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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Review - DS

Throughout the past four years we've seen three incredibly different yet inevitably similar console games: Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, and Chaos Theory. Splinter Cell put Metal Gear Solid in it's place, making Snake look increasingly non stealthy, Pandora Tomorrow broke new graphical barriers and gameplay barriers that we had never seen before, but Chaos Theory blew the roof off our houses as we battled through some of the most amazing levels we've ever seen. Although the series has been ported to handhelds before, never have the games been 3D until now. Chaos Theory on the Nintendo DS is the first 3D Splinter Cell game that you can play wherever you want, and the fun doesn't stop there.

Gameplay

Jumping in to the game, we soon found that Chaos Theory followed the same story to the big brother versions on the Xbox, GameCube and Playstation 2. You start off in the Lighthouse mission, then progress to the Bank mission and so forth; however the levels have completely changed around. For instance, in the Bank level instead of rappelling from the middle of the roof into a center area, you rappel down a wall and deactivate the lasers by hacking a computer. There are some parts which will definitely bring back memories of the console version of the game, especially quotes from the non-playable characters, however everywhere you go and everything you do is totally different and of course seems somewhat watered down.

Only an idiot would think Chaos Theory on the DS was going to set new graphical boundaries, looking like the console versions and having uber controls. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory on the Nintendo DS is all about showing off the 3D power of the Nintendo DS, and Gameloft have done the best job that they can without copping major framerate issues. There are some minor framerate issues but only enough to be expected by the Nintendo DS. Lots of people have been complaining about how bad the framerate is, but it's really only noticeable if there's a LOT going on at once, and Gameloft have made sure that this rarely happens which sort of ruins the game a tad as it means the removal of interactive environments and multiple guards.

A lot of the cool features of Chaos Theory has been brought over from the console versions however much has been left out. You can't shoot the cameras or shoot the lights out, but instead you have to go find the computers or the switches that control them. You can interrogate some of the guards that you grab, just like in the console version, but don't expect earth-shattering character models that look like they're talking – it's the Nintendo DS, remember?

The touch screen is fully utilized with the stylus, but it does get a bit complicated at times. There are situations where you need your stylus but you also need (continued next page)