The PC version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent is the latest one (though not the last one) to hit retail this week. The game has already been available on the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and GameCube since October, but has yet to be finished for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 platforms. Only the Wii version is still expected to be released this year, while the PS3 game will have to wait until Spring 2007. Pretty fair, considering that the console itself will only be out in Europe around that time.

But getting back to the PC version, Ubisoft has already issued a first update for it, and players are advised to aplly it before entering multiplayer. The Double Agent patch v1.01 is available for download locally for just 23 MB, and apparently you have to install it manually, since the auto-install program is not working properly right now - "but will be remedied shortly", says Ubi. Here are the release notes for this update:

- this patch fixes various issues when playing onlinte [sic]. These issues mostly concern invitations and squad features. Some disconnection issues have been treated as well.

- Some minor single-player issues have been addressed as well, especially for the anti-aliasing feature.

Of course, "release-day patches" are never a good thing, and from early gamers' reactions, Splinter Cell: Double Agent makes no exception. People are already pointing out various problems they found in the PC version, most of them targeted at the dubious A.I. But what's even more surprising is that the current-gen version of Double Agent (for the Xbox in particular) is actually regarded better than the "next-gen" Xbox 360 and PC versions. The old gameplay vs. graphics issue redux...

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)