Double Agent Online FAQ----------Playstation 2 Version
Author: EnzoF66057
Platform: Playstation 2
Contact: EnzoF660@aol.com
___________Table of Contents____________
1.0-------Contact Information
1.1-------Legal Information
1.2-------The Basics
1.2.1-----The Teams
1.2.2-----Moves
1.2.3-----Duels
1.2.3a----Quicksnaps
1.2.3b----Grapple Breaks
1.3-------Equipment and Weapons
1.3.1-----Standard Issue
1.3.2-----Weapons
1.3.3-----Gadgets
1.4-------Game Modes
1.4.1-----Team Based
1.4.2-----Free-for-All
1.4.3-----Mode Settings
1.4.3a----Team Based
1.4.3b----Free-for-All
1.5-------Maps
1.5.1-----Prison
1.5.2-----Museum
1.5.3-----Ship
1.5.4-----Warfare
1.5.5-----Church
1.5.6-----Temple
1.5.7-----Pick-up Locations
1.5.7a----Prison
1.5.7b----Museum
1.5.7c----Ship
1.5.7d----Warfare
1.5.7e----Church
1.5.7f----Temple
1.6-------Glitches
1.7-------Thanks To
________________________________________
**For easy navigation of this FAQ, press
Control and F (Ctrl+F); type in a section
reference number to be sent to the
corresponding section.
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1.0 Contact Information
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If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or anything else
regarding this FAQ, feel free to e-mail me at the above address. I will
answer and/or address your mail in a timely fashion that is conveniant
for me. If you'd like me to add anything to the FAQ, full credit will be
given to the name that you include with your mail. If no name is included,
I will simply use the screenname/username that the mail came from, of
course, without the full address.
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1.1 Legal Information
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This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise
distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide
on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly
prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
The following websites have permission to post this FAQ for public viewing
and access. All sites other than listed must e-mail me through the given
address above for permission of use.
Gamespot________gamespot.com
Gamefaqs________gamefaqs.com
IGN_____________ign.com
Neoseeker_______neoseeker.com
Super Cheats____supercheats.com
Copyright 2006 Liad
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1.2 The Basics
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The online play for Splinter Cell Double Agent is completely different from
that of Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory (at least for the ps2 version
of the game). This time around, instead of having a team of spies vs. a
team of mercenaries, there are two teams composed of two players, each
of which are spies.
This changes around the dynamic of the game a lot. Instead of playing
stealth and finesse, the game is much more fast-paced as spies run right
up to each other in order to initiate duels which I will get into soon. The
spies also have lethal guns now rather than just tazers as well as an array
of new gadgets that once belonged to the mercenaries, including wall
mines and frag grenades, among other things. There are many different
game modes as well that will be explained in detail later on as well as six
(6) new multiplayer maps which will also be explained in detail.
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1.2.1 The Teams
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This time around as already mentioned, there are two different teams of
spies rather than the spy vs. merc gameplay. Both teams are exactly the
same except for their names and aesthetics.
Echelon - Your typical spies. This team of spies uses the full body stealth
suit that you're accustomed to seeing on Sam Fisher in single
player. These guys are the "typical" spies and basically look
like Third Echelon splinter cells.
Their emblem is the infamous 3-dot configuration of the
combination thermal/night-vision/EMV goggles. The catch in
here is that they're blue, not green. The Echelon team color is
blue. The color of lights on their suits is blue, the color of
their lasers are blue and the color of their goggles are blue.
Upsilon - These guys look more like hired mercenaries than tactical spies.
They're basically online character models of Fisher in his JBA
apparel. So basically, more-or-less civilian clothing with the
military feel to them.
Their emblem is a connection of 3 lines which, if overlapped with
the Echelon emblem, each line would go between the dots. Their
color is yellow, so everything that was mentioned before as
being blue is now yellow for this team.
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1.2.2 Moves
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The spies in the online mode are a lot faster and more agile than Sam is in
the single player. They are also much quicker in this game than they were
in previous titles. The only way to get around all parts of all the maps is
by using different standard moves that the spies can do. Some may be
simple and some may be more complicated or require better timing,
however, you need to use almost each of them in order to be successful
in the online mode.
**These are not the exact names and descriptions out of the manual but are
100% accurate and detailed, so no need to worry about continuity problems.
>Hanging:
Just what it sounds like. You hang off a ledge, railing, catwalk, etc. Just
like the single player. When hanging, you can pull yourself up to the
platform that you're hanging off of, provided there is somewhere for you
to climp up on to. Obviously you're not going to climb onto anything if
you're hanging off the molding on an outside wall.
>Mantling:
Just like single player. If you jump onto a shorter platform, the spy will
simply mantle or climb up onto it. Basic.
>Wall-hugging:
Also, just like single player. You're next to a wall and you push the L3
button so the spy will go up against the wall. Good for blending directly
into a shadow on the wall or in a corner if you're waiting for someone.
>Wall Flip-off:
This is something that Sam can't do in single player. It's pretty cool to
look at. If you run straight at a wall and push triangle a couple feet
before it, the spy will run up the wall and do a backflip off the wall and
spin the other way in mid-air, so that when he lands, he'll be facing away
from the wall. This is good for reaching ledges or pipes. Many equipment
items are on rails that are only accessible through doing a backflip off the
opposite wall. When you do that, you'll automatically grab onto the rail.
This works the same way with ledges. Do a backflip off the opposite wall
and you can grab onto a ledge and pull yourself up onto it. It's also
useful for other things, though....
>Wall Run:
This is similar to the wall flip-off with one major difference, you don't flip
off. You initiate a wall run the same way as a flip-off, however, if you're
running to a wall or surface that can be mantled, the spy will run up the
wall and grab onto the ledge, rather than flip off. This is useful for
reaching higher spots that can't be reached by merely jumping up to
them. There are some exceptions. You may see a high ledge that is, in
fact, climbable, however it may be too high and thus out of reach for
even the wall run to reach. In this case, you would have to find an
alternate route up, provided there is one.
>Rolling:
Not essential to your mobility around the level, but it could save your life.
Initiate a roll by running followed by holding the O button. This is good
if someone is shooting at you and you may want to make it harder for
them to hit you or just plain escape. You can either do a dive roll if you
initiate it while running standing up, or you can just do a small shoulder
roll if you initiate it while running in a crouched position (good for moving
quickly through small ducts and vents). You can also do dive rolls off of
ledges and as you hit the ground, you will complete the roll. This is good if
you're on the run. Although, if you dive roll off too high a ledge the roll will
be completed in mid-air and you'll land on your feet, causing you to pause
in your tracks for a very brief moment.
**Keep in mind that rolling will make more noise depending on what kind
of surface you roll on. Rolling on regular floors won't do much but roll on
a metal floor, metal stairs, metal grates/catwalks, or metal air ducts and
you'll make more noise than you  may want to make. However, this game
is based much less on stealth than previous games so it may not be as
much of a problem nowadays.
>Silent Landing:
Just like in single player also. When you jump off a ledge or just jump
down or off of anything, you push O as you land and you'll land into a
crouched position which will make your landing much more graceful and
silent. I'm not sure, but I believe that if you do a silent landing off slightly
higher ledges, you may be able to save some health as opposed to if you
just landed straight standing up.
>"Break-neck" Jumps:
If you see another spy running around below and you're high up, jump on
him. In previous games, jumping on any moving player would immobilize
them from any height. However, in this game, you have to jump onto
someone from a certain height in order to do any significant damage to
them, including kill them. If you jump from a significant enough height and
manage to land on them, you'll have broken their neck and killed them.
However this is difficult to time and position correctly if you're not
experienced with it. If you didn't jump from high enough, nothing will
happen to you (if you landed on the other spy). The other spy, though,
will become dazed momentarily and will lose a small portion of their health.
The daze effect isn't anything significant enough to give you the
oppurtunity to grab them and win a duel successfully, though.
>Elbow:
You elbow the other player. Sometimes for whatever reason, the game
just won't let you grapple eachother and you may just keep elbowing
eachother. I have yet to notice if this elbowing does any damage, but I
don't believe it does. Also, if you're in a confined space, such as the
elevators in the Museum map, you won't be able to grapple, no matter
what you do (take it from my flashbang filled experience). All that will
happen is that you both keep elbowing eachother until you exit the
elevator.
The elbow does have a lethal side, however. If you manage to sneak, run,
or anything up to a spy that's crouched, you can kill him with the elbow.
If they are crouched, just go up to them, whether they see you or not,
then simply press R1 next to them. You will elbow them and they'll die
from it.
>Gun Whip:
If you have your rifle out and someone is running towards you or is right
infront of you, you can push the X button and you'll wack them with the
butt of the rifle. This will knock them back and I believe daze them
momentarily as well. I'm not sure, however, if it actually lowers health to
any extent.
>Ladders/poles:
You run up to them and you'll automatically climb them. Nothing to say
there. Just don't get caught on a ladder or pole while someone is shooting
at you. You can also slide down them by simply pushing down on the
analog stick the way you would in single-player.
>Heal Mate:
Not really sure if it's considered a "move" persay but whatever. This
"move"
allows you to fully restore your partner's health. As you've probably already
figured out, this is only available in team-based game modes. If your partner
is low on health, stand infront of eachother and face eachother. You'll see
a small option appear that says "X Heal Mate". Push the X button and your
character will hand something to your partner and you'll hear a refreshed
breath. This is a sign that you just healed your partner. Your partner can of
course do it to you as well. Be careful as it makes a readily identifiable
sound which can be heard by other players or teams if they're in the area.
Sometimes it won't work the first time you do it and you have to do it again.
This isn't a problem, just repeat the procedure again and be done with it.
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1.2.3 Duels
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Duels are the foundation upon which the new spies vs. spies gameplay is
built on. It's a completely new form of battling it out which is welcomed
by many as well as repelled by others.
Dueling is the process in which two spies grapple eachother by pressing
R1 and a small circle appears with all the main buttons of the ps2
controller (X, square, triangle, O) in their respective positions around the
circle. Once the circle appears, one of the buttons will light up. The first
player to hit that button wins the duel. That person then automatically
puts  a random finishing move on the other spy which kills him (the losing
spy).
Obviously, as you can tell, this is a game of reflexes. If you push the
wrong button, you get penalized by twenty-five hundreths of a second
(-00.25). This means that even if you still manage to push the button
before the other player, if you were penalized the .25 seconds, you may
still lose due to a time technicality.
When you win or lose you see how much you win or lose by.
ie: You beat the other player by 3 hundreths of a second, so you see
+00.03 or you lose so you see -00.03
The button that must be pressed is random every time and can not be
predicted. The finishing move that a spy does on the other is also random
and can not be controlled. However, regardless of the finishing move, the
other spy will die.
Now, you can get into duels by grappling the other spy head-on, or by
grabbing someone from behind, or having someone grab you from behind.
In the case of the behind-the-back grab, the same occurs...a duel. Once
again, the first person to tap the correct button will win, so grabbing
someone from behind in this game doesn't necessarily guarantee you the
pleasure of breaking their neck. They might win and end up flipping you
over their back, in which case, you die.
However, there are exceptions and loop holes to duels as well such as
"quicksnaps" and otherwise.
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1.2.3a Quicksnaps
******************************************************
A quicksnap is when one spy grabs the other and somehow breaks their
neck automatically without ever going into a duel. Quicksnaps can occur
by different means.
1) The main way which is also the easiest is to get into a duel with someone
and have your partner come up behind that person and then grab them. If
you're in a duel, you can still be grabbed from behind by another player
and thus, you'll be quicksnapped. Many teams do this. It's always risky to
duel someone with his partner in the immediate area.
There is also another way that is not proven. Someone once told me that
a reason for quicksnaps is when you run at eachother, but you miss at
first. Let's say you run to eachother and you press R1 but don't get the
grapple...if the other person manages to push R1 just after you missed,
they'll initiate a quicksnap. This is only speculative but seems to have
some kind of truth behind it as I've noticed mysterious quicksnaps in my
play time online. This seems to be more of a glitched way of getting
quicksnaps and again, this method is not proven nor truely controllable.
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1.2.3b Grapple Breaks
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A grapple break is just what it sounds like. Two spies begin to enter a
grapple but force out of it or break it. This occurs when one of 2 things
happens.
1) You push R1 next to them and you see that you begin to grab on, but
you end up letting go. This can happen because either you or the other
person dropped a grenade as you were getting into the grapple. The
grenade never actually dropped so as you get into a duel, you force out
of it and the person who originally pushed the button to drop the grenade
will then actually drop it. At this point, you're completely free and aren't
forced back into the grapple, however, 99% of people if not everyone get
right back into the grapple after the grenade (usually a flashbang) is
dropped. Once you grapple back on, it's like a normal duel from there.
2) You're both grappled to eachother but someone is shooting at either
you or the other person, or both. If you're grappling someone and are
shot, even just once, you'll release the grapple and have to try to get
back into it again. Many times if the other person's partner is the one
shooting at you, trying to get back into the grapple is pointless because
the partner shooting at you will most likely kill you before you even
process what's going on or that you have to run away.
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1.3 Equipment & Weapons
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This game comes with an array of gadgets and some fun new stuff for the
spies to use. The weapon system in this game works a little differently,
though. Instead of having an inventory of pre-selected weapons and
equipment, you have to pick up different weapons and equipment that are
scattered around the different maps. Each map consists of the same
pick-ups to find. When you pick one up, you have a limited number of
the item that you can use. If you pick one weapon up, then pick up
another weapon or gadget, the weapon you were previously holding will
be replaced with the most recently collected piece of weaponry or
gadgetry.
Some gadgets or weapons when in use, will show a small white icon in the
upper left corner of HUD. These things include the wall mines, sticky
cameras, and personnel detectors. This icon is a small white outline that
resembles the shape of the item in use. If you placed a mine, you'll see a
white mine icon in the HUD that indicates you have a mine in use. When
the icon goes away, that means the mine was destroyed. Same thing
applies to sticky cameras and personnel detectors.
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1.3.1 Standard Issue
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>Rifle:
One of the newest additions to the PS2 online version of Splinter Cell is a
rifle that is not only automatic (by definition), but also lethal. This rifle
looks just like the taze gun used in the previous two, only this time it
shoots live ammunition. It has a laser just like in previous games also
which can be turned on and off by pushing the up-arrow button on the
d-pad when having it equipped. The laser reflects the color of the team
you're on (yellow for Upsilon, blue for Echelon). If you're playing a
free-for-all game mode in which everyone is a different color (yellow, red,
blue, and green), your laser will reflect the color that you represent.
Your rifle is fitted with a launcher like in previous games that shoots an
array of different gadgets and grenades. Also like in previous games, the
launcher has a power meter for when you're launching grenades. If you hold down
the L1 button with a grenade equipped, you'll see a meter pop up which slowly
fills up. This meter indicates how powerful the launch will be. Obviously, the
more filled the meter is, the further it will launch. You can also choose to
tap the L1 button when launching. What this does, is instead of giving you the
power meter, it will automatically launch a grenade at the furthest possible
power. This is what just about everyone online does rather than load the power
meter. The rifle is also fitted with a scope that includes 3 different zoom
levels.
The reason I said "(by definition)" before, is because it's not exactly an
assault rifle. Yes, it does fire one after another when you hold down the
firing button, however, it doesn't fire off shots like your standard M4. It
shoots at a much slower rate than your typical assault rifle although it
does provide more than adequate fire and protection. When you shoot
at someone, you know you're hitting them when you see a small red circle
appear around the end of the laser.
You can also wack people with the butt of your rifle as previously
mentioned in the "Moves" section.
>Night Vision Goggles:
In this game, all you have are night vision goggles, or NVGs. There's no
thermal goggles like before but only NVGs. The catch to these NVGs is
there's a meter that runs out pending on NVG useage. Basically you can
only use your NVGs for a limited amount of time at any given point. You
can't have them on throughout an entire level (not that you'd need to
anyway). There's a small meter on the left side of your HUD in the bottom
right corner of the screen. This meter shows you how much NVG power
you have left. I assume they added this concept as an attempt to even
out the field since every single player would have night vision at their
disposal.
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1.3.2 Weapons
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>Fragmentation or Frag Grenade: 2 GRENADES PER PICK-UP
This is your typical anti-personnel explosive frag grenade. This grenade
will kill anyone within about 10 ft of it. They don't explode upon impact
with anything. You can either drop it on the floor using L1 or L2, at which
point you wanna get away from it quickly. Once you drop it, you have
about 3 seconds until it explodes. You can also launch it out of your
rifle. The same 3 second rule applies. From the moment the grenade is
shot out, there are about 3 seconds until it explodes. If someone
shoots a grenade at you from a distance, by the time you realize it,
running away may be futile. Depending on how far away they shoot it
from, the grenade may explode in mid-air right in front of you just as you
try to roll away, thus killing you.
>Smoke Grenade: 2 PER PICK-UP
This grenade, when released, bursts into a large cloud of smoke. This
causes anyone in it to start coughing and move slowly. Being in a smoke
cloud is dangerous for multiple reasons. First of all, your movement is
greatly restricted: you move slower than usual, you can't jump or roll, and
your visibility is reduced as well. The only real thing that can be done in a
smoke cloud is grapple someone into a duel. The other danger about
smoke clouds is that if you get caught in them for too long, you can die.
When someone drops a smoke 'nade, and you're in it, you want to be sure
to get out of it quickly. Don't try dueling people or doing anything, just
get the hell out of it. Smoke grenades will explode on impact with other
players. If you drop it, however, it takes about 1 second until it bursts.
The smoke grenades are easily used the least of the 3 different grenades
in this game.
>Flashbang Grenade: 3 PER PICK-UP
The classic little demon that no one likes to get caught in. Flashbangs,
upon explosion, will blind anyone looking at it and will cause a
freeze-frame effect of the moment before the flashbang went off. This
freeze-frame can be very decieving and disorienting, however, it slowly
fades away as your real-time gameplay slowly appears from beneath the
freeze-frame. The effect of a single flashbang lasts for about 3-4 seconds
until your vision is completely clear and unimpaired again. However, many
times, you'll have the unfortunate event of having multiple flashbangs go
off either simultaneously or consecutively. In this case, the length of time
it takes for your vision to clear up depends on how many flashbangs you
were caught in. Any more than one flashbang and you're entire screen will
turn a bright white and will stay like that for a few seconds before very
slowly returning to your original screen.
The problem with flashbangs, is that they impair not only your real-time
play screen, but if you engage in a duel after you've just been
flashbanged, it's also difficult to see the buttons screen. This is why many
people drop flashbangs infront of opposing players and then grapple them.
While the other player is partially blinded, the one who dropped the
grenade has a slight advantage because he has a clear and unobstructed
view of the button screen. This can allow them the oppurtunity to press
the button before you because you can't make out which button must be
pressed. Sometimes, though, it doesn't work and if the player who's been
blinded is good enough, they can see the button just as it appears and
they can still beat the other player.
When dropped on the floor by hand, flashbangs will burst immediately
upon impact with the floor or first solid plain it lands on. This will blind
anyone in the area who has their camera faced in the direction of the
grenade, even though the actual player may be faced in the opposite
direction. If you shoot a flashbang through your rifle, it will burst within
1-2 seconds of hitting a wall, floor, etc. However, if you shoot a
flashbang straight at another player and the grenade physically hits the
other player, it will burst on impact and blind both that player and any
other players in the area (not including the one who shot the grenade).
>Wall Mine: 1 PER PICK-UP
In this game, spies have the oppurtunity to place mines. The only
difference in ths game is that when you place a mine, you don't have an
option for what kind of mine it is. In this game, you place a mine and it is
just a proximity or "proxy" mine. This means that any opposing players
moving quickly in front of it will set it off. Proximity mines are easy to
detect because they constantly beep. They beep every second and are
very easy to hear when you're within their range. When you approach an
opposing player or team's mine, you'll see a triangular shaped icon appear
on the screen with a picture of a mine on it. This is a warning that you're
near one. This warning will move to the front, left, and right depending on
where the mine is in relation to you. I'm not sure if it appears on the
bottom of the screen as in the mine is behind you. When you see this icon
appear, tread lightly and diligently. Pay attention to where the mine is.
You can bypass mines without setting them off by walking by them very
slowly.
When you come to a mine, you can choose to run right past it and set it
off without causing any damage to yourself. When you set-off a mine,
the beeping will stop and you'll hear a very quick 2 beeps followed by the
explosion. When you know you just set off a mine, the only chance at
survival is to roll away from it as quickly as you possibly can. Running is
useless. You'd be caught in the blast and instantly killed. You can also
choose to shoot a mine. This will cause it to explode so anyone near it
will be killed. This means that if you do resort to shooting out a mine,
make sure you're a fair distance away, at least 15 ft. You can tell who's
team a mine is by looking at. If it beeps with the color yellow or blue, it
was placed by an Upsilon or Echelon player respectively.
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1.3.3 Gadgets
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>Sticky Camera: 1 PER PICK-UP
The sticky camera is a small camera that sticks to walls and gives you a
view through the eyes of the camera. You can zoom in and out and
you'll still have the option to turn on night vision while in the camera
view. It can only be shot through your rifle and can be attached to just
about every single surface in the game not including the actual computers
used to hack. A cool new feature about the sticky cams is that you can
get out of the camera view by pressing O, but can come back to it later
provided it hasn't been shot off. If a camera is still active on a wall,
ceiling, or anything else, you can press the down button on the d-pad to
return to the camera view, even if you've died, the camera will still be
there. However, if you release the gas in a camera, the camera will be
destroyed automatically. Also, if you die while a camera is still active, and
you manage to kill someone with it, you won't get credited for the kill. By
this I mean, you yourself will not get credited for the kill, nor will your
team's kill amount go up even though you killed the player. The gas is
lethal now. If you can catch someone in front of your camera and you
manage to gas them, they're done. They have no chance if they're caught
in the gas cloud of a sticky cam. It kills instantly. If you roam into a gas
cloud that is fading away, you'll still be killed. Never go near a gas cloud
until it completely fades away or you may still be killed.
Another cool thing about the sticky cams is that they have sensors and
automatic. This means they respond to motion. If you leave a sticky cam
up on a surface and an opposing player goes by it, it will move around and
follow the player automatically, even if you're not in it's view. The only
flaw to this is that sticky cams are very loud and everytime they move,
they make a loud mechanical-like noise. If you're in the camera view, I
believe the camera will still be automatic if you don't touch the controls
for it. This is also good because when someone passes infront of your
camera, you'll hear a noise notifying you that the camera is responding
and the icon in the HUD will turn red to signify it senses motion. You can
then go into it and release the gas onto an unsuspecting player. This
makes for one of the cooler features of the sticky cams and any online
gadget period.
Many people use the instant-gas method. When they have a sticky cam
in their inventory and they see someone across the map, they may take
out their gun and just shoot the sticky cam against any wall or surface
near the player and instantly release the gas without even moving the
camera. This can be used to get quick and instant kills if you manage to
catch the player in the gas cloud, which isn't always difficult to do. Once
you know that they were caught by the gas, you know they're dead and
don't have to worry about it anymore.
>Sticky Shockers: 3 PER PICK-UP
The sticky shocker is basically the exact same thing as the tazer gun in
Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory. When you pick up sticky shockers,
you can shoot them through the rifle, only this time it's the alternative
fire button rather than the primary like in it's predacessors. The sticky
shocker shoots a tazer like piece of ammunition which when hits another
player will shock them, causing them to freeze in their tracks for about 4
seconds while a visible current of electricity runs through them. This is
useful because if you can manage to hit someone with it, it will stop them
dead in their tracks, giving you the perfect oppurtunity to shoot them to
death or get that well-placed headshot you've been waiting for. No
special tricks or tips to this one. It's just very effective if you can use
properly.
>Personnel Detector: 2 PER PICK-UP
If you've played Pandora Tomorrow or Chaos Theory, this device works almost
exactly like the spy traps worked. You place one of these on any wall or
surface that will allow you to and a supposed laser will beam across the area
from the detector. I say supposed because there is no visible laser and you
can't tell without the thermal vision. If a player from the opposing team
runs through the device, a message will appear on both yours and your partner's
screen alerting you that the device has been activated. At this point, the
spy who ran through the device has no chance of hiding as there name tag
will appear over their heads just like your partner's. However, there tag will
be the color of their team so you can tell who it is. There name tag works the
same way as your partner's or your name tag. It will show above them wherever
they go.
What I found interesting about these is that you can actually shoot them
out of your launcher as if it were a sticky cam or grenade of some kind. What
sucks about them, however, is that you can only place 2 at a time. So
basically, one pick-up's worth.
>Remote Hacking Device: 1 PER PICK-UP
This is a special device which is only available in game modes which
involve hacking into computers (Team Hack, Sam vs. All, Blitz, Key Run).
This device looks exactly like a cell phone. It allows you to, like the name
says, remote hack a computer, or hack it from a distance without putting
yourself in harm's way by hacking it yourself directly. When you have a
remote hacking device, you can only hack it from within a certain range of
the computer. This range is determined easily: when you have the remote
hacker, the picture of it in the HUD will be greyed and dull if you're out of
range. If you're within range of the computer, the picture in the HUD will
be white with a number at the bottom. This means you're within range
to remote hack the computer. The number refers to the number of
seconds you can remote hack for. When you first pick up a remote hack,
you have a full 17 seconds of remote hacking capability. To initiate a
remote hack, when available, you just push X and it will connect and start
hacking. The catch is, you have to be completely still as it hacks or the
process will stop itself. If you hack for 5 seconds from the original time,
you have 12 seconds left of remote hacking capability, thus the number
12 will now be the number shown at the bottom. You can see the
numbers count down as you hack more.
The other catch to the remote hacking device is that it won't hack as
quickly as hacking a computer directly will. For all the benefit of providing
the ability to hack from a safe distance, you're bogged down by the
speed at which you hack, which again, is slightly slower than if you were
to just go hack the computer yourself.
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1.4 Game Modes
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There are plenty of different game modes to mess around with in this
game. Many more than there were in previous games. In here you have 9
different modes as opposed to the 3 that PT and CT provided. Each of
these modes is unique and can be very entertaining given the right
amount of time and, sometimes, the right opponent. There are two main
types of modes: team based and free-for-alls, both of which offer their
own very different forms of gameplay.
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1.4.1 Team Based
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These types of games require you to cooperate as a team to be the most
successful. Most of them involve a hacking objective of some kind which
can make the game both very fun and, if you're playing against good
people, extremely difficult. You can even play 3 on 1 games if you wish
instead of 2 on 2 because there is no restriction like there was in prevoius
games.
>Team Deathmatch:
This is your basic deathmatch with teams. You have the two teams just
trying to kill eachother using whatever means possible. Each kill that one
player gets obviously goes toward the team's total amount. Everytime you
kill someone, that person will drop an icon that looks like the jagged lines of
a heart monitor. Pick this up to give yourself a full health boost. The first
team to reach the kill quota or the team closest to the quota when time runs
out wins.
>Team Hack:
This mode requires both teams to simultaneously attempt to hack the
opposing team's computers. There is only one computer in this mode.
There is no set time limit. You just have to go up to the other team's
computer and hack it by standing infront of it and pushing X. This mode is
simple, first team to reach 100% wins. No time limit or anything. When
you hack and are killed either in the process or soon after you stopped
hacking, you will drop a percentage icon. When the other team picks up
this icon, it will reduce the amount that you hacked. If you hacked 50%
of it, and they kill you and pick up the % icon, the amount you hacked
may be reduced to 35 or 40. The exact amount of reduction, I am not
sure about.
>Key Run:
This mode requires both teams to compete for the key which gives them
the ability to hack the opposing team's computer. The key is a small white
and black block that resembles a key card. It shows up as an indicator
point on your screen. When no one is holding it, you'll see where it is and
can reach where it is and pick it up for yourself. If someone is carrying it,
it will not show you where the key is, it will only show the icon of the key
next to the team that is holding it. Only one person can hold the key at
any one time. This key is vital to the success of this mode because it is
what allows you to hack the computers and reach your objective. Once
you have the key, you have to find the other team's computer and hack
into it, but there's a catch. Once you hack, it's not over. Now you have
to upload.
In this mode, the percentage shown is how much data has been
uploaded, not how much has been hacked. As you hack, instead of
showing the percentage meter filling up, there will be small bar that moves
further down the meter the more you hack. You can stop hacking at any
time of course. Once you hack, you have to upload the data by standing
still and pushing X. If you hack and don't upload, if you're killed, everything
that hasn't been uploaded will be lost. So if you hacked 50% but only
uploaded 20% of it, you'll lose 30% of the work you just did. However, if
you hacked 50% and uploaded all 50%, then even if you're killed, there's
nothing the other team can do about it. That 50% is now solid and can
not be lowered in any way. The good news, is that uploading can be done
from anywhere on the map. I mean anywhere that your character can
reach, you can upload from. There is no limit or restricting range to upload
from. This is what makes this mode extremely difficult. Finding the player
who is uploading can be a very arduous task but very exciting at the
same time. Because uploading can be done from anywhere, it's more
difficult to find the spy, however the disadvantage of uploading is that you
must remain completely still. If you move, the upload will stop in it's place.
If the person holding the key is killed, they will drop the key and anyone
can pick it up at this point. Again, you don't want to drop the key
because it's the only way to hack and win.
>Blitz:
This mode is intense. It's just what it sounds like. Every round is timed.
Every round, teams switch between either defending or attacking. The
goal of this game is, like others, to hack the computers 100% before the
other team. However, in this game, teams take turns doing it.
If you're on the attacking team, it's simple. You go hack. This is the only
mode that provides a team with 2 computers to hack from rather than 1.
The hacking works the same way as key run. You have to hack it then
upload. All the aforementioned rules for hacking/uploading apply here as
well.
If you're defending, then you just have to keep the other team from
hacking the computers. Nothing really more to say about that aspect of it.
In this mode there is a time limit which can increase or decrease depending
on the circumstances. The time limit is 3 minutes per round. If a spy from
the defending team kills a spy from the attacking team, that spy will drop
an hourglass icon. When the defending spy picks up this icon, it decreases
the time left in the round. If an attacking spy kills a defending spy, then
the same thing occurs, only the icon will increase the amount of time left
in the round. However, the time a round is increased by is much less than
that which it is decreased by. Everytime you hack, the amount you
successfully uploaded will carry on to the next round and so on. Every
round you attack, you simply add to your existing percentage. The first
team to reach the 100% wins. This game can hypothetically take only one
round if the attacking team is good enough and can hack the 100% in the
first round. It can also last for a very, very, very long time if both teams
are good enough to keep eachother from hacking.
>Sam vs. All:
This mode is very interesting in that it pits a singly player, Sam, against
the 3 other players in the game.
There are two sides: defending and Sam. If you play Sam, you're objective
is to hack as much as you can into any of the two computers on the map.
Hacking in this mode is just like Team Hack. You just hack, there's no
uploading necessary. When Sam hacks, however, it hacks faster than it
would normally hack. Sam can also take much more damage than the
defenders and average spies can. Also, when playing Sam, you start out
with an inventory of 1 sticky camera.
As a defender, you just have to defend and stop Sam from hacking. Once
you kill Sam, the round is over. The person who played Sam becomes a
defender and one of the defenders becomes Sam.
In this mode, you can win by just getting kills. You don't even have to
hack the computer to win, which is why in this mode I call it getting 100
points instead of percent. As a defender, you get points for everytime you
kill Sam. As Sam, you get points for every kill you get. These points rack
up and act like a percentage. So assuming you already have 30 points
through kills, you only have to hack 70%. Or if you have 40 points due to
kills, you need to hack 60%, etc. Or, as mentioned before, you can just
not bother hacking and kill enough people to reach 100 points. However,
hacking will get you the win much faster.
As mentioned, if you kill Sam, the round is over and the player who is Sam
will become a defender and one of the defenders will become Sam. I have
not yet figured out if there is a specific order in which the game decides
who plays Sam. It is assured that the host is the first to play Sam, and it
seems as though, the first person to kill Sam plays Sam the next round.
However, from there I don't know the order.
If Sam kills a defender, the defender will drop a face icon. Sam can pick
this up and become a "double agent". When Sam picks this up, a message
to all the defenders will come up saying there is a double agent among
you. Sam now looks exactly like everyone else. The trick is knowing which
one he is. When double agent mode is active, the name tags over your
teammates disappear and you now have the ability to duel your own team
mates for the sake of double agent mode. You won't even know you're
dueling your own team mate until it shows who killed who. Fortunately,
the double agent effect wares off after about 30 seconds I believe, which
in game time, is a loooong time. So in the end, the first person to rack up
100 points is the winner.
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1.4.2 Free-for-All
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Free-for-all games are very fun and come in a variety of different styles.
In free-for-alls, every spy is his own team. No one can talk over the mics.
Every spy, due to the fact that he is his own team, is his own color as
well. The 4 colors are red, blue, green, and yellow. Blue is the color
reserved for the host. Depending what color you are, this is the color that
the lights on your suit, the laser of your gun, and even your HUD will be.
Everyone in free-for-all games is in the Echelon spy suit
>Deathmatch:
This is your basic, average, ordinary deathmatch. No special rules, no
special handicaps, no nothing. You set the kill limit and on your way. It's
every man for himself. Nothing more than an all-out kill fest with the first
person to reach the kill quota being the winner. Killing people in this mode
will also cause them to drop health boosts.
>Disk Hunt:
This is the second-most basic free-for-all. Every player starts with a disk
which corresponds to their color. Each player has to go around killing
other player, collecting their disks. So there are 3 disks other than yours
available for collection. Once you kill someone, their disk will fall to the
floor and stay there. It will never dissappear or anything. The person who
picks up that disk now has two disks (assuming his disk wasn't already
taken). If you're disk (ie. the red disk) is stolen by another player who
killed you, you'll see the red disk moving around the map as an indicator of
where it is. This only occurs for your own disk and if someone steals a
disk from you that isn't your color, you won't see this indicator. The first
person to collect all 4 discs or the person holding the most discs by the
end of the set time limit wins.
>Countdown:
Every player starts with a set time limit to their names (if the round time
was set to 5 minutes, every player has 5 minutes of life). There is a small
counter next to everyone's names indicating how much time that person
has left of life. Basically, the first person to run out of time dies and can't
respawn, thus having to watch the game being played out. When you kill
someone, they'll drop a small pocket watch icon. Pick this icon up to add
more seconds to your overall time, thus giving you more life in a sense. If
you are killed, you will drop the icon but you won't lose any time. The only
time you lose are the standard seconds that are already being counted
down. The clock icon is tricky, though. For every second it is left standing
there, it changes color gradually from green to red. Every second that it
sits there, means there is less time to pick up from it. Let's say there was
18 seconds worth of life in it at first...2 seconds later, there may only be
10 seconds worth of life in it. If the icon gets down to red, run away from
it. After so many seconds, the icon becomes virtually worthless and it'll
explode like a mine, killing anyone in it's blast radius. The last person
standing after everyone else's time runs out is the winner.
>Survival:
This is probably the more confusing of the free-for-all games. This game
mode is a one-shot deal, almost.
Every player starts off with an inventory of 2 frag grenades. You basically
go around killing the other players. Once the first person is killed, a timer
is set to 60 seconds. This timer will not begin until one person has been
killed. The person who is killed will not respawn and has to watch the
game through spectator mode. All the other players must try to eliminate
eachother. Everytime another person is killed, the timer is reset to 60
seconds. Now, if no one is killed within 60 seconds (the amount of time
the timer is set to), then all the players who have been killed will respawn
again and the game basically starts from the beginning. A timer will be set
to 60 seconds once the first person is killed again. Don't mistake what I