I just got this game this past Saturday. I had briefly played Splinter Cell 1 on my PC years ago - never finished it as the PC controls suck (they couldn't handle motion sensitivity that well with a keyboard, and did some strange mousewheel setup that threw me off playing it to the finish) - good game though. A few years later I purchased Chaos Theory. Never got to finish that one, as the disc was scratched too badly (pre-owned), though I liked what I saw. Week and a half ago I tried out Double Agent for the PS2 (currently playing), and was intruiged by the direction the series was going, as the script folk decided to concentrate on Sam Fisher's peronality/personal experiences. There are other military combat based games out there, series even, with horrid character development/scenario designs, and plots (COUGH COUGH SYPHON FILTER COUGH COUGH), and I feared Splinter Cell was nose diving into that territory.
Also, add the fact that the Ghost Recon series, which started out well, and was strategy based (route planning, etc), has attempted to turn into a character based (IE: Scott Mitchell and recurring team mates) combat series, yet has persisted to 'enlist' horrid AI designs and average (and outdated) gameplay mechanics. The advanced warfighter series attemps to add new hi-tech age equipment to the series, but the handling of such equipment hasn't improved since really, Ghost Recon 2. Other games have been there, done that (Splinter Cell, amongst others).
*Not that they can't recoop the GR series, considering they both reinvented the Rainbow Six series, making it more character based, whilst improving the gameplay mechanics safely, bit by bit, game by game*
That said, i've tried out Splinter Cell Essentials as it ties, and is considered canon, with the events leading up to, and after Splinter Cell: Double Agent. (ie: the next Splinter Cell game in the works).
Essentials defines the exact ending of the Double Agent scenario, and Sam Fisher's situation regarding the NSA and Third Echelon. The game also allows players to play flashback missions that took place in earlier times in Sam's career (often borrowing old map designs from prior SC games). Keep in mind that the Splinter Cell series is not a gun-heavy, action heavy shoot 'em up, never has been and never will be. That's not the nature of the beast in this case, it's played by stealth, and your parameters are often judged on not being seen, and having avoided contact of any kind with enemies during a mission.
That in mind, the control layout of Splinter Cell: Essentials works well under the PSP's control limitations. The design of the gameplay in mind, the controls are geared for stealth and subterfuge. The camera isn't difficult to control, and a third person view can be forced by simply entering first person mode, or by drawing a weapon to enter over-the-shoulder third person mode. Alternately, the free motion camera can be bumped behind Sam by simply double tapping O. It's never a problem, and you'll never complain if you've had experience with the Splinter Cell titles.
The game stays true to its roots, using the same game engine of the previous games on the PS2, with nearly all of the same animations used yet again. That said, I highly recommend Splinter Cell Essentials for any fan of the series, and overall would definitely put it on a top 10 must-own PSP list.
(Don't forget the graphics are pretty damned good - nowhere near the crap used in the DS variants)
Screenshots when I can load 'em.
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