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Splinter Cell: Kola Cell (CDL) Review
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Developer |
Ubi Soft
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| Publisher |
Ubi Soft
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| Genre |
Action
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Yes, Sam’s back in his first downloadable mission for Splinter Cell all thanks to that wonderful cable plugged into the back of your Xbox connecting you and thousands of other gamers together in a gaming conglomerate. If you’re still yet to download the add on mission, Kola Cell, get to it; with a few simple button presses in the game’s main menu it’s done. However, don’t get too excited. It’s shorter than expected, but altogether an excellent introduction to the new world of Sam Fisher.
If you’ve played the standard version of Splinter Cell you may remember a character called Phillip Masse. This computer geek and sadistic clout is the main attraction in Kola Cell, as it’s your job, as Sam, to infiltrate a secret warehouse and download files stored of Masse’s computer. The trouble is you can’t kill Masse until you have the documents, which will have you retrying over and over again in utter rage.
Splinter Cell introduced players to the world of stealth that was very different to any other game on the market especially the Metal Gear series. The new addition, Kola Cell, takes that premise and makes the genre intolerably difficult, and it’s a good hour long despite its lack of objectives. You’ll find yourself getting stuck on a few of the more difficult parts in Kola Cell, with things like knocking out a guard while alerting the guy you need to capture alive and hiding until he forgets about you, then pouncing him later on. It’s time consuming and hardly rewarding and the only satisfaction you’ll get is from yourself. No, congratulations nor credits. Nought.
It’s disappointing to see that there aren’t any upgrades in Kola Cell, as you’re stuck with the same gear you were fist introduced to in the full game; but you must take into consideration that this add on literally carries on after the ending seen before hand. It would have been nice to see a few new gadgets, or maybe a different outfit as it just felt like the same game only harder. And boy is it harder. Ubisoft did declare that it would be much harder and that they had spent a lot of time on the structure and manifest of the level trying to make the experience tense for the player and that’s exactly how it is. The difficulty of Kola Cell to any novice player would probably lead them to play through the full game first to get to grips with Sam’s finesse, however it would be better that way as the story carries over into Kola Cell any which way you look at it. Even for the self-proclaimed Splinter Cell expert it’s a task and a half. Players that are familiar with the game will find themselves playing differently to adapt to their surroundings using stealth like they never did before and gadgets they’d never used.
The game still remains the same when it comes to the jaw dropping visuals and it’s looking as good as it ever was with shadow and light bending and weaving throughout the scenery. Darkness pretty much dominates this add-on mission with a majority of the level’s interiors coated in darkness until the smooth flick of the night vision goggles to help light the way. Ambient sound is also a big player this time around as it always was and you’ll find yourself listening for sounds of movements and presence even more so in Kola Cell, because without doing that you’re sure to bite the bullet sooner than you’d originally thought.
Overall Value -
Kola Cell really tries the players’ knowledge and guts, but before long the episode will be over before you know it. The good things is, Kola Cell is the right length to play over again in an hour or so feeding your Splinter Cell appetite without playing the whole game again for satisfaction. If you have Xbox Live we highly recommend Kola Cell as a free add on to Splinter Cell. If you don’t have Splinter Cell, shame on you and check out our review immediately.
Review by Craig Harwood
Second Perspective
review by Adam Matlock |
Talk about your fiendish difficulty! I swore loudly and often for the roughly 90 minutes I spent completing this mission but like Craig said, you get an odd sense of satisfaction in lieu of the ordinary "Congratulations" or cutscene that might accompany any of the full game's nine missions. It's true that there are no new gadgets, and an utter lack of the excellent acrobatic platforming sequences that were among what made Splinter Cell so great - no where will you find a need to use the split jump throughout the mission. In fact, it almost feels as if someone made a Splinter Cell level-maker, and Kola Cell was the result. But the level is no slouch, and you can tell right away that the folks at UbiSoft did spend a fair amount making this mission, and making it good.
But perhaps even more satisfying then completing the mission is the little tingle you get (for me, behind the ears) when you realize that the dream so many of us have had of episodic content is almost a reality. Granted, Splinter Cell was worth every of the 50 bones I laid down for it, but the very idea that games, too short upon release, could redeem themselves with new levels and maps is incredibly tantalyzing to me, especially if the developers do as much good to their content as Ubisoft did.
Back to Kola Cell: Killing Phillip Masse, who made his presence as a complete ass felt through arrogant emails and data sticks carried around by soldiers in the main game, is one of the single most satisfying things you could imagine. Getting there is a bit more frustrating, however. The building you're infiltrating is quite small, and as a result there's only one path through the level. This makes things a bit frustrating particularly in one area, where guards are equipped with night vision goggles and unrealistically good vision. But the mission gives Sam a full assortment of gadgets and plenty of opportunities to use them. And although quite difficult, the design is always clear enough that you can tell how to try something again, and better.For simply being a well-designed milestone in gaming history, Kola Cell is quite cool. But even after the fact, it provides more of what made Splinter Cell so great, and that's something worth applauding.
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