[simonlo]

Ok I want to get one of these games asap. Which one first tho?

And no Im not going to buy all three.. yet

 

[simonlo]

Damn forgot to add a poll! Can I add a poll after I posted?

 

[andrzejpw]

Personally, I like splinter cell much more than mgs2. I was much more involved: there was true verisimilitude with splinter cell. MGS was more of a movie.

 

[simonlo]

andrzejpw: yeah thats what i heard, especially substance. kinda off-putting really. and a few of the ps2 magazines here in the uk have rated substance pretty poorly compared to SOL..

 

[nanahachi]

splinter cell looks great!! i doubt you could go wrong, especially with the additional features and fixes that were added to the PS2 version over the Xbox version.

Check out the IGN.com review - 9.1 / 10

However, since it was added to the Greatest Hits collection, one can find MGS2: SOL for $20 USD, which is a steal!! so cheap!

you could get both

let us know what you get and what you think

 

[simonlo]

Was reading that review, nanahachi and it appears that substance is just SOL except its got some more additions to it?

I thought that they were two completely different games! Hm is it worth getting substance for the new stuff?

 

[nanahachi]

i would say definitely do not buy both SOL and substance.

if money wasnt a concern, buy Substance, b/c you can play as snake, and not just Raiden, and there are so many other gameplay options.

However, I'm looking at getting Splinter Cell myself....So if I were you, and I could only get one...I would say Substance...since it is SOL and so much more. MGS2 really was a fantastic game.

Yet, Splinter Cell looks damn good, and as far as i know, people arent complaining about it being too much like a movie and not enought like a game. its a tough call.

i guess just read all the reviews you can. if you buy splinter cell and dont like it, since it is new, there might be higher resale value on it. also, you could try checking Half.com for a cheap copy of Sol, or even EBgames.com (which is having 25% preowned games right now)

 

[Fuse]

I've read a lot of positive reviews for Splinter Cell, and although I haven't played it (aside from a demo at EB) I could tell by the look that it was very cool. The controls and objectives were also well set up. And if you really like Splinter Cell, maybe you could review the GBA version that's due out soon.

 

[simonlo]

I'll definitely get Splinter Cell and one of the MGS2's. Tough call between MGS's now £10 for SOL (2nd hand) or £32.99 for new Substance.

Might have to toss a coin

Nah.. I'll have to get Substance. I couldnt live with just SOL knowing that theres basically a better version in substance.

Ps - Anyone know where to get cheaper PS2 games online in the uk? www.play.com seems to be the cheapest i have found so far.

 

[SumB]

Splinter Cell is the darling of the ignorant press. Sam Fisher moves with the agility of someone with a broom handle up their butt, and the controls are quite unresponsive. A blind man would have better marksmanship than this clown. The plot is badly contrived and the cut-scenes are cheesy, poorly written and staged affairs that give little incentive to continue the pain of the trial-and-error structured gameplay. AI and level design is just horrific. I haven't seen such cramped, sparse, and blocky levels populated with this many sprites since generations past. You get a paltry 10 levels and zero replay value - no secrets to unlock or
discover, no alternate endings, no randomness of enemy placement or objectives - just unadulterated diddly squat.

To sum up, try Thief, Thief II, Hitman, Hitman 2, or even Deus Ex for geat stealth action, and if a cinematic story-driven experience with high production values and a good, but very short gameplay portion sounds acceptable, MGS2 is your game. Splinter Cell is no gem.

 

[simonlo]

Ouch lol. Suppose I could borrow them from blockbusters first

 

[andrzejpw]

SumB: I've read that the accuracy is suppossed to be this way. It encourages you to try the stealthy approach.

The level design is brilliant. No other game makes me truly feel like a CIA operative. I rappel down walls. I rappel through glass. I hang of an edge so that the enemy doesn't see me. I jump up between a wall, letting the enemy pass, or something else

. I use a colonel's eyes to get past a door. Its everything you've ever dreamed of.

 

[SumB]

Quote:

Originally posted by andrzejpw SumB: I've read that the accuracy is suppossed to be this way. It encourages you to try the stealthy approach.

Well, it sounds like an excuse for bad game design. There were other ways to go about this which wouldn't have detracted from the gameplay or credibility of the games theme. It's more difficult to play covertly when it takes 3-4 shots to take out that overhead light that's only few feet away when you want to keep yourself concealed in darkness. So in that sense the developers undermined the type of play they wished the player to undertake.

I expect an elite and seasoned black op to be proficient with the tools of the trade. Is it too much to ask of the pistol being of some use in a pinch? At the range you can successfuly employ it you may as well resort to hand-to-hand (but wait, Sam Fisher can't do that with any degree of skill either).

Quote:

The level design is brilliant. No other game makes me truly feel like a CIA operative. I rappel down walls. I rappel through glass. I hang of an edge so that the enemy doesn't see me. I jump up between a wall, letting the enemy pass, or something else . I use a colonel's eyes to get past a door. Its everything you've ever dreamed of.

I disagree on the level design. The maps are extremely bland, barren, small, with monotonous architecture, and too much reliance on 2d sprites for a modern title. The overwhelming sameness and amount of not-so-obvious dead-ends make them tedious to navigate. It's just a travesty in the company of those superlatives of the past and present which I'm about to get to.

And you can do all that you've mentioned in the Thief series, save for being a covert agent and split-jumping - a series which debuted in 1998 and pioneered the genre not coincidentally. The AI was monumentally better as well. Guards actually displayed intelligence - make a lot of noise and they come to investigate - if they're the cautious type they'll call for reinforcements to coordinate a search rather than go solo; make a little and they may blow it off as a rat or the wind after a brief look. Once your position is compromised the guards (depending on personality) may try to cut to down where you stand, or they may retreat and return with reinforcments, or anything in-between, all the while barking orders/insults that really add to the immersion. Unlike SC people you come across don't all look the same - the guards will don the same armour depending on their rank and allegiance, but there's variation in their features and body type. And I really haven't even begun to touch on the goodness of these games.

The Thief games had much more impressive maps. Massive and majestic castles, sprawling medieval cityscapes, lost cities, and even missions that had the player infiltrating the rooftops of the impressive city (a large, believeable city) at dizzying hights, most of which are non-linear so the strategies were near endless. They were populated with civilians where appropriate and it really made for some interesting gameplay - unlike Splinter Cell where they're merely superficial and perhaps one or two of them per level. Now granted Splinter Cell takes place in a contemporary setting, but the Hitman series managed inspiring and fresh locales based loosely on modern real-world locations.

I'd better cut this short now, this is becoming a full-length review. But suffice it to say, I don't think Splinter Cell is a very good game in the broad scheme of things.

 

[ray4jc]

i'll give a bump for thief....for its time it was very much on the edge....and as much as i like splinter cell....deus ex still rocks....
ray

 

[TMC]

I've yet to try MGS2 but I wasn't very impressed with Splinter Cell. The story just isn't there, the controls are so-so and it's too much trial and error. I really don't understand why it gets so good scores from reviewers because in the end it comes across as a poor MGS clone. Kojima is just such a great script writer/game director I'm surprised he isn't a known movie director by now.