Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

THE BAD:
"What happened to the light?"
"Somebody broke the light!"
"Who shot the light?"
"That light wasn't turned off"

These phrases are repeatedly said at LEAST a hundred times throughout the game by the otherwise clever guards. It's nice shooting them before they finish the sentence...hee hee....

"Who broke the *Aaaah*" *he he he*

SUMMARY:
There's nothing much I need to say, this is the most immersive sneak-em-up game out there, and completely kicks MGS's ass out of the competition. The satisfaction from getting sensitive information from a guard and immediately stabbing him in the back seconds after is so cool. I am now crouching in dark corners of my house and waiting for when I find out what's for dinner from interrogating a...suspect...

Anyways, you have to get this game if you don't have it. Oh, and co-op is bril too, apart from the homo-erotica moves...

THE BAD:
-Live Co-op lag
-Lots of collision issues (one object goes through another when its not supposed to)
-AI is somewhat flaky at times
-Secondary and Opporitunity objectives can be almost too tough to complete
-Versus mode is a little Merc-favorable

SUMMARY:
ok, i'll just start with the bad and get it out of the way, then i point out the finer parts of each mode

Solo: biggest problem with the solo mode has to be the horrible collision issues. bodies don't stack properly, people slide through chairs... the list goes on. second biggest flaw is the semi-flaky AI. while its usualy fairly intelligent, the AI seems somewhat incomplete for certain situations. example: i was hiding in a corner that was kindof well lit, but not quite enough for me to be immediately noticable. a guard walked in the room, and tried to decide if he saw me for about 5 minutes. he just stood there panicing and trying to decide if i was a person or just a figment of his imagination.

otherwise, the graphics, sound, physics, story, fun factor, gameplay, and fast-stealth pace all combine to make one of the best games on Xbox

co-op: fun, but has lag like no other. all of the issues that appear in solo mode are still present, only with a lot more lag. system link and split-screen co-op aren't too bad though.

same goods that apply to the Solo mode also apply here, but twice as good due to the fact you can play through a seperate co-op campaign with a buddy.

Versus: a lot of physics and animation problems here, but they are actually quite understandable (it helps reduce lag), and don't really take away from the overall effect. my biggest gripe however, is how much the game leans in favor of the mercs. they have access to so many lethal tools and weapons, while the Spies have to rely on nothing but stealth, a non-leathal shocker gun, and some flashbangs. its highly recomended that spies are given a slight life advantage to cover for the balance issues. also, the 2-on-2 games can get a little boring on larger levels, such as the Missle Silo.

but, once you set that all aside, you have a very fun, very innovative online game with killing, electrocution, and explosions.

overall: just go get it. if you've been a fan of the first two games, then Chaos Theory is a must have.

THE BAD:
The bad part is: You can`t really find your objectives well. Its hard to complete the frusterating and annoying goals.

SUMMARY:
But overall this is an intense, frightening, and action-packed stealth game. It makes infiltration, hacking, killing, destroying,etc. etc. very fun and real! Hanging from a pipe and grabbing someone from their tracks is awesome. Or the lighthouse part: you are hanging from a ledge waiting for the enemy to walk right above you, and snatch him from out of nowhere and throw him to the rocks below. Or bashing a door when an enemy is right behind it. Don`t forget coming up behind him and snatching him, you have the options to interrogate him, suffacate him, or knocking him out by melee-ing him the back of the head. But the best part is jumping up in a narrow space and dropping when the enemy is below you. The hi-tech gear you have makes your job seem easier. The SC-20K can have sticky camera attatchments,shockers, shotgun, sniper rifle, airfoil rounds, and of course, armor piercin bullets. The pistol is silenced, and can mess with electronic devices so you can pass by.
All in all, this game truly deserves best score ever by IGN, Gamespot, and a bunch of other magazine and/or internet companies!!

THE BAD:
New online levels
Bad co op Lag
Too many old man jokes for Sam, makes me feel like his time is up and we'll never see him again.

SUMMARY:
Graphics are the best for any Xbox game.

Sound has some flaws but overall good.

The story is typically Tom Clancy save the world type lines, where the US faces some major crisis and they save the day. Doug Shetland turns evil in this game which is a good twist.

New stuff added is quite large. New sniper, shotgun and foregrip attatchments which can replace the regular launcher on Sams SK220 are a nice touch. Sam can use frag grenades, flashes and smoke as well as mines that are used against enemies. Sam can also hack into computers using his binoculars, as well as a new stealth move that allows Sam to turn lights off temporarily using only his pistol, where you pull the left trigger instead of firing the gun, this also works on cameras and turrets. A new sound sensor near your visibility meter has a good new touch to it. You can now see along the meter what the maximum allowed noise for a certain area is, which is highlighted with a small tick along the horizontal meter. This changes depending on the amount of noise in the certain area you are in. For example, on the cargo ship with the high winds and splashing water, you can run around quite easily without anyone hearing you, but in a small quiet room you must move very slowly to avoid detection. New online stuff is a camera on the mercs arm that allows them to look in any camera on a level, they can use sub machine guns and shotguns or assult rifles, they have new poison mines that poison a spy and they dont make beeping noises like wall mines, new types of spy traps, a backpack that stores extra mines, ammo and spy traps and grenades, as well as a new spin around move that knocks any spies near them down. Spies have new heartbeat sensor, full body cloak that renders them invisible, as well as some new co operative moves like helping each other up into high spots in versus mode.

Gameplay: hasnt changed a hell of alot, sam moves much more smooth however and its easier to hide from enemies. The use of light and shadow in the game has gotten much more dull. A room that looks like its lit up shows you as in total darkness, and the darkest place in the whole game doesnt look very dark at all. The night vision is no longer black and white, its a faded green, which makes it more realistic. Sam can now use Electromagnetic view during gameplay to see electronics like cameras and turrets much easier.

AI: has some minor issues on normal mode, which sometimes gets you worked up as in "how in the hell can he not see me"? But this contradicts itself at times by getting you screaming "How the hell could he see me I wasn't even moving or near him".

Online has some really crappy new levels, and some "new additions" to a few old levels like warehouse, museum, rivermall, bank, and deftec belew. In all actuality, there are no new additions other than a barrel missing here or a new box there. In Co op mode, you must work together literally to accomplish totally different missions as agnt one and agent two. These missions are parallel to the solo missions sam does, where some of the stuff you accomplish achieve goals that coinsight with the main story that Sam is in. For example, In the solo mission Sam catches a guard patrolling the grounds asking where they took the chinese leader, and Lambert patches sam into agent one because in the co op missions you are looking for that chinese leader. Now if you play Co op, you will be controlling agent one (host) and you will hear this cutscene while looking for the chinese leader. A pretty neat idea. You can do new co op moves together like a human ladder, boost your partner up, stand on partners shoulders, rapel one another down a wall etc....Problem is with co op is the lag that EVERYONE gets. No matter what your connection speed is, you will get lag, terribly, when an enemy appears on either users screen, most of the time.

This game gets 5/5 because it is amazing for solo and awsome for versus mode. Co op will most likely be patched up in the near future.

THE BAD:
LAG!!!!! Lag is HORRIBLE for EVERYONE in Co-op. Everyone I've played with, eveen the ones with 3/3 stars for connection have had lag issues when an enemy appears on the screen or in a crowded area or when too much action is going on. This happens to EVERYONE, no escaping it. However these problems always get fixed when downloadable patches come out.

Besides this the only other bad part is the "new additions". We got a few funky gadgets online like Full Body Cloak, which makes a spy totally invisible. Heartbeat sensors, camera networking for mercs, shotguns and submachine guns and poison mines. However, there are a few old levels from Pandora that make their return saying "New Editions"....That is the biggest bullshit ive ever heard. Anyone mind showing me the new editions in the bank? Cuz after weeks of playing this game i have yet to see anything new except the new looking med kits and hacking buttons. This goes for all the returning levels.

New levels? Yep they go them for Versus mode, but theyre crap. Boring layouts and no fun at all playing them, complete crap. Orphanage is the only new level i will ever play only because i like ringing the front doorbell as a spy then running away.

Took out the wall jump

SUMMARY:
This game is totally fun, the co op missions are amazing except for the lag, but rather short, only 4 missions plus a training level, but you can play with one other friend through a whole new, but like i said, short game.

The solo missions are the best yet. Anyone will love sneaking around downtown manhatten and going along rooftops. New infared cameras that can see in the dark, much improved AI, and multiple paths make your experience worth playing again and challenging. The levels are well designed and allow you to play out the level however you want, and pretty much move around and to where you need or want to go pretty much any way you want.

The story line, unlike what the other half ass reviewers stated, is actually quite interesting. We learn a bit of Sams and Grimsdotirs past during the Panama bank level from when they were there last in 89', and the characters play out very well.

Graphics are the best in any game i've ever seen.

ONLINE: Co op is real fun, and Vs mode is pretty much the same with a Shaq handful of new features. The new levels as i said are nothing spectacular and felt as if they shouldn't have been completed yet. A dumb move by Ubi: You CANNOT invite your friends into a ranking game...WTF! Repeat: no invites can be sent during ranking play. ALSO, you cannot change a free game into a ranking game when you are in the pre game lobby as the host....my god what were they thinking when they tried to keep us from out online friends during ranking play, seems like they go out of their way to be assholes. In co op you are put in as agent 1 and agent 2, one with blue lights and one with red lights. They speak very little and think they are the first splinter cells to exist. They are directed by lambert and their missions are actually in someways mixed in with sams missions. agecnt one actually speaks to Sam at one point throughout co op to get some information, but are not aware he is another splinter cell. In a way, the missions sam does help agents one and two, and the Co op missions that Agent one and two do help Sam in some ways. It's quite a brilliant idea as long as the Lag could go away in the next patch.

This game is definately worth buying if you love Tom Clancy games and definately has the in your face warzone type danger feel any other Clancy game does.

BUY IT!!!

4.8/5 for sure.....missing .2 for lag in Co op.