Man, I let myself get WAY too far past finishing this game. I feel, partly, to blame for not remembering this game particularly well, but I also think some of the blame falls on SC:C's shoulders. Take a wild guess where this review is going. ON TO, The BadDone, already? The game feels painfully short. I feel like this is largely due to the games notoriously rocky development. I want to believe that there was a lot that Ubisoft Montreal would have liked to have put in the game. But, after drastically overhauling the look of the game and other such speed bumps, there was a lot that had to be dropped just to get the game out at all. I know that, recently, members of UbiMont stated that being able to move bodies, a staple of the series, was one of the thing they just didn't have time for. That being said, from a purely single-player standpoint, the game just flies by.
Did Sam... Forget something? Something I also assume is because of the stilted production schedule, is Sam's skeleton-crew of abilities. I really miss wall-splits. Gadgets like sticky-cams that make noises and moves like capturing guards and dragging them into the dark are still there, but aren't nearly as useful due to the change in gameplay and tone. I wasn't opposed to the change in tone of the game, but I miss a certain amount of the stealth and precision.
Feeling chatty, Fish-sher?!... Whenever troops are alerted to your presence, the absolutely, positively can-not shut the hell up. Insults upon insults upon questions upon statements are thrown at you. Usually punctuated with a veeeery disgusted "FISH-SHER?!". It's overkill to the point of being distracting and annoying.
A little empty For a story that is supposed to re-jigger and revolutionize the Sam Fisher canon, the game's story ends up being a bit thin and really doesn't drastically change or re-establish Sam as much more than a rogue version of what he was before. A small portion of what Sam's relationship with his daughter must have been over the years was, in my opinion, poorly explored, but a step in the right direction. Would have helped sympathize Sam and maybe help you give a damn about his daughter.
Well, good to get that out of the way. Now, The Good
Run n' Gun I know I just barely said that I miss some of the stealth and precision that previous Splinter Cell games afforded the player, but having the franchises base elements forced into a more action oriented theme was more refreshing than it was a whiff. If nothing else, I can say I never felt bored during the game.
Mark and Execute The idea of being able to mark and terminate multiple targets hands-free, as a bonus for getting a close-up kill was a lot of fun. It also provided a good out in situations that would have, in previous installments, been too sticky to get out of otherwise. It also gave the player a sense of badassedness that I enjoyed a greatly.
Good ol' Sam Some of this may come from running jokes on the Giant Bombcast, but Conviction gave me a good excuse to catch up with a character I've always liked. He's maybe a little off course at times, but Sam Fisher does enough Sam Fishering throughout the story to have satisfied me. You stay Classy, Michael Ironside.
If there were one thing that really tips Conviction over the edge, it's the length. The things that were good about the game really were enjoyable and the bad were all tolerably ignorable. Unfortunately, just as I felt like I was really getting into it, it was over. Keeping in mind that there is a coop campaign, as well as multiplayer modes, I still feel like the story holds the game back from being something great. I still plan on playing the coop campaign at some point, so there is value there. As it stands, however, if a single-player experience is what you're after, Splinter Cell: Conviction is a solid rental. Hard to justify at retail prices, however.
Mandatory Numerical Score? 8.0
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