Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent - hands on

The rest of your cutting-edge tech is mapped out to regular buttons - the d-pad switches between Sam's many visors (heat, infrared and electrical) and the trigger executes any type of killing move, be it hot lead or an up-close throat slash. Toggling the myriad guns for each mission falls to the left d-pad button. You have to hold it down and a weapon selection grid pops up, bad for two reasons - first, it's not the most natural position for your thumb to go when A is the default action button, and holding it down only makes it worse.

The Wii version is based on the current-gen Double Agent, so anyone familiar with the Xbox 360 version can still derive some manner of enjoyment from the switched-around missions and altered level goals. Right from the start, the outcome of the game is changed. Once you go undercover in prison, instead of taking out guards and heading for the roof, you're sneaking in between the walls in search of a walkie-talkie. Then your jail buddy Jamie gets caught up in some roughhousing, and your first opportunity to choose sides arises. Do you kill the guy beating down Jamie and get in good with his racket, or go easy and keep the feds on your side? Lean too far one way and it's bound to cause problems down the road.