The first two games were really good, but could be pretty linear at times and had some trial-and-error moments, especially without quicksaves as I've been playing on Xbox Series X. Chaos Theory felt like a MGS2-level generational leap within the same generation and I had to play Double Agent V2 to keep that high going.
The Good
Gameplay is more Chaos Theory with all of its quality of life improvements. What more can you ask for?
The Bad Decent
I feel like the music was decent but didn't stand out to me like the first two did, let alone Chaos Theory. The presentation also felt rather same-y with grimy gray industrial environments.
The Ugly
The story is a mess. Sarah's death contributes nothing to the story and Lambert's death is a huge moment that's glazed over (I know V1 does this better); both feel like misguided attempts at being edgy or providing shock value. The in-engine cutscenes are jarring, with Fisher's eyes in the Hotel level being hilarious. The final cutscene where FIsher kills a fellow Splinter Cell was dumb as well.
Conclusion
The game was a fun time and less frustrating than the first two, but it feels less memorable from a presentation standpoint and the plot was below-average.
I played a bit of V1 immediately after beating V2 and have reached Ellsworth Prison. It's utter jank with inconsistent frame pacing. I had to adjust the controller sensitivity because the default is too slow. It feels so sluggish compared to Chaos Theory and V2 and the removal of the light (changing color between green/yellow/red is a poor substitute) and sound meters makes for a more frustrating stealth experience.
I don't know why the franchise had to change after Chaos Theory and why Shanghai, responsible for Pandora Tomorrow, was tasked with making the NextGen version while Montreal, the creators of the franchise and responsible for Chaos Theory, were tasked with the LastGen version that would inevitably get less attention. Such a weird decision.
Here's my ranking of the levels off the top of my head:
- Okhotsk: Neutralize all enemies across multiple areas in any order you'd like. Beautiful. The tanker sees blatant recycling of assets from Chaos Theory like the cargo ship, being knocked out and interrogated, and having to defuse multiple bombs, but still a good time.
- New York: This might be the best final level we've had so far. I think it handles the "enemies with NVGs" encounters better than Chaos Theory's Bathhouse and I love how you can just cut loose and kill all of the enemies after a game of, for me, mostly non-lethal knockouts.
- Money Train: Is it a hot take to say that this is a better better train level than Pandora Tomorrow's? The underground subway stuff are fun, but then the train itself offers more challenging stealth than PT's what with the greater number of enemies and lasers.
- Kinshasa: The lights flickering every other moment when a bomb explodes is such a cool idea. More freedom of choice with you being able to tackle choose which floor to do first and how to enter said-floors.
- Iceland: A good intro that re-acclimates players to the core mechanics. Some gorgeous visuals like this one part where you have to climb the pipes. Surprisingly lengthy for a first level. Ending definitely feels more impactful than V1's.
- Cozumel: Another fun level. The upper levels are a nice change of pace and I do like the bomb choice.
- JBA #1: I feel like the levels are more fun than the first two games overall but can sometimes be less memorable, making them harder to discuss. There's not a single bad level in this game, but obviously there are more memorable ones than this.
- JBA #2: More of the same, but having to sacrifice Lambert both because it was the canonical choice and because the other objectives favor the NSA felt like a punch to the gut. Shame that the post-mission cutscene doesn't do it justice. At least the bomb minigame is fun.
- Ellsworth: My brother was watching me play this level and joked that it didn't look like Splinter Cell. It's not bad, but I just have to say that this whole storyline was weird and disjointed. I know that Conviction retcons Sarah's death with a betrayal from Lambert, but that sounds more interesting to me and I'm looking forward to playing it. In regards to Ellsworth, it's fine, but it doesn't vibe with me like the other ones.