fter only his first title, Sam Fisher became an instant video game superstar. The original Splinter Cell brought the stealth/action genre to the forefront of gaming and became the template for dozens of knockoffs. Well, those imitators are now going to have to work even harder, because Sam’s second mission, Pandora Tomorrow, raises the stealth/action bar even higher.
In terms of gameplay mechanics, little has outright changed, but much has been improved. Sam now sports more precise aiming, a handful of additional moves, and a few new gadgets. The enemy AI has also been tweaked, as has the relentless difficulty level. The result is not a quantum leap in gameplay or graphics, just a smoother and more refined play experience. Pandora Tomorrow is a sequel in a more traditional movie sense: The basic setup and characters remain the same, but the story has changed.
As with the original, Pandora Tomorrow places a heavy emphasis on the plot. Without giving too much away, Sam is charged with tracking down a charismatic Indonesian terrorist with a sinister anti-American agenda. Like a Robert Ludlum thriller, the story is dark, intelligent, and mature. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and Sam is easily the most complex character in gaming. This is undoubtedly video game storytelling at its finest.
Sam’s mission takes him to a variety of stunning locations. Over the course of the story, Sam must brave the jungles of Indonesia, pull himself along the bottom of a speeding train, climb an elevator shaft, and creep through the freezers of a cryogenics lab. Of course, he faces well-armed thugs everywhere he turns. It’s these innovative action sequences that make the single-player quest so compelling.
While the story mode is brilliant in its own right, Pandora Tomorrow’s real innovation comes in the form of its multiplayer mode. Cleverly tying into the main story, multiplayer pits teams of spies and mercenaries against each other. The spies play in third-person like Sam, while the mercs use the traditional first-person view. Using stealth as their main weapon, the spies (a.k.a. Shadow Nets) must sneak past the mercs to their objectives. This truly unique multiplayer mode features a fantastic control scheme for both teams, absolutely addictive gameplay, and graphics that are every bit as gorgeous as the single-player mode.
The original Splinter Cell is still one of the most visually impressive console games ever, and Pandora Tomorrow is even prettier. Character models have improved, and the famous shadows feel even deeper and richer, but it’s the little details that really stand out. In one level, a passing subway train blows newspapers and trash around, while in another rain pours down around you in a full-fledged thunderstorm. It is these extra touches that make Sam Fisher’s world seem like a living, breathing place. Several times during this game, I had to stop playing and drag a witness over to my desk to share the amazing sights unfolding on my screen. Other times I had to stop and praise the intelligent, surprising plot points. And others, I simply had to gloat about how many times I snapped Joe’s neck in multiplayer. This, my friends, is a game that keeps on giving.