Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Shanghai (single player), Ubisoft Annecy (multiplayer)
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Engine	Unreal Engine 2.0
Release date(s)	Xbox March 23, 2004 March 26, 2004 April 7, 2005 PC March 23, 2004 April 2, 2004 Game Boy Advance March 24, 2004 March 26, 2004 Mobile Phone April 14, 2005 Playstation 2 June 11, 2004 June 15, 2004 April 7, 2005 Gamecube July 20, 2004 July 30, 2004
Genre(s)	Stealth-based video game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen (T) PEGI: 12+
Platform(s)	Xbox, PS2, GameCube, PC, Game Boy Advance, Mobile Phone
System requirements	1.1 Pixel Shader (Can be launched with 3D analyze)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (originally titled Shadow Strike[1]) is a third-person stealth-based video game developed and published by Ubisoft. Pandora Tomorrow is the second game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy. The game follows the covert activities of Sam Fisher, an agent working for a black-ops branch of the NSA called "Third Echelon." The character, Sam Fisher, is voiced by Michael Ironside. Dennis Haysbert, best known for his role as David Palmer on the television show 24 is the voice for the character Irving Lambert, Fisher's boss. Lalo Schifrin provides the theme music for the game. The game has been translated to several languages for international distribution.

Tagline: The new dawn of stealth action

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Multiplayer 3 Story 4 Trivia 5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The gameplay of Pandora Tomorrow is largely unchanged from the original Splinter Cell. Pandora Tomorrow features some moderate graphical improvements, as well as minor gameplay changes such as the fact that collectible health kits are no longer an inventory item, and the addition of a laser-sight to Sam's pistol that allows the player to know exactly where the rounds will strike, even when moving around. Also, Sam can now open doors while carrying a body, shoot while hanging upside down, SWAT turn past doorways unnoticed, and perform a half split jump. The pistol laser was replaced with an OCP and the SWAT turn was removed in "Chaos Theory," the next game in the series.

[edit] Multiplayer

Ubisoft's online multiplayer service hosted on UBI.com for the PS2 and PC version of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow are down. This may be permanent if Ubisoft have chosen to retire these versions' online features. Error messages "Unknown error" or "Unexpected error" appear when trying to log in. The Xbox version is unaffected and operates normally as its multiplayer service runs on Xbox Live.

The most significant gameplay change in Pandora Tomorrow is the addition of a multiplayer component to the series in an attempt to take advantage of the features and popularity of Xbox Live. Both the PlayStation 2 and PC versions of the game also come with multiplayer; however, the GameCube version does not. The game pits heavily armed Argus mercenaries against stealthy Shadownet spies. The spies are played from a third-person viewpoint and control similarly to the main game's singleplayer mode, although they have their own unique moves and equipment. The mercenaries are played from a first-person viewpoint, and control more similarly to traditional first-person shooter characters. Although mercenaries have superior firepower, spies have the ability to hide in darkness and ambush or sneak past mercenaries in a number of ways. The total number of players in each multiplayer game is limited to 4.

Pandora Tomorrow features 3 multiplayer gametypes:

• Neutralization — In Neutralization, spies attempt to deactivate the virus devices, or ND133's. The mercenaries attempt to protect the devices by killing the spies.
• Extraction — The goal in extraction for the spies, is to locate the ND133s, remove the tubes, then bring them to the extraction point. The mercenaries are to protect the ND133s by killing the spies.
• Sabotage — In sabotage, the goal is to place a modem on a wall near an ND133. When the timer on the modem stops the ND133 will be neutralized. The mercenaries will attempt to stop the spies by killing them and removing the modems.

[edit] Story

The main flashpoint in Pandora Tomorrow is Indonesia, in the year 2006, where the U.S. has established a military presence in the newly independent nation of East Timor to train that country's military forces in their fight against anti-separatist Indonesian guerilla militias. Foremost among these Indonesian militias is the Darah Dan Doa (Blood and Prayer), led by Suhadi Sadono.

Charismatic militia leader Sadono, once trained by the CIA to help fight Communist influences in the region, has grown resentful of the U.S. support of East Timor and its interference with his country's sovereignty. Sadono initiates a suicide bombing and follow up attack on the US Embassy to Dili, capturing a number of US military and diplomatic personnel including Douglas Shetland, an old friend and comrade of Splinter Cell Sam Fisher.

Fisher is sent to infiltrate the embassy and gather intelligence on the Darah Dan Doa. Fisher succeeds in his mission, and the U.S. Embassy is retaken by Delta Force. Sadono escapes, and the U.S. launches a military campaign on Indonesian soil in an attempt to hunt him down, much to the protests of the Indonesian government.

Fisher ultimately learns that Sadono has masterminded a scheme known as "Pandora Tomorrow," by placing a series of biological bombs (ND133's) equipped with the smallpox virus on American soil. Every 24 hours, Sadono makes encrypted phone calls to each of the bomb carriers to delay the release of the virus. If he is killed or detained, the virus is released and millions of Americans will die. Because Sadono is fighting on the front lines in the conflict, the U.S. cannot risk killing him, and is forced to withdraw its forces.

Fisher is sent to infiltrate Darah Dan Doa strongholds in order to learn the location of the smallpox bombs. He is assisted in this endeavor by Shetland and Shetland's PMC, Displace International. Fisher ultimately learns the location of the bombs, and Shadownet spies are sent in to neutralize them, bringing an end to Sadono's threat against the U.S.

Third Echelon decides to capture Sadono alive instead of merely assassinating him, due to the problems created when Fisher assassinated President Nikoladze in 2004.

Although Fisher manages to capture Sadono, Third Echelon learns that a rogue CIA agent, Norman Soth has acquired the last smallpox-armed ND133, and intends to detonate it in Los Angeles' LAX airport. Soth cares nothing for Indonesia, but intends to get revenge on America for betraying him years earlier. Fisher infiltrates LAX, kills Soth and his group of terrorists (disguised as airport workers and security guards), and prevents the detonation of the last smallpox-armed ND133.

[edit] Trivia

• Lambert's coffee mug has the Ubisoft logo on it.

• Ads for the Ubisoft game "Prince of Persia" as well as "XIII " are featured in both the single-player and multi-player game.

• The game was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai. The first Splinter Cell was developed by Ubisoft Montreal. The Montreal branch took a short break after completing the first Splinter Cell and then went on to develop Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

• A poster occurring several times in the Jerusalem mission contains the text of the Bible verse Romans 1:4. "Jesus Christ declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead."

• During the phone call that Norman Soth made on the third mission, he said the line "Mein gott, I can walk!". This is a reference to the last line in the movie Dr. Strangelove when the handicapped main character Dr. Strangelove got out of his wheelchair and said "Mein Führer, I can walk!".

• The PS2 and Gamecube versions have an extra jungle level after Jerusalem.

• In some versions of the GameCube version, it is impossible to pass the Jerusalem level due to a bug that prevents Sam from entering an elevator. It is possible to put projectiles in the elevator however.

[edit] External links

• Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Official site
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow at MobyGames
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2002) at the Internet Movie Database