Old dog, new tricks

by ERIK LEIJON

“Sam Fisher is overrated, he’s predictable.” That was an in-game comment overheard while playing Splinter Cell: Conviction (X360, PC/Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal), in reference to the deadly spy’s somewhat played out stealth tactics. Just like the poor Black Arrow security guard who uttered those famous last words right before taking a bullet to the head, you might be surprised that Fisher has finally changed his old ways.

Conviction is the first Splinter Cell specifically made for the next-gen consoles. It’s been an uncharacteristic four years between Splinter Cells, a smart move since Double Agent felt like Ubisoft was wringing out the last few bucks from an already withered corpse. The old Splinter Cells focused on pretty rigid third-person stealth action, starring Sam Fisher as a cucumber-cool super spy tasked with infiltrating heavily secured areas by sticking to dark corners and taking out enemy soldiers quietly. Conviction is still a spy game, but it feels like Splinter Cell has gone from dry, technical spy manual to riveting spy novel.

Conviction plays like a looser spy game, like a primarily third-person action shooter with some additional stealthy strategies. Hiding in the dark has become even more essential, and is now reflected in an interesting way visually, as the screen turns black and white when Fisher is safely concealed.

Another cool aesthetic improvement is how mission goals now appear in big white letters alongside buildings, meaning you don’t have to pause or enter a menu screen to know where to go. During cutscenes where Fisher is being told new info, his feelings also scroll along his body, and cinematics randomly appear on walls. These visual tricks feel natural and will undoubtedly be emulated by other studios in the future. The black and white colour scheme, as with any good experiment, isn’t perfect, and sometimes the game becomes too dark.

The game’s main inspiration comes from another Ubisoft Montreal Tom Clancy brand, Rainbow Six: Vegas. In that more combat-oriented game, teams of soldiers use high-tech gadgetry to know what is going on inside a room without kicking the door down, tagging foes and devising a strategy before barging in. Fisher now has the ability to tag and one-shot-kill enemies, although the execution move is only gained if you stealthily subdue someone without firing a shot first. It’s the most frequently used new skill, especially since Fisher is always outnumbered and the linear paths force him to take out all foes before moving on (it’s not like previous Splinter Cells where one false move will result in mission failure). There’s nothing more satisfying than luring away one soldier, taking him out, then using mark-and-execute to remove the remaining four guards, as it retains the best strategic aspects of the old titles, but adds a bit more of an unpredictable, violent streak.

Conviction is still a work in progress, as by the time Fisher steps foot in the White House, it becomes somewhat evident the developers didn’t believe gamers could withstand six hours of not shooting everything in sight. When enemies start blasting through the walls undetected, Kool-Aid man style, and they’ve surrounded Fisher before he even has a chance to slap on his night vision goggles, one gets a sense the stealth part was casually dumped near the conclusion for reflex-based hijinks. At its best, Conviction feels like a thinking man’s action game.

Conviction is like fellow spy James Bond, stuck in an impossible situation, only to use the explosive-packing watch Q gave him to blow a hole in the nearest wall and run to safety. Just when you thought all hope was lost, the old dog learned a new trick.