The absolute worst Splinter Cell title, hands down. This comes after Chaos Theory, which was the apex of the series, and right before Conviction, which was also great and brought new life into it. Very disappointing.

Technically, the game plays like steaming garbage -- it seems to take most people a bunch of fiddling on current computers just to get it to start and work with in-game sound and wide-screen resolution. And even then, the game crashes-to-desktop regularly, sounds and lights disappear and reappear as the character moves around, and you have to avoid certain legitimate game functions just to keep the game running (e.g. equipping the airfoil rounds for the rifle, or zooming in with the reflex sight consistently causes a CTD).

Aside from these major annoyances, missions sometime enter into a buggy state which persists in the last save file. Meaning that, even upon quitting the game and re-loading the last save, some of the mini-games would be broken and impossible to pass (hacking, safe-cracking, etc.). Furthermore, while the game clearly keeps multiple previous saves as separate files, the manual Load function in the menu does nothing when trying to select one of the previous save states. It's ridiculous, because at this point, the frustration outweighs any potential entertainment from the game.

Technical issues aside -- the gameplay is the absolute worst among all the games in the Splinter Cell series. My biggest issue is with the general lack of choice. For example, in other SC games, every map gives you generous options on how to get from point A to point B. In Double Agent, most of the places where you would expect some ziplines, or tunnels, or roof gutters (this being a SC title), there is only one way to proceed -- just bull your way forward, frequently saving and loading. There is no "reward" for exploring the map at all, which is due to extremely lazy design.

The gadgets, which play a central role to most SC games, are an afterthought. I think the entire campaign can be played through without using the iconic goggles even once. Where the previous games made an emphasis on this gameplay (identifying terrorists at the airport by seeing their elevated body temperature; finding the guy you need on a train by how his prosthetic leg looks in the thermal vision mode; figuring out a keypad code by seeing the heat dissipate off the buttons in sequence; finding surveillance bugs in a hotel room by using the inductive imaging mode), this sucky installment completely forgoes this entire mechanic. Very few of the other gadgets enter into play, except for two which are mandatory and unavoidable, to be able to finish some campaign assignments.

Sam Fisher in this game isn't athletic like he is in all other Splinter Cell games. Apparently, he moves slowly and very noisily, and to sneak up on a lone enemy from behind without being heard and shot, it might take you six quick-loads. Sam has to be within three inches or so of an enemy for the context-sensitive button to recognize that you're trying to knock the guy out. Enemies seem to have a vision cone of 200 degrees or so, visually spotting you at great distances even when you're clearly coming up from behind them. Plus, they can magically spot (or "sense") you hiding behind cargo on pallets, even when you use the "stick to wall" function. Compared to the games right before and right after Double Agent, the most consistent part of the gameplay is so mundane and lame.

I could keep going about what's wrong with this game, but I'm sick of having played the game itself, and now writing the review is just adding to that sensation (although it needs to be said). The only rationalization for buying this game would be if you're a big Splinter Cell fan, and absolutely must have every game in your library.

... Speaking of which, what happened to Pandora Tomorrow, and why isn't it available on Steam?