Easily one of the most anticipated video games of 2010 is from one of the most well respected developers in the business, and it goes by the name Splinter Cell: Conviction. Years in the making with a couple complete restarts this Xbox 360 console exclusive has seen it’s share of good and bad days. A couple weeks ago PlanetXbox360.com got to sit down with the team behind the upcoming action/stealth title and play through a good bit of the single-player campaign and co-op gameplay modes. Ubisoft was straight up with me, never once denying the fact that Conviction has gone through more than a couple design changes and other issues over the years. Each and every aspect of the game feels like it was crafted by the most creative and caring of developers, no rock unturned or hiding place unperfected. Somehow though the team came out on the other side with one of the most-intuitive and most-enjoyable experiences this experienced video game player has had the joy of playing: Splinter Cell: Conviction.
Sam Fisher is no longer the young man he was from the previous games in the series (he still spends plenty of time on his physique), Conviction’s story is going for a something completely different than what fans will be expecting. I can’t go into many of the details as no one wants to have such an interesting story ruined prior to the playing through the game but I will say that it has more twists and turns than most episodes of Lost and CSI. One thing that is definitive is he is on a mission to find out what happened to his daughter and anyone who gets in the way is fair game, blurring the line of good and evil throughout the 10+ hour campaign. Interestingly Ubisoft decided that the normal single-player story mode was not enough, and added both multiplayer and a 4+ hour co-op mode that acts as a prologue to the previously mentioned main story. However I specifically asked whether the producers wanted players to play-through the co-op (prologue) story before the single-player story (main campaign) and they all answered a definitive no. Each mode has features that are specific to the campaign (dual mark/revive) as well as ones that show up in both (cover/mark and kill).
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The co-op mode, which I got to go through half of, does not feature Sam Fisher at all; gamers will get to play as two more classic Splinter Cell characters that have their own story-arc issues to deal with. It can be enjoyed either way but I came to think of it as bonus material, meant to answer some of those nagging questions that pop-up along the way. 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 I’ve come across very often and when done right it can make or break the overall gaming experience; from what I’ve played so far Splinter Cell: Conviction does it with perfection.
As with other aspects of the new Splinter Cell title the graphics are an area that didn’t go overlooked by the development team. Everyone has seen the trailers or screenshots of Conviction and if you haven’t go do that now; the game features both full-color and black-and-white graphics, depending on if you are “hidden” or “exposed” to the enemy. At first what seems like just a gimmicky overlay quickly becomes a gameplay feature that is used as often as a reload button or cover action. There are other things that happen if the enemy picks up on Sam’s location but if things go to full-color it’s a good marker to know that you need to move, and move quickly. The sheer number of options available to the player in Splinter Cell: Conviction is amazing, every time I approached a level it was different, even if I had played it multiple times earlier. “Last Known Position” is a feature that basically casts a virtual shadow into the game map and leaves it wherever the last known position of Sam Fisher, to his enemies, is. As with so many other things in the game in can be used multiple ways and because of that it has both its offensive and a defensive uses.
A great balance between the small things and the big things creates great gaming; all four of the levels I spent time with had this balance and it showed. Unfortunately I could talk for another two pages about my hands-on experience with Splinter Cell: Conviction, however there are gameplay features and discussions that have to wait for the full review. What I did walk away with is the feeling that this game will be one of the top Xbox 360 titles of 2010. All three aspects of the triangle that is Conviction add to the overall feeling that a triple-A game puts off; single-player, co-op, and multiplayer. Stay tuned for more on the highly anticipated Tom Clancy title as its April release nears, right here at PlanetXbox360.com.
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