Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Prima Official Game Guide)

For someone who hasn't played the game before, this book is a good one to help you get through it the first time. It gives some good basic pointers and discusses the weaponry and basic tactics. It is really more of a walk-through for first time players.

For anyone who wants a score of 100%, forget the book. It became quickly obvious that the author(s) didn't look past the obvious in each scenario. I found many ways in the stealth mode of avoiding bad guys altogether instead of knocking them all out or killing them (you lose 2% on your score per kill). Obvious ways around the map and ways of avoiding contact with the enemy (and resulting alarms or being spotted) aren't mentioned. Some situations have a very easy way out, but the author(s) didn't mention that - obviously because they didn't sit down at the game and try out all the possibilities.

The worst part of the book is the map section. There is no attempt to connect the various two-dimensional maps...Read more

...on a regular basis. After each mission, you get rated, one might think that a strategy guide would not only show you all the ins and outs, of a mission, but also how to get the 100% rating for it. There was sadly, very little useful information in this book. The maps and locations of things are nice, but that's pretty much where you have to put the book down and play the game on your own.
The book is setup for all the platforms that SC-CT appears on, but what the writers didn't take into account is how the game differs on each platform. Whoever wrote it, didn't play it on the Xbox, because the things he writes about, don't work in a normal setting. For instance, they never mention that the ambient sound levels drop as you progress in difficulty. Or they promote the use of your lethal attacks when that hurts your score. Not that it even gives good strategic advice there. When it mentions the cargo ship, it tells you to knock out the second of two guards in a...Read more

I have used a lot of strategy guides for video games. Mostly, it is a strictly utilitarian venture.

I have to say, though, the design of this book BLEW ME AWAY. It is AWESOME! It accomplishes its utlitarian purpose with flying colors, thanks to the excellent writing. Even in that context, the layout and the design were phenomenal. I really don't think I've ever seen a more well-designed strategy guide, EVER!

This book is so amazing, I would recommend it to people who aren't even going to play the game. It is really that good. The design transports you to another world. I am going to be especially mindful of Prima Guides into the future. They have won my loyalty with this book.