Who is getting Splinter Cell: Pandora ???

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:31 pm

Was thinking about preordering this title tonight to get the free 2 day shipping at ebgames.com. Anyone else here definitely getting this game for xbox?

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:33 pm

I've had mine pre-ordered for a while now so I'll have it tomorrow or Wednesday depending on when my EB gets it in.

mixdj1

Ed_Farias · Post by **Ed_Farias** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:40 pm

With baseball season still marching on I can't afford another game right now. But it is at the top of my queue at gamefly, so I will probably hold on to it for a month or so then buy it at a reduced price.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:38 pm

I'm definitely going to be buying it at some point.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:39 pm

I plan on getting it but not this week. I'm $40 in the hobby hole after buying some soccer jerseys on eBay, so I need to sell some stuff on eBay to cover that and pay for Pandora Tomorrow.

Hopefully next week ...

Take care,
PK

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:41 pm

I shall do my best to get it this week. I have a feeling Splinter Cell poker nights will be a regular occurence soon.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:54 pm

Im getting it when I trade in MVP and Mafia . Two huge dissapointments.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 10:09 pm

This is one of my most anticipated titles in years, I think.

The Live play looks great.

The 2 vs 2 won't really work too well for 'see who shows up' poker nights, I don't think, but I can see some nice teams of two forming up to rotate challenges and stuff like that.

Maybe even get a few elimination tourneys going or something.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 10:10 pm

And oh yeah, I hope to have it tomorrow!

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:12 pm

I just saw a TV ad for it that said "available March 27"

It sent chills down my spine.

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:27 pm

Well, I bit the bullet and just preordered it from EB. Had enough in the gaming budget after I sold 3 games at half.com (which I love by the way). I sold two of my three games I put up for sale within 3 hours of putting them on half.com. It was great.

Anyway, looking forward to dropping behind you clowns then putting you in a choke hold and whispering sweet nothings in your ear as you scream for mommy.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:53 am

I'm all over this one the day it comes out. I'll be picking up the PC version at first though. I might switch it up later depending on the multiplayer community.

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:54 am

How did they manage to screwup the console Mafias so badly I wonder when the PC version was a quality title.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:08 am

Parker:

I don't think Mafia is screwed up, per se. I just think it's an almost direct port of a 2-year-old PC game. The graphics look dated, and the gameplay feels somewhat old and samey due to Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City coming to the Xbox.

I think Mafia would have been more warmly received if it had online play, improved graphics or another Xbox-exclusive wrinkle, or if GTA III and VC never came to the Xbox.

Mafia just doesn't feel like a new, innovative gaming experience at all. Feels like a 2-year-old game, which is exactly what it is.

Take care,
PK

lsdean · Post by **lsdean** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:41 am

I will be picking this game up soon. Probably by the weekend.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:04 pm

Still haven't completed the first one. No XBL so no go.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 5:24 am

It's 3am and I still want to play this game some more. Easily the hardest learning curve ever for an online 'shooter' (which it is not, really) but once you get used to it it is a fantastic multiplayer game on live.

It was very frustrating at first, as what ever side I was on got its ass kicked, but once I finally got down the basicsa of the controls and how they work in the game (talking like 1/2 hour to 45 min, folks) the game turned into really something special.

Anyone who likes 'stealth action' really needs to check this out, and it's amazing how different the two sides feel. The game will play even better, I think, once players get a good map knowledge. And the maps I've seen so far tonight are pretty darn good.

Get past the initial frustration 40 min or so, and learn how to use all your gadgets...because you will find a use for them! I can't tell you how cool it was to blast my first merc with my remote camera's poison gas cloud.

Really sweet stuff, guys, that all you 'poker night' shooters need to try out.

(Scoop, I saw you online but could never join your session.)

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 6:46 am

I put some more time in tonight and this game is pure crack. This will be a perfect addition to poker nights and the matches will be fierce. I really hope we can pair off and really get to work together as teams and maybe even have some sort of tournament involved for braggin rights. Like web said, this game is special.

(web, I saw you too and also couldn't join any of your games, maybe sometime this week. I also saw spooky ooky and couldn't join with him either.)

Let us know when you get it guys so we can hook up.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:37 am

I was able to hook up with Spooky as soon as I got on. Unfortunately, the two of us were together in the 'Die a lot' phase...

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:16 pm

Well we played some great GR:IT last night, hosted by PK.

As usual, it was tons of fun, maybe even more than usual as we had a full group of 8 from start to finish.

Of course everyone knows the online interface for GR is horrendous, so it wasn't till it was all over and I checked the dashboard that I saw you three guys (scoop, web, and spooky) were on "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tom."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I'm jealous.

I don't know what it is, but a game is always 100X better when it's new and I don't have it yet. Strange thing about games I guess, that anticipation wherein one's imagination blows up and exaggerates all the promises of the game.

Anyhow, I would love to read more specific impressions, especially as it relates to the first one; what is improved, what is the most glaring difference, good or bad (besides the fact that it's got multiplayer), is it more along the lines of the IT update of GR (same engine, same basic game, different maps etc.) or is it a whole new deal? And then in multiplayer, is it basically Sam Fishers against Rainbow team? That's what it has always looked to me to be, the 1st person side looks a lot like Rainbow, but it's impossible to tell how it controls just looking at movies.

GR:IT is never going away, that game is just too good at its core for multiplayer bloodbaths. But RS-3 is probably gonna get a lot less playing time from me.

At least tonight, I don't think I'll be playing Rainbow, new maps or no. It's gonna be Spy and Mercs for me! Actually these question will all be moot for me by the end of the day.

lsdean · Post by **lsdean** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:36 pm

Great stuff boys. I will probably be picking it up this afternoon.

Hugo, you can always do both.

I might be doing this. Do some RS poker night and maybe a little extra SC.

I will look for everyone online.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:46 pm

Hugo, you're kinda on target with your characterization of Fishers vs Rainbow, but not completely.

Closer as far as Fisher and the Spies...except the Spies kinda take the stealthy aspect up a level...sneakier, faster, etc.

The Mercs have different vibe than the Rainbow guys, though...mostly I think due to the 'protection/defense' aspect of their roles. You only have the one main gun in Pandora, and then a bunch of defense/detection gadgets, whereas teh Rainbow team has more firepower. It's less move in/take out...and more guard, wait, then hunt.

Some other things I noticed online:

As I expected, the Spies are the more popular choice. All of the first games I joined were waiting on Mercs to begin. Once you got into a good rhythm with the same (and good) bunch of guys, however, simply switching sides and running the same mission and map a second time seemed the way to go. I think that that is probably how most of us will end up doing it as well.

It was odd how the advantage that the sides have seemed to change as people became familiar with the controls. At first, I figured the Mercs would be at an advanatage, because their play seems more straightforward. Boy was I wrong on that one! Because of the excellent level layouts, and the abilities of the spies to hide, it seemed that early on the spies always had the advantage. As the games went on, however, and the Mercs got better at using their own detection visions and gadgets, (and learned the maps a bit better) the spies had to be more careful, and slow down. Towards the middle part of the night, I saw a lot of Merc wins.

Finally, just as I was getting to bed, the spies learned to re-adjust to that, and I was having wonderfully close nailbiters. I think the balance to the game may turn out to be pretty darn good...though I know it's too early to say now for sure.

Man, I'm looking forward to playing again tonight!

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:54 pm

My copy of SC:PT should be waiting for me at EB shortly. I'll be hosting up a few rounds of RS3 to play a bit on the new maps and then moving on to SC:PT for the rest of the night. Tealboy and fshguy are already planning to be there so if anyone else wants to join us let me know. I did play a bit on the new RS3 maps last night and they are quite fun. They are 3 level warehouse style maps with lots of paths and objects to hide behind/peek around.

mixdj1

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:50 pm

>>>GR:IT is never going away, that game is just too good at its core for multiplayer bloodbaths. But RS-3 is probably gonna get a lot less playing time from me.<<<

Same here. But I'm starting to get into playing RS3 offline, as I never really delved into that at all. Strictly XBL madness since I pulled off the shrink wrap. Terrorist Hunt on XBL is just too damn much fun!

Ubi Soft has my vote as Xbox developer of the last 18 months, hands down. Ghost Recon, GRIT, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six 3 and Pandora Tomorrow either are or sound brilliant. Plus NO developer has supported its customers with more downloadable patches and maps than Ubi Soft.

Other developers, especially sports developers, should take heed. Microsoft, especially. It has a pretty lousy record of fixes and upgrades via XBL, which is ironic considering XBL is its service.

Sh*t, Project Gotham 2 has been out for a while, and we have no car or course upgrades. We've had one new course and an upgrade of a current one for Links. Top Spin needs an Optimatch fix patch, etc., etc.

Ubi Soft deserves high, high praise from all of us who enjoy its games, especially the Clancy franchises.

Take care,
PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:52 pm

Ubi's Kicking Ass with other non-sports, non-shooter games as well.

Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil are both great games, and even XIII I think has been taking too harsh a knock.

XIII is not nearly as good as the others mentioned, but it does have some fun and intense levels in the game.