Splinter Cell overload

In this, the second part of our coverage wrap-up of one of our favorite games for the Xbox 360 so far, we'll revisit some of our past observations from back when we were still skeptical about the whole shebang. We're also including helpful links so that you can reach back through time and pluck the delicious nuggets of hands-on truth from our months of experience with Splinter Cell Double Agent.

Preview - First Look

Early on, we got our buddy Ryan McCaffrey over at our sister magazine Official Xbox Magazine to take a look at Sam Fisher's latest adventure. As a veteran of the series (and superspy in his own right), Ryan's observations on Double Agent serve to outline the gist of the game - filling us in on the basics of what to expect from the newest Splinter Cell.

Multiplayer Preview - Hands-on

Resident multiplayer-master Joshua LaTendresse (an ace at every shooter - woe are those who meet him on the fields of battle) took time from editing his busy PC channel to sit in on some furious multiplayer action with us. He also busted out this quirky little hands-on told from the perspective of both the Spy and Merc players in Splinter Cell Double Agent... if they ran into each other at the laundromat. When he first suggested this story, we were a little worried about his career as a reporter, but you should read it and decide for yourself whether or not we ought to keep him on staff. Strange as it may initially seem, his hands-on is a funny yet informative look at our finger-cramping hours of multiplayer mayhem. There's also two videos for you to watch of Josh's superb skills in action bothhereandhere.

Level Preview - Hands-on with Shanghai

Ubisoft was kind enough to give us the go-ahead to run a series of stories highlighting some of the unsung levels of Double Agent, and it didn't take us very long to decide which were our favorites. While we've seen gobs of info on the blindingly bright Kinshasa level and the frozen tundra of the Sea of Okhotsk, we were surprised nobody had jumped on the Shaghai level, because it certainly jumped all over us. This dark jaunt along the side of a skyscraper is definitely not for those with a fear of heights, so those of you with weak constitutions may not want toclick hereto view our video of Sam's acrobatic hijinx.

Level Preview - Hands-on with Cozumel

In the second part of our Level Preview series, we decided to get Sam a little wet in Mexico's beautiful Cozumel. Granted, Sam spends the entire level on a cruise ship so you don't really get a flavor for Cozumel, but we felt it made a sunny counter-point to Shanghai. It was during the filming of thecustom gameplay footage that we discovered our penchant for killing civilians - a practice generally frowned on by Sam's official bosses, the NSA. We found ourselves wishing we could forsake our double agent status so that we could work for John Brown's Army full-time, and, who knows... we may get our chance to do just that when Splinter Cell Double Agent ships next Tuesday.