It was recently announced by Ubisoft that Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent will be delayed until October (probably the 30th). In the meantime, here’s some Xbox 360 direct feed of Merc VS. Spy from the Versus-mode:
Below is an overview of the included (and excluded) features/modes in every different platform version…
* For those interested in the single-player campaign, it seems like it’ll be a no-brainer to go with the Xbox 360 or PC version. The graphics are gorgeous, the environments are fully realized and the directed moments are being built for this version. Many of the new ideas seen in the single-player campaign are being toned down in the other console versions.
On the multiplayer side, these versions bring back the critically acclaimed Versus Mode where a team of spies challenges a team of mercenaries, this time in a three versus three format with a new lobby system that is said to pit equivalently skilled players against each other. The traditional co-op mode will not be included and is a current-gen exclusive this time around, but players eager for co-op play will be able to get their fix via some of the multiplayer side options.
* On the PS2, the single-player game is essentially a scaled-back version of the Xbox 360 campaign. The general plot and story structure remains the same, but since many of the game’s scenes were also designed for the Xbox 360 hardware, the versions of these scenes you’ll see on PS2 will feature fewer characters, smaller (and in some cases, different) environments, lower-resolution textures, etc. Players who have seen previous Splinter Cell games on PS2 know that Ubisoft’s developers can get a lot out of the system, but compared to the Xbox 360 version, it doesn’t look like it will be able to match up for obvious reasons.
Don’t expect just a scaled down version of the Xbox 360 game, however. PS2 players will have access to two exclusive single-player missions, which should balance things out a bit. Also, the current-gen versions of Double Agent look to be the only place (besides the PSP, that is) you can find the new Spy vs. Spy multiplayer mode, as well as the return of the much-praised co-op mode that was in Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. Spy vs. Spy pits two teams of two spies each in a deathmatch scenario for those who don’t want to bother playing as mercenaries, while co-op lets two players work together with special cooperative maneuvers to get through certain areas.
* The Xbox version of Double Agent is more similar to the PS2 version than it has been in past games, with a comparative feature list and visuals that have been scaled back a bit from those in Chaos Theory. Spy vs. Spy will be playable for up to six players (3 VS 3) at a time, and the Xbox version will have exclusive multiplayer content that can’t be found in any of the other versions.
* Double Agent is coming to GameCube as well. This is probably a port of the PlayStation 2 version. It will have both the Spy vs. Spy and co-op modes intact, though only playable offline.
Via 1up