Splinter Cell: Essentials opens with Sam Fisher going to visit a grave, and being captured by the agency that he used to work for. From here you get a chance to look into his past and see how he became the person he is today as the game takes you through flashbacks into missions that he had been involved in from the beginning of his career. These past missions are what you get to play, and between missions there are interludes where the agency discusses what you had done and then leads you to the next flashback.

As a game for the PSP it is one of the better ones that I have played. Gameplay is good and not too complicated. The controls are simple and allow for the particular configuration of the Sony PSP.

The storyline is engrossing and encourages you to continue if for no other reason than to find out what will happen next. Is he innocent or guilty of the charges brought against him? I’ll leave that for you to find out.

As you work your way through the missions you are given access to more controls and weapons so that you are not overwhelmed with trying to figure out the game from the get go. For instance, you start with UV light enhancement and then gain IR vision. The maneuvers that he can perform increase as well from simply squatting and moving, to climbing poles and leaping up to grab ledges.

The AI for the foes in the game is very good. The guards and enemy soldiers that you encounter will react to stimuli, so if your making to much noise as your moving about it will get their attention and they will move to investigate. In some of the missions you will come across bottles that can be retrieved and thrown later to distract foes. You can also whistle to draw the enemy towards you so that you can ambush them.

Part of the uniqueness of Splinter Cell is that the game works on a number of meters that you have to pay attention to. One of them shows you how “visible” you are in terms of how bright the immediate area is that you are in. If your in near darkness, then enemy troops can pretty much walk right up to you and not see you or realize that your there unless you make some sort of noise. There is a meter for how much noise your making, the faster you walk the more noise you make. So you have to move slowly to be stealthy. There is a meter for ambient noise and one for noises that the enemy makes as they are walking around or talking. This can help to mask the noise that your making.

Speaking of being in the dark… This is a good place to be and someplace that you will spend a lot of time in. If you can get behind the enemy you have the option to grab them, and sometimes to interrogate them. This is good because its usually quieter than shooting them or stabbing them and having them react to that sort of attack, which could draw other enemies to your location. Once you have them, you can either knock them out or kill them. In some cases you don’t want to kill people as some of the missions will put you in contact with “innocent” civilians and non-combatants, or with friendly forces. Just be careful of guards with flashlights.

Due to the fact that most of the game is spent moving in shadows, it is a very dark game visually. And due to the reflectiveness of the screen it is not really playable in a bright area, this is definitely a game for those dark corners or at night in a dark room.

Some of the missions require that you solve simple puzzles in terms of mazes and such and figure out how to move on and which direction to go. They are never complicated, but do require a little thought and insight at times. There are also opportunities to practice your manual dexterity when disarming mines or picking locks on doors. At times like these its almost like playing a mini-mini-game as you manipulate the controls on the PSP to complete these tasks.

One of the things that I like about the game is when you come to a closed door. Usually you have an option to either bash it open – to take anyone on the other side by surprise – or to simply open the door normally. But sometimes you are also given the option to use a mini-cam to view the other side of the door before you make your decision. This is very cool because if there are guards on the far side of the door you can decide on your course of action based on which direction they are facing, how much light there is where you are, how much light there is in the room and the number of guards visible.

Splinter Cell is not a game where there is a lot of consistent action. It is more about sneaking around in the shadows and trying not to be seen. So it does take some small amount of patience to play. Aside from that aspect, it has everything you need for a good game that is fun to play. A good storyline, good controls that are easy to use and its fun to play. As well as being frustrating at times because things don’t always work out the way you want them to. So if your looking for an action game that requires a little more skill than simply getting a big gun and running around killing things and blowing stuff up, this is a good game to try out.