Splinter Cell review

Lurking in shadows and infiltrating top-secret military bases is all in a day's work for a government spy.

But as you might expect, being a field operative for a shady branch of the National Security Agency isn't all it's cracked up to be. Certainly not if you value a quiet life.

Splinter Cell shoehorns you into the bulletproof size nines of Sam Fisher, a shady operative (with bizarre bike-lamp headgear) for an even shadier government group, Third Echelon.

Whether it's creeping through enemy territory or shimmying like a hyperactive monkey underneath over-hanging pipes, mastering Sam's many athletic abilities is the key to being a successful agent. For novice creepers, an excellent tutorial talks you through his full range of moves.

In addition to Sam's gymnastic prowess, you'll find his range of gadgets an absolute joy. In the world of star-chamber subterfuge night-vision goggles are de rigeur, but a range of extras such as a sticky camera you can throw onto walls to help you scope out new areas are a genius touch. You can even feed an optical cable under a door in order to spy on what's inside without being detected.

Despite being a couple of years old now, Splinter Cell still looks and sounds gorgeous. The game's soundtrack fits perfectly with the brooding mood and really helps immerse you in each of the objective-led missions. Factor in the crisply rendered characters and levels that leave your character dappled in realistic light and shade, and it's more than enough to make stealth fans dribble in hysterics down their fake kevlar.

Splinter Cell may be a slick and atmospheric romp through cliched spy movie territory, but its new budget price of less than a tenner offers hours and hours of nerve-shredding thrills and spills. In fact, the only major addition in Splinter Cell 2: Pandora Tomorrow was a multiplayer mode, so if it's the single-player experience you're interested in, ignore the sequel and buy this game as soon as your other half isn't looking.