The Soho Hotel on a cold, windy Wednesday afternoon was a welcome refuge for the two young gamers (one of whom claimed to be a journalist) seeking warmth and shelter from the bustling streets of London. Thankfully, we did have an excuse to be there – Ubisoft had kindly invited us down for a presentation of the upcoming Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory – and being keen fans of the critically acclaimed franchise, we quickly headed down the stairs to meet the Ubisoft representatives.
After a brief yet friendly welcome, we were led over to Crimson Bar, where we were told that we could help ourselves to complimentary food and drinks (no alcohol, mind – being minors and all), and have a go at the very first level of the near-completed game before the official demonstration began. Clutching our Coca Colas, we headed straight over to the demo pod and began playtesting the game for the very first time. The opening level saw our man Sam on a dark beach, with our mission being to crawl up through the caves and ruins that lay ahead while taking out some very nasty men with guns who had set up camp near by – terrorists, I believe they’re called.
The changes to the game’s visuals are subtle, yet significant. You won’t glance at the screen and be transfixed in awe, but the game constantly surprises you with new graphical tricks and effects. As you play though the level, you’ll gradually notice the level of detail that has been put into this game, and we were constantly impressed by the shadows and lighting effects, the highly detailed walls and environmental features, the superb water effects – make no mistake, this is one of the best looking games on the Xbox, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Like Mr Fisher himself, the ‘wow’ factor that the game’s visuals hold will slowly sneak up on you and take you by surprise. It won’t be until a few minutes in before you notice something and think, ‘Hey, that’s really quite impressive’.
Another noticeable improvement was the rendering of Sam himself – not only is there a great deal more detail to the character, but instead of ‘sliding’ up stairs and touching the air just in front of a light switch, he physically interacts with the environment a lot more realistically than before. Upon randomly fiddling with the D-pad, we discovered that Sam now has a new vision mode – EMF, or electro-magnetic field. This was originally used by the Mercenaries in Pandora Tomorrow’s multiplayer modes, but we were told that Ubisoft Montreal liked the feature so much that they sneaked it into the single player of Chaos Theory.
Many of Sam’s gadgets have been improved significantly – for example, the Sticky Camera now has a great deal more use to it than the previous games. Not only can you fire the camera and move away, accessing it any time with a tap on the D-pad, but you can fire more than one camera and switch between them at will. Your pistol is now equipped with an OCP pulse to allow you to make electrical equipment temporarily malfunction – and to cap it all, Sam’s SC-20K now has added attachments for sniping, forearm grip and shotgun – the latter being particularly interesting, as it’s an indicator of the true freedom that this game offers when it comes to the main missions. While enemies can take you down in just a few bullets, the stealth option is no longer required when it comes to the gameplay. You don’t have to pick locks anymore, you can break them. You don’t have to silently take down your foes, you can stab them. And yes – no need for pistols, the shotgun attachment is all you’ll ever need for a quick ‘clear-out’. And no need to fear the once-frustrating ‘Game Over’ when the alarm sounds either – you can now have as many warnings as you like, though you run the risk of your foes becoming both more alert and both more heavily armed and protected.
However, Splinter Cell was never about going in full-steam and murdering all your foes without a second thought. Like the Hitman games, that option is now available - but if you choose it, you’re more likely to end up in the gutter with a bullet through your skull. Stealth is still the key to victory here, with plenty more acrobatic moves and stealth kills available to the player as you progress. The knife (which is a pleasure to, ah, gut your opponents with, and is also used to break locks and so forth) really does persuade the player to move as close to enemy soldiers as possible before using it, and the game constantly presents you with new options and new ways to show off your fancy array of moves. What we particularly enjoyed was the opportunity to slice through the side of a tent with the knife, sneak in, stab the unwitting officer inside, and then drag him back through the hole we made a split second before his companion steps in to check on him. Genius. While it’s wise to play through the levels as stealthily as possible, it was reassuring to know that, if we messed up, not all hope was lost.
After the rest of the games journalists had made their way in (including, strangely, some man reporting on behalf of Teletext), we were invited into the screening room where we could sit in some (extremely comfortable) chairs and watch one of the game’s level designers, named Pierre, demonstrate the game to us. Taking us through the level we had played on the demo pod in the bar, he told us many other useful tidbits about the single player mode, including the inclusion of a score system at the end of each level, and the lack of FMV at important moments – the player remains in control at all times. He also told us that each of the fourteen levels took eight months to complete with a three-man team – and the effort they put in truly shows in the excellent level design. Pleasingly, he then demonstrated the co-operative levels with one of Ubisoft’s PR reps, showing us the repertoire of moves available to be used while working as a team. The co-op missions are very similar to the single-player ones and tie in with the main plot, but add a multiplayer twist with a brilliant emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. The levels were brilliantly designed and reflected the nature of co-operation required.
After the pair had finished the excellent demonstration, we were informed of a tournament that our hosts had organised for this very day, with the objective being to work in a co-op team and kill as many opponents as possible with a time limit. Stealth kills, no less – gunshots didn’t count. The prizes? Five hundred pounds for first place, ₤250 for second and third. Of course, materialistic as we are, we Gaming Headlines representatives immediately signed up together under the team name ‘Team Anything’ (okay, we were stuck for a name!) and eagerly watched our opponents play, waiting for our turn. As the fifth and final team to enter, we spent some time practising our stealth kills on the single player, chatting to the various faces at the bar, sipping our Cokes while envying those with a cleverly named ‘Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Cocktail’ that was made especially for the event.
When our turn finally came round to earn the most kills while working together, we took our places, picked up the controllers and began the level. The advantages of going last were the fact we were able to watch our opponents and see where the enemies lie, as well as where they made their mistakes. Beginning the level outside a mansion, we dispatched the three guards on the lawn quickly and efficiently, and helped each other up a ledge and onto a high window on the next floor up. With a score of eight kills to beat in order to stand a chance of winning all of that lovely cash, we took a route that all of the previous teams had ignored, and found a pair of guards which we crept up behind before quickly slashing with the knife. Working our way around the mansion speedily and, yes, skilfully, we took out the remaining guards (one excellent moment was when we sneaked around a sofa where two guards sat watching television and slit their necks at exactly the same time) and ended our ten minutes with a grand total of ten kills – securing us second and first place. The honour of first was to be decided by a similar match to the one before, but working separately instead of in a team – needless to say, this writer won that particular match with a three-nil defeat of his companion, but the pair had agreed beforehand to split any prize money in case of victory.
With a grand total of (we kid you not) ₤750 to share between us, we slid the winning cheques into our pockets and made our goodbyes to the exceedingly friendly PR staff from Ubi Soft (as well as complimenting Ubisoft Montreal’s Pierre on an excellent game) before making our way back the way we came into the dark and (still) cold streets of London. All in all, it was a fantastic day to be a part of (particularly when we won the tournament!) and we’re pleased to say that after though playtesting we cannot recommend Chaos Theory enough. It’s an absolutely brilliant game and we urge you to pick it up on release – though it’s hard to tell at this stage, we’re confident that this game could be one of the very best to hit the Xbox – make sure you pick up a copy!
We would like to thank all of the wonderful PR staff at Ubisoft for the brilliant time we had – particularly Chris Easton, without whom we would not have been able to attend.
