Gamermall.com rating: 7.8

Features
* More than 22 new objectives in nine missions
* Cartridge save (three slots)
* 14 mini-games
* Threes silent scope modes

A fantastic console game and a great sequel to that game have made Sam Fisher as synonymous with gaming as names like Solid Snake and Simon Belmont. He's again back reprising his Splinter Cell role in Pandora Tomorrow, and the Game Boy Advance version will be extremely familiar territory for those who've already experienced the original game from last year. It's really more of the same design established in the first Splinter Cell, with the developers giving Sam a few more abilities that change things up from last year's game.

So, many of the game's requirements are along the same lines as last year's adventure; levels are constructed to put Sam's climbing abilities to use, making the game very, very reminiscent of Prince of Persia or Flashback. But the team threw another element in the works that changes things up significantly. In last year's game, players could guide Sam into darkened backgrounds to duck from patroling guards. The designers went one step further by giving the player the ability to move Sam in the background. There are many places where this is put to use, but many times it seems incredibly forced. If a stack of boxes blocks the way, it's clear that the player has to go behind them to pass on by. But it's this element that makes Pandora Tomorrow more stealth oriented than action oriented. Players will have to keep closer tabs on enemies since there are more hiding spots in this game. Sam can hide behind curtains, flags, boxes, and it's finding and staying in these hiding spots that adds to the gameplay, at least compared to last year's design.

But the big complaint from last year still stands: side-scrolling stealth just doesn't work. Enemies only have two directions of sight, so it just feels awkward that Sam can be out of sight simply by standing a screen and a half distance from these guys. Their line of sight distance isn't well laid out like it is in games like Metal Gear, a game where players can see that standing outside the cone of view will keep them hidden. For the sequel, the designers add a secondary radar at the top of the screen so that players can see when an enemy is within eyeshot or not. This definitely helps get Sam past guards in the sequel, absolutely.

The other issue comes from the laziness of giving enemies more frames of movement beyond a left or right walk. The sprite animations are, again, top-notch, but the fact that the development team failed give these guys an animation to pivot from right to left, or left to right means that players will have to watch their walking path carefully. It's all about getting out of eyeshot before the sprite "pops" into the opposite direction with no transition in the animation. It was a problem in last year's game that wasn't addressed in the sequel.

Still, once you've learned these limitations, it's not so bad to shoehorn your play technique to work within them. The game is actually fun and challenging if you keep in mind those side-scrolling quirks. It is, however, a shame that the GBA team didn't squeeze in a couple of multiplayer challenges in the sequel, just as the console team did with the Xbox game. As much effort as the team put into the portable rendition, Pandora Tomorrow just feels like a quick update to last year's design.

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