By Fernando Alcantara
Sun managing editor
“Splinter Cell: Conviction,” the sixth game in the video game’s franchise, follows Sam Fisher in what is the most action packed Splinter Cell game ever released.
For traditionalist fans of the genre and of the franchise, “Conviction” is quite a departure. But for new comers to the series, and fans of “The Bourne Identity” or “24,” “Conviction” may hold you prisoner for several hours.
You play as Sam Fisher, the ultra-stealthy, super secret agent who has gone rogue in this new edition by Ubisoft. The scenario is set from two games ago when Fisher lost his daughter to a drunk driver, which has caused him to take on assignments that were deemed suicide-missions.
Having been on the lamb for three years in search of his daughter’s killer, Fisher comes across information that Third Echelon, his former employer, may have had a hand in his daughter’s death and that she wasn’t killed in a drunk driving accident. In fact, she never was killed.
In uncovering this secret, Fisher also comes across a secret plot to kill the President of the United States. Fisher finds himself in a predicament of having to work with Third Echelon in order to find his daughter and to once again, thwart a terrorist plot.
Understanding the plot in “Conviction” is merely a bonus as you’ll be too busy trying to stay alive or figure out how to stay alive once you’ve completed the orientation levels.
First of all, “Conviction” is an amazing game to look at. The visuals are splendid as the game introduces some cool new features that future action video games will surely be ripping off soon.
Your mission objectives are now displayed on walls or on the ground during the game-play as well as video playbacks of flashbacks.
In previous versions of “Splinter Cell,” Fisher’s stealth was dictated by a gauge in your heads-up-display; now, the scene goes into black and white when Fisher is invisible.
“Mark and Execute” is also a new feature that helps you eliminate enemies when there are just too many.
By taking an enemy down in close-quarters-combat, you are awarded the ability to mark and execute up to as many as four enemies. A press of a button will eliminate the four that you mark in cinematic fashion.
If you are detected by an enemy a white silhouette of your character will pop up and let you know where your enemies will be looking when you are spotted.
This allows you to tactically flank your enemies and dispatch them anyway you see fit: either hand to hand combat, with any of your guns, rifles and grenades or flee the scene altogether.
The developers have created a truly unique action experience, which is true to the nature of its violent main character and follows the story line of the series thus far. Creatively, it all makes sense.
Where it may go wrong is for those of us who are die-hard “Splinter Cell” stealth-fans. “Conviction” is really a third-person shooter with slight elements of stealth, not necessarily the “Splinter Cell” style. There are many games from the same developer that do stealth better, namely, the “Rainbow Six” franchise and the “Ghost Recon” games.
However, when you consider the story-arc, the departure from the stealth is a smart choice and the fact that he is on the attack is also a nice change of pace for the series to keep it fresh.
Still, “Splinter Cell: Conviction” delivers on too many facets to simply dismiss the game. The story line is engaging, the cut-scenes of interrogations are extremely brutal and violent and the ‘mark and execute’ feature is pretty cool.
At just under 10 hours of game-play, buying the game might not be worth it, but it’s definitely worth the rental.
