Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
North American PC cover art
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Annecy, Babaroga
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Composer(s)	Jack Wall and Lalo Schifrin
Series	Splinter Cell
Engine	Unreal Engine 2.0 with RenderWare physics
Platform(s)	Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA, Mobile phone
Release	March 23, 2004 Xbox Windows Game Boy Advance Mobile April 14, 2005 PlayStation 2 GameCube
Genre(s)	Stealth
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Sam Fisher the protagonist in a camouflage suit, during a mission in Pandora Tomorrow.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is a third-person stealth-based video game developed and published by Ubisoft Shanghai, while Ubisoft Montreal, creator of the original Splinter Cell, was working on Chaos Theory. Pandora Tomorrow is the second game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy. The game follows the covert activities of Sam Fisher, an agent working for a black-ops branch of the National Security Agency (NSA) called "Third Echelon". The character, Sam Fisher, is voiced by Michael Ironside. Dennis Haysbert, best known for his role as David Palmer on the television show 24 is the voice for the character Irving Lambert, Fisher's boss, making this the only time he is not voiced by Don Jordan. Lalo Schifrin provides the theme music for the game. The game has been translated to several languages for international distribution. Pandora Tomorrow was entitled Shadow Strike during its development.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Pandora Tomorrow is largely unchanged from the original Splinter Cell. The game features some moderate graphical improvements, as well as minor gameplay changes such as the fact that health kits are no longer an inventory item, and the addition of a laser sight to Sam's pistol that allows the player to know exactly where the rounds will strike, even when moving around. Also, Sam can now open doors while carrying a body, shoot while hanging upside down, SWAT turn past doorways unnoticed, and perform a half split jump. The pistol laser was replaced with an OCP and the SWAT turn was removed in Chaos Theory, the next entry in the series. The Playstation 2 and Gamecube versions also feature an additional single player mission to compensate for the abridged gameplay compared to the PC and Xbox versions.

Multiplayer

The most significant gameplay change in Pandora Tomorrow is the addition of a multiplayer component to the series in an attempt to take advantage of the features and popularity of Xbox Live. Both the PlayStation 2 and PC versions of the game also come with multiplayer; however, the GameCube version does not. The game pits heavily armed Argus mercenaries against stealthy Shadownet spies. The spies are played from a third-person viewpoint and control similarly to the main game's singleplayer mode, although they have their own unique moves and equipment. The mercenaries are played from a first-person viewpoint, and control more similarly to traditional first-person shooter characters. Although mercenaries have superior firepower, spies have the ability to hide in darkness and ambush or sneak past mercenaries in a number of ways. The total number of players in each multiplayer game is limited to 4. After the release of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory which included a very similar multiplayer mode, Ubisoft took down their multiplayer server for this game due to low numbers of players.

Pandora Tomorrow features 3 multiplayer gametypes:

• Neutralization — In Neutralization, spies attempt to deactivate the virus devices, or ND133's, by standing over them and hacking into them. The mercenaries attempt to protect the devices by killing the spies.
• Extraction — The goal in extraction for the spies, is to locate the ND133s, remove the tubes, then bring them to the extraction point. The mercenaries are to protect the ND133s by killing the spies. If a mercenary kills a spy with a tube, he can secure it by walking over it.
• Sabotage — In sabotage, the goal is to place a modem on a wall near an ND133. When the timer on the modem stops the ND133 will be neutralized. The mercenaries will attempt to stop the spies by killing them and removing the modems.

Spies

Spies are armed with non-lethal weaponry so they rely on stealth, skill, and gadgets. Spies can only kill mercenaries by breaking their necks or dropping on them. The spies' gadgets also do not affect other spies. The only exception being the shock gun.

• Vision Modes: SHADOWNET Spies are equipped with goggles with two different viewing types. Spies using the goggles are visible to mercenaries using EMF vision.
  • Night Vision: Illuminates dark areas. Bright areas will appear washed-out.
  • Thermal Vision: Scans the area for any heat signatures. It is commonly used to help see through walls and smoke, but makes the shock gun harder to aim.
• Shock Gun: The shock gun is relatively versatile with the ability to launch special objects similar to the SC-20K of the single player mode. It is laser-guided and easier to track. The laser can, however, be turned off. The main projectile is an electric burst which is multi-purpose. It can be used to deactivate most traps and stun mercenaries for a few seconds. A head shot will temporarily jam the merc's HUD. The shock gun doesn't use ammo, but rather a rechargeable energy cell.
  • Flash Grenade: Flash bangs can either be launched from the shock gun or a spy can drop it at his feet with the gun holstered, where it will explode on impact. Any mercenary in the vicinity will temporarily be disoriented while all spies remain unaffected, even if using Night Vision.
• Smoke Grenade: Smoke grenades are deployed the same way as flash grenades, but have a completely different effect. Upon detonation, it releases a cloud of opaque gas which slows any mercenaries caught in the area to a halt. If he stays in the cloud for too long, he will fall asleep for 5 seconds or so before a jolt from his suit wakes him back up. Using smoke grenades is a popular tactic to prevent mercenaries from deactivating a modem that the spies set up.
• Chaff Grenade: Just like the other grenades, chaff either comes out of the gun or at the user's feet. Chaff deactivates any electronic devices nearby that are controlled by mercenaries, including the helmet. Environmental traps are also knocked out temporarily.
• Spy Bullet: The spy bullet can only be fired from the shock gun. When it hits a mercenary, the user can track his movements on radar and hack into his radio conversations by holding the button highlighted next to the word "Hack." Mercenaries can remove spy bullets from each other. If the bullet misses, it will attach to any surface and track Mercenaries within a certain proximity.
• Sticky Camera: Deployed through the shock gun, the sticky camera will stick to a wall and allow the spy to remotely recon. Like in singleplayer, the sticky camera can shoot a cloud of gas similar to the smoke grenade, but works much faster. The camera will still monitor for the spy even when the gas is expelled.
• Alarm Snare: The alarm snare is fired just like the sticky camera, but works entirely differently. The other half of the single player variation of the sticky camera is in this device as it only makes noise to attract mercenaries. Some players fire an alarm snare and a sticky camera together to get the same result as in single player.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries are the heavily-armed enemies of the SHADOWNET spies. They deal in hunting, tracking, and lethal techniques. The are more limited in terms of where they can go. For example, they can't climb poles, fences, or even rails. In addition to their equipment, mercenaries are physically tough and pack quite a punch with melee attacks.

• Vision Modes: Mercenaries have special goggles like the spies, but have different functions. The visor contains a HUD that includes an ammunition counter linked to their guns and a sound amplifier that is able to pinpoint loud sounds in a three-dimensional space. Merc goggles can be jammed with chaff or head shots with shock guns, disabling the entire HUD for a few seconds.
  • Motion Sensor: The motion sensor goggles turn the entire screen red and blinds the user to everything except fast moving objects and large obstructions. Anybody or anything moving too quickly will have a visual box appear around them.
  • EMF Vision: EMF vision turns the screen blue. Anything with an electromagnetic field (EMF) around it will appear white to the user. Spies who are using goggles or their guns will be clearly visible. Otherwise, they will be next to impossible to track. Other mercenaries will always appear.
• Torchlight: The torchlight attaches to the helmet and is used to flush spies out of dark areas. A merc who uses this too often will be easy to hit.
• Laser: The laser pointer doesn't just point at the target, it will also scan anybody it connects with. Their name and status (friend or foe) will be displayed. They will also be tracked on radar.
• Assault Rifle: Has rapid fire, but only fires 3 rounds per second. It can also be switched between full auto and 3-round burst. The advantage of the assault rifle is the ability to use it as a sniper weapon. It also contains a multi-purpose launcher like the Shock Gun.
• Frag Grenade: The powerhouse of the mercenary arsenal, it goes into nooks, crannies, and everything in between. The resulting explosion is usually enough to kill any spy caught in the blast. Obviously, a mercenary cannot just drop it at his feet, it has to be launched from his gun.
• Spy Detector: When placed against a wall, it will emit a laser that tracks any spy who hits it in a similar way to the spy bullet. The device itself is usually hard to spot if the user is careful enough. Mercenaries can pass through at will. The secondary function of the Spy Detector is a proximity detector very similar to the secondary function of the Spy's Spy Bullet.
• Mines: The darker side of spy detectors is the mine. There are two settings for mines. Mercenaries cannot be detected by mines.
  • Proximity: Spies who move too quickly while too close to a proximity mine will be killed instantly in the resulting blast. It does tend to stand out more than the spy detector with its blinking light. A Spy moving slow enough may actually approach the mine and casually remove it. Emits a faint blinking sound.
  • Laser: Aside from the laser detector, it functions in every way like the proximity mine but without the blinking sound.
• Taser: Knocks out the spy, but only goes a few feet and does not need to recharge.
• Flare: Flares fire from the user's gun and will shine a bright light over a large radius for about 30 seconds and cannot be deactivated by spies. This is the only gadget that can be restocked from the ammo box.
• Phosphorus Grenade: This device creates a cloud of sticky green phosphorus paint. Any person stepping through the cloud will leave lambent footprints on the ground for a short time period. Not only that; the paint is positively charged, and people hit with it will be visible on EMF vision.

Story

The main plot of Pandora Tomorrow takes place in Indonesia, in the spring of 2006, where the United States has established a military presence in the newly independent nation of East Timor to train that country's military forces in their fight against anti-separatist Indonesian guerrilla militias. Foremost among these Indonesian militias is the Darah Dan Doa (Blood and Prayer), led by Suhadi Sadono.

Charismatic militia leader Sadono, once trained by the CIA to help fight Communist influences in the region, has grown resentful of the United States' support of East Timor and its supposed interference with his country's sovereignty. Sadono initiates a suicide bombing and follow up attack on the U.S. Embassy in Dili, capturing a number of U.S. Military and diplomatic personnel including Douglas Shetland, an old friend and comrade of Splinter Cell Sam Fisher.

Fisher is sent to infiltrate the embassy and gather intelligence on the Darah Dan Doa. Fisher succeeds in his mission, and the U.S. Embassy is retaken by the U.S. Army Delta Force. Sadono escapes, and the U.S. launches a military campaign on Indonesian soil in an attempt to hunt him down, much to the protests of the Indonesian government.

Fisher learns that Sadono has masterminded a scheme known as "Pandora Tomorrow", by placing a series of biological bombs (ND133's) equipped with the smallpox virus on American soil. Every 24 hours, Sadono makes encrypted phone calls to each of the bomb carriers to delay the release of the virus. If he is killed or detained, the virus is released and millions of Americans will die. Because Sadono is fighting on the front lines in the conflict, the U.S. cannot risk killing him, and is forced to withdraw its forces.

Fisher is sent to infiltrate Darah Dan Doa strongholds in order to learn the location of the smallpox bombs. He is assisted in this endeavor by Shetland and his Private military contractor, Displace International. Fisher ultimately learns the location of the bombs, and Shadownet spies are sent in to neutralize them, bringing an end to Sadono's threat against the United States.

Third Echelon decides to capture Sadono alive instead of merely assassinating him, due to the problems created when Sam Fisher assassinated former Georgian President Kombayn Nikoladze in the fall of 2004.

Although Fisher manages to capture Sadono, Third Echelon learns that a rogue CIA agent, Norman Soth has acquired the last smallpox-armed ND133, and intends to detonate it inside Los Angeles International Airport. Soth cares nothing for Indonesia, but intends to get revenge on the United States for a perceived betrayal which cost him a leg years earlier. Fisher infiltrates LAX, kills Soth and his group of terrorists (disguised as airport workers and security guards), and prevents the detonation of the last smallpox-armed ND133 by disguising himself as a maintenance worker and setting the ND133 down behind two police officers, who notice the device almost immediately, and have the airport evacuated. The Los Angeles Police Department's Bomb Squad is then called in to perform a controlled explosion of the device, which is done by an unmanned vehicle using reinforced steel.

Reception

Xbox version

On the review-aggregate site Metacritic, the Xbox version received a score of 93% based on 74 reviews. On Game Rankings, it had a score of 92.3% based on 82 reviews. Greg Kasavin of GameSpot gave the Xbox version a score of 9.1 and said that the single-player and multiplayer portions of the game will appeal to anyone interested in high-tech stealth and subterfuge. He also said that players familiar with Splinter Cell should expect 10 hours or more of gameplay. Kasavin said the storyline in Pandora Tomorrow was more cohesive than the original Splinter Cell, but the gameplay often becomes pure trial and error, noting that the missions "could have benefited from feeling less rigid and scripted" but were "incredibly slick." Kasavin also praised the multiplayer mode for its innovation, complexity, and creativity. On Rotten Tomatoes, the Xbox version received an average score of 9.4 out of 10 based on 33 reviews, additionally receiving a 100% "Fresh Rating" due to gaining highly positive reviews from all 33 reviewers. Mongoose of Game Chronicles Magazine also gave the Xbox a 9.4 out of 10 and gave special praise to the multiplayer portion of the game. He called the game "the single best reason to get online" on Xbox Live. However, he felt that gameplay in the single player campaign at times got increasingly linear and leaned toward scripted challenges, with "only one solution to any given problem", requiring "the use of a particular gadget or one of Sam’s nimble moves."

Windows version

The PC version received a score of 87% at Metacritic based on 74 reviews. On Game Rankings, it received an average score of 85.4% based on 28 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the PC version an average rating of 9 out of 10 based on 10 reviews, receiving a 90% "Fresh Rating" due to a majority of positive reviews.

As with the original Splinter Cell, the Windows version is a port of the Xbox version, and duplicated that version's user interface and gameplay. However, the Windows version can run at higher resolutions than the console versions. The "checkpoint" save system from the Xbox version was replaced with the ability to save a game at any time, and the controls were reworked to allow simultaneous use of a keyboard and mouse, with movement speed being controlled by the mouse wheel. None of the bonus content from the other versions are present on this version. There is an unfortunate graphics problem in this version, though. Projected shadows would not appear with video cards Nvidia 6 series and up. This problem was caused because the game was a direct port from the Xbox, which renders shadows similarly to Nvidia 3,4, and FX cards. It is possible to force the shadows, but this can cause system instabilities.

PlayStation 2 version

The PS2 version had a score of 87% at Metacritic based on 45 reviews. The game received a score of 86.4% based on 56 reviews at Game Rankings. Rotten Tomatoes gave the PS2 version an average rating of 8.4 out of 10 based on 19 reviews, additionally receiving a 95% "Fresh Rating" due to highly positive reviews.

As with the original Splinter Cell, the PS2 version runs at a lower resolution than the Xbox and GCN versions, and sacrifices had to be made to the graphics including more jagged edges, duller colors and fewer lighting effects, due to the more limited hardware. Also, despite these sacrifices, the framerate tends to stutter slightly more than the Xbox version. Loading times are also longer. Missions are also structured in a different/shorter fashion and the multiplayer component isn't as extensive as it's Xbox counterpart. The PS2 version boasts extra content, however, including a new Indonesian Jungle mission, which appears exclusively in the PlayStation 2 version.

GameCube version

The GameCube version of the game lacks the multiplayer component found in the Xbox, PC, and PS2 versions. The game received a score of 78% on Metacritic based on 25 reviews. On Game Rankings, the game received a composite score of 80.6% based on 37 reviews. The average score on Rotten Tomatoes landed at 7.7 out of 10 based on 11 reviews, receiving a 55% "Rotten Rating" due to a high number of displeased reviewers.

As with the original Splinter Cell, the GameCube version didn't receive quite as many graphical sacrifices as the PS2 version, as it is runs on more powerful hardware. This version runs a higher resolution than the PS2 version, is less jagged than the PS2 version, and the colors appear to be more natural than the PS2 version as well. However, the GCN version doesn't quite look as realistic as the Xbox version and, like the PS2 version, had to make sacrifices here and there with the lighting effects. Missions are also structured in a different/shorter fashion than that of its Xbox counterpart.

The Indonesian Jungle mission from the PS2 version is included, Game Boy Advance connectivity is supported. Using the GameCube-Game Boy Advance cable to connect the GBA to the GCN, a map of the level the player is currently in is displayed on the GBA, and includes locations of enemies and items, remote detonate wall mines and control turetts.

Game Boy Advance version

The Game Boy Advance version received a score of 68% on Metacritic based on 19 reviews.. The game also received a score of 68% on Game Rankings based on 45 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the Game Boy Advance version an average rating of 6.9 out of 10 based on 11 reviews, receiving a 27% "Rotten Rating" due to a majority of negative reviews.

Two versions for GameCube

Version 1.0

Due to the process of porting the game to the GameCube, there is a major glitch in the Jerusalem level that makes the level nearly impossible to pass: there is an elevator that Sam is usually unable to enter.

Version 1.1

This GameCube version fixes the above glitch, allowing the Jerusalem level to be completed normally.

What version the user has can be identified by looking for three numbers beside a code on the bottom (non-labeled) end of the disc, near the center:

DOL-GT7E-0-00 - This is version 1.0.

DOL-GT7E-0-01 - This is version 1.1.

External links

• Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Official site
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow at MobyGames
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2002) at IMDb