Splinter Cell - Which one should I start with?

[Sheldon]

Hey gang,

With the slow death of the xbox, games are getting pretty damn cheap, and I see it as an opportunity to get some games i didn't get the 1st time around.

One series that always interested me was the Splinter Cell series.

Except the newest one Double Agent, they are all pretty cheap.

Is there a big overarching storyline to the series? Do I have to play it from the beginning to get it.

Or can I jump in on Chaos Theory and still be ok?
What is the learning curve on the games?

Thanks.

[Mike Pothier]

Considering they're all fantastic games, I'd start with the first and work your way through all of them. If you really want to, you can start with Chaos Theory. The plots don't really connect, so you won't be confused beyond the usual Tom Clancy political jargon. You'll probably miss some of the newer moves and weapons (like the knife) if you played the older ones later, though.

[TitoJones]

Except for the fact that they may add a little something here or there with each of the "newer" releases, there's nothing storyline wise that connects them to each other.

As for me, I love the games and if all they did were just add new missions without changing the gameplay and put out a new SC a month, I would buy it no questons asked.

[Sheldon]

Thanks,

I think I shall pick up Chaos Theory.

[Chevan]

If you can, start with the first game.

There's a lot of gameplay features present in the sequels that you'll come to rely on. If you ever decide to go back to the first one after getting used to the sequels, it's going to be very jarring for you. The lack of features and the less detailed graphics might turn you against what is otherwise a very good game. If you go up from the first one, however, you won't get that feeling in the first one that you're missing out on anything, and it will make you appreciate the added features that much more.

And this might not matter to you, but IMO the first one has the best story of the lot. The first game is single player only, so all of their effort went into making a really great single player experience. Don't get me wrong; Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory have good stories, but in my mind they don't hold a candle to the first game's.