piggy on 23/1/2006 at 19:26
Hello,
I thought i might try this, I don't often bother posting in forums but... I'm bored.
Anyway, subject: after playing the last Splinter Cell game, 'Chaos Theory,' & after recently re-installing Invisible War to give it another bash, I began wondering how another game in the Deus Ex series would be received if it were essentially Splinter Cell in a new suit.
(let me explain...)
You see, I found Invisble War to be a bit of a disappointment. Oddly, I still enjoyed the game, but as a Deus Ex sequel I felt a little underwhelmed.
I'm not going to mention the so-called dumbing down, it's been done enough, instead I'm going to blame the look and feel of the game instead this time.
While I'm sure the engine (sorry for my ignorance, but I don't really understand the ins and outs) was technically better, and whilst the use of physics and lighting added alot in terms of atmosphere, the original just felt darker, edgier, more involving, more realistic, more.. hm, cyber-punk? :s
I think of Invisble War as being a more arcadey, trimmed down brother in comparison. A spin-off series with a different flavour.
Which brings me to the Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory question, because as I played the opening twenty minutes of this game I began thinking that this is more akin to the feel of Deus Ex than Invisble war. And indeed, the more I began thinking that, I started to imagine Sam Fisher as JC Denton, I started breaking down all of the skills and moves that Fisher is capable of into skills & augmentations the way it could be implemented to be more 'Deus Ex', (not literally, im not -that- nerdy, but you get my point) I actually began to feel quite sorry that this isn't what Invisible War was.
So, Splinter Cell: Deus Ex. I like the sound of it anyway, I guess I'll just have to play this one out in my head instead of on a computer, where Sam is JC and those goggles are augments, his lock picking and stealth moves are skills that i have to earn points to aquire.
Obviously, I have to imagine alot more to get it properly Deus Ex, but it's all there. It just needs slight alteration & tweaking.
Maybe you think I'm talking rubbish, or agree, or you've even played another game that's made you think, 'this would be good Deus Ex' ...or something.
I'd be interested to read about it. No, really, I would.
Thanks for reading this far.
june gloom on 23/1/2006 at 21:45
i don't know. i hated the first splinter cell so much that i ended up hating every other SC game after it by association. cheap knock off of metal gear, that's what it is.
to that end, while the metal gear games don't have the same kind of interface or play style as DX, i've always felt that DX had a very MGS (first one) feel to it at times (particularly the statue, and particularly leadup to lebedev's airfield, i.e. the tunnels+the chopper base.) to that end, DX has a long convoluted story (with plenty of conspiracies), much like MGS.
usually when people ask me to describe DX for them, though, i say this: thief's gameplay, system shock's interface, metal gear's story, all rolled into one.
piggy on 23/1/2006 at 23:38
I wasn't that keen on previous Splinter Cell games or metal gear tbh, but this certainly seems to be an evolution in terms of player choice. From the off you can decide whether to gear up with either stealth or assault in mind, a choice you never had before, and actually I found an added issue of personal morality while playing the aforementioned opening 20 minutes.
That's what got me thinking about Deus Ex while playing this game.
I always prefer stealth and knocking my opponents out as opposed to killing and all-out destruction, I mean that's the point of a stealth game isn't it? but then i reached a point where i witnessed a man tortured and killed, and after interrogating the perps i decided to press the left mouse button instead of the right (you'll know the difference if you've played the game) It was not a choice I'd ever consciously made in a SC game. And then I noticed that any further peeps that gave me lip instead of being helpful would also get broken necks instead of nice little sleeper holds until they fell unconscious.
Which is probably why I enjoy playing stealthy as opposed to just playing stealth games. It's the fact that the choice is there, not whether you take it. Choosing to be stealthy is more enjoyable than being forced to be stealthy.
But, I think I'm digressing. I just want the next SC to have added RPG elements and character building, be less linear and give true story defining/gameplay-making decisions to the player. A DX game in spirit... i can't really see any similar games coming from somewhere else.
At least I have my imagination.
Shakey-Lo on 24/1/2006 at 04:47
splinter cell is incredibly linear, which of course is the complete opposite of what deus ex is.
also i personally don't like the graphics engine in splinter cell, you basically need night vision to see anything because it is so so dark. A ceiling light will have a 'light radius' of about a metre and then outside of that it's pitch black. it just didn't seem right.
