Posted on April 13, 2010 at 11:53 pm - by Michael Yates
Splinter Cell: Conviction – First Look
My first game review for Techjawa.com is on the new Splinter Cell: Conviction.
The game follows the story of Sam Fisher as he tries to learn the truth behind the death of his daughter, among other things. Having not played a Splinter Cell title for quite some time, due to the fact that I’m not a very “stealthy” player, SC:C brings a lot to the table. The game no longer revolves around having to be 100% stealthy, now allowing players to “run and gun”. That doesn’t mean that you no longer need to use the shadows to aid Fisher. The game has added a new feature known as “Mark and Execute” where a player may target a certain number of enemies (varies by weapon) and execute them with a button press. The good thing about the mark and execute is that it can not be used for every take down, which would make the game a bit easier and more redundant. The execute ability must be recharged by using hand to hand moves on the enemies, which requires you to use your good old stealthy tricks if you wish to live. There is also the “Last known position” in the game. When spotted by an enemy, Fisher can duck back behind cover which automatically activates the last known position. Enemies will attack where they last saw Fisher giving you the opportunity to sneak into the shadows and flank them. There are instances in the game where you get to interrogate different people for information. During this time you receive information from the given character, and when they no longer wish to talk you can press the “interrogate” button to persuade them. The way in which you persuade depends on where you decide to stand in the room, using pianos, tables and even urinals to get the job done. You may also upgrade your weapons as well as change which pistol and secondary weapon you are carrying by using the various weapon stashes placed along the route of the game. If you can’t find a weapons stash and are looking for a gun with a little more “kick”, you can always pick up one of the enemy’s weapons. No Splinter Cell game would be complete without the gadgets either! So far I have only unlocked a limited amount of these gadgets, some of which include EMP grenades and remote mines. I hope to get my hands on the sonar goggles that were available in the game’s demo soon.
Overall the game seems to be well put together and has a good story line thus far. The game does play smoothly and the controls are simple enough to get comfortable with in just a few minutes. The game does hold a bit of difficulty in the single player campaign, where I have died numerous times already. This personally makes me want to play the game more as I love the challenge, especially since I’m currently playing on the normal difficulty.
A warning to parents: Almost every sentence that comes from the enemies of the game seem to contain cursing, and they talk quite a bit.
My next review coming soon will cover the multiplayer aspects of the game, so stay tuned!


