Splinter Cell: Conviction

I remember many moons ago getting my Playstation 2 for my birthday, and waking up extra early on the day to play the first game I had for it: Splinter Cell. I was amazed at the depth of the stealth action which required serious thought and planning for every situation, but a few sequels down the line and I had a growing distaste for the series which was going stale. However, this game seemed to signify a turnaround for the style of the Splinter Cell games, and I was intrigued. 

What I was perhaps most happy about Conviction was it doing justice to the storyline of the games. The game definitely appears to have made some turns more towards a third-person shooter but it does not lose its emotional edge by reminding the player what Sam is fighting for: the discovery of his daughter's fate and the corruption of his former agency. The story and script is very well written, including one major twist which may have been a little predictable but was certainly well-presented. Speaking of presentation, the visuals of the game are a particularly strong area. Ubisoft have managed to completely overthrow the generic HUD when updating your objectives, and instead of giving you a box of text to read, throw your instructions on huge letters on whatever wall or vertical surface is nearby. This not only stops you removing your eyes from the action to read out of a rectangle at the bottom of the screen but is also effective in describing Fisher's thought processes. Sometimes a short animation will be shown, or as seen in one particularly emotional cutscene, words will fly around the room describing his mix of feelings. A matching technique to this in contemporary games is yet to be seen.

Gameplay is, however, what I was most apprehensive about as I was worried that the game would become a mundane stop-and-pop, using Sam's rage as a justification for a mindless shooter. Fortunately, this was not the case, as not only is stealth brilliantly constructed, but it's also an option. Sam's gunning hand isn't quite so slow and clumsy now and with a Gears of War-beating cover system you now can choose, at the cost of the game becoming significantly harder, to shoot your way through a situation. A hefty armory of weapons can be collected and customized to your preferences, using points earned by various in-game challenges. To add to the already solid combat, you can do all that Sam has always been able to do: climb walls, hang from pipes and sneak through shadows, which are all well-polished and keep the action fluid. While I was impressed by the exciting range of environments during the single-player campaign, it certainly suffered from the usual problem in most of this generation's games - it was short, and it was easy. When I say easy, I mean I could finish it on the hardest difficulty on my first playthrough, within 7 hours. I would suggest expecting the game to be more of a experience than a challenge. 

The multiplayer is what is left after the campaign, unless you're dedicated enough to complete all the campaign challenges (which are, to be fair, a lot of fun), and it seems this is rather hit-and-miss. Four gametypes are available, and personally I found the selection to be quantity over quality. Last Stand is the now all-too-common wave mode, fighting off endless enemies in a small space until inevitable defeat, and it is probably the most dull of the selection. The other three are based on a fully-fledged co-operative campaign, Hunter being an ordinary playthrough of the campaign with another player, Face-Off in which two agents compete for the most kills in one certain area - including killing each other- and Infiltration which must be unlocked via Uplay, in which you must sneak through a mission without being spotted. While you are not short of things to do in this area, with another full set of challenges and upgrades, I tended to tire of it within an hour or two as it missed the certain drive of the campaign's characters and storyline, and became a shell of the real game. However, stealth fans who look more for the action than they do the narrative will not find a better title than this.

I found Splinter Cell Conviction a pleasant reassurance that the franchise is not dead. It has a great story and art style, a much-needed gameplay revamp and, if you enjoy it, a fine set of co-operative activities as well. Providing you have patience and someone to play with, this is worth your time and money. 8/10.