You are Ethan Hunt, a secret agent for the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), and have been sent out to stop the international conglomerate SURMA, who posses a highly advanced virus known as the “Ice Worm”. The “Ice Worm” can bypass even the most advanced security systems, and hack into and steal military secrets and weapons research. The “Ice Worm” technology has been stolen and you soon find out that the IMF’s own ultra-secure database has been hacked and now the enemy knows all of your deepest secrets. You, as Ethan, must lead your team and track down those behind this sabotage and recover the “Ice Worm” Technology.

I found the controls in this game very easy to become comfortable with. The left and right analog sticks are used to move both yourself and the camera -- left to move yourself and right for the camera. Now, stealth games aren’t usually my type of game, reason being I usually get to nervous and give myself away by moving too fast. But, thanks to this game, it didn’t seem to be much of a problem. Why? By pressing L1, you get into sort of a crouch and you can walk very slowly and quietly, making it harder for you to be caught. Kind of like a gift from God for me. You get tons of great gadgets, all of which are turned on by the Square button, though not all of them need to be activated in this way. The Square is also used to bring you into aiming mode when using a gun or the tranquilizer gun. To shoot whatever weapon you are aiming, R1 is used. All in all, I loved the controls and wish more games would adopt a similar control scheme.

The UI is great. Whether you are using an object for the first time, or doing something special that needs to be explained to you, you are told right away. Right on the screen, something will pop up, stopping the game, giving you a quick tutorial on how to use a weapon or gadget or how to climb a wall or get past a certain guard. Also, if you need to complete a task in your mission, not only are you told, but you are told by your partner Luther, which is creates more immersion than just having some generic voice or screen pop up.

The character models are awesome, especially during the in game scenes. Ethan Hunt looks nothing like Tom Cruise, who played the character in both movies, something I had expected. The only problem I do have with the character models is the fact that virtually all of the guards you have to hide from look the same. Same clothes, same hat, same everything, which is kind of one of my pet peeves. I like to have some variety in my enemies, which this game did not give to me. Fortunately, it makes up for it in other ways.

The difficulty seems to change dramatically throughout the game. At one point, the game can be very easy, but then 5 minutes later it can be ten times harder. It is pretty easy to hide from your enemies; just find a shadowy area, and you’re safe. If you are caught, however, an alarm is set off. If you are able to stop the alarm by hacking it, the guard usually ends up running back and setting it off again - causing you and him to go back and forth starting and stopping it. The best part of the game is that fact is that you are able to find your way out of a problem. In a lot of games, when you are caught, the game ends. In this game, you have to find a way to get out of the trouble.

It is easy to become immmersed in the game. The suspense - am I going to be caught? If I am, can I knock out my enemy? - all of the stealth actions lead you deeper into the game. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. If you’re big on the stealthy sabotage games, then this one is a definite pick up. Even if you’re not, I still suggest picking it up... This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds………