Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Studio	Ubisoft Shanghai
Publisher	Ubisoft
Senior Developer	Jean-Michel Tari
composer	Jack Wall
Erstveröffent- lichung	Xbox March 23, 2004 March 26, 2004 April 7, 2005 Windows March 23, 2004 April 2, 2004 Game Boy Advance March 24, 2004 March 26, 2004 PlayStation 2 June 11, 2004 June 16, 2004 April 7, 2005 GameCube 20. June 2004 June 30th 2004
platform	Windows , Xbox , PlayStation 2 , Nintendo GameCube , Game Boy Advance , N-Gage ,
Game engine	Unreal Engine 2
genre	Stealth shooter
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
control	Gamepad , keyboard and mouse
system advantages preconditions	OS : Windows 2000 / ME / XP CPU : 1 GHz RAM : 256 MB Graphics card : 32 MB Storage requirement (HDD) : 2.5 GB
medium	DVD-ROM , Blu-ray Disc
language	Audio and text: English , German , Russian
Current version	1.31
copy protection	SafeDisc
Age rating	USK PEGI
information	The Game Boy Advance version has released PEGI from 7 and USK from 12 years.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is the successor to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell released in 2002 and the second part of the Splinter Cell series. It was released in 2004 for Windows , PlayStation 2 , Nintendo GameCube , Game Boy Advance and N-Gage . Like its predecessor, it is a stealth shooter . This means that the fighting is in the background. In many places it is more important to be inconspicuous and thereby avoid fighting.

Like its predecessor, the title is about the agent Sam Fisher , who works on behalf of the fictional American secret service Third Echelon . In this part of the game series, Fisher is sent to Indonesia to neutralize an anti-American military leader who has come into possession of a biological warfare agent.

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow received mostly positive ratings from the trade press and achieved better meta-ratings than its predecessor. Critics praised the further developments of the concept known from its predecessor and the graphic improvements. In return, they criticized the lack of variety and insufficient innovation.

About 2.7 million units of the title were sold. Despite the positive reception, the title thus sold worse than its predecessor, of which around four million were sold.

In 2011 the title was published together with the predecessor Splinter Cell and the successor Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory in a graphically revised version for the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo 3DS.

action

Pandora Tomorrow is set in 2006. The starting point of the plot is the construction of an American military base in East Timor . Resistance to the American military presence is great in the country's neighboring states. The US justifies its presence with the threat from Indonesian Islamists and the resulting threat to East Timor.

Rebel groups are now forming in Indonesia under the command of Suhadi Sadono , who is secretly supported by parts of the Indonesian government. The rebels attack the American embassy in Dili and occupy it. The American secret service Third Echelon is commissioned to send an agent to fight the terrorists. He sends Sam Fisher, whose first goal is to infiltrate the embassy. There he destroys secret documents that Suhadi's men were not allowed to fall into the hands of. In the process, Sam also meets a CIA agent, Douglas Shetland . He gives the player a memory stick that leads to a research institute in Paris. There, Fisher finds evidence that a former CIA agent, Norman Soth , is cooperating with the terrorists.

Fisher travels to Nice , where Soth is staying, and loads information from his laptop. He finds evidence that Soth developed a biological warfare agent and sold it to the rebels. Third Echelon then sends Sam to Jerusalem to contact agent Dahlia Thal. She takes Sam to the warehouse where the biological warfare agent is supposed to be located. Once there, Dahlia, who had defected to the rebels, tries to kill Sam, but she does not succeed.

Sam is then sent to Kundang in Indonesia to infiltrate the rebels' base and find out what they are up to with the agent that turns out to be the smallpox virus . In the base he records phone calls that allow Third Echelon to destroy the containers with the viruses. After Sadono loses his most important weapon, Fisher is tasked with taking out Sadono. During this mission it turns out that a container was not neutralized and was smuggled out of the country to Los Angeles . Fisher travels to Los Angeles, kills the remaining terrorists, with whom Norman Soth is also staying, who have gathered at an airport, and hands over the container. This is finally destroyed by a security team.

Gameplay

General

The basic gameplay was adopted from the predecessor. Pandora Tomorrow is a shooter that focuses on inconspicuous movement. The prevailing lighting conditions and ambient noise are of great importance. It is always an advantage for the player to move in dark areas. A display is available to the player that shows how strongly he is visually perceptible. His equipment also includes a night vision device and a thermal imaging camera that he can use to orient himself in the dark.

The struggle, on the other hand, is of secondary importance. Although the player has modern firearms for each use, only little ammunition is made available for them, so that several firefights are hardly fought for the player. In some missions it is even necessary not to attack anyone. Every time the opponents notice the player or hear gunshots, an alarm is triggered, which puts the entire operational area on alert.

When a fight is inevitable, the player can ambush his opponents. If such an attack succeeds, the opponent can be interrogated, incapacitated or used as a protective shield against enemy fire. Ambush attacks can come in a number of ways. The player can crouch, climb pipes and house walls or hold on to balconies and walls.

Armament

Two weapons are available to the player, which are based on real weapons, but have been renamed. A novelty compared to Splinter Cell is that the enemy can target with the help of a laser beam, which increases his shooting accuracy.

The SC-20K is an assault rifle for which several attachments are available. This includes visors with different zoom factors and attachments for shotguns for close-range combat. Another module fires non-lethal shock ammunition instead of conventional cartridges. Additional modules equip the rifle with gas grenades and detention cameras. The former are used to stun opponents, the latter can be used to place cameras on opponents or inaccessible places. For better control of the shooter over the weapon, an additional handle can be installed, which increases the accuracy of the SC-20K and reduces its recoil.

The 5-7 SC is a silenced pistol. Your shots are noticed much less often by patrolling opponents and are therefore primarily used to switch off lights and surveillance cameras. A disadvantage of the pistol is its higher dispersion.

In addition, smoke grenades , fragmentation grenades , small explosive devices for door locks and a sensitive microphone are available to the player.

Multiplayer mode

Pandora Tomorrow has a multiplayer mode for the first time. This is similar to the modes of conventional shooters. Two teams, each composed of two men, face each other. One group consists of spies, the other of mercenaries. The aim of the spies is to break into a fortress and neutralize a biological weapon. The job of the mercenaries is to prevent this. The two parties differ greatly in terms of their equipment and fighting skills. The spies are armed exclusively with non-lethal electric firearms, while the mercenaries carry assault rifles with them. In return, the spies are able to move more quickly and hide in ventilation shafts, for example.

Development history

Lalo Schifrin composed the game's soundtrack

Sound and synchronization

The music for the game was composed by the Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin .

The actors Michael Ironside as Agent Fisher and Dennis Haysbert in the role of Colonel Lambert were prominent speakers . In the German dubbing, Fisher was voiced by Martin Keßler .

The game has an English voice output as standard, for which synchronizations have been made in several languages, including German.

The following table gives an overview of the speakers for the main characters and the most important secondary characters.

character	English speaker	German speaker	role
Sam Fisher	Michael Ironside	Martin Keßler	Protagonist, only playable character
Irving Lambert	Dennis Haysbert	Jürgen Kluckert	Supervisor Fishers, sets the goals of the missions
Anna Grimsdottir	Adriana Anderson	Anja Niederfahrenhorst	Mission coordinator, gives Fisher tactical tips
Suhadi Sadono	William Dunn	Udo Schenk	Antagonist of the game

reception

Rating in game magazines

reviews publication Rating GBA PS2 Windows Xbox 1UP C. A. B- A. 4players k. A. k. A. 90% 90% GameSpot 6.7 / 10 8.2 / 10 9.1 / 10 k. A. GameSpy k. A. 4/5 4/5 k. A. GameStar k. A. k. A. 92% k. A. IGN 7.0 / 10 8.2 / 10 9.5 / 10 9.5 / 10 PC action k. A. k. A. 88% k. A. PC Games k. A. k. A. 90% k. A. Meta-ratings GameRankings k. A. 86.74% 85.28% 92.37% Metacritic 68% 87% 87% 93%

Pandora Tomorrow received mostly positive reviews. The versions for Xbox and Windows performed best, with meta ratings of 93% and 87% respectively. The other versions, especially those for mobile consoles, were often criticized for their comparatively poor quality.

Ivan Sulic the British online magazine IGN Entertainment awards for Pandora Tomorrow a good rating. He praises that the further development of the predecessor has been successful in almost all points. Both the graphics and the sound as well as the new campaign are of very high quality. He criticized the gameplay for the fact that in many parts of the campaign the players had to rely too much on trying things out and saving frequently. However, this is offset by the other elements that make up the stealth shooter. He mentions the multiplayer mode as another strength of the game. This is very extensive and varied.

The testers of the 1UP magazine also rate the game positively, only the Game Boy version and the Windows version of the game do comparatively poorly. In these versions, the authors primarily complain about technical defects and immature elements. In the Windows version, especially strong problems in multiplayer mode, which make the game unplayable in places, are mentioned. In the GameBoy version, the authors complain about poor camera work, which is particularly negative for the concept of a stealth shooter. The game concept, which is still extremely innovative, is generally praised. Pandora Tomorrow represents a successful further development of its predecessor. The design of the campaign missions and cards is again one of the most detailed of the titles available on the market.

Mathias Oertel from the German online magazine 4Players also praises the high quality of the game concept, which is among others. a. show in level design , in campaigns and in multiplayer mode. He considers the expansion of the predecessor to include new types of weapons and movements to be useful. He criticizes isolated bugs in the Xbox version and the comparatively high hardware requirements of the Windows version.

Sales figures

In an August 2004 announcement, about two months after Pandora Tomorrow was released , Ubisoft announced that 2.7 million units of the title had been sold worldwide.

successor

The follow-up to Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was released in 2005 under the title Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory . This was designed for a total of five platforms, Windows, Xbox, N-Gage, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. In terms of content, it ties in with the plot of Pandora Tomorrow and its predecessors. However , there are no major references to Pandora Tomorrow .

Chaos Theory received even better reviews than its predecessor. Innovations in the game principle and in the game graphics were praised. The title received awards from various magazines.

Web links

• Official website ( Memento of August 4, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow at MobyGames (English)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Petra Schmitz: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". gamestar.de, March 9, 2004, accessed December 24, 2013 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Aaron Boulding: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow" (English). In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , March 26, 2004, accessed December 24, 2013 . 
3. ^ ^{A b c d e f} Mathias Oertel: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". 4players.de, March 29, 2004, accessed December 24, 2013 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow review (GBA). (No longer available online.) In: 1UP.com . 1UP Games, January 1, 2000, archived from the original on November 6, 2015 ; Retrieved December 15, 2018 (American English). 
5. ^ Greg Kasavin: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". Retrieved February 18, 2014 . 
6. ↑ Craig Harris: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". April 1, 2004, accessed February 19, 2014 . 
7. ^ ^{A b} John Davison: Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow. (No longer available online.) In: 1UP.com . 1UP Games, August 7, 2004, archived from the original on June 1, 2016 ; Retrieved December 15, 2018 (American English). 
8. ^ Greg Kasavin: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". June 15, 2004, accessed February 18, 2014 . 
9. ^ Will Tuttle: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". GameSpy, June 17, 2004, accessed February 18, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Ivan Sulic: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". June 14, 2004, accessed February 18, 2014 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b} Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow. (No longer available online.) In: 1UP.com . 1UP Games, June 24, 2004, archived from the original on June 1, 2016 ; Retrieved December 15, 2018 (American English). 
12. ^ Scott Osborne: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". GameSpy, April 7, 2004, accessed February 18, 2014 . 
13. ^ Greg Kasavin: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , March 24, 2004, accessed December 24, 2013 . 
14. ↑ Edition 05/2004
15. ↑ Edition 05/2004
16. ↑ Che Chou: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. (No longer available online.) In: 1UP.com . 1UP Games, March 12, 2004, archived from the original on May 25, 2016 ; Retrieved December 15, 2018 (American English). 
17. ^ Aaron Boulding: Test "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow". In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , March 26, 2004, accessed December 24, 2013 . 
18. ^ Meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
19. ^ Meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
20. ^ ^{A b} meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
21. ^ ^{A b} meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
22. ^ Meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
23. ^ Meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
24. ^ Meta-evaluation “Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow”. In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed May 29, 2014 . 
25. ↑ Fabian Walten: Success for Sam Fisher. gameswelt.de, July 27, 2004, accessed on February 20, 2014 . 
26. ^ ^{A b} David Clayman: Test "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory" (English). In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , March 23, 2005, accessed December 27, 2013 .