Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Wii)

Veteran agent Sam Fisher is back. But he's never faced an enemy like this before. To stop a devastating terrorist attack, he must infiltrate a vicious terrorist group and destroy it from within. For the first time ever, experience the relentless tension and gut-wrenching dilemmas of life as a double agent. As you infiltrate a terrorist organisation in its American headquarters, you must carefully weigh the consequences of your actions. Kill too many criminals and you'll blow your cover. Hesitate too long and millions will die. Do whatever it takes to complete your mission, but get out alive.

• Dual objectives to fulfil: NSA government agents and terrorists will each want you to accomplish opposing tasks at the same time.
• Discover the tension of being a double agent: Use actual tactics employed by today's real-life double agents to sabotage the terrorists' plans.
• Explore a branching storyline with multiple endings: Your choices have an impact on how the story and gameplay unfolds.
• A world of international espionage: Missions from all over the world, from Asia to Africa to the heart of the U.S. Experience extreme situations: underwater or in a sandstorm, hiding behind the dust or smoke and even skydiving.
• New authentic gadgets: Master the latest weapons and gadgets used by NSA government agents in addition to black-market terrorist weapons.
  
   

The lowdown:
You can only imagine that Sam Fisher must get a good pension, because he doesn’t seem to have an easy life. This time his role as a double agent in a terrorist group forces him to constantly make difficult moral choices, from big set piece decisions on whether to execute hostages to simple choices in-game such as whether to help out civilians. Although there are few significant changes to the controls this time around, for once most of the game doesn’t take place in the dark. Stealth is still paramount though, especially since two onscreen trust meters track whether you’re still in favour with both the terrorists and the NSA. The terrorist base also acts as a sort of hub world which you keep returning to between missions and slowly explore and unlock as the game’s story unfurls.

Most exciting moment:
The expanded Spies vs. Mercenaries multiplayer game now has even less connection to the single player campaign, with the spies using only hand-to-hand combat and moving much faster than Sam Fisher. It now supports a total of six players at once and is one of the few online action games to offer a genuine alternative to the normal first person deathmatches.

Since you ask:
The next Splinter Cell game is subtitled Conviction and is due out some time next year. Controversially it has been announced as an Xbox 360 and PC exclusive only, with no PlayStation 3 or Wii versions currently scheduled.

The bottom line:
The best Splinter Cell yet, particularly in multiplayer mode.-HARRISON DENT