4/5 ★ – Gibbs's review of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

Just cool as hell. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory gave me the feeling that most Stealth games don’t, it fully immersed me in becoming a covert operative. The deep gameplay mechanics, amazing settings, fantastic score, and classic narrative all come together to give this such a slick sexy feel. Hell, it even has some great (and funny!) dialogue that’s straight out of an old spy thriller film. This gameplay was a little tricky to get into, but once you crack it, it feels amazing. All of the options you’re presented with makes this such a good time. One level I’d be using all of the tools in my deep arsenal, and in another, I’d simply be whistling and manoeuvring my way through, but either way this sense of freedom gives me a strong feeling of agency. Whatever style I went for, grabbing an enemy and interrogating them in the dark was always incredibly satisfying. I do think the level design got a little worse as we progressed, and as such the gameplay options fell too, but it was still fun regardless. I also think that all the side objectives are great goals to give the player, and made the areas feel even more rewarding and engaging. I think the story could have been told a little better. I also think the level design could have been better in certain areas. Sometimes enemy AI and detection felt a little jank. But overall, a really great game that’s achieves exactly what it sets out to do. There was nothing cooler than being in a dark area and turning off your night vision to see nothing but the three green dots on Sam’s goggles staring back at you.