The Splinter Cell titles were some of the most popular games on the original Xbox, due mainly to the riveting online play. As Ubisoft continues to improve the series and make the crucial jump to next generation consoles, many changes have been made to the game to keep the series fresh and renewed. We took a detailed look at several of the missions that will be available when the game ships later this year, and so far the single player portions of Splinter Cell: Double Agent are looking far superior to what we've seen in any previous Splinter Cell title.

Before we get into the individual missions, let's cover some of the more general aspects of Double Agent. If you've played any of the previous Splinter Cell titles, you probably already know that Sam Fisher is a widower. His only connection to the world is through his daughter Sarah. Unfortunately on Sam's last mission, his daughter died. With nothing left to care about in the world, Sam requests the most difficult mission available. Granting his wish, Sam is told to infiltrate a terrorist group in the US and become a double agent.

In order to gain trust in a terrorist group, Sam has to go out and commit crimes. After robbing a bank, Sam is sent to prison. We didn't get to check out the prison level, but players will actually play as Sam while he's locked up in an attempt to escape his confinement. Once Sam breaks out he'll be able to join the terrorist group.

Double Agent isn't just about action, players will have moral choices to make. The game features a branching storyline that will change based on the choices Sam makes. One example we were shown takes place shortly after Sam gets out of prison. As he's trying to infiltrate the terrorist group, Sam is asked to take out an innocent camera man. The game switches to a real-time cinematic where the player will have a set amount of time to make a decision. Do you shot the innocent man, or opt out and lose trust?

These directed moments replace many of the cinematics found in previous Splinter Cell titles. There will be no on-screen indicators telling you what to do. For example, when we started the Russia mission after killing the innocent camera man (we're bad), Sam was skydiving out of a plane. There was no on-screen indication of anything, it was just Sam falling. Suddenly the feedback on the controller kicked in, and we had to move the analog sticks in real time to pull our parachute cord. Unfortunately, the shoot failed, so we had to pull our reserve. The most intense part was that there was nothing to tell you any of this. We can definitely see ourselves dying randomly the first time through something, but even still, it's extremely thrilling.

After landing in Russia, there was a huge blizzard awaiting us. This is where old school Splinter Cell kicked in. The snow storm was randomly generated and changed intensity on the fly, in real time. When the snow storm was at its height, it was difficult to see right in front of Sam's face. This made things very interesting, since one minute you're perfectly safe under the cover of the snow storm, and the next there's an enemy right in front of your face. Players will have to stay on their toes quite a bit more in Double Agent than they had to in previous Splinter Cell games.

The daytime mission we played through showed off how Double Agent will feature multiple paths to victory. The level looked like it was pulled straight out of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, and for good reason. Some of the same effects used in GRAW were also used by the Double Agent team for this level.

Sam has been placed into the middle of a civil war somewhere in the Middle East. There's gunfire and soldiers on both sides shooting back and forth at each other. We had to make our way through it all and assassinate our target, while watching out for civilians as well. Near the beginning of the level there was a truck that we could move under for cover. Using this truck, we could move through a majority of the level without having to worry about enemy forces or civilians. However, showing off the multiple paths featured in Double Agent, we could also run right into the middle of the war and try to make our way through, or take the back alleys. All three routes would lead to the same place, but all three routes offer differing challenges and experiences.

The main goal of the Splinter Cell team was to create a game that was different than the previous titles, but still felt like a Splinter Cell game. Development on Double Agent was started before Chaos Theory was released, and it seems that the extra development time has gone a long way. Double Agent is shaping up beautifully from the few levels we've played. We'll have more on Sam Fisher's next mission as we approach its late 2006 release date.