Review: Splinter Cell Conviction
Reviewed on Xbox 360. Also on PC. Developed by Ubisoft Montreal. Published by Ubisoft
Announced yonks ago with a long-haired hippy Sam Fisher and retooled to higher res-version of the Sam we’ve always known and loved, SCC updates the series with a new take action-stealth. Similar to how the stealth in MGS4 was not the only way to go, SCC is an intense game. It’s also shorter than the height requirements for tag-team midget wrestling.
So Sam’s been away for a while. His daughter’s dead, accidentally hit by a car. Sam’s brought back into the fold, when Third Eschelon, Sam’s old paymatsers, come a knocking. Aided by old friend Grimsdottir and that old guy from Uncharted, Sam embarks on a mission to find the truth.
Firstly, this is a complete re-tooling of the SC formula. Gone are so many of the gadgets, replaced by upgradable weapons and a more limited, tough more useful selection of gadgets acquired during the game. Sam can run and crouch, take cover and that’s about it without the help of a context sensitive button. “A” button (on 360) is used to jump, to climb, to use, to talk, to open doors and windows, to upgrade, pick up weapons, to peek underneath doors- all depending on what you’re facing. Sam can also attack enemies who are close by using B to attack, or use them as a human shield.
Ubisoft Quality Control
Incapaciting enemies without weapons earn you executions. So if you knock out one of the chatty cathy guards, you can mark a number of targets and press Y for Sam to execute them more or less instantly provided they’re in range. You can kill between two and four enemies, depending on the weapon, some upgrades up the number of marks a weapon can offer. You may think this is a bit of a cheat but there’s nothing compelling you to use it.
You earn points for everything which act in a similar method to achievements, except each one gives you a set number of points that you can spend on upgrading weapons. Be careful though since you won’t come close to upgrading everything during the short campaign, nor will you need them. I do believe some of this may carry over into the MP and coop missions but I concentrated on the single player portion of the game. Thankfully these happen around checkpoints, where there are weapons stashes that can just refill your ammo, change weapons and, quite usefully, restock during a battle. It probably lowers the difficulty significantly but it’s not a cakewalk.
As you start the game a rogue agent, you don’t have access to the gadgets of old, at least not initially, though many old favourites do pop up during the game including sticky camera and remove mine, but you’ll also be using EMP mines and flashbangs to distract guards while they espouse the benefits of kicking your ass. Hiding in the shadows is still your number one best tactic, which sends the game black and white to indicate you can’t be seen unless a patrolling guards walks right into you. It’s a pity since the game is quite pretty, and made worse when you do reclaim old faithful later in the game, since the picture effects dirty up the screen so much that you will spend very little time using night vision in the game.
So one change is, for the most part, you don’t instafail a mission by killing guards. There are one or two areas where absolute stealth is required, but these are in fact few and far between. However, if you do decide to start shooting up the place as your main strategy, expect to see the game over screen more often ex-Infinity Ward staffers update their Linked-In accounts. Sam is not made of metal and most of the time, he can take only a very small amount of damage before succumbing to his wounds. I found the balance of checkpoints is generally well-spaced out (though not always) and the difficulty reasonable, though I did restart sections fairly often. Three difficulty levels (I played on normal) mean there should be some extra challenge for those who want it, an no challenge for those that don’t. Trial and Error is still part of the game play, but whereas in the previous games, you were scratching your head at what to do next, here, you know what to do next, it’s just making that happen that’s what trips you up. I mean, you can’t fail to miss what to do next…
The first thing you notice about the visuals are the text projected onto walls. These might be phrases telling you what to do next or reflect Sam’s state of mind. You also often see flashbacks, which are quite impressive, but the more you move through the game, they become annoying or distracting. Which of those is up to you. It is however, striking and the thing most people take away from the game.
So we’ve touched on the fact it’s an attractive game with good visuals, great audio and decent voice work from the likes of Michael Ironside and other Canadian superstars. Apart from one important respect. The guards in the game talk. A lot. Have you even been stuck in a lift with a very talkative person with verbal diarrhea, someone who has to talk for absolutely every second of the day because they are so enamoured with the sound of ther own voice. Well that’s the guards here. If they haven’t seen you, there might be a little chit-chat between two guards, sometimes recounting events earlier in the game. But if they know you’re there. They taunt you a lot. And in a frankly embarrassing way that possibly sounds better said in French.
So is it good? Yes? Is it essential- I think so but there are caveats. Are you likley to play coop and multiplayer modes as well as the single player? Are you likely to replay a quality game? If so, the game is definitely worth picking up. Are you likely to play the single player only on easy? Don’t bother, it’s too short to justify at full price. Also- are likely to play on PC and your internet connection is regularly flaky? The PC version uses Ubisofts new always on DRM.
controller1.com rating 2/3 (or 3/3 if you’re likely to explore multiplayer elements as well as single player)
