Chaos Theory - (n.) - the study of unpredictable and complex dynamic systems that are highly sensitive to small changes in external conditions.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - (n.) - the game of unpredictable and complex dynamic systems that are highly sensitive to small changes and warlike conditions.

This game has gotten a ton of excellent reviews -- 9.9 from the Official Xbox Magazine (the highest they have ever ranked a game), 10 from Game Informer -- and I don't know if I have the experience or the expertise to do a review of it and give it justice but, just as I was about to pass it off, it hit me: "Would Sam Fisher turn down the opportunity?" Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that I'm the Sam Fisher of the reviewing world. In fact, I'm more like Luigi from Mario Bros. 2 (although he had hops). My point is that I was inspired by how good this game was and wanted to make a mark in my review history by saying that I reviewed a game that generated a turning point for the industry and that paved the road for the Next Generation systems. And I will be no different from other reviewers when I say that this is probably the best looking and best overall game I have ever played.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory features a storyline that involves mathematic equations that could alter the way we look at terrorist attacks. Sam's job is to find out more about these equations and those who also seek them out and leave no trace as usual.

The first thing you notice about Chaos Theory is how beautiful it is. Sam's look, the shading, and even the shadows look perfect. If Sam gets wet, his suit takes time to dry and he even leaves wet footprints if he comes in from the rain. The wind is so physically realistic that it makes you sick. You could find yourself trying to shoot out a light that is being tossed sporadically by the wind off the ocean. The sound is even affected by weather conditions, and all of these factors make this game 40 times better than Pandora Tomorrow (which I still loved.)

Gameplay has changed a little. First, there's the addition of the sound meter. Sound was always a factor in the first two games but the meter now lets you know where you are. If you are in a noisy situation, the ambient noise will rank high on the meter and your noise will be very minimal. In the context of the game, I can think of one time on the cargo ship, a man was sawing something in a back room and I could have done anything behind him without him noticing because of the noise he was making.

Of course, the main changes to gameplay occur in your interaction with the enemy. You now have several choices when confronting those vicious bad guys. You can kill them, knock them out, interrogate them, use them for retinal ID's, make them use computers, push them off of high boats, pull them off of lighthouses, and, in the PS2 version, you can pull them into the water and drown them. It is simple to use these new commands. On the Xbox version, the right trigger is always a lethal attack, the left trigger is always non lethal. It's simple to remember and gives you a lot of options when dealing with the enemy.

You now have a bunch of options when walking into your mission. You can assault, go stealth or take a recommended package. This gives you a lot of options on your selection of rifle and other accessories. The airfoil, sticky shocker and the sticky camera are all silent ways to distract or take out the enemy. The camera is a great tool with a sound clicking distracter and it shoots gas. (Enemies seem to catch on to it quick though, so lure them and then take them out.) The rifle also has a sniper attachment that you get in later missions. The pistol is still the most effective weapon in the game, I feel, because it is the quickest and most silent. You also have an OCP attachment that takes out any electrical device. You can't resort to the camera massacre of the old Splinter Cells and just shoot the cameras, because now they are bullet proof and you'll either need to take out the lights or shut them down with the OCP. Your goggles are now more advanced and can hack computers from a distance, identify objects from afar, and zoom in to give you a look ahead. They definitely come in handy.

The most improved aspect of the game is in the mission objectives and control. Basically, you now have more options than before. You can run and gun through the mission if you want or sneak around and try not to get seen once. You can kill everyone in sight or just knock out the enemy. The choice is yours and, most important, you can set off the alarms as many times as you want. No more 3 strikes and you're out. No more automatic failure on three alarm triggers. The only consequence of the alarms is that the soldiers beef up protection and awareness with every alarm.

The missions are very complex and constantly changing, as I would assume real missions like these would. Hacking computers was added to the mix and that makes things more fun. Lock picking is still a crucial part of the game. The change in entering doors is the option to enter them in a regular manner or stealth-like. You can also break a lock if you are in a hurry. This of course leaves a trace and I would recommend against it.

The AI is so much better in this game. First off, they don't hit the alarm for every suspicious thing they see. If something is fishy, they will investigate first before they freak out. They will, in turn, investigate downed soldiers, opened doors, turned or shot out lights and can follow you based on your trail. If a soldier is knocked out, they can revive him, and that soldier will in turn hit the alarm. Soldiers also bring flashlights and flares over to dark areas to investigate. Intelligence ranks on different soldiers as well. On the second mission I was to eliminate a particular guy, and when he thought he saw something he came to check for me. When he approached the dark room, he stopped, and would not come forward into an ambush. He knew I was there. He even made the comment, "Oh, this guy is good." So some soldiers are smarter than others.

On the third mission, the bank, the soldiers in the front work together. If something is suspicious, one will wave the other one over, and that guy will walk over to help out. The improved AI makes it seem like you are dealing with real soldiers and they talk and act like real soldiers as well. One time I had killed a soldier, another one walked up the stairs, and I hid in the shadows, when he saw the body he said, "Oh my God, what has happened?" Before he could figure it out, I took him down with an airfoil and cut another light. This brought a guard over who thought he saw me under the light. As he looked for me, he was saying, "What do I do if I find him, he is better trained than I am!" They entertain you throughout the game.

In the coop mission, a friend and I went through turning out every light. Three solders caught on to this and we heard them behind us talking as if they were afraid. We then saw them and as they were walking they were saying things like:

"Turn on the light"
"No, you turn on the light, you are closer."
"This doesn't seem right, I don't get paid enough for this shit."

The only downfalls to the improved AI are a few small things. (Although they help you more than hinder you.) If you leave a door open in a heavily traveled area, they will come over and say, "Hmm, this shouldn't be open." I don't know if this is excellent AI because they just saw the door closed, or if it is a glitch that we see in the suspicion module that turns the guards on to small things in harder missions.

Sam's athletic moves are generally the same as in the previous games. The only thing I don't like is they took out the SWAT spin around doorways. But most of them are similar. The great thing about this game is there is any number of ways to climb, shimmy, crawl, run or gallop through the board. So be ready to use your athletic prowess to maneuver.

Two more great features of this game are the co-op play and online multiplayer. The Co-op mode is a blast. I've never had more fun with co-op in any other game. You really work together and plan out different missions. Proximity is an issue with the microphone and I love that fact. Guards who are close can hear you talking to your teammate and will investigate if you speak too loud. This is brilliant and realistic. If you whistle, you can distract the guard for your teammate to grab from behind. The only downside to co-op is you can't use your Advanced Goggles, hack computers from a distance, or do any of those fun things. The OCP on the pistol does not freeze the camera on one shot. You need to work as a team. And there are only 4 co-op missions.

Multiplayer is basically the same as Pandora Tomorrow, with a few improvements. I found the gameplay the same with better graphics. The spies have a pretty heavy advantage with the new tool, the fiber-optic suit, and a bunch of other toys, but the problem with the Splinter Cell series of games online lies in the people who play it. (See Andrew Broas' editorial on Xbox Live.)

All in all, this is probably the best game I have ever played. I would highly recommend it. I had more fun playing this in co-op mode alone more than any other game period. You can replay this game over and over and never get sick of it. It would be different every time. I have no problem going through and killing guys in a different way each time, or sneaking by them each time. It is a great game and Ubisoft really did an amazing job. I don't know how anyone could dislike this game. Buy two copies of it, store one away in a safe box and play the other one over and over and over again. When it gets worn out, get out the other copy and do the same thing.