When it comes to stealth shooters, the gameplay has to be good and innovative. If not, it's just sneaking around & shooting people. Ubisoft has yet to fail with innovation in the SC series. In this new installment, many new additions and improvements to the gameplay have be incorporated. As one would expect, the AI of your enemies has been improved. In addition to that, more moves & animations have been added. In certain situations, you can use your knife to cut the material of a tent or a oriental paper wall. Another new gadget your giving is a EM jammer on your pistol, giving you the ability to temporarily disable cameras or lasers. My favorite improvement was the inclusion of a physics engine. Now when you put down a body to hide, the environment will effect the body. For example, if there is a hole or cliff where you place the body, if the body is maybe only halfway hanging over, most likely it will slide & fall. If you put down a body while on stairs, the body will roll down a few stairs. Keep in mind, if your not supposed to kill that person, knocking them out & tossing them down a hole will most likely kill them. Overall, the gameplay has sufficiently advanced, although I did notice a few moves that I wasn't able to do.
One of the main selling points of a Splinter Cell games is the graphics. Since hiding in the shadows is key, the shading & lighting in the game is key. New in SC:CT is the interaction of Sam Fisher (your character) and the environment. As you'll notice in the first of 10 levels, when you walk into a wet environment (i.e. rain or splashed water), you'll see a shiny coat on his clothes. Cut scenes were also beautifully rendered with a bit more character this time around.
In a stealth game, hearing whats going on around is just as important as seeing whats going on around you. Although I wasn't using the offer Dobly Digital 5.1 sound option of the game, the Dobly Surround was still done well enough to envelope the player in to the world of Sam Fisher. Many times I had to mute the game to make sure the sounds weren't coming from outside. Not only that, whether your using Dobly Digital or not, if you have a subwoofer, be aware you may wake the neighbors on some levels. Again, overall sound was superbly done.
When it comes to whether the game is worth the money, I'd have to say yes. Aside from the great gameplay, fabulous graphics & dynamic sound, theres a lot more to get out of the game. In SC:CT, StarWars Geek & I were able to play a series co-op missions thats tied into the main storyline of the single player game. Many times we had to work together for both of us to get past various obstacles. Also, just like in SC:Pandora Tomorrow, an online multi-player game is included. For those who didn't play SC:PT, online play consists of two teams. Covert agents on a mission to infiltrate & security agents to stop them. Being that they are covert agents, they aren't given as many weapons as the security agents are. A feature many players liked was the ability to for covert agents to say something to their victim before they snapped their neck (providing your able to sneak up on a security agent). The ability downloadable maps from Xbox Live is built-in, however, as of this review, no downloadable missions were available. Lastly in addition to the 20-30 hours I playing the single player game to it's finish, 2 other difficulty levels are available, adding even more ways to get bang outta your buck.
In conclusion, I completely recommend this game. As much as I like playin' my other games that tend to have a faster pace, sometimes I like to sit down & play a game that's not about dual guns blazin' or defeating my opponent with a cool stylish smackdown. Splinter Cell : Chaos Theory has a good story, dynamic & innovative gameplay, fun to play & most of all entertaining. One helpful hint: Rocks, soda cans & bars of soap can be your best friend, don't overlook or under use them.
