Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow online details released!

[Sheeyt]

Electronic Gaming Monthly:

"Thought the online mode added for Pandora Tomarrow (for PS2 and Xbox at least GameCube is iffy) would be your standard deathmatch afterthought? Think again.
Here's the setup: You have two teams. One side controls spies; their objective is to infiltrate a facility and gain access to certain strategic spots (like a computer they can hack into). The other side, playing as mercenaries, tries to stop them. Which is where Pandora Tomarrow's online game stops sounding like a fancy version of Capture the Flag and starts to get interesting.
The two sides play completely differently. For example, the spies have no real weapons. They have sticky shockers, which can incapacitate a target for a few moments, but the only way spies can kill anyone is to sneak up from behind and break their neck. In order to survive, they have to rely on stealth and gadgetry, just like in Cell's single-player game: stick to shadows, climb along ledges and rooftops, use thermal and low-light goggles to keep out of sight. The mercenaries, on the other hand, do have guns. Big guns. With zoom scopes and grenade launchers. They also have gadgetry of their own---laser tripwires, motion-detecting goggles, flashlights, and more.
It's less a firefight and more a game of hide-and-seek. Other factors emphasize the cat-and-mouse gameplay; the spies use the standard Splinter Cell third-person viewpoint to see around them (so they can effectively climb on stuff and stay in the dark), while the mercenaries are set to a more immersive (but also limiting) first-person view. Also, the game is currently limited to four players to slow the action down to a more deliberate pace (it's up to players if they want to try 2 on 2 or 3 on 1)."

This sounds absolutely fabulous! I sure hope they can pull this off!

[thrAsher]

That sounds great! The small team size kinda blows, but could be fun, fun, fun. Nice post, TRIR.

[MikeMan91389]

The game sounds awesome... The only problem is... I dont have much patience.. O well, still sounds like fun. Deff. on my wanted list.. The team size is ok, but an 8-8 would be cool

[SkoalMint]

Nice find and good read. However, I seriously hope they re-think the team size. At a minimum, they should consider offering larger teams for more traditional online formats (i.e., LMS, CTF, etc.)

[echohype]

sweetness.

I cannot wait for this. it will definately be sweet

[Sheeyt]

I also read that the mercs will have head mounted flash lights.

[Peepers]

If this turns out the way my undersanding of the article indicates, then the spies will get thier asses kicked almost every game. I must be missing something. Do they expect the mercenaries to stand there when they KNOW that spies are coming? No mercenaries will be running and gunning all over the place. Spies of this sort would rely very heavily on the element of surprise. Here there is none.

[Sheeyt]

Peepers have you seen the actual gameplay video of SC: PT? It's very obvious after reading this and watching that video how its going to work. I for one am completely stoked about this. Not to mention the spies are going to have sticky shockers and what not. It's going to be like playing Splinter Cell except a human will be controlling the bad guys. You have to use STEALTH!!

[Bakeman]

Yeah especially if I had a gernade launcher... I would just be launching them into all the dark spots..

spy go boom!

[Shadow20002]

The mercenaries have the advantage to move at wild but for the spies, must go only in the dark way. But what is fun, when you choose the side of spies, you can surprise the others and kill without notice.

[xbox genius]

wooooo, multiplayer sounds cool!!!!!!!!!! but dang team size limits to 4!! that sucks. o well i dont have live anyways. but htat would be awesome . hehe i hope multiplyer is offline too not just online............

[Conchord]

Originally posted by thrAsher
That sounds great! The small team size kinda blows, but could be fun, fun, fun. Nice post, TRIR.

...dude. do you realize how awesome this is gonna be? Covert ops, man. No big battles needed here, 4 man teams are good enough for me. Just like dem Delta boyz!

[Peepers]

Originally posted by TheRightIsRight
Peepers have you seen the actual gameplay video of SC: PT? It's very obvious after reading this and watching that video how its going to work. I for one am completely stoked about this. Not to mention the spies are going to have sticky shockers and what not. It's going to be like playing Splinter Cell except a human will be controlling the bad guys. You have to use STEALTH!!

Maybe it's just because I'm not a good Splinter Cell player, but when I beat that game, I relied on some skill on my part, but one thing helped me more than anything else: a sometimes stupid AI. If the AI were as smart as a human player, I don't know if I could have beaten the first level!

Having said that, I still need to take into consideration the fact that, online, Sam Fisher won't be going solo. And I suppose they'll tweak one or two more game mechanics as well.

It will be interesting to see.

[T-FiNGeR]

I LOVED the first splinter cell and I got it as soon as it was released! I think that the 2nd game will be good, BUT the sounds of that multiplayer might make the makers move quickly on the single player and develope the multiplayer more! I have seen this happen in such games as "ghost recon", the multiplayer kicks a$$ but the single player is just alright. Splinter cell is not a "XBL" game and I hope they make the single player mode top knotch b4 they go making the multiplayer! I hope they dont ruin the series cuz of this game!

[Peepers]

Originally posted by Shadow20002
The mercenaries have the advantage to move at wild but for the spies, must go only in the dark way. But what is fun, when you choose the side of spies, you can surprise the others and kill without notice.

Good luck with your hiding in the darkness when the mercs are carpet bombing all the good hiding spots. And good luck sneaking up on someone when he's running full speed. I'm not saying it won't happen. I'm just saying it's going to be **** loads harder than single player (assuming some of my assumptions are correct).

[Sheeyt]

Originally posted by T-FiNGeR
I LOVED the first splinter cell and I got it as soon as it was released! I think that the 2nd game will be good, BUT the sounds of that multiplayer might make the makers move quickly on the single player and develope the multiplayer more! I have seen this happen in such games as "ghost recon", the multiplayer kicks a$$ but the single player is just alright. Splinter cell is not a "XBL" game and I hope they make the single player mode top knotch b4 they go making the multiplayer! I hope they dont ruin the series cuz of this game!

Let not your heart be troubled. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is NOT I repeat is not Splinter Cell two. I believe SC: PT is technically Splinter Cell 1.5. Also I believe SC: PT is being developed almost completely for online play. Also another note, UbiSoft Montreal isn't the development team for SC: PT. Infact UbiSoft Asia is the team developing SC: PT they are the same team that ported the original SC to PS2. This means while they are working on that Ubisoft Montreal is freed up to develop the true sequel to Splinter Cell. So infact SC: PT is not going to be a true sequel to SC. Instead it will be more of a hold over until SC2 is released, although at this time SC2 is still technically unannouanced. This is how I interpreted my findings.