Re-ran the first level on hard. Used quicksaves in spots, but I'm feelin' pretty proud of myself. Can't wait to clear Bank 100%!
At my grandpa's birthday last Saturday, my sister's husband called Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory the "Crown Jewel" of stealth action gaming. And he certainly ain't wrong. Ubisoft Montreal lovingly crafted a stealth action cream of the crop. And boy, does this game have replayability out the wazoo. I wanna give Hard and Expert difficulties a shake!
Chaos Theory's levels have that Looking Glass inspiration to them, the famous Bank level being the greatest example. You've so many ways to get info! Interrogating guards, finding emails about codes to doors, hacking those doors or retinal scanners. If Ubisoft claimed that Splinter Cell was greatly inspired by Looking Glass' game design, Chaos Theory is a love letter to them.
Graphics are jaw dropping. 19 years on, Chaos Theory looks stunning. Some facial expressions are a bit silly, but the environments around Sam as he trots the globe are incredible. There were times I quicksaved just to mess with the newly added OCP to Sam's pistol to watch the way lighting turned itself off, then back on. Huh, between this and Arkham Knight, it seems like every 5 years into a decade, a game drops that still manages to look great to this day. Hopefully a studio can make something just as timeless looking in the upcoming year.
While story remains a so-so spot, the writing around it is great. Sam and Grimsdottir banter like best friends, and I couldn't help but chuckle at guard banter. Mook banter in Arkham games is comedy gold, but here? It's comedy platinum!
The only real wart Chaos Theory has is that awful Bathhouse level. likely up there with Komodo and Abattoir. That level is a bitch to stealth through, and it falls into that "action section" stuff I dreaded in the previously mentioned levels.
As an overall package, Chaos Theory is the best. Ubisoft Montreal made an absolute home run, and I wish they played a ball game as good as they did back in 05.
Didn't have to wait long to find a frame by frame slideshow of the game's commercial.
Edit: It's actually Pandora Tomorrow. I'm blind as a bat lmao, at this point I think I might need glasses.