Splinter Cell: Conviction

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Genre: Third-Person Action
Release Date: April 13, 2010
Platform: Xbox 360
ESRB: M - Mature

Reviewer: Eric

Splinter Cell: Conviction is the odd ball in the Splinter Cell serious. Instead of doing the same thing again Ubisoft went with a whole new approach and made Sam Fisher extremely pissed. Not only is Fisher pissed his adventure will take you down paths that have you shooting everyone and asking questions later, much later. This is the first time in the series existence that I actually enjoyed myself.

Conviction had my hands glued to the controller and my eyes stuck to the television screen. I had no idea a game could blend two sorts of gameplays together, action and stealth, this well. It feels like a whole new game because I could run around and still play the game, which wasn’t really possible before. Wait a second I have seen and played a game like this before. Batman: Arkham Asylum. Conviction is a good game and all but it definitely is taking the formula from Arkham Asylum and adding a few tweaks here and there.

Sam Fisher can shoot his guns and hide in the shadows, climb popes, throw enemies out of windows, and just to do about a dozen more things that make Fisher a complete badass. Conviction has real smart enemy AI that either follows the sound of the guns or they’ll shit themselves when one of their friends is dead and then vanishes in the shadows, along with Fisher. With all of these different ways to prey on your victims the developers managed to add in these cool mechanics that have you wondering why it hasn’t been done before because it’s that cool.

Since hiding in the shadows is a main part of the game it is important to shoot out the lights around you. Hiding around corners and hanging off of buildings are some of the new ways that make Conviction a whole new Splinter Cell experience. These stealth methods of gameplay don’t even really feel too stealthy to me because if it messes up you can just keep going, unlike most stealth games. You can also throw in smoke grenades or devices to screw with the electrical devices. Splinter Cell: Conviction might be the most realistic action game out there today, that is until somebody else creates another one with new gameplay mechanics that will make me say duh.

Sam also has the new execution attacks where he instantly kills enemies. Whenever you earn a close combat kill it will build your execution meter. Think of these attacks as an insurance policy, for when you get into some sticky situations. These attacks look so cool and they are not as cheap as they sound. What I don’t like about these attacks is the fact that enemies will fall through walls, hell they’ll fall through any sort of object in general. Talk about bad clipping in a game that was in development for how long?

Another neat-o feature in Conviction has to be the interrogation scenes. This is a side of the game that will have you biting on the bottom of your lip as Sam Fisher does whatever it takes to get answers. Fisher uses anything in the current location and does his business. From smashing his prey into walls to breaking toilets, Fisher gets the job done. Thankfully these parts of the game weren’t ruined with clipping (thank you).

At points in the game the puzzles will slow the pace down. Some of these puzzles are a tad tricky while others will just downright piss you off since they should not be in a game like this. I don’t want to say that the puzzles ruin the games experience but they certainly don’t help things when you are guns blazing through hordes of enemies.

The graphics…oh the graphics…Splinter Cell: Conviction looks beautiful. Other than the clipping and the way Fisher got 20 years younger this game makes the Xbox 360 look good when compared to some of the best looking Playstation 3 games (Uncharted 2 for example). The games black-and-white graphics set the tone when you are hiding in the shadows, which is a real cool feature both visually and gameplay. There are also moments in the game where the scenery will show you short videos of past memories or words telling you where to go next. Some feel the words on the wall ruin the game, making it too easy. Me, I think it is pretty cool since it shows you what Sam Fisher is thinking/helps out when you might be lost.

Conviction isn’t all that good (minus the clipping), especially when it comes to the story. I hate to say it but this Splinter Cell game has a story that we’ve seen before in some games and movies, maybe television shows too if I would think about it more. Fisher’s daughter is dead and he is no longer with the organization that he used to call home. The past comes back and now Fisher is going on a rampage. Pretty simple and the so called twisted in the game are obvious.

Along with the single player campaign there are the Deniable Ops missions. These co-op missions take place before the single player campaign so it might be best to enjoy these first. Playing these missions online is a lot of fun and the lag absent. There are a few other online modes as well and all of them should be played. My only problem is none of them will keep you hooked for too long.

Final Verdict
Splinter Cell: Conviction had its fair share of delays. For as long as it took for this one to come out I would say it was worth the wait. Both the single player and online co-op campaign are a little short, maybe 10 hours max for both of them combined. Conviction’s story isn’t the best either, but everything else is simply amazing. Give this one a shot if you are a fan of the series and action games.

Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
    + Easy gameplay mechanics will make sure you never put this title down.
    - Some of those cool new features might make the game seem to easy.
Story: 7 out of 10
    + Conviction’s story will have you interested until the very end.
    - This is the same story we have seen in other games, movies, and possibly TV shows.
Graphics: 9 out of 10
    + Sam Fisher looks just as good as the games backgrounds and cutscenes.
    - The clipping issues really hurt when a game looks this good.
Audio: 9 out of 10
    + The games music and sound set the game in a movie-like tone.
    - As solid as the game sore and voice acting you just can’t help but think that there is better.
Replay Value: 8 out of 10
    + The online co-op mode is fantastic.
    - With only 10 hours of gameplay (on and offline) there isn’t much more to do afterwards.

Overall
8.40 out of 10