Splinter Cell Conviction Review for Xbox 360

     Sam Fisher's back. And this time, it's personal.... Yes, I really had to do that. Here's the review.

Gameplay

= Forget everything you know - The gameplay is actually well done. I just wasn't really feeling it. They essentially tossed out the whole "stealth is the key" thing and brought in "everyone must die". Now it ends up feeling like I'm playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. Splinter Cell was always a game about not killing, sneaking up on baddies, and covering your tracks. In this iteration, it's just about clearing the room full of enemies as best you can. There is still a certain element of stealth present but it's much more of an action game now. Essentially, you approach every situation by seeing who's around the area and if it's possible to take them all out without being shot. You'll normally see someone you can take out physically which will fill up your execute bar. With the execute bar you can mark targets (from 2-4 depending on your weapon) and then press a button to have Sam take them all out with automatic headshots. Other than that, it's all about routing enemies to your position so you can take them all out one by one.

     They designed the game in a way that's supposed to empower the player but I just felt gimped. I'm supposed to sneak around because Sam can't stand up to firearms but I have a lot of stealth abilities stripped away to force me to take aggressive stances against my enemies. So I feel like I'm supposed to take them down head on but not be seen doing so at the same time. Maybe if there was a little bit more complexity to the gameplay, like Metal Gear Solid 4, then I could choose how I wanted to play. With the way it is now, I can't hide in lockers and pick up bodies. Why? 

      I've always felt like Splinter Cell games were a little clunky with the controls and that there was a certain streamlining that it needed. This certainly is a streamlined experience, just not a stealthy one, which is disappointing.

+ So what's the plan? - It's satisfying when things come together like you want them to and this applies to Conviction. When you see the layout of the enemies, make a plan and execute it flawlessly, and then continue to scare the piss out of all who still remain, there's a great sense of accomplishment there to accompany the experience. I don't think it was the wisest idea to basically make the game revolve around this mechanic but it still works.

- Do what now? - I hate the controls in this game. I also got this game as a rental so I didn't have the booklet to tell me what did what. I was infuriated with them many times. There were also controls that weren't so clear when they were stated. When I wanted to change my weapon, nothing happened so I had to press it twice. The game didn't tell me that the first time I pressed it, it would draw out the currently equipped weapon. When I wanted to get a quick shot off, I'd have to compensate for the 2 seconds it took for Sam to pull out his gun and then shoot. I thought you could choose only one gadget to work with at a time. I was frustrated when I wanted to try something else and the loadout screen wouldn't let me change the gadget I was using. I didn't figure out until the last 3 levels that you had access to all of your gadgets at once. The "X" button is normally the reload button for most shooters. Instead, reload was on the left-thumbstick button and gadgets were on the traditional reload button. I kept tossing out gadgets when I was panicking to reload. Sometimes I would toss out a gadget, press the same button again to activate it, but they took a while to activate so I was mashing the button to get it to activate asap, unfortunately then he'd use another gadget even though I wasn't pressing the button anymore. 

     I went through a good majority of the problems. It seems to be this way for most stealth games I've played where the controls just feel awkward and convoluted. Somehow, Ubisoft felt that this was no longer a stealth game so nothing could be similar with past Splinter Cell iterations. Sam reacts to commands like he never has before and buttons give commands they've never given before. Why change what the player is used to and then go even further to make it worse?

+ Best Friends Forever - Co-op is where it's at in this game. It can be beyond fun at times. Just the feeling that you're both to work together to stay mutually out of sight and look out for eachother is rewarding in itself. Watching your partner proceed forward while you take out patrols to his left and right before he's spotted, walking into visibility while your partner shoots out the lights to cloak you in darkness, it just feels immediately natural and instantly intimate. It's hard not to feel close to someone who's watching your back while you got theirs. Everyone should play this game at least for the co-op. It's an experience that shouldn't be missed. 

     There are other game types but they don't feel natural or fun enough to play through. Just stick with the co-op story mode and you'll be having tons of fun.

= I challenge you! - There are challenges to complete in this game and they serve to show you things that you can do in the game that you probably hadn't thought of i.e. breaking a door down to incapacitate someone walking towards it, tossing someone you're using as a body shield into a door to break it in, etc. The only problem I had with it was that I didn't really feel motivated to complete any of them. When they are finished, all they do is award you points to buy upgrades with. I'll move on to why I don't care to buy upgrades soon.

     People should start learning a lesson from Bionic Commando (2009). Not only were the challenges unique and gratifying, you only had to perform them once and you were given extremely helpful upgrades.

- Weapon of choice - There is a bit of a selection within Conviction but it really doesn't make much sense to use the majority of them. Early on, I got a silenced pistol that had incredible accuracy and range and I got a M4 with a silencer and more power and range than what was available through most of the game. When you used a silenced weapon the enemy doesn't know where you are. Even when they're alerted, you can still take out a few guys without anyone noticing where you are. To use a weapon without a silencer, you only get a small fraction of added power and everyone will know where you are every time you use it. You can only buy three upgrades per weapon and they're specific to that weapon so it's not like you can get every gun a silencer. It just doesn't make sense to me to have so many variations on guns when, after you've already got the ones that work best in the beginning of the game, there's no motivation to change your weapon. When you work with the same old tools for the whole game, it begins to feel stale.

     The other problem I had was when a level would start without giving me my usual loadout, it would just start me off with what the game felt was better (read: more newly unlocked) than what I had. The majority of the guns don't have silencers so I was screwed at the start of some missions. 

Story and Presentation

= They killed my daughter - I think it should be known that when something deals with military-based plots, I usually don't follow them. I guess it a lack of personable appeal that makes it hard for me to pay attention to. That's why I was most excited for this game when the premise was taking revenge on Sam's daughter's killers. Very quickly it turned into something else and the whole plot lost me. I was able to follow it while playing the game for the most part but it was completely forgettable. 

= That's not like our little Sammie - Sam Fisher changed his character a lot from past games. I'll go on record by admitting I haven't played much of the Splinter Cell series but I always came away with the impression that Sam was a man of good moral values. I understand the circumstances that have turned him into a darker person (his daughter was killed by a drunk driver and he had to kill his best friend) but the extent of his anger just doesn't seem to fit his character. So many times were made all the more awkward hearing Sam Fisher's voice actor try to come off as thoroughly P.O.'d. It feels more like a little girl trying to sound like Solid Snake. It just doesn't fit and even when it sounds right, it doesn't fit the character. They could have explored different ways to express Sam's darkness through both gameplay and dialogue. Sam's one hell of an agent. He's done this stuff for years. Why would he go all mad-dog when he obviously knows better? 

= There's writing on the walls - There actually is writing on walls and stuff. It tells you objectives and sometimes describes Sam's feelings and thoughts in cutscenes. Ingenious Idea and I really love it. There just wasn't a whole lot of it and it wasn't really used in the most creative sense. Great idea with okay implementation.

= Tell me more... - One device used to push the story forward are the interrogation scenes. Basically you grab someone by the throat and you use various objects within the environment to beat them with. That guy up above just got his face put through a urinal. I don't know how he's expected to talk after that since I'm pretty sure Sam messed his face up pretty good, but you can bet that Sam'll get the info he wants.

     All of the interrogations were terribly predictable though. They refuse to say anything, they get their head caught in the fridge, they spill some beans and refuse to talk more, you put their face against an electric stove-top for 5-6 seconds, they spill some more beans and once again refuse to say more, you put a knife through their hand and they spill the rest. You will almost always have to torture them 3 times and they will almost always refuse to talk 3 times. It just feels more artificial than anything since there's normally only 3 ways to torture the victim. Once again, great idea with only okay implementation.

= I'm just a shadow, don't mind me - When you're in the light, things are in color. When you're in the dark, things are black and white. People will always appear in color no matter what. That won't stop you from looking for monochrome people while you're in the darkness and then feeling stupid when you see someone and they're in living color *wink*. Also, when it's black and white, it becomes very hard to see the environment. That leads to missed paths, different approaches and just all around safer/more conventient ways to get around. ONCE more, GREAT idea with only OKAY implementation.

Graphics

+ Another Unreal performance - The Unreal engine does wonders for the environments and the lighting. It didn't do so much, however, for the hair and the character models. They don't look terrible, they just don't look up to today's standard of detail which seems to be a trend at Ubisoft right now. Overall, it's a pretty game. Nothing should ever break the experience visually.

Sound

+ That's the sound of conviction - The music, the voices and the sound effects were mixed extremely well, to a cinematic degree even. Everything sounded clear, tangible, and visceral. This is sound mixing to aspire to.

Should you buy it?

     If you feel like you gotta buy it, go ahead. I feel that it's a rental but I wouldn't worry about spending money on Conviction. I'm sure you'll still feel like you got what you paid for. I just wouldn't expect it to perform any better than that.

     Don't get me wrong, I'm actually fond of this game if only because of the co-op. I would be happy to accept this game for it's experiments and treading of new territory if the sequel perfects what Ubisoft has started here. If this is their idea of a polished and perfected game, then I'm not sure about what's in store for our secret agent.

Splinter Cell Conviction was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the Xbox 360 and PC. Played through normal mode single-player story in 7-8 hours and played co-op for a total of 5 hours on realistic difficulty. Reviewed on the Xbox 360 version.