Can't see why there would be much discussion on Pandora Tomorrow, so I'll start here.
This game is better than the first at forcing you to use stealth, but is nothing in comparison to any console Splinter Cell game.
What's different about this game compared to the previous:
- You can't run by people. You have to terminate (kill or KO) them or bypass them using the back wall.
- You start with 10 bullets.
- There is no alarm bar anymore. In missions 1,2,5,6, setting off an alarm will result in automatic mission failure. In others, SWAT guys run around. These guys are hard to kill and do a lot of damage (3 out 10) to you.
- In missions 1,2,5,6, (at least part of the mission), you cannot kill (although you can still shoot them if it doesn't kill). This results in major strategy changes.
- You cannot OHKO them directly from behind; you grab them instead. It is usually faster to punch them in front.
- Turrets no longer take half your health; at worst, they do 2 out 10 damage to you if you jump correctly (turrets do continuous damage with no recovery). They are much faster to disarm.
- Some guys hold "important" information or can be used for retinal scanners. If you terminate them before you get the info or use the scanner (no matter how useless you render the info), you get "mission failed".
- There are three computer-hacking minigames. One is the file linkup, which resembles those tile-turning puzzle games. That one can be done very fast. Another is the binary codes, which can be done rather fast depending on where the sequences of 0s and 1s are (the codes are info held by some enemies). The last one is ... well, I won't mention it because it's stupid and eats half a minute every time and is not challenging in the least. You'll know when you see it.
I'm currently working on a Pandora Tomorrow TAS, with 5 missions complete.
Levels 1 and 2 to me are rather boring, mainly because of the no-kill restriction. Level 3 is where the real action starts.
Level 4 was difficult to TAS and required a lot of planning, mostly due to very little ammo and many enemies. Friendly fire can be abused here.
There is a glitch that I abuse often in this game. If you press up just before Lambert calls in with a dialog, and you are in front of a door that cannot be opened, you get the "It's not time for this now" message but you not only skip the dialog, but are able to run around while everything else is frozen. Cameras and turrets cannot see you and guards can be OHKOed in front. Unfortunately, the jump button clears this message (which you don't always want).
ROM name: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow (U) (M3).gba
Real-Time Clock (hope it doesn't matter), Save Type 128K
VBM:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/291726887/scpt.vbm
AVIs of missions 3-5 (Subway, Saulnier, Jerusalem in that order):
http://files.filefront.com/SCPTzip/;8768423;/fileinfo.html
If you would like AVIs of the first two missions, ask.
