Splinter Cell: Double Agent: A Performance Analysis
by Josh Venning on December 8, 2006 2:10 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Benchmarking Splinter Cell: Double Agent
As with previous Splinter Cell games, Double Agent has a variety of environments, but whereas there was a lot of sneaking around in dark areas previously, this newest game has a lot of more open daylight scenarios. This makes for interesting and more difficult gameplay, since for most missions the goal is still to remain undetected. Like in Chaos Theory, Double Agent begins with Sam Fisher, your character, working for the NSA and each mission is about completing objectives for the NSA and gaining trust. As you progress, Sam infiltrates a terrorist organization called the JBA (John Brown's Army), rising through the ranks and gaining trust from them as well.
The first benchmark takes place in the first mission, and is at night (with night vision enabled) where our familiar Sam Fisher is trying to infiltrate a missile silo surrounded by guards.
This benchmark is a short zip-line ride over a portion of the first map near the beginning just before one of the first checkpoints. Sam and his partner enter the enemy base via a cable without alerting anyone, completing an NSA objective and gaining trust. There are a few guards standing and walking around below, but not much else is going on in this scene.
The second benchmark is later in the game, which takes place in broad daylight on a cruise ship which is very open. Like the first benchmark, the test is a zip-line ride from the bridge of the ship down to the front of the boat, looking down to take in the scenery.
The elaborate structures like the crane on the boat cast shadows in the bright daylight, which help make this a more stressful test on the GPU. There is one guard standing beneath who doesn't happen to look up and spot Fisher as he flies overhead. The benchmark takes place near the very end of the mission, when Sam must complete the final objectives and escape the boat.
As with previous Splinter Cell games, Double Agent has a variety of environments, but whereas there was a lot of sneaking around in dark areas previously, this newest game has a lot of more open daylight scenarios. This makes for interesting and more difficult gameplay, since for most missions the goal is still to remain undetected. Like in Chaos Theory, Double Agent begins with Sam Fisher, your character, working for the NSA and each mission is about completing objectives for the NSA and gaining trust. As you progress, Sam infiltrates a terrorist organization called the JBA (John Brown's Army), rising through the ranks and gaining trust from them as well.
The first benchmark takes place in the first mission, and is at night (with night vision enabled) where our familiar Sam Fisher is trying to infiltrate a missile silo surrounded by guards.
This benchmark is a short zip-line ride over a portion of the first map near the beginning just before one of the first checkpoints. Sam and his partner enter the enemy base via a cable without alerting anyone, completing an NSA objective and gaining trust. There are a few guards standing and walking around below, but not much else is going on in this scene.
The second benchmark is later in the game, which takes place in broad daylight on a cruise ship which is very open. Like the first benchmark, the test is a zip-line ride from the bridge of the ship down to the front of the boat, looking down to take in the scenery.
The elaborate structures like the crane on the boat cast shadows in the bright daylight, which help make this a more stressful test on the GPU. There is one guard standing beneath who doesn't happen to look up and spot Fisher as he flies overhead. The benchmark takes place near the very end of the mission, when Sam must complete the final objectives and escape the boat.
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sdedward - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
Have you ever gotten a recall letter in the mail? Thats basically what it says.
shabby - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
But every car doesnt have a recall. Today it seems like every game gets patched before it even hits stores.Josh Venning - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
It is very frustrating when a game is released that seems as unfinished as this. The problem is that unlike with other types of products, it's not very easy to pin down who/what exactly is responsible for the problems. Regardless of this, the consumer is the one who ends up suffering, and that's just unacceptable. Thanks for your comments.Jodiuh - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
Printing now! Thanks for continuing to provide that button. Quite a few sites have removed it and they wind up not getting their arty's read. My notebook gets hot, so I prefer to read these on paper in a comfy chair, couch, bed, etc. :DSomewhat OT, should I be playing the SC series in order? I played through about 25% of the first one and maybe 10 minutes of Chaos Theory. Are they good enough to play through? Should I just play Double Agent?
Le Québécois - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
Yes I think playing all the SC series in order would be a good thing since every one of them was(still is) a very good game(if you like the stealth/assassin kind of game of course).The older ones should be pretty cheap to buy IF you manage to find them.
Years after years I am pretty amaze that Ubisoft can come with a pretty good game franchise with so little time between the release of each games.
Jodiuh - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
Buddy's gonna let me borrow the first one. I'll hit it up after HL2.Josh Venning - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
I personally only played Chaos Theory and Double Agent, but I found them both to be very enjoyable. I think the storyline of Chaos Theory might have been a little better than Double Agent, especially towards the end, but Double Agent had some more interesting gameplay scenarios. I highly recommend playing them both through though, if you can.Jodiuh - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
Just got through the article...I guess I'll start w/ a SC game that'll run on my card then, lol. This has to be the worst evidence yet of console porting. Normally, it's the interface that sucks. But DA screams port in a hardware way!! And it makes me hate the consoles even more...