Sam makes another kill.

Making controlling Sam an even more difficult proposition is that the game makes it hard to put Sam in the right spot to initiate one of his patented moves. Even something as simple as jumping up to catch a zipline can be an exercise in frustration as you try to maneuver Sam into just the right spot to allow him to use the line. Even the game’s graphics conspire against you. First of all the game is way too dark. About the only way to make it though some of the missions is to play the game in absolute darkness. You can forget trying to play the game anywhere else, especially outdoors or in well-lit areas. Textures are very difficult to distinguish, meaning that you will have to blindly grope to find the walls that are climbable as they’ll effective look like all the other walls.

The game’s controls and visuals will give you far more difficulty than any of the enemies that you’ll face. The AI in the game is pretty poor and certainly not up to Splinter Cell standards. You can basically walk right up to enemies in the game without being detected. On plenty of occasions I had an enemy walk right up to me and stand there as I pulled out my gun, aimed it at his head, and shot him dead.

When you’re tired of being frustrated by the single player game you can give the multiplayer game a try, although its use as a stress reliever is questionable. Multiplayer games are essentially one on one fights where you spend 90% of the time trying to find the other player.

Making Splinter Cell Essentials a “greatest hits” game may sound like a good idea, with the added benefit of demonstrating that the PSP can run console quality titles. However, the translation is not a smooth one and you’re left thinking that it would have been an even better idea to design a Splinter Cell game for the PSP from scratch.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 62%. Splinter Cell Essentials would more be appropriately entitled “Splinter Cell Frustrations”.

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