In this third installment of Ubisoft’s “Splinter Cell” spy-thriller franchise, you use unique gadgets and stealth to foil yet another terrorist plot as the series’ grizzled protagonist Sam Fisher. The graphics have leapt miles over Pandora tomorrow, making this one of the best looking games for current generation systems. Environments are more open, and there is less of a penalty for alarms. Environments include Asia, a lighthouse in South America, and a bank in Portugal. The multiplayer has recieved a facelift as well, offering a cool alternative to the Halos and Perfect Darks of online gaming. The co-op mode can almost stand on its own as a seperate game. Since the Splinter Cell series first arrived in 2003, many games have tried to copy its blend of political intrigue and stealth action, but none have come close. The only games that compare to Splinter Cell are Metal Gear and Thief, and those games are different enough as it is. If you don’t have Chaos Theory, grab it now while it’s cheap (The Xbox version is only $13 used at Gamestop), because Splinter Cell: Double Agent will be out very soon.

The biggest gaming event of the year is apparently so big, news from it is still being reported on.
First, look how fast the Wii ejects!
The big hit of the show was not the Wii, but the GameCube! The devkit for the new Nintendo system is based so closely on the prior generation that demo units for the Nintendo Booth were made up of just a stock black gamecube with a couple modifications to utilize the controller!
Kotaku also sat down with Miyamoto for a good 25 minute interview and he address all the next-gen hot topics.
IGN and GameTrailers have also compiled best-of-E3 lists that kinda surprise. I mean obviously Halo 3, Smash Brothers, etc took a lot of the glory, but those games weren’t playable and had only a small actual showing. IGN hands the award to Bioshock, a game I totally missed last week. GameTrailers says Assassin’s Creed, which was announced for PS3, but anyone who got to play will be quick to tell you that they were holding an Xbox 360 controller to do so (Ubisoft says they haven’t announced a 360 port yet, but considering its already running on a 360, I’d say its a safe bet!)
Last, and least surprisingly, Karima Adebibe (the rookie model currently cast as Lara Croft) tells CNN how she handles the smell and numbers of fanboys at E3.

The one time GameCube exclusive is being sent to another platform.
Resident Evil 4 will be released to Windows PCs in May courtesy of Ubisoft. The game appears to be a port of the generously expanded PS2 version, with the “Seperate Ways” campaign, extra costumes, and more weapons.
While its easy to make the arguement that the PS2 port of RE4 didn’t look quite as good as the GameCube original, I look forward to seeing what the game looks like on a high-end PC. Ubisoft has done some really graphically amazing games the last couple years, so I hope there are some enhancements and this isn’t just a straight port.
But if it is a straight port and this is your first chance to play this game: get off your butt and do it. Its as good as everyone says it is.