It’s time again to take a hammer to your beloved clay piggy and finger your precious pennies from his demolished body like a hyena nosing through zebra entrails. Damn now I want a kebab.

This week we take a look back at Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Our last foray with gold medal spy Sam Fisher and the only one so far to make it to next gen consoles.

I should mention quickly that there are two versions of this game, the next gen one which appeared on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and the other one that was on PS2 and the Wii. This article focuses on the Xbox 360 version.

In case you are completely new to Splinter Cell you should be aware that they are the pinnacle of sneaking/spy type games. Using the shadows and an array of funky gadgets you need to complete your objectives without setting off any alarm bells. Sam Fisher is a member of Third Echelon, a secret branch of the NSA charged with assassination, sabotage and all sorts of dirty dealings the Pentagon disavows all knowledge off. Unfortunately, right after the first mission in the game, Sam is informed that his daughter has been killed by a drunk driver. Fearing Sam will go of the rails completely without an operation to focus on his superior Lambert pushes him into an incredibly dicey operation; going undercover in the Jim Brown Army (JBA), a radical white supremacist domestic terrorist group.

You get to play a number of missions in a number of different scenarios including day time levels where you’ll need to rely more on distractions rather than sneaking. The controls haven’t changed a lot from previous Splinter Cell games and thankfully the knife from Chaos Theory is still in your arsenal. If you hate sneaking games, you will hate Splinter Cell, no question there; but personally, taking out a room full of guys without them even knowing they were being attacked is pretty bad ass. Splinter Cell delivers that experience in spades.

Playing the part of a Double Agent makes things a bit more interesting for Splinter Cell, completing objectives can raise your NSA trust level but drop your JBA level at the same time and vice versa. It’s a tight rope act balancing out your trust levels and keeping both factions happy enough. For me it was a game with some rough moments ethically speaking and there were plenty of times I had to console myself with the knowledge I’d get to kill these characters at some point later in the game.

Few games for me have been as satisfying in their final level as Double Agent. When ‘take out the trash’ time rolled around and I didn’t have to toe the JBA line any longer the sense of satisfaction I felt as I eliminated my ex comrades one by one was huge. I even back tracked through levels to make sure I hadn’t missed anyone for a neck snap. I haven’t enjoyed a virtual slaughter fest so much since taking out the Slaver camp in Fallout 3.

If you’re a newcomer to Splinter Cell then Double Agent is a good intro the series before Splinter Cell Conviction comes out some time later this year.