Splintercell Pandora Tomorrow Review

Below is a review I wrote for my middle school newspaper a few years back.

Sam Fisher is back. Fisher, a secret agent for the US government stars in the sequel to the original SplinterCell. This sequel to Ubisoft's hit, offers more spectacular single-player stealth action, that was featured in the original game. But this new game also has a new multiplayer mode! The multiplayer mode ties in with the single-player storyline nicely. In fact, both the single-player and multiplayer portions of Pandora Tomorrow are highly impressive and they add up to an experience that will appeal to fans of the first Splinter Cell and anyone interested in a game about high-tech stealth, action, and sabotage.
The title of Pandora Tomorrow refers to a code phrase used by the villain of the game, a guerrilla leader threatening world with a biological weapon. In the single-player portion of the game, you will play the role of Sam Fisher and track this terrorist around the globe. One of Pandora Tomorrow's improvements on its predecessor is how it takes place in more exotic locales. Like Indonesia, on a passenger train, or in a U.S. Embassy. There are only eight levels in total, but most of them are quite long, it took me about 15 hours to beat this game.
The gameplay is very good. You'll sneak your way through the game's scenarios, avoiding, incapacitating or killing any guards or civilians you might encounter who might threaten your mission of secrecy. It's not difficult to alert a passersby to your presence. You can do this by moving too quickly or by running into a well-lit area. However people aren’t the only thing out to get you mines, trip wires, booby traps, motion detectors, security cameras, and many other automated devices may alert others to your presence. However you've got some weapons to help you deal with this threat. Fisher is armed with a silenced pistol as well as his SC20K multipurpose assault rifle, which he can use for some sniping when lethal force is permitted.
Much like the original Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow occasionally delves into trial-and-error gameplay. The missions are completely linear and scripted. If you do happen to fail then you'll just reload from the last checkpoint, and then try again from a previous point. Pandora Tommorrow is an extremely hard game and is not recommended for those who will end up throwing the controlling after failing a mission, because you will most likely break your controller.
Enemy artificial intelligence is O.K.. Guards will patrol in a pattern, giving you the opportunity to sneak up on them or shoot them. If you make too much noise or reveal your position, they'll either come investigate, open fire and/or sound an alarm. But it’s not a good idea to take a lot of damage because Fisher can't sustain much damage.
Pandora Tomorrow's missions, are incredibly slick. Each one features some cool moments. You can snipe your foes, sneak up behind them and knock them out, or distract them by whistling. The gameplay is ultimately skill-based, requiring a delicate touch and careful timing.
The controls are very responsive. Using the Xbox controller, you'll need to gently apply the analog stick in order to move quietly.
Multiplayer Pandora Tomorrow is based on a plot point in the game. A group called Shadownet which consists of spies, much like Fisher. They are charged with sneaking into areas to dispose of biological weapons. An opposing mercenary force tries to prevent the spies from succeeding. The twist here is that mercenary players view the action from a first-person perspective, rather then the third-person view of the spies.
The mercenaries have assault rifles, torch lights, and two special vision modes, which allow them to detect spies in the darkness. The spies, have electromagnetic rifles that are nonlethal but can be used for multiple tasks. Spies also have flashbang grenades, and chaff grenades, and spy bullets. Spies can also creep up behind mercenaries and then knock them out or kill them.
Multiplayer Pandora Tomorrow is a team based game, and it allows verbal communication between teammates via Xbox live headsets. A cool example of this is if a spy grabs hold of a mercenary, the spy can taunt the opponent before knocking him out. Or if you shoot a mercenary with a spy bullet you can intercept the other teams communications. Another Xbox Live innovation! The multiplayer action is limited to just four players at a time.
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow looks more impressive than its predecessor, which is outstanding. Beautiful lighting effects and animations make this one of the better looking games out there. Some of the new environments are extremely impressive. This is an altogether visually stunning game.
Most of the audio in Pandora Tomorrow is also excellent, especially Sam Fisher's voice-overs. A tense-sounding musical score delves you into the moment and the ambient noises and various footstep sounds are all well done. I think the sounds of a man gagging when you grab his neck from behind and hold him as a hostage are amazing.
Judged only on its single-player offering, Pandora Tomorrow would be a great follow-up to its predecessor. Its missions are packed with action, and stealth. But theres also the amazing multiplayer mode, which makesPandora Tomorrow a longer lasting game. (As long as you have Xbox live)
NOTE: Due to a last minute deal between Ubisoft and Microsoft the game only comes out on Xbox and the PC, however the game will come out on PS2 and GameCube in June. However the game will not include the online multiplayer, or the graphical touches. Just because the Xbox has a much greater graphical processing power than that of its competitors.