360 Rant Rave Forums

Back in the early days of arcade gaming, table top game cabinets were all the rage. I can remember spending many hours and more quarters than I can count, sitting at one of these and basking in the warm cathode-ray glow. 

Well, if you have a hankering for a little nostalgia but don’t want an ugly looking cabinet like this in your living room, you may want to consider the Surface Tension Arcade Coffee Table. 

It has the look of a contemporary coffee table (comes in 3 styles - wood-grain shown here):

However, look on the other side; open the side panel and:

The table includes an emulator to play a number of classic arcade titles, but that’s only where it begins.  Sporting a full Windows XP OS running on a Dell PC, it can also play the latest titles, play movies, view pictures and even wirelessly stream your iTunes library.

At a retail price of around $ 6,600 it certainly isn’t for everyone, but quite a conversation piece for those who have the disposable income to blow. 

Here’s a video about the Surface Tension Arcade Coffee Table (and if you’d like to order one, you can do that HERE).

Is there something you just can’t stand about the 360?  Does the lack of a built-in HD-DVD drive bug you?  Does the inability to output 1080p without HDMI bug you?  What else bugs you?  How about it’s games?  Are there any games out there that are popular, but you just don’t see the appeal?  Are there any games that you feel just outright suck and you want to warn people off from them?  This is your chance to vent your frustrations. 

Alternatively, is there something you absolutely love about the 360?  Do you love the media center features?  How about the ability to download demos and arcade titles?  What else do you love about your 360?  Are there any 360 games out there you feel are underrated and need more exposure?  This is your chance to tell others about it. 

We want to hear from you.  Got a Rant?  Got a Rave?  Tell us.  Record your rant or rave in WAV or MP3 format (5 minutes max length - and please refrain from direct comparisons to or bashing of other systems), and send it off to:

For Rants:
rants@360rantrave.com

For Raves:
raves@360rantrave.com

Be sure to include your gamertag.  Who knows, you might be featured in 360 Rant Rave’s very first podcast!

While it’s not ready for the retail market, Festo (a German-based company specializing in industrial and process automation) has come up with what looks to be the most advanced gaming chair ever created.

More of an industrial simulator than a gaming device, the chair uses a ‘floating’ cockpit (seat/wheel/pedals) attached to the base by a system of pneumatic artificial muscles and mechatronic systems that, when used with the proper software, can give a truly realistic, simulated driving experience. 

Don’t expect to see this chair on sale at your local gaming store anytime soon, but this is a cool look at the type of gaming technology that might be available to the average gamer in the future. 

Here’s a video of the chair in action.  I want one!  (Source AutoBlog.com.)

PAX 07 has come to an end.  It was a wild three days, and I’d like to start off by saying thanks to everyone I met at the show.  After taking a bit of a break from covering gaming, PAX was the perfect way for me to jump back in with both feet and start making contributions to the Xbox 360 community again. 

As you can tell from my Day 2 post below, I tried to squeeze as much in as I could then, so I could take things a bit slower for Day 3.  I don’t have as much new stuff to show you today, but there’s a few more pictures HERE, and a bunch of one-minute Mass Effect videos, which I’ll post below. 

Yesterday, I got to see the full Mass Effect demo presentation, and the game looks to be shaping up nicely.  The graphics are amazing - even better than Oblivion (though it can be diffuclt to compare space/futuristic graphics to those of medieval times).  

The gameplay is very fluid.  Conversations you’ll have with NPC’s in the game flow very nicely thanks, in part, to Mass Effect’s dialogue system.  Rather than wait for the NPC to finish what he’s saying before you can see your reply options, Mass Effect lets you actively select your response during the conversation and even select it before the NPC has finished with what they’re saying.  You’ll be able to see this in some of the videos below. 

It’s also interesting to note that your dialogue choices are not the actual words your character will speak.  They’re more of a guideline conveying your intentions since, as BioWare describes it, how you’ll reply in a real converation will change dynamically as the converstaion evolves.  They’ve tried to capture this type of dynamic with the dialogue control system. 

Battle in Mass Effect looks impressive too.  The demo didn’t get too in-depth with the number of available weapon and ‘bionics’ options, but the systems for selecting them looked quick and easy to use.  BioWare has tried hard to make sure the battles in Mass Effect retain a fast pace. 

Here are some videos I captured during the presentation:

Mass Effect - Video 1

Mass Effect - Video 2

Mass Effect - Video 3

Mass Effect - Video 4

Mass Effect - Video 5

Mass Effect - Video 6

Mass Effect - Video 7

Mass Effect - Video 8

Mass Effect - Video 9

That’s it for my coverage of this year’s PAX, but stay tuned as I’ll be posting up some articles in the coming days, with more in-depth impressions for many of the new 360 titles I’ve seen. 

Day 2 of PAX 07 is over…and my feet are killing me!  LOL  Of course, I never let a couple of aching feet get in the way of having fun!  Besides, the best feature of the day was a sit-down event.  But I’ll get to that in a minute. 

I spent the majority of my time today taking as many pictures and movies as I could, and trying out as many new 360 titles I could to tell you all about.  By the end of my time there today, I’d gotten my hands on: Project Gotham Racing 4, Naruto, Turok, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Need for Speed ProStreet and Rock Band (drums - and Neil Peart I’m not!)

PGR4 was just what you’d expect from a PGR title.  I didn’t get a chance to try the motorcycles, but the cars perform pretty much the same as in PGR3 - you’ll just be driving in a a prettier environment. 

Being unfarmiliar with the Naruto cartoon, the game was my first exposure to the character.  While I’m not a major fan of fighting games, this one did have a few unique points that make things a bit more interesting.  There are sepcial movies you can do that trigger special actions, where you can really do some damage to your opponent.  There’s a vs. mode and a story/quest mode. 

Naturo gameplay video.

Turok for the 360 builds on the success of the franchise.  The variety of ways in which you can approach each situation should make for some decent replay value.  In this installment, you’re trapped on a planet after being shot down from space.  Part of the story involves trying to discover who your foes really are.  John Grimm from Propaganda Games kept pretty tigh-lipped about many of the details though, so perhaps they’re holding back a surprise or two for us later on.  Turok is due out on Feb. 5, 2008. 

Turok gameplay video.

I only got to play Kane & Lynch briefly, but it felt like a solid shooter.  The look/feel of the gameplay reminded me somewhat of playing Hitman: Blood Money - the parts in Blood Money where he’s using guns, of course, not strangling someone with a piano wire. The controls were smooth, but my brief time with the game didn’t let me pick up on much of the story. 

Kane & Lynch gameplay video.

Need for Speed ProStreet was actually better than I was expecting.  Traditionally, I haven’t been a huge fan of the NFS series.  This time around, however, they’ve tried for more of a sim feel (it’s still an arcade racer, in my opinion, but they’ve tried to add more realism to the way your car reacts).  There’s also an interesting new game mode that relies not on who comes in first, but on who had the consistently hightest speed during the race (you’re really racing against the clock & speed sensors - each driver starts staggered, a few seconds apart).  I hope there’ll be a demo on the Marketplace.  I’d like to give this one a closer look. 

Rock Band was very popular at the expo.  It seems everyone is realizing their latent rock star fantasies and giving it a whirl.  Watching groups of people play together, it felt sort of like the next level in karaoke.  I got to try out a solo verison, where only the drum kit controller was hooked up.  I won’t win any drumming cometitions, but the drum pads reacted accurately, and the list of tracks to play along with suited my tastes pretty well. 

I didn’t get to play these two myself at PAX, but here’s some footage of Skate, and some footage of Blazing Angels 2.

In addition to all the pictures I took today, which you can find HERE, there are two videos from yesterday I didn’t get a chance to post:

HERE is DeaconBlade360 & crew on Rock Band (can’t hear the song unfortunately - they all have headphones on). 

And HERE’s a few of the crew from The Blue Skittle and Gamertag Radio rockin’ out up on the big stage. 

Trying out all those games was fun, but no match for the hilight of the day: An in-depth look and in-game demonstration of Assassin’s Creed.  I captured as many pictures and one-minute movies as I could get during the presentation.  The pictures can be found in the link above, and here are the movies:

AC Movie 1

AC Movie 2

AC Movie 3

AC Movie 4

AC Movie 5

AC Movie 6

AC Movie 7

AC Movie 8

Now, a little razz to my partner in crime at this year’s PAX - DeaconBlade 360. 

HERE is a short clip of Deacon getting owned in a one-on-one battle in Blazing Angels 2. 

And HERE, is the ruthless assassin who made the kill! 

Finally, a salute to everyone’s current favorite single-player experience - Big Daddy from Bioshock. 

One day of PAX to go!  My final coverage of this year’s event will be up tomorrow. 

I’m back home from the first day of this year’s Penny Arcade Expo, and what a day it’s been!

I got to try out a few new titles, including Dark Sector and TimeShift; and I saw a great preview demonstration of Mass Effect.  Tomorrow I’m hoping to get some time with Assassin’s Creed, Naruto and a few others. 

I’ve posted up all the pictures I took from day 1.  You can check them out HERE. 

I had blast today and the games I played and panels I attended were great; but the highlight of the day for me was finally getting to meet a bunch of people who, up until now, I’d only known as names on the web.  I’d like to give a shout out to all the great people I met today (I apologize in advance that I know I won’t remember to list you all!):

Steven Artlip from XBLradio.com

Knuckles Dawson from xbox360fanboy.com

Devin Kofsky from Xbox 360 Achievements

Chris Erickson from 360style.net

and of course…

Trixie360 (Congratulations to you today, sweetie!)

DirtyDiva

PMS Kitty

The Frag Dolls

Fatty Chubs

Green Lantern

E

…and a whole bunch of others I’m sure I’m forgetting right now! 

More PAX 07 coverage coming your way tomorrow! 

360RantRave.com is an Xbox Community Site (w/ a podcast in the works). Where I will cover all things Xbox 360-related.  We just lauched, so look for some changes in the coming weeks.

 The first event I’ll be covering is the PAX ‘07 Expo in Seattle, WA, August 24th-26th.  I will be attending the event with DeaconBlade360 from Unscripted360.com.

Every game console and it’s games have their ups and downs - things you like and things you don’t like. 360RantRave.com will explore these issues with ‘rants’ about troublesome 360 issues as well as ‘raves’ about all the wonderful things we all enjoy about our 360 systems/games.

 Put on your thinking caps, becuase in the coming weeks, I’ll be asking all of you what your 360 rants and raves are - what do you hate?  What do you love?  Think about it.  I wanna know!

Game on!

Frag Monger
360RantRave.com

(360RantRave.com was born as a Google Blog.  Please look HERE for older posts (including my coverage of the 8/21 Halo 3 Public Preview Event at the IMAX theater in Seattle, WA.) 

Introduction:
Brains…braaaaaains!  Method actors like to know their ‘motivation’.  Well, he’s no method actor, but Stubbs The Zombie knows just what motivates him: brains!  After all…he is a zombie!  Stubbs was a door-to-door salesman; a bad one.  He faced rejection at door after door; until, that is, he met his untimely demise at the wrong end of a shotgun in 1933.  It seems one of his prospective customers didn’t appreciate door-to-door salesmen, and Stubbs was the last straw.  The irate customer blew a hole in his gut and buried him in an unmarked grave in the Pennsylvania countryside. 

Now it’s 1959.  More than 25 years have passed since Stubbs was shot & buried, and above him has risen the idyllic town of Punchbowl, Pennsylvania.  The brainchild of billionaire, visionary and playboy-industrialist, Andrew Monday, Punchbowl, PA is truly the town of the future – complete with hover-cars, a monorail and even robot labor.  Well, it’s opening day in Punchbowl, and whatever strange forces have transformed Stubbs from dead to undead have worked their magic.  A grisly looking hand punches its way out of the dirt as startled citizens run away in horror.  Stubbs is back…and he’s hungry, so watch your brain!

Gameplay:
Zombies are not really what you’d call intelligent.  In fact, they’re actually rather stupid and can be very single-minded; y’know - brains & stuff.  Well, Stubbs isn’t all that smart either, but he is fortunate to be a least a bit more intelligent than the average Zombie.  That’s a good thing too, because every undead horde needs a leader, right?  Of course, there must first be a horde to lead. 

When Stubbs first emerges from his unholy grave beneath Punchbowl, he is the only zombie around.  However, that changes fast.  With each new citizen of Punchbowl that Stubbs kills, he gains another ally.  That’s because every character in the game that’s killed by a zombie (Stubbs or one of his horde), they become a zombie themselves, adding to Stubbs’ army of the undead.  If these new undead allies take enough damage, however, they will eventually become just plain dead and no longer the undead, so Stubbs has to keep killing to keep the horde’s numbers up. 

To be perfectly honest, all of these new allies are pretty dumb.  Then again, how smart would you be if you just had your brain eaten out of your head and you came back to life?  They will try to follow Stubbs around as best they can, and will attack on their own when they see another citizen of Punchbowl in their path.  Often times, however, Stubbs must call to his zombies, which is done by standing still, looking at a group of them and then whistling to them (using the ‘Y’ button).  Stubbs can also give confused zombies a shove in the right direction…literally.  If you want a member of your horde to go in a particular direction, or one of them just gets in your way, tapping the ‘Y’ button will give them a good shove. 

Your horde can be useful to you in many ways, but their primary functions are to be ‘meat shields’ for Stubbs and to distract or otherwise occupy some of the attacking citizens of Punchbowl.  The larger your horde becomes, the more protection you’ll have, as the horde keeps your would-be attackers occupied. 

Zombies aren’t exactly in the best physical condition either, and Stubbs is no exception.  Apart from his lovely green complexion and the gaping hole in his side, he just isn’t what you’d call ‘attractive’.  Most of his horde isn’t that pretty either, considering Stubbs or one of his horde had to do some damage to kill them the first time.  Many of your minions will have missing limbs or heads, but that doesn’t stop them.  Heck, you’ll even see little ‘stump’ zombies with nothing left but, perhaps, one arm and maybe their head still.  Those little guys sure can’t move very fast, but bless their little undead hearts, they sure try! 

Now, besides limping around, moaning about brains and generally being ugly, how, you may ask, does Stubbs inflict damage on his victims?  I mean, he can’t just walk right up to someone and eat their brains, right?  Well, in some cases, yes he can.  You may have to run up to them instead of walking, but Stubbs can pretty much just come right up to any of Punchbowl’s unarmed citizens and press ‘Y’ to feast away.  It can be pretty humorous too.  As Stubbs proceeds to chow down, his victims cry out in pain and horror as a huge stream of blood sprays comically out the top of their heads.  They don’t lie there dead for long, however.  They’re up again within moments, but now they’re on your side. 

Unarmed citizens are one thing, but Stubbs has to work a little harder for his meal when the Punchbowl cops and other armed characters begin to show up.  At first, Stubbs only has two ways to attack.  First off, he can run up to an enemy and slash at them.  This is done using either the ‘X’ button or R-trigger and it’s Stubbs’ default attack.  After slashing at them a few times, your opponent will drop his weapon, allowing you to hit the ‘Y’ button and have lunch. 

The only other weapon at Stubbs’ disposal at the start of the game is his ‘unholy flatulence’.  “His what,” you said?  Well, if you were the undead and your diet consisted entirely of human brains, I bet your farts would smell pretty bad too.  Pressing the ‘B’ button will cause Stubbs to crouch down and let one fly.  Those caught in the limited range of Stubbs’ unholy stench will be temporarily incapacitated, allowing you to walk right up and have a snack. 

Of course, Stubbs can’t just sit there and toot his butt flute all day.  As with each of Stubbs’ weapons, the rest of which I’ll go into next, each time you use your unholy flatulence, you have to eat some brains to replenish your ‘ammunition’.  As the game progresses, Stubbs will learn how to use other parts of his body as weapons as well. 

The next bodily weapon Stubbs learns how to use is his ‘gut grenade’.  Stubbs can reach right into that gaping hole in his side, and pull out organs to hurl at his foes using the L-trigger.  After being thrown, the grenades will explode on their own in a few seconds, or you can detonate them yourself by pulling the L-trigger again.  Stubbs’ supply of gut grenades will grow the more brains he eats, and he can hold up to three grenades at once.  These grenades can be very useful for taking out one or multiple armed opponents. 
At times throughout the game, it might be more prudent for Stubbs to take some cover and let his zombie horde do some of the work.  Of course, if you still want to help them out and also stay out of harms way, you can do it from a distance.  After tucking him away someplace relatively safe, pressing the black button will cause Stubbs to yank off his right hand and toss it to the ground.  Once this is done, you will see the world around you from the hand’s perspective.  Since it is just a hand, your vision is now in black and white and the edges of your vision are dim and blurry.  However, now that you have control of the hand, what do you do with it?

Well, the main use for the hand is possession.  If you can sneak up to someone and latch onto their head with Stubbs’ severed hand (using the ‘Y’ button when the indicator appears), you will then posses that person.  Once they’re possessed your vision is still in black and white and a bit fuzzy around the edges.  You will maintain control of this person, including the ability to wield any weapon they are carrying, until they are killed.  There is no way to regain health for possessed characters and, once they go down, you will be back to where you tucked Stubbs away to keep him out of harm’s way.  Also, miraculously, Stubbs will have grown his hand back. 

The last weapon Stubbs learns to use is his own head.  Pressing the white button will cause Stubbs to rip his own head right off his neck, and roll it towards his enemies like a bowling ball.  As it rolls it can knock down opponents and spew out ‘zombie sputum’, turning anyone it knocks down on spews on into a zombie.  At the end of its roll, or when you press the white button again, the head will explode and kill anyone in the blast radius.  Stubbs will instantly grow a new head after the explosion, leaving you all set to carry on with your zombie rampage. 

If you think that this all sounds rather cheesy and comical, well…that’s the point!  Stubbs The Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse is meant to be reminiscent of a cheesy zombie horror film, complete with corny dialogue and cutscenes that look like old, worn out newsreel footage.  Punchbowl, PA may be the town of the future, but it’s still part of 1950’s, ‘Leave it to Beaver’ America. 

Stubbs The Zombie was built using the Halo engine, so the controls are, overall, pretty solid.  The only thing that felt a bit strange was jumping.  When you hit the ‘A’ button to jump, Stubbs jumps, pretty much, straight up.  You can control yourself in the air to a degree after jumping, but the initial jump is straight up, even if you are moving forward when you hit the jump button.  I’m thinking this must have been done on purpose, because it’s the only part of the Halo</em-based control scheme that doesn’t quite feel right to me.  Thankfully, jumping isn’t a major or crucial part of the gameplay. 

There are also vehicles in the game but, with one small exception, they go unused until the later levels of the game.  This was a bit disappointing, as I was expecting more vehicle action in a game based on the Halo engine - a fact that the game box proudly touts.  The vehicles available to Stubbs at certain points in the game include: the 1959, Monday Industries Hovercar, the Police version of that same hovercar, the Sod-O-Mobile (designed for ‘ultra-modern’ agriculture), a standard Army Jeep, a Pershing Tank and, last but not least, an Impala tractor.  When in use, the vehicle controls are solid and each one is relatively easy to drive.  The Sod-O-Mobile and hovercar are similar in feel to the way a Ghost moves in Halo. 

Also, like in Halo 2, there are no health packs in Stubbs The Zombie</me>.  If Stubbs is getting close to making that transition from undead to just plain dead, just find some cover and let Stubbs rest up a minute.  As he rests, his health meter will fill up again. 

The graphics in Stubbs The Zombie are, for the most part, pretty good.  Some of the buildings and especially the robot characters have almost a simplistic look to them, but again I believe this is intentional, to help keep that 1950’s, old yet modern feel to the game.  The character models are decent, if a bit repetitive, but the best part is watching Stubbs do the things he does (his flatulence, bowling his head, using his gut grenades, etc.)  The blood that sprays from your victims’ heads as you eat their brains is also humorously excessive. 

Work in the sound department is solid as well; and downright hilarious at times.  My only complaint here is that a few more and different screams from your victims might have bee nice (you can only hear “Oh God, my brain!” so many times before it starts to get old). 

Also, the game has some really great music on the soundtrack (great remakes of songs such as “Lollipop” (Ben Kweller), “My Boyfriends Back” (The Raveonettes), “Mr. Sandman” (Oranger) and “Earth Angel” (Death Cab For Cutie) just to name a few).  Unfortunately, however, most of this music goes woefully unused, and you get more ‘generic’ game music throughout most of the gameplay.  One notable exception is a funny and off-beat mini-game in one of the early levels, where Stubbs has a ‘dance off’ with the Punchbowl chief of police. 

Extras:
Stubbs doesn’t offer much in the way of extras.  The co-op mode was a nice addition, allowing you and a friend to go on a brain-eating rampage together.  Beyond that, however, Stubbs is strictly a single-player game. 

Conclusion:
With solid yet humorous gameplay and some truly unique concepts, Stubbs The Zombie in Rebel Without A Pulse is definitely a refreshing change of pace.  The gameplay is surprisingly addictive and there’s just the right amount of humor to remind you that this is, after all, a takeoff of just about every cheesy zombie flick ever made.  The one thing I will say, however, is that the game was painfully short.  When it was done, I found myself asking, “That’s it?”  I wanted more.  The game’s short story mode and understandable lack of any multiplayer mode beyond co-op are its only serous downfalls.  Also, there isn’t a whole lot of replay value once you’ve completed Stubbs’ journey through Punchbowl.  So, while I found Stubbs The Zombie to be a nice change of pace and an enjoyable gameplay experience, at $49.99(US) I’d suggest a rental rather than a purchase, at least until the price comes down a bit. 

Score: 7.8

Introduction:
The original Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, single-handedly redefined the stealth action genre.  Its realistic graphics, good enemy AI, and an unparalleled level of character movement and control set it far above any of its competitors.  Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow takes things to the next level, improving on virtually every aspect of the original, and adding great and innovative new on-line multiplayer capabilities as well. 

The graphics are better, the sound is better, the environments are bigger and better, and Sam has even more special moves to take on the bad guys.  This also marks the first time a stealth action title has had any type of on-line multiplayer capabilities. 

Gameplay:
The single-player game in Pandora Tomorrow works much like the original, and those who played the first Splinter Cell should be able to just pick up a controller and dive right in.  All of Sam’s original special moves are back including: peeking around corners, sneaking up behind and grabbing/interrogating enemies, the split jump, the ability to shimmy across beams, etc.  However, Pandora Tomorrow takes things even further, adding a few new special moves Sam can execute.  He now has the ability to do a half-split jump, which is much like the original, but allows the use of the move in narrower areas.  It also allows him to reach higher areas on the map.  Sam can also perform what’s called a ‘SWAT’ turn, which allows him to quickly and covertly pass by narrow openings and doorways, without being noticed.  Sam also has the new ability to hang upside-down by his legs from pipes or beams, while using his weapon.  While a cool looking move, however, you won’t find many opportunities to use this particular move in the game. 

Sam’s full arsenal of unique gadgets is, of course, back as well: Sticky shockers, sticky cameras, lock-picks, etc., and of course the trusty optical cable, which allows you to peek under doorways before opening them.  When and how you’ll use each of these items will depend on the situation at hand.  Sam also has, of course, his trusty night vision and heat vision modes, to help him locate his enemies. 

Enemy AI has been improved a bit as well.  You’ll still hear the familiar audio cues and the voices of your enemies speaking up when they think they’ve heard something.  You must use caution, and avoid detection; hiding bodies, or taking the time to wait and learn the patrol patterns of your enemies before proceeding, etc.  If you get too careless, however, your foes will take things a step further; putting on helmets and bullet-proof vests, making things a bit more difficult for you.  This often makes your non-lethal options for neutralizing your enemies the better choice. 

If you are unfortunate enough to alert your enemies to your presence, they will come after you and start shooting at you.  Often times, this will mean mission failure, unless you can neutralize them quickly.  Even if you can, Sam will likely take some damage doing so.  This is where Pandora Tomorrow’s health system comes into play.  In certain locations in each level, you will find first aid kits that can partially or fully heal Sam’s injuries.  The reason for the two levels of healing is that these first aid kits have limited use.  If you exhaust a first aid kit and are injured again, you will have to find another kit to heal yourself. 

From the moment the game’s opening cut-scene begins, you’ll notice the improved graphics and lighting.  The cutscenes are near-cinema quality, and really show off what the Xbox’s hardware is capable of.  The graphical and lighting improvements are equally apparent in the gameplay itself.  The environments are very realistic and really help immerse you in Sam’s world.  Back alleys, office interiors, speeding trains, and especially the amazing jungle environments are quite simply some of the best environments I’ve seen in any Xbox game yet.  Tree branches sway, plants, leaves and blades of grass will part as Sam brushes past them.  Water, rain, steam and smoke effects are also very realistic and quite impressive. 

Sound is equally impressive.  Pandora Tomorrow, like its predecessor, is one game you do not want to play with the sound turned down.  Listening for the voices and footsteps of your enemies is crucial for success, and the realism of each and every sound is apparent, adding even more to the immersive quality of the gameplay. 

Extras:
The biggest news about Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is the innovative new multiplayer aspect of the game.  Now, for the first time, stealth action is more than just a single-player experience.  When playing on Xbox Live, or via system link, you have two teams to choose from.  You can either be a spy, which gives you the same third-person view and lets you use most of the same moves as in the single-player game, or you can be a mercenary. The mercenary view is first-person, which means it will take a little getting used to as opposed to the third person view most Splinter Cell players are used to. The mercenary’s job is to stop the spies from achieving their objective(s). 

There are three multiplayer gametypes, although they are actually all pretty similar:

Neutralization: 
As a spy, you must neutralize the ‘NDI33’ cryogenic containers by hacking their security system (A-Button).  To win, all NDI33’s must be neutralized before time runs out. 

As a mercenary, you must protect the NDI33’s and prevent the spies from neutralizing them.

Sabotage:
As a spy, you must neutralize the NDI33’s by hacking their control system, via the use of a modem.  You can carry only one modem at a time.

As a mercenary, you must protect the NDI 33’s and prevent the spies from neutralizing them (By destroying the modems the spies would use to diffuse them). 

Extraction:
As a spy, you must recover tubes that contain a virus from the NDI33’s, and secure them (By returning them to your entry point). 

As a mercenary, you must prevent the spies from stealing the contents (The tubes) from the NDI33’s.  If a spy recovers a tube, you must track him down, kill him & recover the tube.

Each team, spies or mercenaries, have a variety of gadgets they can use in order to achieve success.  Spy equipment includes: Spy Bullets, Sticky Cams, Chaff Grenades, Flashbang Grenades, Noise Emitters, and Smoke Grenades.  Spies can only incapacitate mercenaries, by sneaking up behind them and choking them to death.  This means that, as a spy, you are forced to use stealth and non-aggressive means to be successful.  The spies also, of course, have the same heat vision and night vision capabilities as the single player game. 

Mercenary equipment includes: Frag Grenades, Phosphorous Grenades Tazers, Spy traps, Flares, and Mines.  Mercenaries also have two special vision modes.  There’s motion sensing mode, which allows you to see and zero in on anything moving, even in the dark.  Then there’s electro-magnetic detection mode, which allows you to see any devices that use electricity (Including the spies’ night or thermal vision goggles).  Mercenaries also have a torch light they can use to illuminate darkened areas of the map. 

Another feature is what’s called enhanced reality, and gives assistance to each team.  As a spy, you get on-screen symbols that help you locate your objective(s) and get information about what’s happening with your objectives/surroundings (i.e. Whether an NDI33 is armed or neutralized, or whether or not you’ve been detected).  You can also use your binoculars (click R-Thubmstuck) to get details on your objectives and ‘lock’ a specific objective.  As a mercenary, your enhanced reality allows you to locate objectives, and will indicate triggered alarms from the passive defense systems.  These passive defenses include: lasers, surveillance cameras, motion detectors (Which spies can neutralize with their weapon or a chaff grenade).  Then there are mines, which the spies can hear when approached or detected by heat vision.  These mines can be removed or shot from a distance to make them explode. 

Since Pandora Tomorrow’s multiplayer aspects are so new and different, you are given the option of searching for or hosting ranked or un-ranked games on Xbox Live.  If you’re concerned about your on-line ranking for the game, I strongly suggest you spend a while playing un-ranked games, to get the feel for the on-line play. 

Conclusion:
If you are at all a fan of the stealth action genre, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is a must-own game.  The single player game alone would have been enough for most fans of the genre.  The graphical, sound and gameplay improvements over the first Splinter Cell are easily apparent, and should impress any gamer.  However, when you add the amazing new multiplayer component, which admittedly takes a little getting used to, it gives the game exponentially more replay value.  Ubi soft is a leader in innovation, and they’ve proved that yet again with Pandora Tomorrow.  So if you’re looking for a great single-player game, combined with a truly innovative new way to enjoy the Xbox Live gaming experience, look no further.  This is it. 

Score: 9.7

Introduction:
Three is a magic number.  Yes it is; it’s a magic number.  Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity, you get three as a magic number.  There are three names that all work together to bring the Splinter Cell series to your Xbox: Tom Clancy, Ubisoft and Microsoft.  Also, this is the third installment in their wildly popular series, and with each new version it just keeps getting better and better.  Finally, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the first Splinter Cell title that gives you three different ways to play: solo, co-op and adversarial/multiplayer. 

When the first Splinter Cell came out in September 2002, most fans of the stealth/action genre found it to be a great game and wondered how Ubi could possibly make it any better.  Sam had more ‘moves’ than just about any other video game character we had seen before.  He could sneak, walk, run, shoot, shimmy, hide in the shadows, use a ‘zip line’, etc.  Having this level of control over a game character was virtually unprecedented.  Gamers fell in love with the game/character, and it received what was, at the time, some of the highest scores ever seen for an Xbox game. 
Not quite two years later, in March of 2004, Ubi stuck gold again with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.  It had everything that made the first Splinter Cell great, plus much more.  Sam had even more moves and gadgets, the graphics and sound had been improved, and a revolutionary new multiplayer component was added.  “Stealth multiplayer - how is that gong to work?” people asked.  Well, it turns out that it worked very well indeed, and Pandora Tomorrow became the latest and greatest hit on Xbox Live. 

Now, a mere 12 months after Pandora Tomorrow came out, Ubi has graced the Xbox (along with the PS2, GC, PC, and even the Nokia N-Gage) with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.  After so many improvements and additions from the first Splinter Cell to Pandora Tomorrow, what else could Ubi do that could possibly make things any better for this third installment?  Well, keep reading and find out. 

Gameplay:
The heroes in most of today’s video games are either studly, ultra-muscular young men or outrageously buxom and scantily clad young women.  While this formula may work for some genres, it’s just not the Splinter Cell style.  Our hero, Sam Fisher, is a 48 year old expert field operative in international espionage, and he works for a top secret government division known as ‘Third Echelon’.  Rather than being unrealistically huge in proportion, Sam is ‘normal’ in size (5’10” and 170lbs).  He doesn’t use brute force or outlandish weapons to accomplish his objectives.  In fact, when Sam is doing his best work, he will be virtually invisible to the enemy.  To help him accomplish this, he is outfitted with the very latest in weapons, stealth and high-tech – not to mention the fact that our aging hero is amazingly strong and agile. 

In the first Splinter Cell, Sam had an impressive array of moves including: crouching, mantling, climbing, shimmying, putting his back to the wall, doing a ‘split jump’, etc.  As impressive as his list of available moves was, it got even better in Pandora Tomorrow.  Even more moves were added, including the ‘half split jump’ and upside down shooting (shooting, while hanging upside-down by your legs).  Pandora Tomorrow also added the newest and most unique form of multiplayer action yet seen on Xbox Live in the form of spies vs. mercenaries, objective-based gameplay. 

What more could gamers want, right?  They had a better looking and moving Sam Fisher, a great solo campaign and a unique new type of multiplayer to enjoy over system link and Xbox Live.  Well, gamers may have been satisfied, but Ubisoft was not.  They continued to push the envelope, and Chaos Theory is what I consider to be the most feature-rich Xbox game ever. 

As always, there are options as to how you want to get by the enemy to complete your objectives.  You can try to sneak by without them even seeing you.  You can knock them out one by one and hide their bodies in the shadows, or you can kill them.  Of course, depending on the situation, you will also have the option to interrogate enemies you take hostage for important information (after which you can either knock them out or kill them). 

If you decide to take an enemy out, you have even more options, as Sam’s list of moves has, yet again, been enhanced.  You can hide in the shadows and take them down with carefully placed head shots.  You can sneak up behind them to grab them (at which point you can interrogate them, force them to cooperate – as in using a retinal scanner – or use them as a human shield).  Holding an enemy hostage and/or interrogating them feels even more tense this time around, as Sam now holds a knife to their throat (whereas, in previous versions, he simply held them in a choke-hold). 

The other lethal and non-lethal options you have, which are new to Chaos Theory, are to knock enemies out (using the left trigger) or kill them (using the right trigger).  If you plan to kill them, depending on how you approach the enemy, Sam will use different methods.  He’ll usually either stick them in the gut, slice their throat or stab them in the back.  If he’s hanging upside-down, he also has the new option to do an inverted neck snap.  Using the left trigger will simply knock the enemy out (similar to the ‘close attack’ option from the previous two versions). 

All this is only what Sam can do with his hands.  Let’s not forget about his arsenal of high-tech toys.  Sam still has his OPSAT PDA, his trusty SC-20K rifle and his SC pistol.  This time around, however, the SC-20K has even more attachment/gadget options.  In addition to just about all the gadgets you had in Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow (like sticky shockers, sticky cameras, airfoil rounds, etc.), you also now have: an SC-20K fore-grip attachment (which allows Sam to be more precise with the SC-20K), a sniper attachment (which allows Sam to hit targets at a great distance with high accuracy) and a shotgun attachment.  The only drawback to the sniper and shotgun attachments are that they generate a lot of noise, and could alert the enemy to your location.  The other minor change to your SC-20K gadgets is that the sticky camera and the distraction camera have now been combined into a single gadget. 

Some other items that make a return include: wall mines, frag grenades, smoke grenades, flash grenades, lock picks and the optical cable (for peeking under doorways).  Sam also has the new ability to hack encrypted locks (such as door keypads and computer access codes).  Also back, of course, are Sam’s special vision modes: night vision and heat vision.  For Chaos Theory, a new special vision mode has been added.  Sam now has Electronically Enhanced Vision (EEV).  This new special vision mode allows him to see electronic devices, and to scan them for vital information.  If Sam uses his binoculars with EEV mode activated, he can also record conversations (similar to the laser-mic from the previous two Splinter Cell games). 

Another new gadget Sam has is attached to his SC pistol, and is activated with the left trigger.  It’s called the OCP, and you can use it to briefly disable electronic devices like lights, cameras, etc.  This is a great new way to sneak by an area in darkness or without being seen by a camera, without having to shoot it out, which might raise suspicion among your enemies. 

Each mission in the solo campaign starts out with a mission briefing, where you receive background information, details about your objectives and can visit a loadout screen, where you can select which weapons/gadgets to bring along.  Your old friend, Colonel Irving Lambert, is back too.  As the director of operations for Third Echelon, Lambert is your primary contact when you’re in the field.  You will speak with other Third Echelon contacts as well, at different points throughout your missions, depending on the situation. 

After seeing the amazing graphics of Pandora Tomorrow, I didn’t think Ubisoft would be able to improve on them until the next generation of consoles came along.  Well…I was wrong.  If you can believe it, the graphics in Chaos Theory are even better and more detailed, as is the use of light and shadow.  The in-game graphics are crisp and beautiful and, in some of the cutscenes, the detail is so pronounced that you can see Sam’s stubble and even the individual hairs on his head. 

Sam’s movements are as smooth and fluid as ever, and if you look closely when Sam is interrogating someone (or when any non-player character is talking), you’ll see that the lip-synching on everyone is virtually perfect.  Sam’s dialogue, while interrogating someone or talking to one of his Third Echelon contacts, can be pretty humorous at times.  He has a somewhat dark sense of humor, as any operative with years of dangerous field work behind him might, and you’re sure to find some of his comments amusing. 

The sound work in Chaos Theory is excellent.  In a game like this, it has to be.  Listening for voices, footsteps, doors opening or closing, etc. is essential to Sam’s survival.  The weapons in the game sound very authentic, and the voice acting (especially for Sam and his Third Echelon contacts) is excellent.  The music in the game is mostly ambient.  You’ll come across televisions or radios turned on in certain places in some levels.  You will hear some ‘tension’ music, however, if you enemies become startled or alerted to your presence.  There is also a great new feature having to do with the voice communicator, which comes into play in co-op and Live play, but I’ll tell you more about that in the extras section. 

Extras:
The big news about Chaos Theory is the addition of a co-op multiplayer mode.  You can now sit down and play Splinter Cell with a friend, either in split screen mode, over system link or on Xbox Live.  When I first heard about the co-op feature, I wasn’t sure how Ubisoft was going to pull it off.  After all, Sam usually works solo.  They did it right, though.  Instead of playing through the same missions as the solo campaign, the co-op mode has its own separate campaign.  You can play it in either story mode or just play individual missions.  There are only four co-op missions to play through, but that’s what downloadable content is for!  I’m betting that Ubi will make more co-op missions available for download in the future. 

Not only does the co-op mode have its own campaign to play through, it also has its own special co-op moves that both players execute together.  Many places in the co-op levels cannot be reached by one player.  You must work with your partner to accomplish certain things.  Some of the special co-op moves include: short scale/boost (this allows one team member to give the other a boost, to reach a high ledge or get over an obstacle), tomoe nage/long jump (this allows one team member to throw the other, so he can jump extra far or knock out an enemy), hang over teammate (this move lets one team member hold the other upside-down on a rope, and raise/lower him – the player being held can shoot, do an inverted neck snap or even do an inverted crouch to hide).  There are more co-op moves, but I won’t spoil them all for you here. 

There are also a few co-op gadgets, in addition to Sam’s usual arsenal.  The first is called the jammer.  It’s attached to your SC pistol and works similarly to the OCP from the solo game.  When in co-op, however, you must hold the left trigger as long as you want the light/camera/etc. to stay deactivated.  If you move or release the left trigger, the device will immediately go active again.  Another neat feature in co-op is view sharing.  The means that if your teammate is, for example, using an optical cable, you’ll have an option to share his view, and see what he sees through the cable.

The other ‘gadget’ you can use in co-op mode (only over system link or on Xbox Live) is your Live communicator headset.  You can, of course, use the headset to communicate with your teammate, but be careful how loud you talk.  A feature that really ups the immersion factor is the fact that your enemies in the game can hear you!  That’s right.  If you talk too loud, the enemy will hear you and come to investigate.  It’s important to pay attention to your sound meter (which tells you the sound ‘threshold’ and how close you are to it), and speak softly.  There are times, however, when you want the enemy to hear you. 

When playing the solo campaign, you can use the black button to whistle, in order to get the attention of the enemy (to make them come around a corner or out a door, for example).  When you play co-op, however, the black button is used to initiate co-op moves, so you lose the ability to whistle.  Not to worry!  Instead of pressing a button to whistle, just whistle yourself or talk loudly, and the enemy will hear you and come looking.  I love this new feature.  It increases the reality factor more than I even realized at first.  There were times I wanted to tell my teammate something important, but I didn’t dare speak, because, though I was hidden in the shadows, an enemy patrol was just a few feet from me and might have heard even a whisper.  I learned this very important lesson after being killed for it.  Never before has a game made me feel so completely immersed in the experience. 

Last, but most definitely not least is Chaos Theory’s adversarial multiplayer mode.  For the most part, it’s the same as the multiplayer mode included in Pandora Tomorrow.  The main game modes include: Extraction, Neutralization and Bombing (in Pandora Tomorrow it was: extraction, neutralization and ‘sabotage’).  In each game mode, the Shadownet Spy team members (who look and move similar to Sam) have a set of objectives to complete, and it’s up to the Argus Mercenary team to stop them.  The objectives for each gametype are:

Extraction:
-The spies must obtain hard drives from computers around the level and transfer them to a secure briefcase.
-The mercs must protect the hard drives.  They may recover a hard drive by taking out the spy carrying it, if they can catch him before he secures the drive.

Neutralization:
-The spies must neutralize computer terminals scattered around the level.
-The mercs must protect the computer terminals from the Shadownet spies.

Bombing:
-The spies must plant bombs at different locations around the level to take out their objectives.
-The mercs must protect the objectives from being bombed.  They may prevent a bombing, if they reach the bomb before the countdown is up and neutralize it (either by pressing A while standing next to it, or shooting it). 

These are the three primary multiplayer gametypes, but there are also a few more.  In Disk Hunt Mode, the spies must steal and hold on to disks that are scattered around the level and the mercs must protect the discs and eliminate the spies.  It’s a pretty straightforward gametype, but I found it enjoyable. 

The other new multiplayer gametype is deathmatch.  In a deathmatch, the spies will have objectives scattered around the map, which they must complete before they are eliminated.  The mercs job, of course, is to protect the objectives and eliminate the spies.  This may sound similar to disk hunt, and it is to a degree, but there’s an additional twist added.  When playing deathmatch, the spies have only one gadget available: the flashbang.  The mercs as well get only one gadget: the flare.  Also, in a deathmatch, mercs lose the use of their EMF vision, movement vision, laser sight and the ‘berserk’ move.  These changes make for an interesting change of pace in the gameplay, and I found it to be a great addition to the multiplayer gametypes. 

The gadgets you have in multiplayer differ a bit from those you have in the solo or co-op modes.  The main gadgets available for spies are: chaff grenades, smoke grenades, flash grenades, sticky cameras, spy bullets, alarm snares, a heat sensor and the newest gadget, an optical cammo suit.  This suit makes the spy nearly invisible, and is activated by the left trigger.  Of course, the invisibility doesn’t last forever.  There’s a meter to show you how long you have before it runs out.  You can also deactivate it yourself, by pulling the left trigger again.  Mercenary gadgets include: a backpack, a gas mask, spy finders, a cam.net browser, mines, frag grenades, a tazer and flares.  Since the adversarial gametypes are so different from the solo or co-op modes, Chaos Theory will make you play through a short tutorial before you can jump online for some spy vs. merc action. 

Conclusion:
Ubisoft and Tom Clancy seem to be an unbeatable combination.  With each new Splinter Cell game that comes out, they continue to not only meet but surpass gamers’ expectations.  Ubi has improved virtually every aspect of the gameplay from the previous two versions, and introduced even more new options and gameplay types.  With the solo campaign, co-op campaign and online multiplayer, it’s almost like having three games in one.  I can only imagine what incredible surprises the next Splinter Cell title will have for us (which will, no doubt, be on the next Xbox).  Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is, without a doubt, the best and highest quality title this writer has yet experienced on the Xbox.  If you haven’t picked this game up yet, what are you waiting for?  Get out to your game store, and check out the very best the Xbox’s game library has to offer.

Score: 10