body shields if they are not willing to cooperate with you, or you could point a gun to there head. You can shoot them or knock them out, it's all your choice.
As for the games difficulty, it is not a long game by any means but a very tough one especially for newcomers. Even if you're a MGS veteran, Splinter Cell is like a whole different game abd you won't be able to fly right threw it without a little trouble. A lot of moments are try-and-die situations and you're health bar may look long but trust me, it won't last long. Only a couple of enemy fire will knock you dead and there are not very many health packs in the game so use our items wisely and stay well hidden.
The storyline is your basic stealth plot. A one-man army invades the enemy's embassy, base, facility, etc. and stops the terrorists and saves the world. In Splinter Cell you are going against Russians and the Chinese to stop the terrorists and save the United States. Why is it always Russia or China? Now I'm not Russian or Chinese but if I was, I would get tired of playing games where I shoot my own type. The game is explained in pretty short cutscenes, and the storyline is just not as good as Metal Gear Solid's.
The graphics are nearly photo realistic but they have a small fistfull of flaws. The game is very, very dark preferably because it is a stealth game, but you'll probably want to raise the brightness on your television screen or else you'll have a tough time seeing. Apart from that, the character models were done well and the maps look spectacular and full of design.
The sound, well for the foreign characters can sound artificial, I think they should've just spoke their native language, except with subtitles. It would have sounded more original and real. As for the American characters, they have excellent voice work and the music and sound effects are nothing short of wonderful.
Right now Splinter Cell is at a budget price of $4.99 used and $14.99 new. I saw it is diffenetely worth your money, but it is going to be a tough game. If you're a big MGS fan than don't hesitate, buy this game. The gameplay falls short of perfection, but is good. Overall, it's a worthy game.