The Splinter Cell series was always lovely and challenging game for the consoles, as it’s a series filled with a powerful mix of stealth and action. It’s made a pretty ugly transition to handhelds, and this latest port to the Nintendo DS is no different. Read on to see why this game is about as bad as it gets.
First off, the game play is nothing like the console versions. The DS version consists of you going through small corridors getting from point A to point B. There is no C in this game; you cannot finish any mission in more than one way. Although there is some stealth in this game, there is nowhere near enough for it to truly be considered a Splinter Cell title, and actually, it’s completely possible to run and gun through most every mission, which is certainly not very “Splinter Cell.”
The DS’ touch screen is rather pathetically implemented in this game. On the touch screen, you can toggle through night vision, thermal vision and weapons. The touch screen also serves as a boring map that is just a watered-down radar. I think the developers said, “lets just make this radar, since there is only one path set for the missions anyways.” Oh, and the touch screen also serves as a way to move the camera, how original.
Pathetic is the most direct way to describe the graphics in Chaos Theory. And it’s not just the lame character sprites that are insufferable; it’s the awful framerate. Every time I turned a corner, the Frames Per Second would drop down to basically none. It frequently felt like the game was pausing to think about what was next. The visuals in this game are pretty much the bottom of the DS barrel.
The sound in SC: Chaos Theory is no better than the graphics. I have played games on the GBA that had better audio. Even the voice acting is cheesy. This is one of the worst voice acting jobs I’ve ever encountered.
Replay? Hah! There is none. Yes, Chaos Theory has multiplayer, but who in their right mind is going to want to play this game again with a friend? And since it doesn’t support single cart / multi play, nobody’s going to even try it in multiplayer.
Overall, there isn’t much to say about this game other than do not, I repeat… do not pick up this game. It isn’t even worth buying if you are the richest person in the world. It’s one of those games that scream “I should have never been released,” or, to quote Bart Simpson…”it’s crap-tacular.”
- Gameplay: 3
- The definition of boring. And its reliance on run-and-gun tactics will have you wondering how this is considered a Splinter Cell title.
- Graphics: 4
- Ugly. And the framerate slowdowns don’t help it any
- Sound: 3
- Ubi needed to hire some real voice actors for this. It’s as if no effort was put into the sound or music
- Replay: 1
- You won’t want to finish it, much less play it again or jump into multiplayer
- Overall: 3
- I’m being generous with the 3. That tells you how bad this is
— Joshua Branham
