Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Developer(s) Ubisoft Shanghai
Ubisoft Milan
Publisher(s) Ubisoft
Composer(s) Jack Wall
Series Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Engine Unreal Engine 2.0
Platform(s) Xbox
Microsoft Windows
Game Boy Advance
Mobile
PlayStation 2
GameCube
PlayStation 3 (HD)
Release
Genre(s) Stealth
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is a stealth video game developed and published by Ubisoft Shanghai, while Ubisoft Montreal, developer of the original Splinter Cell, was working on Chaos Theory. 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 National Security Agency (NSA) called "Third Echelon". Sam Fisher is voiced by Michael Ironside, Dennis Haysbert voices the character Irving Lambert, Fisher's boss, making this the only time he is not voiced by Don Jordan. Lalo Schifrin provides the theme music for the game. A remastered high-definition version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was announced for the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 on December 20, 2010.[2]

Plot

In early 2006, the United States has established a military presence in the newly-independent country of East Timor to train the East Timorese military in their fight against anti-separatist Indonesian guerrilla militias. Foremost among these militias is the Darah Dan Doa (English: Blood and Prayer), led by the charismatic Suhadi Sadono.

Sadono, once trained by the CIA to help fight communism in the region, has grown resentful of American support of East Timor and its supposed interference with Indonesian sovereignty. Sadono orchestrates a suicide bombing and follow-up attack on the U.S. embassy in Dili, capturing a number of U.S. military and diplomatic personnel including Douglas Shetland, an old friend and comrade of Sam Fisher.

Meanwhile, Fisher is sent to infiltrate the embassy and gather intelligence on the Darah Dan Doa. Fisher succeeds in his mission, and the embassy is retaken by the U.S. Army's Delta Force. Sadono escapes, and the United States launches a military campaign in Indonesian territory in an attempt to hunt him down, much to the protests of the Indonesian government who is seeking to protect Sadono.

Fisher learns that Sadono has masterminded a scheme known as "Pandora Tomorrow", by placing a series of ND133 biological bombs, equipped with the smallpox virus, on U.S. 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 United States can't risk killing him outright, and is forced to withdraw its forces.

To prevent Sadano from taking advantage of the situation, Fisher is sent to infiltrate Darah Dan Doa strongholds in order to learn the location of the smallpox bombs so Sadano can be captured. He is assisted in this endeavor by Shetland and his private military company, Displace International. Fisher learns the location of the bombs, and Shadownet spies are sent in to neutralize them. After the bombs are disarmed, NSA's Third Echelon decides to capture Sadono alive instead of assassinating him, due to the problems created when Fisher assassinated former Georgian president Kombayn Nikoladze in late 2004.

Although Fisher manages to capture Sadono, Third Echelon learns that a rogue CIA operative Sam met earlier on board a train, Norman Soth, has acquired the last smallpox-armed ND133, and intends to detonate it inside Los Angeles International Airport. Soth cares nothing for Indonesia, but intends to get revenge on the United States for a perceived betrayal which resulted in the amputation of his leg years earlier. Fisher infiltrates the airport, kills Soth and his group of terrorists (disguised as airport workers and security guards), and prevents the detonation of the last smallpox-armed ND133 by disguising himself as a maintenance worker and setting the ND133 down behind two policemen, who notice the device almost immediately, and subsequently have the airport evacuated. The Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad is then called in to perform a controlled explosion of the device, which is done by an unmanned vehicle using reinforced steel.

Gameplay

Sam Fisher the protagonist in a camouflage suit, during a mission in Pandora Tomorrow.

The gameplay of Pandora Tomorrow is largely unchanged from the original Splinter Cell. The game features some moderate graphical improvements, as well as minor gameplay changes such as the fact that 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 (move from one side of the door to other while covered), and perform a half split jump. The SWAT turn was removed and the pistol laser was replaced with an OCP (Optically Channeled Potentiator) which can temporarily disable electronic devices in Chaos Theory, the next entry in the series. The PlayStation 2 and Gamecube versions also feature an additional single player mission to compensate for the abridged gameplay compared to the PC and Xbox versions.

Development

Pandora Tomorrow was entitled Shadow Strike during its development.[3]

Windows version

As with the original Splinter Cell, the Windows version is a port of the Xbox version, and duplicated that version's user interface and gameplay. However, the Windows version can run at higher resolutions than the console versions. The "checkpoint" save system from the Xbox version was replaced with the ability to save a game at any time, and the controls were reworked to allow simultaneous use of a keyboard and mouse, with movement speed being controlled by the mouse wheel. None of the bonus content from the other versions is present on this version.

PlayStation 2/GameCube version

As with the original Splinter Cell, the PS2/NGC versions are identical in both level layouts, resolution and other assortments of degradation. The framerate tends to stutter slightly more than the Xbox version. Loading times are also longer. Missions are also structured in a different/shorter fashion and the multiplayer component is not as extensive as its Xbox counterpart. The PS2 version boasts extra content, however, including a new Indonesian Jungle mission (which also appears in Splinter Cell Essentials for the PSP).

Notable differences between the PS2 and NGC versions are minor, ranging from shadowing to the framerate itself. The GameCube version continues to use a soft filter over its shadows whilst the PS2 version maintains the same bare bilinear filtering of the original versions. Some shadow spotlights are even missing from the NGC version as well, such as in the vents of LAX. The NGC version, as can be seen in-game, can slow worse than the PS2 version, yet can reach 60fps where the PS2 doesn't. While the base is similar, unlike the PS2/Xbox/PC version, thermal in the NGC also lacked a final touch, the full screen color bleeding "infrared" post effect. Instead, the NGC version remains the same as the previous ports whereby it simply uses an outline around its characters and objects.

Lastly, unlike the first Splinter Cell, which was built in four months, UbiSoft's development team was able to spend time on emulating the correct shadow projection that the originals' depth buffered shadow maps enable. In the first effort, shadow maps weren't any different to a standard light map and would project any object on Sam, when actually deciding to turn his receiving values on, no matter his position. The PS2 version of the sequel now uses fuller, more complex logic similar to the PC version's projector mode, in which an object that receives shadow selectively chooses which shadow objects to receive (e.g. Sam will sometimes receive shadows of a beam, but not ones of enemies or smaller objects), to swap between any of two objects' receiving values, depending the position from the light and collision. On the other hand, the NGC version uses a complete version of what was briefly cooked up in the original port. Objects will be sent through the map, but not as a shadow, which therefore blocks Sam and causes his own shadow to disappear behind an invisible "inverted" shadow. This time around, all objects receive their own shadow, like in the buffer method, only this time, it instead uses the other data to blot out the shadow via the previous logic found in the individualization of receiving values across a single shadow map. Out of the two methods, the NGC's most mimics a depth map, as removal is 1:1, whereas the methods found in the PS2 version can result in having these values swap earlier than Sam can travel fully behind an object (usually when Sam is midway through an object).

PlayStation 3

A PlayStation 3 version was announced to be part of the Splinter Cell Trilogy which was released in September 2011 as part of Sony's Classics HD series. It was revealed on the PlayStation Blog that the game is a port of the PC version, which had better graphical detail than previous console versions.[4] It was also revealed that the multiplayer modes are not included in the collection [5]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic(Xbox) 93/100[6]
(PS2) 87/100[7]
(PC) 87/100[8]
(GC) 78/100[9]
(GBA) 68/100[10]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM(Xbox) 9.67/10[11]
(PS2) 9.17/10[12]
(GC) 7.5/10[13]
(GBA) 4.67/10[14]
Eurogamer8/10[15][16]
Famitsu(Xbox) 32/40
(PS2) 30/40[17]
Game Informer(Xbox) 9.5/10[18]
8.75/10[19]
(GBA) 8/10[20]
GamePro(Xbox) [21]
[22][23]
(GBA) [24]
Game Revolution(Xbox) A[25]
(PS2) B+[26]
(GC) B[27]
GameSpot9.1/10[28]
(Mobile) 9/10[29]
(PS2) 8.2/10[30]
(GBA) 6.2/10[31]
(GC) 6.1/10[32]
GameSpy(Xbox) [33]
[34][35]
(GC & GBA) [36][37]
GameZone(PC) 9.7/10[38]
(Xbox) 9.6/10[39]
(PS2) 8.8/10[40]
(GC) 7/10[41]
IGN9.5/10[42][43][44]
(PS2) 8.2/10[45]
(GC) 8/10[46]
(GBA) 7/10[47]
Nintendo Power(GC) 4/5[48]
(GBA) 3.9/5[49]
OPM (US)[50]
OXM (US)9.5/10[51]
PC Gamer (US)90%[52]
Entertainment WeeklyA[53]
The Times[54]

The game's reviews ranged from "average" to "universal acclaim", depending on the platform, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. In addition, Rotten Tomatoes gave the game a score of 100% "Fresh Rating" for the Xbox version;[55] a 95% "Fresh Rating" for the PS2 version;[56] a 90% "Fresh Rating" for the PC version;[57] a 55% "Rotten Rating" for the GameCube version;[58] and a 27% "Rotten Rating" for the GBA version.[59]

Greg Kasavin of GameSpot gave the Xbox and PC versions a score of 9.1 and said that the single-player and multiplayer portions of the game will appeal to anyone interested in high-tech stealth and subterfuge. He also said that players familiar with Splinter Cell should expect 10 hours or more of gameplay. Kasavin said the storyline in Pandora Tomorrow was more cohesive than the original Splinter Cell, but the gameplay often becomes pure trial and error, noting that the missions "could have benefited from feeling less rigid and scripted" but were "incredibly slick." Kasavin also praised the multiplayer mode for its innovation, complexity, and creativity.[28] Mongoose of Game Chronicles Magazine also gave the Xbox version a 9.4 out of 10 and gave special praise to the multiplayer portion of the game. He called the game "the single best reason to get online" on Xbox Live. However, he felt that gameplay in the single player campaign at times got increasingly linear and leaned toward scripted challenges, with "only one solution to any given problem", requiring "the use of a particular gadget or one of Sam’s nimble moves."[60]

Entertainment Weekly gave the Xbox version an A and said that it "seems less like a sequel and more like an extension of the first game, with a few nice enhancements and some more dark and dangerous environments."[53] Playboy gave the game 100% and stated that "A new online mode allows four players to stalk one another. Take an opponent hostage and use your headset to describe all the pain you plan to inflict on him."[61] The Times gave it all five stars and called it "a miniature masterpiece".[54] The Village Voice gave the Xbox version a perfect ten and said, "No multiplayer title has ever bound and balanced two wholly different games this way."[62]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow Release Information for Mobile". GameFAQs. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/12/20/splinter-cell-trilogy-coming-in-2011
  3. ↑ Calvert, Justin (May 13, 2003). "Splinter Cell: Shadow Strike For 2003". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  4. ↑ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/07/tom-clancys-splinter-cell-trilogy-coming-to-ps3-in-june-with-3d/#
  5. ↑ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/297310/splinter-cell-hd-trilogy-lacks-multiplayer/
  6. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  11. ↑ EGM staff (May 2004). "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox)". Electronic Gaming Monthly (179). Archived from the original on April 5, 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  12. ↑ EGM staff (August 2004). "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (PS2)". Electronic Gaming Monthly (182): 102.
  13. ↑ EGM staff (September 2004). "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (GC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly (183): 108.
  14. ↑ EGM staff (May 2004). "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (GBA)". Electronic Gaming Monthly (179): 108.
  15. ↑ Reed, Kristan (April 7, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox)". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  16. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (June 7, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (PS2)". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". Famitsu. 852. April 15, 2005.
  18. ↑ Zoss, Jeremy (May 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox)". Game Informer (133): 102. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  19. ↑ Zoss, Jeremy (August 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (PS2, GC)". Game Informer (136): 92. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  20. ↑ Zoss, Jeremy (May 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GBA)". Game Informer (133): 108. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  21. ↑ Four-Eyed Dragon (April 1, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review for Xbox on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 14, 2005. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  22. ↑ Bones (July 8, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on October 29, 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review for GameCube". GamePro: 82. September 2004.
  24. ↑ Star Dingo (May 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow Review for Game Boy Advance on GamePro.com". GamePro: 78. Archived from the original on November 2, 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  25. ↑ Dodson, Joe (April 15, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - Xbox". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  26. ↑ Dodson, Joe (July 21, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - PS2 Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  27. ↑ Dodson, Joe (July 29, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review (GC)". Game Revolution. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  28. 1 2 Kasavin, Greg (March 24, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  29. ↑ Palley, Stephen (May 19, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review (Mobile)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  30. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (June 15, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  31. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (April 2, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review (GBA)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  32. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (July 23, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Review (GC)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  33. ↑ Gibson, Jon (March 24, 2004). "GameSpy: Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox)". GameSpy. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  34. ↑ Tuttle, Will (June 17, 2004). "GameSpy: Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (PS2)". GameSpy. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  35. ↑ Osborne, Scott (April 7, 2004). "GameSpy: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  36. ↑ Tuttle, Will (July 29, 2004). "GameSpy: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GCN)". GameSpy. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  37. ↑ Steinberg, Steve (March 24, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GBA)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on January 1, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  38. ↑ Hopper, Steven (April 15, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  39. ↑ The Bearer (April 11, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  40. ↑ Sandoval, Angelina (July 12, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  41. ↑ Raymond, Justin (August 17, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - GC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on July 18, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  42. ↑ Boulding, Aaron (March 24, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox)". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  43. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (April 15, 2004). "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Cell)". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  44. ↑ Boulding, Aaron (March 26, 2004). "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow Review (PC)". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  45. ↑ Sulic, Ivan (June 14, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (PS2)". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  46. ↑ Casamassina, Matt (July 23, 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GCN)". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  47. ↑ Harris, Craig (April 1, 2004). "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GBA)". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  48. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GC)". Nintendo Power. 184: 116. September 2004.
  49. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GBA)". Nintendo Power. 181: 120. June 2004.
  50. ↑ "Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 84. July 2004.
  51. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". Official Xbox Magazine: 70. May 2004.
  52. ↑ Harms, William (June 2004). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". PC Gamer: 68. Archived from the original on August 28, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  53. 1 2 Robischon, Noah (March 19, 2004). "Pandora Tomorrow Review". Entertainment Weekly (756): L2T 14. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  54. 1 2 "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox, PC, GBA)". The Times. April 10, 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2014.(subscription required)
  55. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for Xbox". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  56. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for PS2". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  57. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for PC". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  58. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for GameCube". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  59. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for GBA". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  60. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for Xbox". Game Chronicles Magazine. Archived from the original on July 28, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  61. ↑ "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". Playboy. May 2004.
  62. ↑ Catucci, Nick (April 13, 2004). "Game-of-the-Year Frontrunner Pits Mercenaries Against Spies". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
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