TECHNOLOGY

- reported by Osiris.

The June holidays are fast approaching, and what better way to spend your time than playing the best video games around? Two days ago, Osiris, in place of Ah Fatt who was in a pre-elections foul mood, caught up with two game characters of Ubisoft's latest game titles at E2MAX @ Cineleisure Orchard where they were promoting the release of their new games. Yes readers, Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher and Ghost Recon's Sgt. Mitchell were in town, and here's an exclusive interview with the two of them!

Osiris: Thank you gentlemen, for taking time out to join me in this interview.

Fisher: Oh no. It's not a problem. In fact we do enjoy talking to someone who actually bothers to listen to us.

Osiris: Hmm? What do you mean?

Mitchell: Well he's saying that most of the people here are either interested in playing the games here than listen to us talk or worse still, they don't understand what we're saying!

Osiris: I guess you have to see what's the kind of people who come here to play...

Fisher: ( scans the place and spots a group of teenagers wearing slanted caps and carrying skateboards ) I guess you're right.

Mitchell: Affirmative, Fisher.

Osiris: Ok, so can you tell me more about your new games? Starting with you... Mr Fisher.

Mitchell: Hey! Why does he get to go first?

Osiris: Hush up. We're saving the best for the last.

Mitchell: I see... ( grins widely at Fisher. )

Fisher: What? Are you trying to imply that my game sucks? That's very mean of you...

Osiris: No, I mean that Sergeant Mitchell's game is much bigger than yours and he will have much more to talk about, so I'll let him speak after you.

Fisher: Okay... well my latest game Splinter Cell Essentials is only released for the Playstation Portable...

Mitchell: See? It's only released on one small console...

Fisher: Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, soldier.

Mitchell: Yes sir.

Fisher: Anyway, as I was saying, the game is only released on the PSP where the capablities of the console are being pushed to the limits. To be honest, Essentials was actually meant to be a follow-up game to Double Agent but since SC4's release had to be delayed till September, we decided to release the PSP game as a preview to SCDA. All the levels in SCE are specially designed for the PSP.






Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell : Essentials











Osiris: What are the missions in SCE?

Fisher: They are basically flash-backs of my past missions, never before seen in any of my previous titles. These include me back in the good old days as a Navy SEAL in Columbia and also my first missions as a Splinter Cell.



Sam Fisher in the beginning of his Splinter Cell career.







Osiris: What about the preview to Double Agent which you mentioned earlier?

Fisher: Well there is the first mission of Double Agent in Essentials, where I have to team-up with fellow jailmate Jamie Washington to break out of prison. Then there is also a sneak preview of Splinter Cell 5's storyline in the last mission, where I have to break into the NSA HQ...




Sam Fisher walks about freely in prison.







Osiris: What for? This sounds pretty exciting. Could you tell us more about the storyline in Essentials?

Fisher: I will only talk as much as Ubisoft permits me. ( Clears his throat ) Basically at the beginning of the game gamers will find me being interrogated by a government agent by the name of Blake. I am wanted for the murder of my boss Col. Irving Lambert and the allegation is that I killed him because he knew that 'I was going to betray the agency', which of course was bullshit.

Osiris: Did you actually kill Lambert?

Fisher: I did, but my motive was not what Blake was claiming. Of course it was a wrong deed, but it had to be done. I cannot tell you more about it till you've played the game.

Osiris: Fair enough. What other features are there in SCE, like multiplayer?

Fisher: Yes, there is a Spy versus Spy mode which is playable on wireless. This multiplayer mode is also available on selected platforms of Double Agent.

Osiris: Cool attack moves and gadgets...they're all in, I suppose.

Fisher: Yep, everything is inside that small card, plus a whole lot more. It'll be one of the best PSP games you've ever played.



Sam Fisher delivers an Omega Punch Strike.







Osiris: Thank you, Sam. And now to you, Sergeant Mitchell.

Mitchell: Yes yes, my game is going to revolutionise the whole gaming experience, espcially on the Xbox 360. The graphics are so realistic and the sounds.. Ohh you'll love those explosions.

Osiris: Tell us more about the storyline first.

Mitchell: Alright. I am the Ghost Leader, and Ghost Recon fans would remember me from Ghost Recon 2, which to be honest wasn't a really good GR game. This time, Ubisoft has made it right. The Ghosts, who are America's elite Special Forces, are tasked to provide protection in Mexico City as the US and Mexican Presidents and Canadian Prime Minister sign a new treaty. However a rogue army storms in and kills the Prime Minister, then captures the American Presidents. So our job is to rescue the President and prevent the rogue army from using stolen nuclear codes.



















Osiris: Very interesting, but don't you think it's kind of mean to Canada.

Mitchell: Nah, the developers had no ill intention of killing off the Prime Minister but that's how the story has to unfold.

Osiris: Okay, just now you were talking about graphics and such...

Mitchell: Affirmative. The graphics are astounding on all platforms, but the best is the Xbox 360 version where it really pushes the console to next-gen level. That's how it earned highest ratings for a Xbox 360 game. The game is very neat and pretty. And very high-tech as well. My helmet is the fitted with cross-com technology which allows me to view what my team-mates are looking at and also communicate with my mission communicators. During the course of the mission, I can also call in Apache airstrikes on armoured targets when we're pinned down. We can even deploy UAVs when available to scout on enemy positions.





Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for reconnaisance.








Osiris: Awesome. That's what a war game should feel like. Realistic.

Mitchell: Exactly. Of course I'll have to admit that the A.I. of my team-mates needs some serious touching up. For example, when I fire a bazooka at a target, my team-mate is standing in front of me. But well, they still do shoot pretty well and could save your lives at times.



The Xbox version of GRAW features first-person-shooter gameplay instead of the third-person-shooter on the Xbox 360.










Osiris: I guess owners of the Xbox 360 must get this game...

Mitchell: Of course they have to, or else they will never know what is a true Xbox 360 game. Forget Perfect Dark Zero or any other Xbox 360 shooter game - get Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter! And if you only have a PC, do not fret, 'cause the PC version is going to be released soon and is just as awesome! Just make sure that you have at least 1GB of RAM and a powerful graphics card.





The PC version will be released in May.









Fisher: I copy that, soldier.

Osiris: Alright, that concludes our interview. Thank you both of you for joining me in today's interview and we hope to see your next titles soon.

Fisher: Roger that, Osiris.

Mitchell: Read you loud and clear.

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