Retro Game Friday: Splinter Cell

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a game that really took the Stealth genre and made it popular. It’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell!

Plot Synopsis: In April 2004, the President of Georgia is assassinated, allowing Georgian billionaire Kombayn Nikoladze to seize power with a bloodless coup d’état. In August 2004, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer and Gulf War veteran Sam Fisher is recruited by the National Security Agency to work within its newly formed division, “Third Echelon.” Working with his old friend Irving Lambert, Fisher is introduced to technical expert Anna “Grim” Grimsdóttír, and field runner Vernon Wilkes Jr. In October 2004, Fisher is dispatched to Tbilisi, Georgia to investigate the disappearance of two CIA officers.

Plot: The plot is pretty standard Military Thriller which should come as no surprise as this is part of the Tom Clancy franchise.

Gameplay: This game took the stealth genre and made it mainstream paving the way for future games like Assassin’s Creed. The main draw of the gameplay was the use of the light and shadows. You were encouraged to take your time and carefully move from shadow to shadow to get around. You couldn’t really go in with guns blazing and just shoot your way through the game. You had limited ammo, and even than your armaments were usually more non-lethal than anything else.

Artwork: Sadly the art has aged incredibly poorly, but at the time they were pretty damn good.

Music: I don’t remember any of the music sadly.

Overall: A fun game, but with a very aged art and gameplay compared to modern day games, it’s probably best left in the bargain bin.

For those who like: Military-Thrillers, Tom Clancy, Stealth.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Tenchu

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game that I didn’t get to play quite a lot. It’s Tenchu: Stealth Assassins!

Plot Synopsis: In feudal Japan, a pair of ninja: Rikimaru (力丸) and Ayame (彩女), are members of the Azuma Ninja Clan since childhood. The two ninja serve the heroic Lord Gohda, and work for him as his secret spies to root out corruption and gather intelligence in his province. However, the evil demonic sorcerer Lord Mei-Oh seeks to destroy Lord Gohda, and using his demon warrior Onikage who wreaks havoc throughout Lord Gohda’s province.

Plot: The plot was okay from what I remember. Honestly I didn’t get a whole bunch of time to play this game as my cousin only rented it once or maybe twice. That and I didn’t get to play much as I was rather young at the time and my parents didn’t want me to play it.

Gameplay: The game was really unusual for the Action/Adventure games of the time in that it included a sense of verticality that wasn’t present in many of it’s counterparts. This was done through the grappling hook that the player could use. In addition it had two playable characters who were quite different. Rikimaru who is slower, but more powerful and Ayame who is faster but less powerful. My favorite to play was Ayame, as I’ve always preferred the speed archetype and the fact that she had more combos was awesome.

Art: Sadly the game is very aged, and the artwork is very polygonal.

Music: I don’t remember it at all, sorry.

Overall: This was a fun game at the time, but I’m unsure if it’d be satisfying to players now.

For those who like: Action, Adventure, Stealth, Ninjas.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Assassin’s Creed 2

Hey all I’m back with a true classic game from the last generation of consoles for this week’s Retro Game Friday! It’s Assassin’s Creed 2!

Plot Synopsis: After the events of Assassin’s Creed, test subject Desmond Miles is rescued from confinement by undercover Assassin Lucy Stillman and taken to a remote safe house, where he meets her team, consisting of historian and analyst Shaun Hastings and technician Rebecca Crane. Using design plans stolen by Lucy, they have constructed their own version of the Animus, dubbed “Baby”, which they intend to use to train Desmond as an Assassin through the so-called “Bleeding Effect”. Desmond is assigned to investigate the memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze, starting with his birth to a wealthy Florentine family in the late 15th century.

Plot: The plot of this entry was excellent, and really brought the series around to the mainstream audience more than it’s predecessor. I enjoyed the hell out of all the mysteries and intrigue that goes on in this game, it’s a shame that it’s not as prevalent in more recent games.

Characters: Desmond is still around, and he’s not as much of a tool as he was in the last game. Ezio was quite fun to play as, but my favorite character was DaVinci hands down. I loved his humor.

Gameplay: This game is probably one of the best entries in the entire series, it’s got an excellent combat system that allows players to infinitely chain counter attacks if they are skilled enough to do so. This was easily abusable, but it was really quite a bit of fun. Everything else was much better than the first game, with the missions being less frustrating, although there are some that still really frustrating.

Art: It’s aged poorly, but they did just release an updated port to the latest generation of consoles along with Brotherhood and Revelations.

Music: Excellent, not much else I can say.

Overall: This is probably one of the best games Ubisoft has ever made, it’s the bar by which almost everything is measured for them.

 

Retro Game Friday: Assassin’s Creed

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering the first an a series I loved until the latest couple of entries! It’s Assassin’s Creed!

Plot Synopsis: In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles is kidnapped by agents of Abstergo Industries, the world’s largest pharmaceutical conglomerate. Under the guidance of Dr. Warren Vidic and his assistant Lucy Stillman, he is forced to participate in a series of trials revolving around the “Animus”, a machine capable of translating the genetic memories of his ancestors into a simulated reality. Vidic instructs him to relive the early years of Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, a senior member of the Assassin Brotherhood during the time of the Third Crusade. A flashback reveals that Altair, blinded by arrogance, botched an attempt by the Assassins to retrieve an artifact (the Ark of the Covenant) from the forces of Robert de Sablé, killing a fellow Assassin and leaving another severely wounded. Though Altair manages to partially redeem himself by fighting off a Crusader attack on the Assassin home base of Masyaf, his mentor and superior, Al Mualim, sentences him to assassinate nine individuals in order to regain his honor:

Plot: The plot is pretty decent, although Altair is less interesting than later protagonists in the series.

Gameplay: The gameplay was alright, but it was very unrefined something that Assassin’s Creed II would later fix. That being said it was pretty groundbreaking at the time as there hadn’t been an open-world stealth game that was quite as successful. That being said it quickly became repetitive, a pitfall most open-world games end up making.

Characters: Altair was probably my least favorite protagonist in series until Unity. That being said Desmond’s parts, while being ridiculously short were pretty interesting for him as a character. The rest of the cast was okay, but again they weren’t as good as later entry’s casts.

Art: It’s become a bit dated, but it’s not too bad by today’s standards.

Music: Good, not amazing mind, but it’s not terrible either.

Overall: If you really want to play this game you’re welcome to do so, but otherwise it’s a pretty skippable entry in the series.

For those who like: Action, Adventure, Stealth, Drama, Good Gameplay, Decent Artwork, Okay Music.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.