Is Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Worth Playing in 2023? | Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Review

Watch my Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Review to find out why Chaos Theory is the peak of the series and one of the best stealth games of all time.
Resolution fix: thirteenag.github.io/wfp#scct
0:00 Preamble & Fixes
2:35 Premise
5:27 Tone & Characters
9:52 Presentation, visuals, art direction
12:38 Music & Sound Design
18:01 Gameplay
29:22 Conclusion
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Cloud Coffin Art - Thumbnail & Visuals: cloudcoffinart.com/

[@InfoGuyGaming]

It is shame we don't get more stealth games nowadays, great vid btw.

[@thesummerofmark]

Thank you!

[@NIGHTSHADE31401]

There have been a few good indie games but aside from the new MGS remastered collection there's not much else. Splinter Cell is apparently getting a reboot but I don't have high hopes for that.

[@osuna3525]

Specially since the advent of VR. Imagine Spies vs Mercs in VR. Running and hiding in the dark. Literally looking over your shoulders and down at your legs and arms and hoping you're hidden enough.

[@Garland846]

@@NIGHTSHADE31401so how much're we betting ubi will cancel the remake and animated series

[@NIGHTSHADE31401]

@@Garland846 And NOT suck all of the money out of every fans wallet through nostalgia baiting? Not a chance.

[@osuna3525]

Chaos Theory taught me to _see the things everyone else ignores._ 17 years later... Politics, News, War...Information warfare. This game was very prophetic. Between good story telling and Michael Ironsides deep humor this game held wisdom. An aura.

[@MaskAnimations]

Okay

[@thesummerofmark]

Growing up, I had an equivalent experience with noir

[@Seb851s]

​@@thesummerofmarknoir ?

[@deadwaste1]

Thats Tom Clancy in a nutshell

[@xCobraCommanderx]

As a Communist and John Brown fan who enjoys Splinter Cell as entertainment I agree. 🤣

[@schwarzengerman]

The one thing about the PC version that makes me prefer playing it on the Series S, is that using the mouse wheel is a bit cheap since you can just set Sam's speed to an ideal stealthy one and not think about it much. On a controller you have to be aware of how fast you're moving him which really adds to the tension of creeping around guards.

[@thesummerofmark]

Great point, I hadn’t even considered that when researching the video

[@Mentalex0]

nah. thumb gaming is cancer

[@yesdude3914]

Wait, its possible to play chaos theory on the new xbox? Please tell me how I'll literally buy one rn

[@Brother8237]

Ya plus it made doing any kind of acrobatics if you wanted to very difficult because I would have to stop for a sec turn my speed up then run and probably fail whatever bs jump I was trying

[@blinkachu5275]

@@yesdude3914 Just buy the game as an original XBOX disc and pop it into your new XBOX Series S/X Backwards compatibility will download an update and it will work on your new XBOX Series S/X Played through the entirety of Double Agent for the original XBOX that way a lot of games are supported under backwards compatibility and the Splinter Cell series falls under that

[@jjforcebreaker]

The best Splinter Cell and arguably the best stealth-action video game I've ever seen in my life. Holds up incredibly well.

[@thesummerofmark]

It’s kinda baffling that not many games have managed to match it in, what, the last 20 years?

[@stiffygames876]

Sad that the only game to come close was another splinter cell game blacklist after that most stealth games went to shit...well mgsv was ok and the Hitman trilogy was fun

[@thesummerofmark]

@@stiffygames876 dishonored 2 was alright too

[@stiffygames876]

Agreed but we will never get back those mgs1 or those mgs2 days...sad we have to settle with pages that literally states that today's viewers will not be able to handle the mgs2 twist

[@deadwaste1]

Splinter Cell and Thief. The best stealth games.

[@blinkachu5275]

Still the best (not just one of the best, simply the best) stealth game in existence The animations, the detail, the ways you can tackle objectives and navigate around the maps, how you can choose to go full assault or full stealth (did a ghost playthrough, it's HARD af but fun af), and most importantly, the CAMERA The camera is SO good in this game it's a wonder it's not used as a template more often The way it subtly moves around Sam to either have him in the focus or depending on the situation, how it changes focus without you really noticing. If you're in a tight hallway it moves to the left or right of Sam depending on Sam's distance to the wall. If you're in the vicinity of an enemy it will focus on that enemy so it's easier to gauge distance. If you're near a corner it will automatically move so you can peek around that corner without having to press a button. It's so fucking good and most of all: it just works. In my 18 years of playing this game I've NEVER had issues with the camera. Not with clipping, not with being too close to Sam (because if it's too close it simply moves up so you can still see everything). And of course, lastly, Sam is just an absolute amazing character

[@thesummerofmark]

Holy shit these are some great observations, I never noticed how good the camera is! It’s safe to say it plays a huge role in how smooth the gameplay feels

[@autoeroticruler]

Can I just say that you are my favourite new content creator, and how you don't have 500k subs is a crime. Keep doing what you're doing!

[@thesummerofmark]

Thank you so much!!!! 😊 Much appreciated. I will continue making videos as long as people enjoy them for sure

[@d.fortner6653]

I still play this game till this day can’t believe it will be turning 20 years old in 2025. This game has so many good levels with the lighthouse, bank, penthouse, hokkaido, battery and kokubo sosho being my favorites.

[@davidsquire1278]

I still play too. Currently doing my first playthrough on hard mode and its amazing

[@d.fortner6653]

@@davidsquire1278 I need to try it on hard mode i just haven't built up the courage to do it yet

[@thesummerofmark]

Battery has one of the best themes ever. So, so atmospheric

[@d.fortner6653]

@@thesummerofmark Yeah i agree with you. Everytime i hear the battery theme i get so immersed by it. It makes me always feel like i’m in sam fisher shoes sometimes.

[@vjsmyth]

Great video! The best use of sticky cameras is for firing them at guard's heads 😂

[@PaulDuVall]

Great video! I wish I could go back and play Chaos Theory for the first time. I was 14 when it first released, and boy was it a great time for gaming. If you get a chance to play the co-op missions, I highly recommend them. It was such a blast having a friend over and playing Chaos Theory split screen co-op.

[@thesummerofmark]

Hey, thanks a lot for the kind words and good luck with your channel! I wish I could wipe this game from my brain and play it again for the first time. I’ll see if I can get some friends together and make the co-op work

[@ozmantiswine3678]

i've never actually played any of the tom clancy games outside of ghost recon just because i wasn't really interested growing up, but this video definitely peaked my interest in chaos theory. it looks like a game that has a lot more heart than what's on the surface, from dialogue, to the sound design, even the small details of the plot sound thorough. gonna have to figure out how to get started since i'd be going in blind, but i'm genuinely interested in giving it a shot thanks to you. keep up the good work!!

[@Brother8237]

I just grabbed it off of g2a then downloaded it onto the Ubisoft application on my pc works great didn’t even have to do anything other than change some of the key binds to my liking. Absolutely recommend giving it a try, it makes the mechanics in modern games look like child’s play it’s not even funny how well this game holds up.

[@jaymac7203]

I still remember how this game made me feel when it first came out. It really suprised everyone with its quality, and it STILL looks awesome today. 😍

[@alexursu5233]

Peak of the series, indeed ❤

[@thesummerofmark]

Hell yeah

[@gilgamesh310]

Some of the music reminds me a bit of that in the rather obscure game Excalibur 2555 AD. That wasn’t a great game, but it had a fantastic soundtrack. The eerie theme you mentioned, reminds me of a theme in that especially. This is a great game in any case. I agree with most of what you said. I think Mark of the Ninja is the only stealth game released since, that I liked about as much.

[@thesummerofmark]

Ohh Mark of the Ninja, now that’s a game I haven’t played in a long time. I loved it! My buddy Arkham666 made a great video about it, you should definitely check it out

[@recruit7416]

Can someone help me? What button do i press when i am looking with the sniper vision to get into computers?

[@septic07]

Hello, could you please tell me what the song in the first few seconds of your video is? Is that from Chaos Theory?

[@thesummerofmark]

Amon Tobin - Battery Theme. And yes, it’s from Chaos Theory

[@septic07]

thank you very much 🙂@@thesummerofmark

[@Krahamus]

Loved Chaos Theory one, i would love to see comparison of double agent ps2 version and pc since they are very different games.

[@thesummerofmark]

Oh man that’s a can of worms I don’t know if i wanna open hahah

[@TheChaoskg]

As always, hip-hop mentions are super appreciated.

[@thesummerofmark]

I knew you’d appreciate them hehe

[@ShadowSpy666]

Legendary game, truly a masterpiece and a cult-classic, not only for the stealth genre. If you didn't play it, you are missing out a lot! I think I'll restart it soon, really miss good ol' Sam. Ubisoft are dumpsters because they abandoned this franchise and this story, yeah I get it, we'll get the remake, but there could have been much more evolution in the character arcs :) Thank you for the vid and for reigniting my nostalgia for this gem!

[@thesummerofmark]

Thanks so much for watching!! Honestly, with Ubisoft in current state, I’d much rather they left the series alone. I don’t trust modern Ubisoft to make a good Splinter Cell game

[@ShadowSpy666]

@@thesummerofmark I don't trust Ubisoft either, I would "die" to get a messy and buggy splinter cell game...but don't kill my hope, maybe in this 12th hour there is still someone at Ubisoft management / senior level with some brain left and the ability to live up to the standards of this series. Btw, as stated, I reinstalled Chaos Theory as said :) aged like wine

[@mad8598]

Your Dishonored 2 video showed up in my recommendations and I’ve subscribed. I hope the KZbin algorithm god smiles on your channel soon and you build up more views. Also, THANK YOU for recording your own voice overs instead of using text to speech software! It’s so much better to hear a real person’s voice than that uncanny artificial cadence.

[@thesummerofmark]

Thank you for subscribing and for the kind words! Wow I didn’t even know using text to speech was a widespread trend - all the content I watch record their own voice overs

[@TrueGooner1511]

To answer the title question: ABSOLUTELY 💯

[@irascible5119]

i was just playing this a couple weeks ago, they actually gave it away on ubisoft connect a couple years ago O _ O ive always favored double agent though. the prison, it has a prison level cmon. cool video. Its Always Summer In Mark. NEXT VIDEO WHEN?

[@cakes2785]

YES! LETS GO!!!!

[@thesummerofmark]

Letsgoooooo

[@joysticksimracing]

The best SC for me. still beautiful

[@LevisH21]

Ubisoft should start showing us how the remake of the franchise looks like by next year.

[@robbyg1232]

its insane how good this game still looks, my only gripe is how linear the missions are in all 3 games they never really expanded it much. But ill happily take scripted levels over the shit we got recently with SC.

[@arkham666]

Chaos theory is 18 years old. Dude stop making me feel old.

[@thesummerofmark]

The first Splinter Cell came out 57 years ago

[@arkham666]

@@thesummerofmark that's exactly how I remember it too.

[@BreiiisBreiiis]

I got bad news for you...

[@mindofgod1543]

Played it several days ago. On Expert. With lowest light setting. Still fun.

[@dominic.ovalle]

And let’s not get started on the coop. What a wholesome experience that was 🙌🏾

[@dennissinned6299]

Beginning of a downtown mission : Lambert : Fisher, the National Guard is deployed, be careful with them. Fisher : I feel safer already. LMAO

[@BadGhosts]

POG

[@thesummerofmark]

HELL YEAH

[@glitchydust4015]

Seoul is seperated because that this game was not meant to be played on PC as the default console.

[@denissavgir2881]

Why do you think that computers beeping and booping is immersive? When I'm around computers, even if it's thousands of them in a datacenter, I never hear any such beeping and booping

[@thesummerofmark]

Because of aesthetics, basically. If I’m sneaking through a data center in a game, I subconsciously expect a certain soundscape to complement the experience. The more textured said soundscape is, the more “absorbed” into the world I feel. Hope my explanation makes sense!

[@average_jojo_enjoyer01]

am gasit pe ce sa lucrez la bac

[@thesummerofmark]

Mult spor!

[@johnlynch42069]

To answer the question, yes!!

[@thesummerofmark]

It really does go hard

[@MikoMikoMikoMiko]

KIA's fury

[@sj-30000]

When did fisher ever smile?

[@thesummerofmark]

I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Is it about something that I said in the video?

[@sj-30000]

@@thesummerofmark It's on the thumbnail 🤷🏻‍♂️ Anyway, there's no reason why they couldn't put all the splinter cells on the premium subscription. They've got Syphon filters on there, so there's no excuse. 😐

[@thesummerofmark]

@@sj-30000 oh gotcha. It’s just Chad photoshopped over Sam Fisher haha

[@RackTheMilesWelding]

Long lived the 2000s

[@thesummerofmark]

Word

[@DarthZombie510]

Trash game, no towers to climb, no feathers to collect... Ubisoft were extremely sloppy with this one!

[@thesummerofmark]

Ubisoft getting lazy smh my head

[@DarthZombie510]

@@thesummerofmark Sam Fish is my favorite video game character, he's so badass when he stomps all the goombas n shit. Where my sam fish nft at, ubisoft? Take my money!

[@pintadocachorrao]

yes, next question

[@thesummerofmark]

Favorite pizza?

[@pintadocachorrao]

@@thesummerofmark peperoni, next question

[@thesummerofmark]

@@pintadocachorrao good choice. Favorite rapper?

[@pintadocachorrao]

@@thesummerofmark I don't usually listen to rap, but if I had to choose a rapper I would probably choose Snoop Dog, next question

[@KB8Killa]

I’ll save y’all some time. YES

[@DJWoozie]

RAPPER LIST GOT ME HOOKED

[@triscitt]

Copped it today for $3. Jesus Christ its so fun

[@thesummerofmark]

I paid full price for it haha. Worth it

[@fightingforce8498]

Bank stage 😂😂

[@theduck2970]

Yes, because not only is it still the best Splinter Cell game, it's one of the greatest in the genre. And that only makes the fact that Ubisoft dropped the ball even worse. How do you have such proof of what makes a game so memorable and great only to blow it all? Rhetorical question, to be honest. We all know it has to do with money.

[@thesummerofmark]

I don’t think we’ll ever see a classic Splinter Cell game. Not from this Ubisoft

[@carteljameson8395]

No less than a masterpiece and the greatest stealth game ever made. Says a lot that MGS3 came out a few months before and Chaos Theory thoroughly outclasses it. As for Pandora Tomorrow, tbh, I still play these games on an Xbox. Just a modern one. Getting some old games to run on PC is a hassle sometimes and the Splinter Cell series is no exception. So just booting them up on an Xbox One or Series console is just incredibly convenient for me. Sure, it's not 60fps but these are slow paced games to begin with, so it's not exactly a deal breaker. Also, when you get to Double Agent, I highly recommend playing the OG Xbox version of it as it is the best version and the PC port is the 360 version of DA. Can't wait for your video on Blacklist though. It doesn't have Ironside as Sam Fisher but it's still the second best game in the series. Extremely underrated.

[@BluesFanUK_]

In the era of remakes - how the feck have the Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia games but been given a respectable do-over? Ubisoft are too busy rehashing the same shitty Assassin's Creed game to do it.

[@thesummerofmark]

As sad as it is, I think we should all come to terms with the fact that the Ubisoft of today is a fundamentally different Ubisoft than the one from the 2000s 😭 They were so great once upon a time

[@nimrod789]

splinter cell > metal gear solid

[@thesummerofmark]

I’ve never played MGS, that series wasn’t really a thing in my country growing up. Should i?

[@nimrod789]

@@thesummerofmark nope

[@xCobraCommanderx]

@@thesummerofmarkdefinitely give the original 3 games a try. They are really great games for their generation.

[@TonyfromTO]

Splinter cell and kotor was the height of gaming.

[@thesummerofmark]

And Gothic

[@omaewamoshindeiru616]

my favourite in the series for sure