Chapter 1 - General Stealth Strategies

Sam Fisher is at his best when he’s covered in shadow and hidden from his enemies. If you hope to find consistent success in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow’s single-player game, be prepared to rely more on stealth than combat. While Sam Fisher carries a formidable arsenal, his array of non-lethal weapons and ability to remain undetected in the dark is the best asset.

This section provides general strategies for stealth in the single-player game and how to best disable an enemy if the situation arises.

• One of the most important skills in Pandora Tomorrow is patience. Upon entering a new room or area, don’t move inside without a plan. Find a dark corner and observe the situation. What are the guards doing? What are the guards’ patrol patterns? Often if you remain stationary, you’ll soon discover that the guards’ movements place you exactly where you need to be or will certainly show you where you need to be in order to bypass the guards or disable them. Wait it out and sometimes the guards move away from the area. Furthermore, conversations between guards can reveal hints on what needs to be done to move through the area. Let them talk. Be patient and take time to access the situation before taking action.
• Create additional darkness when possible by shooting out street lights, lamps, and other illumination with your pistol or SC-20K. You should also look for switches to turn interior lights off. Additional darkness provides greater area to hide within. It also creates a larger dark zone for guards to move inside, which gives you more room to perform a successful sneak attack. Note that if the area contains guards, destroying lights causes a disturbance alert and the guards begin a search.
• One of Sam’s most powerful weapons is his mouth. Yes, he does have great sarcastic wit but it’s his whistle that’s a potent tool against enemies. Hide in a large patch of shadow and press the whistle button. It’s enough to alert a nearby enemy but not enough to convince the enemy to set off an alarm. The enemy will raise his weapon and start a search pattern for whatever made the whistling sound. Hide in the shadow and when the enemy moves close, sneak up behind and grab him, punch him out, shoot him with a headshot, or incapacitate him with a non-lethal weapon. When in doubt, try the whistle technique!
• If you’re going for pure stealth, use a whistle or even a glass bottle to alert your enemies. As they search for you, move through the darkness past their position and into the next section. Toss the glass bottle in the opposite direction you plan to move. Rotate the camera to keep an eye on the enemy. If he’s looking away, it’s safe to move through light. If he’s facing you, stick inside the shadow. Remember to move Sam as quiet as possible. Stay crouched and don’t run at full speed to keep Sam undetected.
• Try to save your non-lethal weapons for the toughest areas of a level, particularly areas with multiple guards or areas with very little darkness to hide within. When faced against multiple enemies, be careful how you dispose of one of the guards. Make sure any other guards are looking away before you make your move. If an enemy sees his friend nailed with a sticky shocker, he’s going to set off the alarm. Combine techniques by luring an enemy into shadow using a whistle then blast him at close-range with a sticky shocker or ring airfoil round.
• Sam Fisher has a formidable right hook. If an enemy has moved in the darkness surrounding you, stand up and knock him over the head. Note that it sometimes requires a couple blows to knock out an enemy so don’t stop with just one strike. It’s even possible to run down a scared civilian and knock them down with a punch. The scared civilian is likely running to find an alarm or a police officer; run him down and knock the civilian out before he can reach his destination. And always, always move bodies into the darkness. It takes a couple extra seconds but is an easy way to prevent an unwelcome alarm.
• Speaking of hiding bodies, move them as far into a dark corner as possible especially if there are multiple enemies in the area. Even if the body is in the dark, if a guard patrols the room and happens to step onto a knocked out guard, an alarm will sound! Put the body in the dark and as far away from an enemy patrol as possible just to be safe.
• Visual observation is extremely important in remaining undetected. Use the optic cable at every closed door. If you spot a guard or civilian inside the next room, be patient. Observe that person’s movement and wait to see if the person moves away or turns around. Wait for your opportunity to move into the room safely. Also, rotate the game’s camera around to provide the best view around corners or into open doorways. Adjust the camera successfully and you can see even more than Sam sees and keep him safely undetected from any enemies around a corner or inside an open room.