Sam Fisher on the way of revenge! More intense and dynamic that ever and still this is a good, old Splinter Cell.
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Reviewer's tilt: 10/10
For so long I have been waiting for the new Splinter Cell game. So many years have passed since the first news, but finally Splinter Cell: Conviction is in my hands. At the beginning I was worried about the fact that the gameplay has been completely changed, but now I know that UbiSoft made a great decision. Conviction is more brutal, dynamic and intense than ever. What is awesome, is the fact that it's still a stealth action game. So we have redefined gameplay with more action and many stealth elements which make Splinter Cell so amazing. Of course badass Sam Fisher is the main character.
Singe Player:
The story in Splinter Cell: Conviction is the most interesting one in the whole series. Sarah - Fisher's daughter has been killed and now Sam wants to find the one responsible for what happened. He left NSA and work only for himself. We can say that he became a lone ninja. The idea of revenge made Sam a brutal soldier, a mad dog whose only goal is to find the murderer of his daughter. Nothing will stop him, he is Sam Fisher, the best agent in the world. He is also a pissed father who had only one child and now he lost the most precious thing in his entire life. The only person he can trust is his friend Victor Coste.
The whole game takes place in USA so we won't visit other countries except Malta. Is it a disadvantage or maybe not? Well, both actually. Each Splinter Cell took us to some new countries like Indonesia - Pandora Tomorrow; Georgia - SC1; Japan, North Korea - Chaos Theory. It was awesome to be there, but as many people say „Home sweet home" and this time it's true. The gameplay isn't worse because of the fact that everything takes place in the United States. The missions are so interesting and fun to play that you won't even noticed that you are still in the U.S.
At the beginning I wrote about redefined gameplay. There are many new things added to the game which weren't seen before. First of all, we have have a great new ability called „Mark & Execute". We just mark our enemy (the number of marked enemies depends on the weapon which can be upgraded during the game) and once the enemies are marked, Sam executes them using the wielding weapon. Sounds cool? Hell yea! Of course, you can't use it over and over again. Once you use the „Mark & Execute" ability you will have to stop your enemies, this time by using classic methods. Then you will be able to use the abililty again. So the „Mark & Execute" is like a limit. Another new thing is „Last Known Position". This creates a visual silhouette of where the guard thinks Sam is, so we can flank our enemies. „Last Known Position" is really helpful, especially when many guards spotted us. Moreover, each and every mission objectives are now shown on walls as flashbacks, so no OPSAT guys. What about Sam Fisher? His movements are a lot faster then before, he climbs, jumps and runs really fast. This is unfortunately unrealistic in my opinion. I know that Fisher has a great condition and etc. but sometimes he is as fast as Rikimaru from Tenchu series. We need to be aware of the fact that Fisher is in his late 50's and Rikimaru is in his late 20's. That's why Sam can't be as agile as Rikimaru, even if his condition is perfect. Moreover, speaking about the characters I have to say that Anna Grimsdottir (she was helping Sam in all SC games) looks completely different than in the first Splinter Cell. She has completely new face. I mean, UbiSoft, how could you not see that?! It's really weird for me. The same problem was in Double Agent, where Lambert looked different. I don't have any idea why UbiSoft makes such mistakes.
Another new addition to the game are the white and black colors when Sam is in the dark. The whole screen becomes white and black. It's very helpful because at the beginning of the game you don't have any night vision googles. But when you get them, you will surely be amazed. The night vision googles in Conviction are way more technologically advanced than before. When Sam uses them, he is able to see the enemies even through walls. It's a very nice and new thing added to the game. Of course, googles aren't our only tool or weapon. Now we can grab the weapons from our enemies which is very cool. Each weapon can be upgraded. We can buy new silencer, telescope to our shotgun or machin gun or just invest our cash and buy new and more powerful gun. Conviction offers variety of weapons like short and long shotguns, machine guns (Mp5 or SC20K for example) and of course pistols. Moreover, we have flashbangs, granades and EMPs which destroy any electrical thing. Too bad that Sam doesn't use a combat knife anymore.
The biggest and the best new thing in Splinter Cell: Conviction are the interrogation techniques. As I wrote before, now Fisher is a brutal soldier, a mad dog, so his interrogation methods are also way more brutal. We can interrogate our enemies using the environment – computers, walls, handrails, washbawls, mirrors, even a piano hehe. It's looks great and shows how really mad Sam is.
The graphics in the game are pretty good, but some textures and characters look bad. Conviction uses Unreal Engine 2.5 so maybe that's why there are some visual glitches. Of course, the light and shadows are the most impressive but it's just a normal thing when it comes to any Splinter Cell game.
The sound is awesome. Micheal Ironside as Sam Fisher is just brilliant. His voice fits Fisher so well. The soundtracks are very good.
Multiplayer:
This is what also makes Conviction so amazing and innovative. New multiplayer is just gorgeous. We can play in split screen or system link (X360). I will tell you only about the cooperative mode which is in my opinion the best in multiplayer mode. We have two main character - Third Echelon Agent Archer and Voron agent Kestrel who is from Soviet Union. The story takes place in former Soviet Union and our task is to kill those who want to sell the advanced warheads on the black market. Both agent Archer and Kestrel will have to cooperate with each other in order to succesfully complete the mission. We will have a lot of sneaking and action because both „Mark & Execute" and „Last Known Position" are available here. The multiplayer is a prologue to the story of SC: Conviction.
All in all, Splinter Cell: Conviction is the best stealth action title out there. The intense action makes the game way more dynamic, the interrogation methods are just superb, brutal and realistic. New abilities and gadgets make Sam even more dangerous. We have interesting missions and story with great ending. But the most important thing is that this is still a good, old Splinter Cell we want to play.