Splinter Cell - Conviction Demo
Xbox 360
Well, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction is released on the 16th of April (2010) which is only a few weeks away and the demo has been available for free on Xbox live for awhile and as always my first comment is this… play the god-dammed game demo for yourself, it’s the best way to Judge a game! If your too lazy or don’t have access to the demo then this one’s for you.
The newest Splinter Cell: Conviction is the fifth tale (not including the PSP title ‘Essentials’) of Sam Fisher and possibly the last I suspect… If you are expecting more of the same old hide, tippy toe, grab, kill, hide body, fade away or get killed - style of play then you’re in for a disappointment… or treat depending on your perspective.
The story seems to be a reasonably a good one, Sam’s daughter was killed by a drunk driver while he was away in ‘Chaos Theory’ but he now knows that it was set up by his former employers ‘Third Echelon’ and our hero is here to kick ass and chew bubble gum… and he’s all out of gum. This tale of revenge has Sam as a ronin outlaw on the edge and looking to kill the actual person who gave the nod for his daughters ‘accident’ for some much deserved testicular detachment. I suspect there will be twists and turns that will involve past characters along the way and a soap opera style reveal at the end but all that is to be discovered in the full game.
Visually the game looks good, I cannot say it is amazing or anything ground breaking but it is definitely of a high standard, animations are fluid and convincing and the sounds are weighty, giving atmosphere to the environments. Overall the production value is high but you would expect as much from the Ubisoft stable and a long running franchise such as this.
There are new game mechanics at work that favour combat over the stealth approach. When spotted by enemies Sam is now much faster to escape, takes less damage from attacks and is far more skillful at shooting on the fly. This for some gamers is a welcome change from the previous games where if you were spotted by a trigger happy terrorist you cold kiss your ass goodbye if you failed to escape quickly enough. It does however make the stealth approach optional with combat the easier option, which many Splinter Cell fans would say undermines the whole purpose of this franchise and will have its granddaddy titles like ‘Thief’ rolling in its grave. Others might welcome this new and fresh approach and feel it is needed to breathe life into a dying format.
The various vision modes and the usual gadgets are all still there and are much easier to access through a new selection system. The demo was not very informative in regard to the range of gadgets available (I imagine there will be new ones in the full game) but it would seem that you don’t need them at all as I got through the whole thing during a single play through without having to use even one optional item, only the mission crucial ones, which to be honest was a bit disappointing as it would have been a richer experience if tactics were needed to succeed. Weapons cannot be judged by the demo as only a limited supply are available but you can now poach ones dropped by fallen enemies which is pretty cool.
There are two new additions worthy of note, first is the ‘ghosting’ system which shows a transparent form of Sam in the environment, this represents where the enemy believes you to have been last, giving Sam the chance to either leave the bad man in a decoy area and sneak past, or to open a can of whoop-ass on the unsuspecting enemy. This is a pretty cool feature, though apart from the visual indicator it is not exactly revolutionary in Splinter Cell games as this is pretty much what players used their diversion gadgets for in the past. The other notable addition and change to the play style is a sort of auto targeting system for shooting grouped enemies. Accomplishing ‘stealth kills’ will build up an ‘adrenalin bar’, when this is full you are then able to mark two (possibly more in the full game?) targets from a position of cover and then press shoot, Sam will then follow a pre-determined animation of taking down the two baddies in one quick attack. This does keep the pace of the game moving but it takes the skill and chance of failure out of the player’s hands and it all feels a bit automated.
Mission briefings are replaced by text on surfaces that instruct you on what to do or where to go next and are a clever idea and keeps the pace flowing as there is no need for a menu or cut scene so overall it is a plus.. I guess. The ‘AI’ does not seem to be too high, dummies… I mean, enemies are easily led to their death and even when in open combat they seem slow to react and generally sluggish only posing a real danger when in groups of three and more. Even on a higher skill level they seemed a bit retarded but their bullets just did more damage. Listening to their prattle talk can be fun and getting a poor bastard in a choke grip and using him as a human shield is satisfying though not a new feature. What is strange though is you no longer can carry and hide an incapacitated victim… which is a real shame.
Environments have sufficient hiding and grappling areas which were enjoyable to tackle with only the odd frustration of falling or missing a ledge to grab when being chased. There are lots of dark areas to hide and lights to shoot or turn off adding to the strategic plan if you do decide to play that way. Though quite well designed your path through the level is pretty obvious, perhaps a little too much so and overall a bitlinier. In saying that, it is only a starting or instructional level so I imagine the full game maps will be of a improved standard.
There will also be a multiplayer aspect bundled in, this promises some good co-op play and online competitive action. If previous attempts of Splinter Cell multiplayer games are anything to go on then that could well be this titles strongest and most enjoyable aspect… but we shall have to wait and see.
It would not be the first time that a demo can give a misleading impression to gamers. I am hoping that this is one of those times because I cannot say this is quite the title that I was personally expecting, although I’m sure it will be enjoyable enough. For gamers that have played all of the Splinter Cell games and indeed other Tom Clancy tactical shooters such as Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six, they might well fell that ‘Conviction’ is all a bit ‘arcade’ like or ‘dumbed down’. People new to splinter cell and more casual players might enjoy this new approach more so and gladly leave behind getting caught up in finer details or punishing scenarios found in previous versions of Splinter Cell. There seems to be an easy learning curve and less of a challenge compared to its predecessors and less in the way of skilled strategic shooter elements, resulting in more fluid progression with more automated scenarios… so depending on your perspective, this is either very good or very bad.
Personally I will miss the strategic elements, although I do feel that the Splinter Cell IP did need an overhaul to make it fresh, this is not the approach I would have hoped for… (Queue the rotten fruit and veg throwing). There are lots of shooters on the market, and if that’s what I want then it’s easy to get my grubby gaming hands on one… finding a good sneak em up is a much more difficult task. An unpopular opinion I imagine given the hype and anticipation surrounding this title but an honest one all the same. I imagine that the success, true strength and perhaps the saving grace of Splinter Cell Conviction, for most gamers, will be the depth of the story and atmosphere, which appears to be simple but solid. Perhaps it will be enough to fill in the cracks for any other short comings it may have. Hopefully the demo is only a narrow view into what I hope will be a great gaming experience… Gadgets crossed eh!
