Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D

Overview

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D is a remake of the 2005 game, "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. This game was also a launch title for Nintendo 3DS. It basically follows the original Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, but some of the levels have been tweaked to fit more comfortably on the 3DS. For example, the controls have been changed so that they are simpler and easier to use on the 3DS.

Controls

The Circle Pad will move Sam Fisher around, while the face buttons (A,B,X,Y) will move the camera around to different angles and positions. The touch screen's primary purpose is to show Sam's inventory when in the game world. The D-Pad serves the purpose of carrying out specific actions Sam might need to use, such as crouching, jumping, backing to a wall, or reloading a weapon. The shoulder buttons are primarily used to take out enemies in combat or stealth mode. The right shoulder button will make Sam fire his primary weapon when a weapon is equipped, or to kill a character he grabs. On the other hand, the left shoulder button is used to fire a gun with its secondary action when it is equipped, or to just knock out an enemy that is grabbed.

Story

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D sends agent Sam Fisher behind enemy lines to investigate the sinking of the USS Clarence E Walsh, one of the U.S.'s most advanced cruisers, along with him trying to prevent World War 3 from starting in the Far East. Throughout the story, Sam Fisher learns that the people behind trying to start World War 3 include a war comrade, Douglas Shetland, Displace International, and Admiral Otomo. Colonel Irving and Anna Grimsdottir, a computer hacker, aid Sam Fisher along the way, radioing in objectives for Sam Fisher to complete in order to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Gameplay

Most of the gameplay of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D consists of being stealthy and making sure that enemies do not acknowledge your whereabouts or presence unless they have been killed. Along with playing minigames such as a lock-picking minigame, the player must sneak around multiple enemy-filled areas, killing or capturing enemies if necessary using a knife in stealth, or engaging in full-on combat in weapon mode using either Sam's primary or secondary weapon. During missions, multiple objectives may be radioed-in from Sam's allies, so the player must be prepared to make a change of course, even during the middle of a mission.

Reception

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D generally received poor reviews, accumulating an average score of 53/100 on metacritic. Official Nintendo Magazine UK scored the game at 49%, commenting that the game is "awkward to play, hard to look at, difficult to control and socially neutered." On the other end of the scale, impulse gamer scored the game at 7.0 out of 10, calling it a fun but slow moving shooter.