Splinter Cell: Conviction

[MyNameDidntFit]

As most of you who follow gaming news will know, Ubisoft are back at the Splinter Cell franchise--that is, Ubisoft Montreal: the good Ubisoft studio--with Splinter Cell: Conviction slated for a 23/02/2010 release.

Now, a whole lot of talk has been going on about how 'loud' Conviction looks to be. What the hell do I mean by 'loud'? Well, any Splinter Cell fan/player/hater will know that the game is focussed on stealth and awesomeness to the point that even knocking out enemies will dock your mission rating. Splinter Cell has ever been a game where when you are spotted by more than one person your reaction is something along the lines of:
"@()&#*(*^$%#^%*($#@*&%!&@!(*&%*#$(&@*^%"
But Conviction looks somewhat different. Just take a look at the ComicCon trailer: Exhibit A (http://splintercell.us.ubi.com/conviction/#/media/videos/5900/).

Right. With a whole lot of shooting, running, shooting and shooting it looks very little like the Splinter Cell I know from the earlier Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory (not Double Agent. I pretend that doesn't exist). But it's not all bad. It looks like you will essentially have the choice of how you go about things. Stealth is still an option, it's just that instead of "... I'm buggered" when you get spotted and the entire enemy force is alerted it has become "right, time to kill some people"--not a good change in my books.

Look at Exhibit A and wait until you see Sam Fisher burst through the door of a room, tearing it apart, and killing the room's occupants with a shotgun... THAT ISN'T SPLINTER CELL.

*breathes deeply*

No matter. I'll stick to my stealth skills to get me through with a 100% mission rating (that is to say that no-one knows I've even done the mission) rather than turning a brilliant stealth game into another shooter.

A lighter note, however, can be brought up when someone says "hey, but what about that co-op?" and I jizz. In. My. Pants.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory had a brilliant co-operative experience and, from what I've seen (Exhibit B (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/co-op-walkthrough-splinter-cell/60170?type=wmv), Exhibit C (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/co-op-campaign-splinter-cell/60071)) this looks to be every bit as good as, if not better than, the co-op I loved back on my PS2 with SC:CT.



So, Mature Gamers, I put it to you: is Splinter Cell better for this apparent change of direction, or would you rather it stayed with the old formula?

[Konrad]

I like Splinter Cell, I even enjoyed double agent.

Do I think that they're changing the gameplay? Yes, especially considering the "Forget everything you know about Splinter Cell" quote that appears in Exhibit A.

But I refuse to put on my fanboy pants. The main critiscisms I've ever heard about this game were along the lines of: They got a formula and they're just churning out sequels with no innovation which was, essentially true. Well, here they are - responding to that criticism. I'd like to see what they can do.

[Landy]

You had me at CO-OP :D

Over the last years, I've gone from a very "competitive" gamer to just a "casual" one. I really do like the co-op based games, so I'll defiantly add this to my games list.

The "stealth" shooters like the "Hitman" series get's a bit tedious after trying the same mission for around the 100 time. It's a nice alternative that you can choose to run through the levels just blasting at anything in your path. This game looks like you can do the last one, although you can choose to do it completely "stealthy". :D

Just my kind of game!

[Rob]

After watching all three of those trailers I no longer want to "do things alone now most-a-ly.

CO-OP... yes, yes, YES!

[Jason]

I never actually played Double Agent. I'll have to rent it or see if I can grab it on the cheap somewhere.

As for Conviction, I'm undecided - it could go either way at this point. The Co-Op looks promising, but I don't know if the changes to single-player are necessarily a good thing. There are already games out there that do the run-and-gun thing far better.

[Jason]

Hah, looks like I won't be playing Conviction after all - UBIsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided due to a "link of heart" with Microsoft, the game won't be making its way to PS3. The game will be Xbox 360 and PC only.

Not a bad scoop for Microsoft, but a pretty dumb move for the franchise, if you ask me...

[MyNameDidntFit]

I thought that had been known pretty much since it was announced? Or do I just have that in my head for no reason?

Also, footage of Co-op with a bunch of commentary and awesome all over it:
http://www.gamespot.com/shows/today-on-the-spot/?event=now_playing_splinter_cell_conviction2009121 8#play