reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized
74 MAXIMUMPC january 2007
L
ongtime readers will know that we’re
big fans of the adventures of Sam
Fisher. There’s something eminently
satisfying about using a combination of
stealthy moves, acrobatics, and super-spy
gadgets to get into places where you’re not
supposed to be and take things you’re not
supposed to have. It’s just fun.
In Double Agent , the series’ fourth install-
ment, you go deep undercover, infiltrating a
terrorist organization. In order to maintain the
trust of both your NSA employers and the ter-
rorist leaders, you’ll need to complete objec-
tives for both organizations. Naturally, it’s notsimple. Frequently the NSA’s instructions and
the terrorists’ objectives are mutually exclu-
sive—one side might want someone killed,
while the other wants him to live. You’ll have
to find ways to keep both masters happy, or
deal with the consequences.
The scenarios you’re presented with
are by no means cut and dried; the game
puts you in situations ripped from the best
episodes of 24. You’ll be forced to decide
whether you want to sacrifice the lives of a
few innocent people in order to save thou-
sands more.
The HQ missions are another big
advancement in Double Agent. These mis-
sions take place in the terrorist HQ, and
again you’re given two sets of tasks. The
tasks, which you can complete in any order
you like, range from entertaining mini-games, to spending time at the firing range,
to collecting intel on key terrorists. The
catch is that you’re on the clock. If you don’t
complete all the assigned tasks in the pre-
scribed length of time (or if you get caught
doing something suspicious), the
terrorists won’t be happy with you.
And no one wants to have testy
terrorists after them.
The HQ missions add a ton of
replayability. There’s virtually no
chance you’ll be able to complete
all the tasks on the first go-round.
Exploring the headquarters build-
ing, discovering ways to access
the restricted areas, and collecting
complete profiles on all of the ter-
rorists presents a serious challenge.
While the single-player cam-
paign is great fun, we’re pretty
pissed about the stripped-down
multiplayer. The PC version of the game
completely lacks the co-op game that
entranced us in Chaos Theory , and the
revolutionary mercenary-vs.-spy multiplayer
that we loved in Pandora Tomorrow is a
pale shadow of its former splendor. Instead
of doing battle with oodles of high-tech
gadgets, spies are limited to one tool (and
no rifle—not even the non-lethal one from
previous installments) and mercs get noth-
ing more than their rifle and a few grenades.
Without the challenge of placing wall mines,
sensors, and other gadgets, matches where
you play as a merc get tedious quickly. We’d
be more inclined to forgive the newbtastic
changes, if they actually made the game
more accessible to newbs. Unfortunately,
the multiplayer modes still have a treacher-
ous learning curve.Ubi Shanghai did include a series of
cooperative spy-vs.-AI merc missions, but
the merc AI seems impossible to escape
when you’re spotted. Their omniscience
makes it difficult to avoid their perfect aim.
Hopefully, in the next edition of the game,
we’ll see a return to the classic merc-vs.-spy
gameplay—complete with lots of gadgets
and a more fun experience for mercs.
—Will SmithSplinter Cell:
Double Agent
Keeping two masters happy is never
simple, especially if you’re a super-spyDouble Agent presents you with a series of difficult decisions: Do you let an innocent
man live or do you kill him to gain the terrorists’ trust and save millions more lives?$50, http://www.splintercell.comsplinter cell: double agentSpying
Single-player campaign is
great. We love choosing
who lives and who dies!
SpieD on^8
Where are the kick-ass merc-vs.-
spy multiplayer, the co-op missions,
and the remappable controls?During your missions in the terrorist hQ, you have
to be careful to avoid arousing suspicion.the Ai you’ll do battle against in the
cooperative missions is insanely overpow-
ered. you should be ready to get your ass
kicked repeatedly.