Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory DS - Impressions and first video

[Teasy]

IGN have an article up with impressions from the final version of the game which is releasing at the end of this month. They also have quite a lot of video footage.

After reading the impressions and checking out the video's I'm really excited for this game. The controlls look very good, all the moves from the PC/console versions are there, all the visor effects are there ect. The graphics look excellent (for a DS game not a PSP game before anyone says it ). The lighting engine looks very good, all the light and dark bits and even flickering lights are in there. The animation is top notch, exactly like the PC/console versions. I think the only negative I can find is the framerate, which is not a solid 30fps. But given the nature of the game I think its well worth sacrificing framerate for the lighting engine. After all shadow and lighting effects are essential in this game while a solid framerate isn't (since its a slow stealth game).

Impressions: http://ds.ign.com/articles/624/624191p1.html

Video footage: http://media.ds.ign.com/media/729/729102/vids_1.html

NOTE: You don't need to be a IGN subscriber to see most of the video.

 

[mech]

It's not very good apparently.

 

[Teasy]

I've played the N-Gage version and its very good, IGN themselves gave it 88%. The DS version is like the N-Gage version but with much better graphics, slightly better framerate and touch screen controls. So I think I'll get this game and make my own mind up. From actually reading the review I think its going to be a good game. I see nothing in there that makes it sound poor. The negatives mentioned seem to be more against the Splinter Cell series itself then this particular version:

"Very slow and drawn out gameplay that emphasizes a trial and error design"

"dark appearance and sluggish framerate"

 

[mech]

I don't think every other Splinter Cell game had the same control problems as the DS:

The unfortunate problem: all of this functionality actually clutters the game up quite a bit. It's already slow-paced enough, but the game requires the use of every button and the touch screen in some spots, which sort of makes quick reactions nearly impossible. And even though weapon fire is minimal in Splinter Cell, aiming is an absolute chore even with direct stylus control; trying to target a camera with one weapon, and then switching to another gun to take out a guard is not a task that you'd consider "quick" or "intuitive."

His issue with the brightness is not because of Splinter Cell either, it's because of the fact that this is a handheld game:

Another main issue comes from its visuals. The game features a two-fold problem: a sluggish framerate and incredibly dark environments. The game is intentionally dark to keep in line with the console design and encourage the use of nightvision goggles, but the dark environments come off almost too dark on the backlit LCD screen, which means players will want to kick on the nightvision almost regularly. Unfortunately, the standard, sluggish-but-playable framerate kicks down to a nearly unplayable pace when activating either of the two goggle effects, promptly discouraging their use and forcing players to deal with the dark imagery instead.

Their closing comments wrap it up pretty well:

It's clear that Gameloft put a lot of time and energy into the Nintendo DS version of Splinter Cell; its presentation and use of touch-screen show that the team focused on bringing a unique Splinter Cell experience on the dual screen handheld. But it's almost too complex for its own good; overwhelmingly complex control and an unsatisfactory framerate hurts the game design, but not so much that it makes the experience a bad one. Single player is far more satisfying than the multiplayer in the Nintendo DS rendition, which is a harsh 180 from the console's favored four player, two-on-two combat.

I disagree with you, I think the guy sounded like he had a problem with this rendition of the game, not with Splinter Cell. His concerns sound perfectly legitimate to me.

 

[Teasy]

There are some legatimate concerns of course (framerate and more linear missions for instance). I just think that some of them sound like complaints against the franchise itself. I also don't see why a game would be intrinsically dark on the DS screen and he never says that specifically.

The control setup looks like its been designed with the thumbstrap in mind. You can pretty easily access all buttons and the touch screen at the same time using that. The reviewer has a thumbstrap, so why not use it?

I'll definitely give this game a try and judge for myself when its released here on Friday. Though I'm certainly not expecting a great game

 

[Ty]

I'll wait till it comes out, frankly the way Goldeneye turned out is almost completely disappointing and therefore I'm gun shy now.

 

[Teasy]

I didn't have much hope for Goldeneye being a good game once I saw videos of the final game.

 

[Ty]

I didn't have much hope for Goldeneye being a good game once I saw videos of the final game.

Yea, a shame as I was expecting it to be a killer AP.

 

[jvd]

goldeneye is great , the multiplayer is alot of fun . However the single player game is crap after playing it for a few hours . Going to no reciet it and put that money on nintendogs

 

[cthellis42]

All I have to day about the video is that's one damn silly death there at the end.

 

[Teasy]

But do you have anything to say about the video?

 

[Teasy]

I just got this game today. I was right to be skeptical of the reviews. So far its a good game IMO, the controls work well and the framerate isn't a hindrance at all using the normal view. It only becomes really choppy in heat and night vision views. Once you learn all the buttons and moves, which doesn't take long, the game is surprisingly close to the other versions (for a handheld game anyway). I'm at an absolute loss as to where reviewers are getting all these problems from... Half of them are just nonsense and the other half are total exaggeration.

The controls are just one example of this. Reviewers seem to be talking as if they're using the stylus while walking around and sneaking. Which is just stupid. In normal gameplay to rotate the camera you only need to move your thumb half an inch from a button to either of the camera arrows on the touch screen. Meaning you can easily get access to all the buttons you need while holding the system normally. WTF do these reviewer think those arrows are there for? The only time you need to use any kind of stylus is when your shooting (or lock picking). But while shooting you only need to use the touch screen and the left trigger button so that's easy as well.

I honestly don't get what some of these reviewers are complaining about. Seriously so far this is definitely a good game. Though obviously I'll leave my final score for when I complete the game

 

[Fox5]

Stylus? Thumbpad all the way!

BTW, that Unreal engine is pretty scalable huh? This game looks like Syphon Filter on the PSX.

I guess if I played handheld games all the time I'd pick this up, and probably Need for Speed Underground 2 as well which looks like the PC version are absolute lowest settings. I don't though, so I'd pick up the very similar and superior console versions of these games if I wanted to play them, and I'll my DS can sit idle for a while.