The newest Splinter Cell 2-for-1 (full single-player and multiplayer games) has been out on the 360 for a couple days now.  The single-player is as sexy as its predecessors, though it seems like forever since our last tryst with Sam Fisher.  As a double agent our hot, brooding Sam is rendered vulnerable by impossible choices.  He’s still the spy we wish would hack our terminals, he’s also the terrorist agent we wish, innocents be damned, would choose to rescue us.

This new stealth romp is loyal to the previous Splinter Cells in the single-player campaign.  The visuals are some of the most gorgeous anywhere and, as is tradition for the series, they are an integral part of the gameplay.  Patience is a helpful skill, strategic quick-saves are crucial, you can play through it without any kills or you can play through it killing everyone, and it feels quintessentially Splinter Cell.  Those who have played and enjoyed previous SC campaigns will be happy with what Double Agent has to offer.

As solid as the single-player is, the SCDA multiplayer is the hot topic on the table today.  The Splinter Cell Double Agent Versus Mode touches on a debate that is common in the game industry:  How should game developers approach the new version of a pre-existing game?  Should they make the same game containing all the old features, add some new bells and whistles, and pretty up graphics?  Or should they keep the core elements of the original game while changing or adding enough to make the game experience noticeably different, for better or worse?

Gamers seem impossible to please.  They want innovation to bring them new, fun gaming experiences, but if you touch one of their favorite games in a new iteration, they get pouty and jaded.  Take Halo.  The first game was a favorite and when Halo 2 came out the veterans complained that it wasn’t as good a game despite the record-breaking number of sales and the masses playing online even two years later. 

Being GOOD at a game makes it more fun which is perhaps why most gaming grievances are formed in the moments after being pwned.  It’s understandably frustrating to get your ass kicked while relearning the gameplay in a sequel when you’ve already spent so many hours getting good at the previous game.  This does NOT mean, however, that the new game is bad.  The SCDA multiplayer is different enough from CT to be causing a ruckus with veteran Splinter Cell players, but I believe this iteration of the versus mode is the best yet.

Being good at the Chaos Theory versus mode required a special skill set.  The elite player was a veritable library of Splinter Cell arcana, a champion of the mind whose superior strategies made us feel like blind 3 year olds in an oversized hamster maze.  Unlike the best FPS sharks, good SCCT players aren’t required to have a deadly accurate shot, they just need to be smarter.  It’s no wonder that people who make a living being clever were such fans of this game.

The previous versus mode could be straight-up confusing for those who weren’t willing to grill through map laps and fine-pointed demonstrations of the sneakiest places to put mines.  The learning curve had the unfortunate tendency to give a significant advantage to the more knowledgeable team even if the knowledge gap was slight.  This was especially frustrating for new players who could hardly find opportunities to learn before being run in circles and stomped to n00b crumbs.  Only those with extraordinary mental might and geektacular patience were able to reach those upper echelons after the game got rolling.

SCCT’s multiplayer was and is a really good game.  The concept was revolutionary and there are plenty of people who have had fun with it.  Splinter Cell Double Agent contains the same cat-and-mouse foundation that made its forebears successful but is reduced down to create a purer experience.  This means that the game favors players who are true to the spirit of spies being stealthy and mercs being aggressive defenders.  We’re hopefully going to encounter fewer rooms in which the kids are playing ‘tag’.  Being a smart player with good strategy is still crucial, but now the complexity is in the larger maps, the dynamics of a 3 person team, and the added challenge of spies having to extract files after hacking them.

Veteran SC players have bitterly claimed that it’s “dumbed-down” whereas I would argue that it’s better balanced and simply more fun, but at this point it’s impossible to tell.  No one has gotten to play it enough yet to legitimately judge whether the “end-game” has the depth to warrant longevity as a good multiplayer game. 

After the first couple of weeks have passed we should know if Double Agent can deliver on having enough depth for the veterans while also being more accessible to the average gamer.  I am having fun with the game so far which is enough for me to be grateful that the developers decided to ‘re-imagine’ it.  My answer to the question about how to develop new installments is that innovation is a good thing for gamers and the game industry.  Of course we love our favorite old games and all wish we could play them again with the same intensity as the first time, but those games don’t disappear when a new chapter comes out.  By accepting that we can always go back to the games we already love while encouraging our developers to try new things, we may find that they can create things we like even better.