Who has not played a Tom Clancy game? It goes hand in hand with the following thought: “Who has not eaten a McDonalds burger before?” It’s something we have all experienced at some point in our life and for some the experience left them disappointed as the changes made to the annual games over the years has become minimal with some dreadful results.

Having had the opportunity to play this title on both the Xbox 360 and now the Wii, I can gladly say that I actually enjoyed the Wii version more than the graphically superior Xbox 360 version.

Sam Fisher is yet again called in to take on a terrorist group but this time there is a little twist to the game, which actually works quite well. You are sent in to the terrorist group as a spy and while you’re doing your business the NSA (people who sent you in) have an eye on you as well. So the idea is to stay neutral to both parties involved as when you start leaning more towards either, the opposite will start speculating. Quite simple in the sense of: Kill people and the slider moves towards the terrorist group, spare lives and the slider moves towards the NSA.

Great controls, mediocre graphics

The Wii version brings with it a whole new bunch of gestures and control methods and the only downside I found was that the buttons could not be altered, but they got it spot on anyway. Use the Wiimote to pan the camera left or right (like you would normally use your right analogue stick on another console) and then you have your normal shooting, crouching, etc buttons. To jump you flick the Nunchuck upwards which actually works quite well. When drawing your gun (by pressing down on the D-Pad and right on the D-Pad to change guns) you enter aiming mode where your Wiimote is used to aim at what you are shooting. It plays very well and is very responsive. I’m sure you have read some terrible reviews regarding the control methods in Splinter Cell: Double Agent for the Wii, but one wonders if it was not because of the inexperience with the new controller as I found it a dream.

Graphically this game is not going to WOW anyone, it is most definitely a straight PS2 port and it shows, unfortunately. It actually looks worse than Splinter Cell on the Xbox, which is a shame. There is no excuse for a console to receive dodgy ports like this! The sound in the game was what one would have expected as it is presented in Dolby ProLogic II, nothing spectacular though.

Co-op campaign modes introduced

One nice addition to Double Agent is that you can play in two player co-op campaign modes. Now, this might sound stupid, but it works really well and you will need to use your head as basically everything includes teamwork. I recommend that one player finish the main campaign before, as the controls for two noobs might be a bit confusing.

This game did not break any barriers but it provides you with a good, although a little short and possibly easy, experience. If you enjoyed the previous Splinter Cell (Chaos Theory) then it will be a worthwhile purchase. People that have never enjoyed the Splinter Cell series should look elsewhere as it the same thing all over again…with well-implemented Wii controls.

Pros: Wii controls improves accuracy.
Cons: Little bit of this and a little bit of that but nothing to really complain about.

Purchase: