” Hide and Seek : Elite” could, and perhaps should, have been the honest strap line for the follow up to UBISOFT’s popular Splinter Cell. It wasn’t, which is hardly surprising with this being part of the Tom Clancy franchise. Instead, the law of naming a Tom Clancy game continues, select two words, add a pretty typeface a voila: Pandora Tomorrow is born.

It wasn't always called Pandora Tomorrow though, when GhostRecon.net exclusively revealed in April 2003 that a Splinter Cell sequel was in development, the title at that time was Shadow Strike. Check your firewall logs after playing Pandora Tomorrow online and you'll see Shadow Strike listed!

What has remained the same, is that you still play Sam Fisher, who remains a member of the ultra secretive National Security Agency project Third Echelon. The missions and challenges are similar to the first, stay in the shadows, keep away from other people (and if you can’t keep away from them kill them silently and hide their bodies in the dark), meet the objectives, get to the end. Although much was made by Ubi Soft of the less linear nature to the gameplay, it isn’t really noticed that much.

Take the train level (which is also in the demo), you either choose to go outside the train, or inside. You still end up at the same point, and ready to overhear a specific conversation. There is no real dynamic nature to the game.

On one level you must follow a terrorist leader in order to hear a phone call he makes regarding a biological weapon. Take as long as you like though, because he stops at every other corner and waits for you. While this means you won’t have to replay the mission many, many times in order to learn the correct route to take it also serves as a reminder that this is just a video game. Much like some of the level design. Although Sam has a veritable monkey’s collection of movements in order to get in, and out, of tight spots, time and again you find you can’t jump a 2 foot fence, or a narrow hedge. There are a few new moves to enjoy however, as Sam has learned some new tricks since the original game. The animation is a smooth and convincing as before, nice stuff.

What’s changed then apart from a few new moves? Not a lot to honest. There are a few different animations for removing people. Same gun turrets, same retinal scanners, same excellent voice actors, and the same enemies reacting to the slightest movements. Draw them away from their usual walkways and silently hit them on the head with the butt of your 9mm and move onto the next.

While on the subject on weapons, the arsenal at your disposal has had the minor addition of flash bangs and you can now whistle to gain the enemy’s attention.

The lighting on the levels remains as amazing as the first. Water, fire, and spot lights are all tackled with the same striking detail of the first installment. But therein lies a problem, the original Splinter Cell is over a year old and we see little improvement (and perhaps a small step back: the Sam’s shadow (on my computer) are so pixilated it looks like Manic Miner This may be a bug regarding ATI Radeon cards and may not affect all users).

There are some nice touches thrown in around the levels. On one level a lightning storm is liable to reveal your location as the lightening cracks overhead, on the other hand the accompanying thunder masks the noise of your footsteps to assist with the all important stealth.

The game could easily have been an expansion pack as opposed to a sequel. So why wasn’t it? The only one reason as far as I can see, and that was the introduction of the multiplayer aspect. A surprising addition, and not one many would have expected due to the 3rd person nature of the game.

In multiplayer, one team play as spies, the other as mercenaries. Each side boast their own skills, with the spies able to use thermal and night vision, and the mercenaries having “movement” and electro magnetic field vision. The movement vision highlights any sensed movement in the field of view the EMF view highlights electric devices and traps that the spies have placed. Each side also have their own unique weapons, the spies to maintain their stealth approaches and the mercenaries’ to eliminate the spies.

Somehow the graphics look different online, and this plays a large part in the actual gameplay. For example the shadows are much darker, which requires the use of night vision or infra red rather than monitor adjustments in order to reveal hiding enemies! The infra red in particular is much more appealing online, and a cool gadget to use.

The development team have managed to get a nice balance in the online game, with the Mercenaries and the spies evenly pitched by restricting which gadgets and weapons each side has available to them. Team play definitely comes to the fore, if you want to win over your opponents, you will have to work together. So, if you were wondering how they could turn Splinter Cell into a multiplayer game, relax, they have pulled it off, and it is great.

Pros:

• Still a good looking game
• Multiplayer aspect
• Lot of fun with a good replayability value
• Amazing intro video

Cons:

• Linear in the most part
• Not a huge leap forward.
• Occasionally irritating.

By MagnumKP