neale

Just got my new Offical Xbox Magazine. They give a sterling review of Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory. 9.9 out of 10. They say the graphics beat Riddick and Halo 2 "by a mile."

Looks awesome. Can't wait.

RyoHazuki

OXM isn't exactly trustworthy. I'll wait for some other reviews. Didn't they say the original Splinter Cell was the best xbox game ever when it came out?

Gallant Pig

Stuff magazine gave it their highest rating.

Gallant Pig

The original was one of the best ever when it came out, and was roundly and rightly considered so.

K&AJones

A 9.9 out of 10! Jeeezzz. You're not talking about the issue with the demo and Unreal Championship 2 on the front? I've got it but I haven't played the demo yet since I'm pretty well sold on Unreal and have played that demo to death.

I'm puzzled about the graphic comment though. I mean most of S.C games have always been full of darks and gloomy colors. Halo has about every color out there. S.C games are often in confined small areas. The environments of Halo are wide opened, all over the place ,night and day. In any case that raved allot about this game in this issue (42#) going as far as saying "this could be the greatest XBox game ever!".

I guess I'm going to give the S.C demo a go now just to see. By the way they gave Unreal a 9.3


Kenny J.

msdmoney

Playing Pandora Tomorrow right now, and enjoying it, although I don't see much of a difference between the first Splinter Cell and PT. Looking forward to SC CT but will wait until it drops in price. I wouldn't put much value in OXM though.

Jeremy517

Supposedly there are many different ways to progress through every CT level, except for the demo/first level. That will be a nice change from the first two, where it was pretty much one path only 90% of the time.

Xploited

I owned both Splinter Cell games, and still own Pandora Tomorrow, but I have yet to be interested in buying Chaos Theory. The online multiplayer was so unbalanced in PT, I would get stuck playing against other players using the glitches or being immature pricks way too often. The learning curve for the multiplayer was just too high for me. I needed to be able to come and go as needed; have an enjoyable game or two and then sign off. For the first week or two I was constantly yelled at for not knowing the maps well enough. Doesn't exactly make me want to play again.

Spiderbite

I never even tried the multi-player on the last game just for that reason. It also didn't interest me enough to try it and seemed to hard and/or dull sounding.

The review seems to say that they fixed several aspects of the multi-player & it is supposed to be much better this go around. I just played the demo this weekend and loved it. The graphics are truly amazing. As far as gameplay goes, if you liked the first 2, you will like this one as it plays almost exactly the same (which is not a bad thing).

I am looking forward to it but I don't know if I will buy it right when it comes out this time as I did the others.

Groucho

It kinda sucks that the "Best Xbox Game Ever" isn't even an Xbox exclusive.

I really enjoyed the first Splinter Cell, but my harddrive crashed before I finished it, and I never got back into it (or the sequels).

PixyJunket

Decker

It was also GOTM in EGM, over GT4 and Doom 3 (Both also gold rated).

I might pick it up, though I found the single-player of SC:PT very difficult and quit early on that one. My friend and I played one-on-one MP a lot, though.

DARTH GAMER

This is all good news to me. I have played and beat both of the previous games and loved every minute. Much better than the Metal Gear Solid series IMO although they are great games as well. I did like the first Splinter Cell game better than Pandora Tomorrow. I don't play online so that has no merit to me, but as far as single player mode I thought the first was just a little more interesting. Maybe because it was a new game at that time though. Oh Well, I'm Rambling.

wlj

I am having the same problem...the game is really kicking my ass. The game might be a little too "stealth" for me. I am on like the third stage....there is a room with like 3 guys in it...I can't figure out how to get through it without them setting the alarm off...I tried for like 2 hours last night to get through this one damn room. It's a cool game...but I probably won't finish it...it is frustating me too bad.


wlj

Josh H

Yeah, I had the same experience. The games are just too stealth for me as well.

I seem to have this problem with the X-box in general. Aside from KOTOR and Halo all the great X-box games just aren't my cup of tea.

Giantrobo

FIXED

So we've noticed over the years...

Josh H

Hey, if I had "a" problem with it I wouldn't have bought one in the first place.

I'm just regretting the $200 I dropped on it 2 1/2 years ago as I keep buying/renting the well reviewed games and just not digging them as they're just not my bag. I would have been better served saving all that time and money and investing in in PS2, GC, GBA games and DVDs. But oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.

darkside

Wonder how the PS2 version will be? Wish I liked Stealth games I'm probably missing out on some good stuff.

maxpower

I take it you don't have any online buddies...at least the kind that are mature enough to play the game without acting like they have money bet on it?

The first thing I do when I get a Live game is go online with my buddies and learn on the go. It's the best and funnest thing for me and the guys I game with. We have laughs learning the game together and the hilarity of screwing up as we go.

The first thing I would suggest is find a forum(no disrespect to this one) that is small and has a group that is more specific to xbox live. I've been lucky in 2 gaming arenas. When I bought return to castle wolfenstein for pc back when it came out I was lucky to stumble across a RTCW forum with dedicated players who were more than helpful to new players and the group in general. Then I came across a gaming forum, UGO which had a dedicated group of console enthusiasts(the core group has since migrated to another forum). We have been playing XBL since beta and I can say without a doubt that the core group is straight up and in it for fun. There is no uncalled for yelling, cursing, arguing etc. It also helps we are of similar ages...or at the very least conduct ourselves with respect to each other(something that seems to be alien to the many stories I've read about the online landscape).

BTW the online portion of SC:PT was one of the best I have ever played, considering it was 4 player. It required good cooperation if at least just to distract the other team. There were just so many ways to approach the game. I think you missed out on a great game. BTW I never played without at least one of my online buddies...win or lose it was a blast.

Outlaw

While I have no doubt that SP:CT will score high, OXM is one of the worst fanboy magazines out there. I could never get into this series so i"m hoping this 3rd installment will do something different with the series to make it more interesting.

SteelgearX

I bought PT for the sole purpose of playing on Live. Awesome experience. You are absolutely right about playing with jerks online, though. The learning curve is also extremely steep.

I have two suggestions if you really want to enjoy CT:

1: Practice! Thankfully this new installment will have various tutorials on how to play the game and also how to get through the maps. PT's hardest aspect was learning how to get around. Once you figure that out it's all about confusing the mercs.

2: As someone else said before, if you find the right people you'll have a blast. I've got a few good friends on Live and we tend to stick to free games. We're all competitive but it's all fun.

Anyone interested in playing CT on Live when it comes out can add me to their friends list. My gamertag is on the bottom. Always good to have some fun people to play with.

Gallant Pig

Wait, the Xbox games are too stealth for you in general?

Chris_D

Bill Gates has his eye on you for next gen Josh

Josh H

No, the splinter cell games are too stealth for me, and the big hit x-box games just aren't my cup of tea in general for various reasons (not liking racing games, sports games, shooters etc.). Too stealth is just the reason for the SC series not being my cup of tea.

Sorry for that, original post was worded poorly.

Gallant Pig

Oh god, don't get him started.