Tom Clancy’s name means money. Stick it on a book or a movie or a computer game and there is a guaranteed minimum level of sales from the die-hard fans. These sales are complimented by the fact that most of the books and products associated with the Clancy name are quality merchandise. Clancy-inspired books, movies, and games promise enjoyable, techno-thrilleresque entertainment that is fun to read, watch, and/or play. So what happened to UbiSoft’s Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears?

The book UbiSoft’s game is based on wasn’t one of the Clancy titles I had read, so before reviewing TC’s TSoAF, I hopped over to the local used book store and picked up a copy of the book. After reading it I rented the movie (with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman) and had a look. I’m still trying to figure out the connection between the book and movie and the game.

The game The Sum of All Fears is an awkward first-person shooter that bears little resemblance to either the movie or the book of the same name. Players play the part of a member of an ultra-elite anti-terrorist unit charged with getting rid of whacko groups of dastardly extremists who threaten the security of the free world, foiling evil terrorist plots, etc., etc.

The game is billed as a tactical combat simulator, but is actually a first-person shooter, with no provision to control squad/unit tactics. Other Clancy-inspired games (think: Rainbow Six) successfully combine first-person shooting with squad/unit tactics, but The Sum of All Fears doesn’t even really try. One reason might be the control interface, which is one of the most awkward I have ever encountered for a first-person shooter. Although I played the entire game, the controls never became intuitive and always remained unfriendly. Worst of all: the designers didn’t stick with the established norm for GameCube controls (with the joystick for movement and the ‘C’ stick for looking/aiming). With so much awkwardness in controlling one character in the game, I shudder to think what it would have been like trying to control an entire squad.
Everyone's Got A Gun

My wife, passing through the room where I was gaming, asked me why the screen looked so “muddy.” That word as well as any other describes The Sum of All Fears’ visual charms. While the graphics were adequate, they never served to bring to life the gaming experience. Certainly they fell well short of the graphics in the high-octane Tom Clancy titles available on other platforms. A friend of mine suggested that the game designers were going for a sort of “gritty realism,” but as someone who enjoys gritty realism when it is done right, these graphics appeared to me to be merely second-rate.

The label “second-rate” also applies to the sound quality. It is possible to distinguish (most of the time) the difference between an assault rifle and a shotgun in the game, but neither one sounds much like the real thing. Ambient noises were presented with varying degrees of success and realism, but the game lacked any sort of decent soundtrack which would have been useful in pulling the players into the game.

UbiSoft’s Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears did indeed sum up my fears as a game reviewer. Getting free games makes writing game reviews sound like a sweet deal for gamefans like me. There is, however, a flip side. Every once in a while we get review copies of games that we don’t want to play, but we have to play them all the way through to ensure an accurate review. After completing the in-game training and the first three missions, I really (REALLY) didn’t want to play any more, but my bosses here at GCA didn’t want to hear any of that, so I was forced to soldier on.

If you’re a fan of all things Tom Clancy and you must have this title, hold on to your $49.99 and wait for it to hit the discount rack. If you crave Tom Clancy-type tactical action and have a PC, get Rainbow Six and its sequels/supplements. If you ignore my warning, you have only yourself to blame.