Splinter Cell 3D – Review

Sam Fisher is back, and this time over in the Korean enemy lines. The game puts you straight into the hands of a gun or your fists to snap those necks of those who are bad. Nintendo for the first time has Sam Fisher in there hands, literally.  The title is basically a 3D version of the title Chaos Theory. Of course there is a few interesting differences, the main one being the stereoscopic 3D aspect.

Story

It’s now time to take Sam Fisher to the action in East Asia, during the Summer of 2007. It is now down you to trail a high profile computer programmer which is known to be connected to the war. Japan, China, South Korea and North Korea are having a bit of friction with each another due to some information being leaked by Japans lack to keep their Self Defence Force information hidden.

 

Gameplay

For those who may have ventured on to the Xbox 360 release of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction may notice that this title has gone a similar root, though it has improved on some of the bits the Xbox 360 version didn’t. Players will come to notice the controls are pretty hard to master but will become easier as you progress. To look around your surroundings you will have to come to grips with using the XLBY buttons. X to move forward, B to move back as Y and A are used to look left and right. Sadly, it is very clunky and is very frustrating and slows the flow of the game down a bit to much. This is where a second Circle Pad would of game in handle. There are a few obstacles that will come to frustrate some players dude to the controls and will find it very awkward to perform certain movements. There is moments where you will find your self needing to jump up to grab onto a zip-line with the use of the D-pad, or hide behind a wall with also the use of the D-pad. These controls work quiet well but isn’t balanced enough to give a perfect experience. A few added additional features have been added to the title to its Chaos Theory predecessor. A light meter which will indicate the amount of light is upon Sam, meaning you will be more noticeable to enemies. A source of feedback which is essential on completing your mission and also a sound meter which lets you know how loud your murderous slaying/ bashing doors down alerts them, but only happens when you are near guards. There has also been a added whistle command and an inverted neck snap to use at your disposal, but due to the clunky controls it can find you your early death. The aiming isn’t perfect either and I have actually come across many moments where I have shot an enemy and they haven’t died. Sadly the 3D port doesn’t match up to the big screen Chaos Theory that we experienced on the Gamecube, Xbox and PS2.

 

Design

The design is where Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D stands out compared to the other 3DS launch titles. The visual effect of projecting objectives onto the environment is a nice touch, and works brilliant in 3D. With the 3D effect you really do feel like you are sneaking around taking down enemies, except no on will ever be as cool as Sam Fisher.  Even though the gameplay is a bit tricky, the visual effects is where the game comes to life, even in 2D it looks outstanding. There are a lot of nice design features in the game and I have no flaws to the design it self, other than it’s N64 like enemies. If you have ever wanted to be like Sam Fisher then the stereoscopic 3D is where it is at.  It’s just a shame the gameplay lets it down so much.

 

Overall

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D is a nice looking title, probably the best on the market at the moment with SSFIV on the 3DS. It is a shame as the game would of probably been much better than I expected if the controls were a bit better as the design of the game is beautiful. The also lack of multiplayer/StreetPass functions really is a shame as it would of been great doing missions online with a friend or random player.  For those who haven’t played any Tom Clancy Splinter Cell titles, this would be a great start as the experience could be seen as an enjoyable one. But for the diehard fans you may be left a little disappointed.

The Good

• Brilliant use of 3D
• Good Storyline
• Interesting gameplay
• Great design

The Bad

• Controls will take a bit long to get use to
• A few bugs in places which can get annoying