he stealth genre is one that has gotten some serious attention as of late, with games like Metal Gear Solid and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell being just two of the most notable games that have recently taken the genre into the forefront of the gaming industry. But, while games like Metal Gear Solid have branched out more into the worlds of action and stealth, Splinter Cell has always stuck to its gun in attempting to recreate authentic and highly realistic stealth gameplay throughout the course of the game. Well, Ubisoft wowed fans when the first game was released and are now poised to release the follow-up to that smash title tomorrow in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. For those out there worried that the series would skew towards a more action oriented affair, rest assured, your sneaky-sneaky gameplay is still here and 100% accounted for. Taking what made the first game so popular and adding quite a few innovative features, Ubisoft is aiming for the stars with Pandora Tomorrow, as well as broadening their trademark gameplay to reach a wider base of players.

The story in Pandora Tomorrow opens with a hostage situation at a military base in the East Timor. It seems that the head of a rebel faction has seized all the US employees at the base and is holding them hostage. With little information to go on, irrepressible one man army Sam Fisher is sent in to not only free the hostages, but to also uncover more data as to why the rebels have seized the building in the first place. It seems that the rebel leader, Sodano, is much more than meets the eye and isn’t simply a typical run of the mill bad guy. With special operatives planted in the United States, Sodano has created for himself a virtually fool proof way of ensuring that he stays in his current power role. With his operatives in the US, Sodano has planted several boxes full of smallpox around the country. If his operatives don’t receive a phone call directly from him each day, they’re to let the smallpox loose, causing a national catastrophe. So, what begins as a seemingly “normal” uprising in East Timor quickly becomes a race against time in order to save the world.

For those who played the first Splinter Cell game, you should have absolutely no problem in getting the hang of the game’s controls as they function nearly identical to how they did in that game. But, there have been a few new additions to help ensure that Sam is as deadly as ever. First of all, Sam can now perform a move that allows him to spin across openings like windows and doors. To execute the move, all you need to do is be pressed up against a wall or surface and then edge your way to the end of it. With a press of the A button, Sam will spin in front of the opening, making him far less visible to any nearby enemies when he does so. Also new to his move repertoire is the ability to actually jump between walls to reach higher ground. In the first game, Sam could jump between two walls and perform a splits-like hang where he could then get the drop on his enemies. While he can still do this move, he can now also using the move to jump back and forth between the two walls, allowing him to reach higher areas that were previously inaccessible. Aside from some other more user friendly moves involving the ability to transition from climbing things like pipes and then moving towards hanging ledges to go hand-over-hand, Sam can now also use his gun while hanging from things like pipes and wires, opening up new areas for stealth kills and combat.

While much of the game still focuses on not being seen, Sam still has his handy stockpile of useful weapons and items, all of which serve unique purposes throughout the game. Along with is silent handgun and machine gun, Sam still totes around his optic cable for peeking under doors and his helpful lockpick, as well as the standard night-visions and thermo-vision goggles. Further into the game you’ll gain access to more elaborate gadgets, including a particularly neat laser device that intercepts cell phone calls. The items and weapons, while fun to use, really stand out due to the fact that each one serves a purpose during the game. Instead of being standard action game rehash, it’s both fun and important to experiment with items to really get full use out of them. This proves to be really true on missions that involve not getting spotted at all, and being able to use your available gear to get out of a tight pinch is often the difference between getting out a level unseen or simply getting shot to death.

Gameplay wise, the game really offers up perhaps the most in-depth stealth experience that can be had on any of the current crop of home consoles. As mentioned earlier, Pandora Tomorrow really focuses on being a game about stealth, and being such, features missions that usually focus on not being seen or spotted by an enemy. With these “no see” missions, there’s usually a no kill clause as well, which opens up some unique gameplay in not only being able to make it through a level undetected, but also in being able to do so without taking any lives. To mix things up a bit, the game does feature some levels that allow for more hostile actions on Sam’s part, but even those are usually more tuned towards suggesting that you remain in stealth mode, as attacked enemies will usually alert those comrades, resulting in you getting overwhelmed with alerted enemy soldiers. Also, mission objectives remain fresh enough to keep the action at hand from getting boring.

Whether you’re infiltrating and trying to quell a hostage situation or attempting to break into a cryogenics lab in Paris and not be spotted by some other unwelcome guests, missions and objectives in the game remain unique and challenging. For example, one of the most impressive missions involves Sam sneaking onto a train bound for Nice, France. It sees that a possible double-agent is on board and may be working with the likes of Sodano. With a train full of both civilians and enemies, Sam needs to go about his business in a pretty discreet manner. To help things out, it seems the man he is looking for has a fake leg, which handily shows up on his thermo-optic goggles in a unique way. While running through the train is a do-able option for tracking down the man, Sam can also go for more unconventional routes, including both under the train as well as on the side and top. Once the man has been confronted, you’ll end up tracking him as he makes a secret phone call, using your laser device to eavesdrop on his call. It’s a neat mission and really shows off the varied gameplay that is translated into pretty much every single level in the game. Going away from the more restrictive linearity that was found in the first game, Pandora Tomorrow features more lenient and open-ended options to get your job done. In fact, half of the fun in each mission is experimenting to see which ways you can go about beating it. For example, in the first game you were faced with many situations where there would be pretty much only one solution, such as having to use a rock to distract an enemy soldier. While Pandora Tomorrow does contain gameplay in this same vein, it also features a bit more opportunity to experiment around with different means of evading notice. When faced with multiple groups of bad guys, you usually have a number of options at your fingertips, including sneaking around them, distracting them and trying to pick them off one by one, or shooting out the lights to sneak by the entire group all at once. While not entirely different from the first game, it is noticeable in Pandora Tomorrow that a bit has been focused on having the player have different means to complete an objective.

Perhaps the most innovative feature of Pandora Tomorrow is the fact that the game contains online multiplayer. While it may seem a bit odd having a game that is primarily focused on stealth being a multiplayer affair, Ubisoft has outdone themselves with a mode that is both intuitive and almost seamlessly tied to the game’s single player mission. First of all, the game support four player simultaneous play, with two players assigned the duties of an agent of the Shadownet, and the other two players being cast as agents of Soldano. Do you remember the part of the story where Soldano had agents manning emplacements of small pox? Well, the multiplayer mode is where this bit of the story comes into play. As a Shadownet agent, you’re charged with the task of neutralizing the smallpox while eluding detection and capture by Soldano’s agents. Shadownet agents move and act just as Sam does in the game, but as an added challenge, they’re only armed with non-lethal weapons, including a tazer-like stun gun and some knockout grenades. Soldano’s agents, however, are more tuned for combat. As such, they’re viewpoint in the game is actually first person, not third person. They’re also armed to the teeth with deadly firearms and motion detectors, as well as electro-magnetic goggles for spying sneaking agents in the shadows.

The key to the multiplayer modes comes in the fact that each map is suited for both agents and enemies. Levels not only feature expansive areas geared toward gunfights, but also a myriad of closer quarters, such as elevator shafts and narrow crawlspaces, helping to ensure that both agents and enemies have their hands full when it comes to going head to head. The game currently features three multiplayer modes, all of which center around the deadly smallpox boxes. While one mode has you simply trying to neutralize the smallpox, other modes include things like trying to plant a modem near a smallpox box. While fans of typical Deathmatch and other online modes may be disappointed, it’s neat to see Ubisoft sticking to the real purpose of the multiplayer modes: the story. After all, it’s a pretty neat feeling knowing that while you may be playing online, your actions during the game are serving as some sort of indirect influence on the single player game.

Visually, Pandora Tomorrow is shaping up to be one of the visually impressive games on the Xbox. If you thought the graphics in the first game were good, you haven’t seen anything yet. Environments feature a high level of detail and also are complete with some of the best ambient lighting I’ve seen in a game in quite awhile. Fire and smoke are incredibly animated and realistic and the effects for both night-vision and thermo-optics are still as impressive as ever. But, I did have a few slight complaints when it comes to character models. Sam looks great and still features his trademark weathered and rugged look. While the detail for Sam is impressive, other characters seem to have gotten a bit less attention, with face models looking pretty flat and unanimated. Also, every now and then, I came across things like doors and walls in levels that seemed way too flat, as if they were simply placeholders for the real doors that should have taken their place. But, overall, these complaints really didn’t affect my overall impression of the game’s look.

Sound-wise, Pandora Tomorrow carries on the legacy of the first game with flying colors. Still featuring the voice of Michael Ironside as Sam, the game features some truly impressive voice-work for all the other non-playable characters. The only problem that I did have with the game’s voice-over work was the fact that some of the voices seemed pretty out of place. Take this small scenario for example: Sam sneaks into the US base at East Timor, with has been overrun with East Timor rebels. Sneaking around a corner, Sam overhears a conversation between two rebels, complete with almost surfer-dude voice overs. That’s right, it seems that rebels from East Timor talk like Johnny USA. This problem only proves more glaring as you travel the world and get the opportunity to listen to even more very American sounding “foreign accents.” While the suspect voice work doesn’t ruin the game, it does seem pretty out of place considering the game’s almost fanatical attention to details.

Overall, I really have to give it to Ubisoft for not only bringing the same trademark gameplay that made the first Splinter Cell back again, but also for really expanding on everything they’ve created with a highly addictive and enjoyable multiplayer experience. Fans of the series will undoubtedly be happy that their favorite sneaky hero Sam is back for more, but Pandora Tomorrow really seems to possess that quality that could help pull gamers who may not have played the first game into the fold for the first time. Fire up those Xboxes (and PS2s, GameCubes, GBAs, and PCs) and practice your stealth moves, Pandora Tomorrow ships tomorrow.