Not a fighting game, for a change. Rarely I looked forward to a game so much after playing the demo. Splinter Cell Conviction is one of these, arguably one of the best Action-Adventure game I have ever come across. I actually liked the game so much that it took me less than a week to finish the Single Player Story Mode on the highest difficulty level. That should tell you how involved I was.
Story Mode
Sam Fisher had left the intelligence agency Third Echelon. However, after having disappeared for years, he is located and contacted by his former colleague Anna Grimsdottir (Grim) in Malta where he is investigating about his daughter's death. Soon, he gets himself in a plot of a scale he wish he had never known about.
Leaving it vague on purpose, this introduction sets the context fairly well. Having played the whole game, I would say the scenario is on par with the best "espionnage" movies, as expected from a Tom Clancy production.
Action-Infiltration
The Splinter Cell series become famous for this : an action game that rewards stealth and tactics over happy shooting sprees. In the previous ones like Pandora Tomorrow which I played a bit, you were not even allowed to be seen 3 times. Splinter Cell Conviction is more tolerant on that front and this makes the game much more accessible than the other ones.
Gameplay
Much more accessible that its predecessors, the gameplay is fluid and it is relatively easy to get Sam to perform as you are thinking. Climbing over window ledges or pipes is quite straightforward. If anything looks useful to you in any way, it is probably meant for. There are many ways to progress throughout your level, the obvious and least efficient one being to charge like a mad man. The controls do not suffer from hiccups apart from specific places where grabbing a pipe is not as fluid as I wish, but nothing really major. Most of the time, I can comfortably control Sam Fisher pretty much as I want.
Graphically, the game will switch to grey shades to indicate that you are well hidden and that enemy soldiers are not likely to find you. This is usually a good match when you are in the dark, it gives a very good impression. A downside to it is when you are close to source of light, the screen may keep switching between grey shades and color display and this can be annoying but again not a serious problem, in my opinion.
Mark & Execute is a new feature, introduced in Splinter Cell Conviction. This allows you to mark a certain number (depending on the weapon) of enemies or objects and execute them neatly provided they are still within shot range. This is another addition to the player's arsenal. You can plan ahead how you are going to enter a room. For example, you could use a tool to look under a door and mark your enemies. Then you could burst that door and perform the Execute to take enemies down. Of course, there had to be a limitation to this powerful feature : you have to perform a hand-to-hand kill to enable it and it can be only used once. Afterwards, you will have to do another hand-to-hand kill to re-enable it. You can then come up with numerous strategies to enable and use it at the best moments.
Multiplayer
I did not have the chance/time to play online multiplayer mode. However, I did play a few co-op missions. I have to say, the game is even better in co-op. Since you can communicate by voice with your friend, it is much easier to come up with plans. You can decide to observe different angles of a building, coordinate assaults, cover each other, etc. Since each of you gets to select his own weapons, again, different tactics may be tried. This aspect makes Splinter Cell Conviction much richer than Single Player mode : people have their own way to do things, having to adapt and plan around personal preferences gives an additional challenge to the game. Your partner may get injured, rescue him. You may get taken as hostage, do something to clear the shot for your teammate. Possibilities will come from your imagination and survival instinct...
Final Thoughts
This game is certainly one of the greatest I played. I love this kind of stealth infiltration, which drove me to play Tenchu Z (Game Review : Tenchu Z) as well. But Splinter Cell Conviction is all I could ask for : a game where I look at the environment, think and make the best use of what surrounds me to slip past unnoticed or eliminate my target. The variety of the environments makes the game less repetitive than Tenchu. Also, the scenario is an absolute pleasure for he/she who enjoys Espionage films ; there is a reason I finished the story mode within a week, right ? If you have not played this game yet, I really suggest you take a look. On my side, I am now looking forward to Metal Gear Solid HD Collection since I only played the first opus on PC, but also the next Splinter Cell Blacklist to be announced soon by UbiSoft.
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| "Metal Gear ?..... It can't be !" "... You knew!? Metal Gear is one of the most secret black projects! How did you know that?" "We had a couple of run-ins in the past." |
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