Japan will establish the Information Self-Defense Force in the future (I-SDF). Establishing this force is viewed as a violation of international law and the Japanese constitution, and it raises tensions between Japan, China, and North Korea. North Korea and China eventually erected shipping blockades around Japan, prompting Japan to seek assistance from the United States, citing Article 9 of the Postwar Constitution. Throughout this period, Japan increasingly learned that deliberate information warfare attacks caused the infamous Black Gold Day. As the United States prepares to launch the USS Clarence E. Walsh, Third Echelon dispatches the famous Sam Fisher on a mission that appears unrelated to the incident. Still, it may be the most critical aspect of it all. For the third time, players assume the role of field operative Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
Fisher has some new moves this time and a new weapon at his disposal: a combat knife. Sam can use the knife to either kill or knock out his opponents. The player is given an overview of their performance at the end of each mission. The higher the success score, the more people the player spares. The single-player mode is more expansive than the previous two Splinter Cell games. While players are still forced through some areas in a “tunnel”-like fashion with no choice of where they want to go, there are many instances where they can choose how they want to get there. In the caverns, for example, one can kill two enemies and cross the bridge, or leave them alone, sneak along a side path, and climb a ladder at the end, skipping the fight but ending up in the same place. Many locations are visited throughout the game, including a lighthouse, a Japanese tea house, Seoul, New York City during an East Coast blackout, and other exotic locales. The previous game’s Spies-vs-Mercs multiplayer mode has returned with some new features. There are new, large maps to play on and updated versions of the last matches. This model is available on the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions.
