Splinter Cell: Conviction, the latest outing in Ubisoft’s classic stealth’em up series isn’t out until next year, but we sneaked up on some early code for a first play. Sam Fisher is back, folks, and he’s more chiseled, speedy and bone shatteringly brutal than ever before.
Splinter Cell: Conviction has been pushed back year after year, but the newest game in Tom Clancy’s popular franchise is definitely release worthy, from the preview we played. Our only conclusion for the nigh-on two and a half year delay is that Ubisoft has been cribbing over Rockstar’s shoulders: it’s taken a healthy dose of Manhunt’s violent gameplay, crossed it with the fatalities of Mortal Kombat, then whacked the Splinter Cell badge on it. And it’s brilliant.
The Splinter Cell: Conviction mission we played started off in a dilapidated toilet, throwing us straight into the carnage. Fisher, strangely looking younger than ever, has a man in a Vulcan death grip, and it’s up to you to chuck him around to get the information. You can do all sorts of cruel interrogation tricks, like breaking his skull on a urinal, smashing him into a mirror and even hurling him into an occupied cubicle. Once you’ve got the information (Which flashes up as an old movie reel on nearby walls), it’s off to break into a nearby mansion, heavily guarded.
What struck us most about the gameplay is how much more fluid it is than previous Splinter Cell Games. The ridiculously large shadowy areas have been downsized, so you’ll find yourself dashing between them, vaulting through windows and shimmying across ledges at speed in Splinter Cell: Conviction like never before.
Read our Assassin’s Creed 2 first play now
As for the new features? We weren’t wowed by the graphics in Splinter Cell: Conviction like we were Assassin’s Creed 2, but the style factor has been ramped up ten fold. Slick dispatches gain you execution marks, which can be used to knock off unsuspecting henchmen in a chain of cinematic bloodletting, or even drop chandeliers on top of them, ACME style. And the cruel treatment doesn’t stop there. You can grab guards as meat shields to avoid fire, then either hurl them through windows to their death, or through doors to trigger the fire of awaiting henchmen. And as you can see from one of the pictures in our Splinter Cell: Conviction gallery, you can nail people’s hands to tables.
If it sounds like Splinter Cell: Conviction is the video game of 24, that’s because it is: everything about it screams high budget action drama, from the cutscenes that swoop straight into the game (Which loads in the background), and the mission objectives that appear on the walls and objects around you, rather than as text along the bottom of the screen. It’s a seamless experience with no dropping back into menus.
Has Ubisoft done right to hold back on Splinter Cell: Conviction? From what we played, we’d say so: this version injects a large dose of black humour, comic violence and flowing gameplay into the stop, wait and start motions of previous Splinter Cell outings. Sadly, that wait is set to go on into next year, but we’ll be sure to bring you more on Splinter Cell: Conviction for both Xbox 360 and PC as and when.
Out 2010 | £TBC | Ubisoft
