Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory DS Glitches

I've been blasting through the game a second time around and just wanted to post a few quick thoughts. The first one is really annoying because on my second playthrough, I've been trying to unlock the bonus outfits and everytime I get one, I lose it when I shut the DS off. It's very annoying but I guess nothing I can do about that.

The second glitch is the damn Manhattan Streets bug that causes a mission failure when you climb up the crates to get to the main streets to Zherkezhi's apartment. It's only now that I realize that there's an internal time limit as someone actually dies around the six or seven minute mark and counts as a civilian kill. Strangely enough the check for mission failure happens exactly at the moment Sam climbs the crates. That's how some people trigger the glitch and result in mission failure. I only happened to figure this out while playing on the DSi XL. You'll hear the sound effect of someone getting hit with a sticky shocker as background noise. If you get that sound before you climb the crates, you will stumble into the glitch. If you get the noise while the cutscene between Lambert and Sam is playing, you will get through the mission just fine. So, in short, to pass this glitch, you just need to play the level as fast as you can.

Thoughts on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory DS

I finally got through this game and it sure is a respectable port though it definitely has some serious issues. It's tough to get around with the frame rate issues and the overly complicated controls, but if you find yourself forgiving enough, you might stumble upon some fun in it.

From a controls point of view, it's bad enough that the game demands you use the entire DS for just about everything. It's really difficult to wrap your mind around controlling Sam Fisher on it and being a lefty makes things even worse. Unfortunately for us lefties, the game is only designed for right-handed players. Controlling the camera while moving Sam was a chore. Eventually, I figured something workable for me. By placing the thumb strap (remember that from the old DS?) on the index finger of my right hand, I could manipulate the camera like using a touchpad of a laptop while having the stylus ready with my left hand for the lock picking parts. Fortunately, because Splinter Cell is a deliberately slow-paced game, having to change gripping positions for camera and the action buttons doesn't penalize me.

Having that out of the way though doesn't put you in the clear. There's so many game glitches and the frame rate is very atrocious. The game even refuses to save on the final checkpoint of the game! All annoyance aside, I had a good time with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory but I certainly wouldn't recommend this game for purchase. Rent this game first before deciding!