Splinter Cell: Conviction is Flawed Yet Fun, Continued

JudoChinX

April 29, 2010

To make matters worse you'll never feel like your enemies are anything more than punching bags as they mindlessly rattle off the same lines over and over. I'm not sure why the AI thinks it needs to announce that it's going to kill me, or that it refuses to come into a room to capture me, but it's almost laughable. They're very stupid.

Having played numerous games bearing the Tom Clancy name, I didn't go into Splinter Cell: Conviction expecting much of a story. I felt they were more often than not convoluted messes of locations, people, and predicaments that were never experienced first hand. You weren't a character as much as you were a machine accomplishing the goals of a faceless government, and once the credits rolled, I could never remember even the smallest of plot details. I was relieved to find that Conviction tells a personal story of a man trying to find his daughter. I won't spoil things, but the story ends on an extremely satisfying note that left me salivating at the idea of more. I don't think I've ever had such an experience in a Tom Clancy game before now.

The game's cinematics prove to be entertaining, but there is an issue with the compression technology used. Character movements are extremely jerky, and lip syncing is distractingly bad. It's a pity too, because as mentioned, this is a Splinter Cell story to remember. If you can get past those things, there is some pretty mediocre voice acting you'll also want to disregard.

To help tell the story, mission objectives and plot points are projected onto nearby walls and objects. It's another thing that's been done to keep players in the experience without having to thumb through lengthy mission briefings while adding a bit of flair the package.

Goals could stand to be a bit more varied than they are, with most revolving around finding someone and questioning them (rather forcefully in most cases) or knocking out some sort of generator. Speaking of interrogations, this seems to be a mechanic that gets old after the first few times. At first, it's very entertaining. You'll grab the unlucky person, then beat the information out of them. This is sometimes accomplished by using your fists, but the more spectacular and brutal methods of persuasion involve smashing things with their bodies. Toilets, counters, bottles: nothing is off limits when it comes to interrogations, but sadly, you'll find that each interrogation is much like the last. They never really seem to evolve or change. It's something that I feel the developers had big plans for, yet never fully realized.

To sum things up, Splinter Cell: Conviction is good, but it's certainly not the definitive stealth experience that some might have been looking for. Though there are some things that can be improved on, there's something here for everyone who enjoys games with stealth elements. It's clear that the developers had big ideas for this game. Many of those were executed expertly, but some were not, and unfortunately, there are too many blemishes to give my greatest recommendation.

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