The co-op campaign is a prequel to the main storyline and involves two completely new characters, neither of whom are Sam Fisher. Both reminded us of the old-school Sams, from previous Splinter Cell games with the badass outfit and night vision goggles perched atop their foreheads. These two jokers have four story-like missions to progress through; each one of the levels with a different gameplay scenario and it never feels like the co-op was thrown on as a last-minute addition to Conviction. There are also a number of co-op specific gameplay elements that can only be experienced when playing with another live human being (via split-screen): dual mark-and-execute and revive being the most prevalent. This is probably our biggest gripe about the co-op gameplay, there is no option to play it by yourself, using an AI character as your partner. There are always situations where people don’t have Xbox LIVE or a buddy just can’t get over to play and the fact that we couldn’t jump into one of the co-op levels without one of these two options being available just felt mean. Either way co-op story mode was a great addition to the Xbox 360 title, as we fear Splinter Cell: Conviction may have felt a little bit short without the extra hours of game-time.
There are three additional modes, playable alone or with a friend. Hunter has you killing a set number of enemies level-by-level; Infiltration is like Hunter, but with crazy laser alarms and an instant fail if you're spotted; and Last Stand has you protecting an EMP device from waves of incoming enemies. These add hours of endless gameplay to Splinter Cell: Conviction but what we are really excited about is the possibility of Spy vs. Mercs coming as future-DLC. Everything about Conviction’s presentation is what has had me intrigued from day one and now after spending countless hours with it still proves to be one of the game’s top aspects. There are big-budget games released that have nooks and crannies that can’t be accessed, or are there just for eye-candy. Never once did I see something or run into a new location that didn’t have a purpose or reason behind it being there. Sam can jump, climb, slide, roll, and sneak his way into locations that previous generation consoles just couldn’t handle; and the resulting experience is one that you feel as though you have total control over, as the player. This type of gameplay is not something we’ve come across very often and when done right it can make or break the overall gaming experience; the first time out of the gate Splinter Cell: Conviction does the overall player experience with perfection. The way the team did the game's presentation is just beautiful, spotlighting objectives and in-game movie sequences onto the environment with an amazing never-seen-before projection system.
As with other aspects of the new Splinter Cell title the graphics are an area that didn’t go overlooked by the development team. The previously mentioned black-white/color system works very well and ends up feeling like it should have been part of every other game in the stealth-based franchise. Conviction uses a mix of CG-movies and in-game sequences to tell the detailed story, as well as a number of interactive interrogation scenes that are just a blast to experience. Every bit of the lighting and digital-effects are top-notch and we can only dream about what the next game will look like, it’s just so damn polished looking. Don’t believe the critics, the graphical power of the Xbox 360 is not going anywhere anytime soon and we are still amazed every time we boot up one of these triple-A titles. We ended up spending close to twenty hours with the newest Splinter Cell and we got the feeling that this game will be one of the top Xbox 360 titles of 2010, with ease. All three aspects of the triangle that is Conviction add to the overall feeling that an epic action-game puts off; single-player, co-op, and multiplayer. Future DLC adds another level of excitement to what the game has to offer, look for us online or replaying the single-player campaign one more time (every time feels different). If you are even remotely interested in the world of spies and advanced technology Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction should be an easy-purchase for you, we are recommending it with every fiber of our gaming body.
