I'm playing this game, now that I've finished Vegas.
My impressions are that the game is quite sluggish. The response to inputs feels laggy (if that's a word). Part of that might be the onboard sound on my Intel motherboard. It crackles a bit, too.
The graphics are great. The game stutters a lot, though. It's like it's loading things all the time. That could also be Norton Antivirus trying to show me who's boss, though. (arrogant jerks think they own my PC - I turn off auto-protect when I play games) Microsoft also thinks that it's okay to go get updates while I'm playing a game. (Um didn't EITHER of you guys ever bother to check the CPU usage before you decide to butt in?)
I have had the game reboot my PC on several occasions. Usually when loading a new level. But twice it has done it after loading a saved game.
I am very disappointed with the addition of so many "mini games" to the game. The lock picking and the hacking are great. They're part of what Sam does. But the others just seem to be added to keep those with short attention spans happy.
The first one was the skydiving. That pissed me off. Sam jumps out of the plane. It's a cut scene. The next thing I know I'm supposed to open his parachute. What?!?! I open it, but it doesn't open. NOW what do I do? I haven't a clue. I look it up on the Internet. You're supposed to hit the movement keys until you get another parachute prompt (which FLASHES by). Or you pancake. I HATE this arcade kind of crap being put into this game. And the game manual is absolutely silent about this parachute crap. So I had no idea what to do.
There are several more "mini" games added to the main game. Most are just hand to eye coordination BS (like putting together bombs). I can't wait to have to defuse a bomb. The manual's description is for a game controller (slowly release pressure?) not for a keyboard/mouse.
It took me a while to figure out how to hack the new way, too (I had to read the manual because nothing I tried, worked). I was completely bumfuzzled about not being able to use the mouse anymore. I don't know why they changed it. They just did. Probably because it's easier on a console. But harder on a PC. I prefer using the mouse. But they took that option away. I never got past the hacking part of the demo because of that.
I play Splinter Cell for the STEALTH aspect. And the fact that he has to THINK to succeed. I hate this arcade crap they've added into the game.
I'm on the second map at the JBA headquarters and I'm having to deal with building bombs, now. You get 15 tries for 10 bombs, I think. So far I've not managed to make even ONE. Did I mention I hate this kind of crap?
I think the story is good. I'm not thrilled with the design. I don't like being FORCED to kill some people then have it count against me. There are places where you almost HAVE to kill someone just to proceed. I don't WANT to drag that poor SOB through the ice and kill him. Just let me out of the damn water. Give me that option.
I've also found a few bugs in the game. One is a doozy.
In the hotel in Shanghai when you are supposed to go from the 27th floor to the 24th floor, if you go into the elevator lobby from the atrium at the midpoint (26th floor, I think -- maybe 25th) and you go to the right into the dark corner of the hallway right there are the elevators, you will fall through the floor and die. I tried this twice so it wasn't just a glitch. It's a problem with the map.
Also, on the ship in the ice. You can go under the helipad (through the holes in the netting at the corners of the rear crane tower) and walk onto the rear deck. The steps over the pipes back there have no collision data. You're not supposed to get back there. AND, you better save your game before you go back there. Because you can't get back.
Apparently, the maps weren't tested very well. Was this game a port from the XBox, too? There are probably more holes in the maps. Those are all I've found so far.
By the way, I've had no problems with rendering. Even when I ran the demo on a Geforce 6600LE. It just crashes on me sometimes (probably once per map).
[RANT]
The one thing I hate more than anything in gaming is TIMERS. I absolutely DESPISE them. And they use them on the JBA headquarters maps. I don't like being given a time limit. It might be "realistic". But it just adds stress to what is supposed to be FUN. I had enough of trying to meet deadlines at work. I do NOT want that in a game. Adding timed events to what is supposed to be a STEALTH based game is just stupid, IMHO.
I suppose that double agent isn't more of an infiltration than a stealth game. I accede to that. But Chaos Theory had timers, too. I'd just like to smack the designer a good one every time I hit a timer in a game. AAAAAGGGHHH!
[/RANT]
Okay, I'm all better, now... :roll:
