Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell for Xbox, by UbiSoft, has sold 1.6 million copies since it released in November 2002. Now, Splinter Cell comes to Game Boy Advanced and Nintendo GameCube with exclusive linked-play capabilities. You'll be able to use your Game Boy Advanced as a remote extension radar while playing the GameCube version. You can also remotely control computers and weapons, plus gain access to a new weapon, the Sticky Bomb. And, by playing Splinter Cell through the GameCube you can unlock 5 new levels for the GBA.
Is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell for Game Boy Advanced worth buying if you don't have a GameCube? Yes, UbiSoft did a good job rendering the game for GBA and it's a completely self-contained version. It delivers good graphics and animations including a "shadow management system" that approximates the effect seen in the Xbox version. Obviously, having the Game Boy Advanced and GameCube versions would give you access to the linked-play features, but you get most of the key game features of Splinter Cell in the GBA version. These include high-tech gadgets, night and thermal vision, prototype weapons and surveillance gear. You can move Sam Fisher, the game protagonist, with agility to perform his hallmark split jumping, rappelling and zip lining moves. And you can still complete the missions in a variety of ways which adds directly to the replay value of the game.
The basic story of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell goes like this: You play as Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of the government who is thrust into a shadowy world of terrorists bent on destruction. You operate behind the lines within their midst, spying, stealing and destroying. Assassinating the bad guys is a top priority but leaving a witness or a corpse will blow your cover so you have to move quietly, quickly and without a trace. When two CIA agents disappear in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a secret government agency, the Third Echelon, deploys you to recover them. Pretty soon a deep conspiracy unfolds that threatens to unleash a world nuclear conflict, and it's up to stealthy Sam Fisher save us all.
Sure beats 4th period history class!
But seriously, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell for Game Boy Advanced is a game worthy of consideration. It's not a clumsy port but a self-contained version that delivers high quality action and graphics, optimized for GBA, which come close to what the Xbox version offers, albeit for a smaller screen. And, if you have the Nintendo GameCube version you get additional features through linked-play that add to both platform experiences. UbiSoft did a good job with Splinter Cell for GBA and experienced gamers will recognize it.
