The game has also been tweaked to so that players can mess up a little and still complete the mission. Enemies can also be stabbed or, if within close proximity, can be thrown off high ledges. Players can hang from ceilings to strangle, shoot or knock out enemies. You also have a range of close-quarter moves and execution moves at your disposal. You're now given a sound meter in addition to the light meter to help determine how likely you are to be caught. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory introduces even more gameplay mechanics and relaxes the strictness of the rules just a bit. Other than that, you can expect the same moves, gadgets and strict stealth requirements for this outing. There's also a laser sight that can be placed on the pistol for better aiming. He can also do a half-split to climb up nearby ledges, and he can hang upside-down and shoot from that position. Sam now has the ability to do a SWAT turn when near two walls on the same plane. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is largely the same as the original but has enough tweaks to make the experience still feel fresh. It is stealth at its strictest, and while that may annoy genre novices, the veterans will appreciate it the most. Leaving a body under some light will alert others, effectively ending the mission in some circumstances. Some require no deaths at all while others require you to never be spotted. Unlike most stealth games, Splinter Cell has some very strict rules per level that must be followed unless you want to experience a mission end screen. You can also grab enemies to use as shields or as a means of interrogating them before knocking them out. As far as moves go, you can do the usual wall hugs, crouched walks and peeks around the corner, but you can also do a split-jump between two nearby walls and hang from pipes to let guards pass or get the drop on them to knock them out. Additionally, you have an assortment of weapons at your disposal but a very limited amount of ammo, with no option of picking up more along the way before the mission is complete. You're given a light meter to determine how exposed you are in an environment, and you also have goggles capable of both night vision and thermal vision. As mentioned earlier, Splinter Cell's contribution to the stealth genre is the use of light and shadow in a modern setting.
The package includes the first three games of the series, and aside from the expected differences in plots, each game either introduces or modifies mechanics that end up being used in later games of the series and other stealth games.
If you choose to go the disc route, you'll need to install 5.5 GB of data to the system's hard drive before you can play the game. The first thing you need to be aware of is the fact that the game comes in both Blu-ray disc versions and downloadable versions, where you have the option to download each title separately or as a bundle. While this may seem like a godsend for stealth action lovers, there are a number of things that greatly mar the experience.
Thanks to the current trend of remastering previous generation games, all PS3 owners can now experience the first three games via Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Trilogy.
While Xbox 360 owners have access to the full series through a combination of native games and original Xbox games, PS3 owners without backward-compatible systems could only play the fourth game in the series. Then came Splinter Cell, which took a whole new approach to stealth with some acrobatics from its protagonist and the constant struggle between light and shadow. At the time, it was also the only stealth game set in the modern era. The actions of Solid Snake made for exciting gameplay for those who preferred sneaking up to their foes instead of a full-on assault.
For some time, whenever anyone thought of a stealth game set in the modern era, the first game that would come to mind would be Metal Gear.