Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Designer(s)	Maxime Béland
Series	Splinter Cell
Engine	LEAD
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, iPhone
Release	Xbox 360: UK: April 16, 2010 Microsoft Windows:
Genre(s)	Stealth action
Mode(s)	Single-player, cooperative, multiplayer

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is the fifth installment in the Splinter Cell video game series. The game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, developers of Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and the sixth generation versions of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Key members of the Rainbow Six: Vegas team, such as creative director Maxime Béland, are also working on the game. Gameloft will also be creating a mobile version of the game for the iPhone OS.

Gameplay

Splinter Cell: Conviction introduces a number of new gameplay features to the series, one of which is the "Mark and Execute" feature, which allows the player to mark specific targets, such as enemies or objects, and shoot them when they burst through a door or window. The player can choose to prioritize these targets, so that, for example, he could distract one guard by shooting out a light in his vicinity and then take out another guard. Another new feature is the "Last Known Position", which occurs when the player breaks the line of sight of an alerted guard. This creates a visual silhouette of where the guard thinks Sam is, allowing the player to strategically flank his enemies. Main target subjects can use the player's abilities against them. The player can be taken hostage by the subject. If this happens in co-op mode, the hostage's partner can neutralize the subject by any means necessary, possibly even by lethal means.

Other new features include the ability to interrogate characters in real-time and use objects in the surrounding environment against them. A crowd mechanic has been introduced, allowing Sam to vanish within a crowd if under pursuit. The environment is also used to project mission objectives and key plot points onto walls in order to keep the player immersed in the gameplay during the narrative.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer mode in Splinter Cell: Conviction will involve split screen and online cooperative mode, plus a Deniable Ops mode. Deniable Ops mode involves 4 multiplayer modes that pit the players against AI in game modes such as Hunter, Infiltration, Last Stand, and Face-Off.

According to co-op game director Patrick Redding, the stealth in Splinter Cell: Conviction is designed around the new core elements like "Mark and Execute" and "Last Known Position" that have been shown since E3 2009. These things are designed for players to fool and defeat A.I. opponents but not human opponents.

Plot

Taking place three years after the events of Splinter Cell: Double Agent, former Navy SEAL Victor Coste is held in a Black Arrow facility interrogation room as he is interviewed by an unidentified group of men, recalling events in the past tense.

After having disappeared, Sam Fisher is remotely located by former Third Echelon colleague Anna Grimsdottir in a marketplace situated Valetta, Malta. He is warned that a group of hitmen have located him. Sam dispatches them and interrogates the leader, learning that drug runner Andre Kobin was responsible for the death of his daughter, Sarah. Sam learns that Kobin is present in his mansion, a re-purposed museum. Upon infiltrating the mansion, Sam interrogates Kobin and learns that the situation was "bigger than his daughter," prior to being captured by Third Echelon agents.

Sam is relocated to Price Airfield in Washington D.C., where Grimsdottir reveals that she is working with President Caldwell as a mole for Third Echelon, and that she needs his help with investigating a PMC named Black Arrow. A reluctant Sam refuses to help her, but relents after being told that Sarah is alive, and that she would set up a conversation during the course of the investigation. Grimsdottir facilitates Sam's escape from the airfield by providing him weapons and access to her car. After this point, Sam calls in his former squadmate, Victor Coste for assistance in the investigation, in part of Victor having rescued him during the events of Operation Desert Storm. Sam meets with Victor at a county fair in the Washington Monument, receives some equipment, and learns that White Box Technologies, a research-and-division company specializing in EMPs hired Black Arrow for corporate security, which is considered to be odd as Black Arrow does not provide it, hinting at a possible conspiracy connection.

Sam heads to White Box Technologies and witnesses multiple scientists having been murdered by Third Echelon director Tom Reed and Black Arrow operatives. Fisher saves one of the scientists and learns that Lucius Galliard hired Black Arrow to provide security, and that Robertson has been collecting and disposing of experimental data with EMP countermeasures. Sam reaches Robertson's office and downloads the data for Grimsdottir's analysts to study, and has a brief conversation with Sarah. He later triggers an EMP to prevent Black Arrow's tracing of the download in order to maintain Grimsdottir's cover.

Sam is later directed to the Lincoln Memorial under orders from both President Caldwell and Grimsdottir, infiltrating the area to record a conversation between Reed and Galliard. Sam later interrogates Galliard, only for the latter to get assassinated by a gunman. Sam pursues the gunman, only for the gunman to get killed by a car bomb. Sam is later drawn into a confrontation with Third Echelon agents until he is extracted by Secret Service.

Sam infiltrates the Third Echelon headquarters to recover equipment and retrieve information from Reed's office. Instead of finding Reed, Sam re-encounters Kobin and interrogates him again. Sam learns that Reed was working with Megiddo to smuggle EMP technology into the United States, and use that technology to facilitate Caldwell's assassination and have the Vice President take over the position since he was "in Megiddo's pocket." Reed would then be promoted within the higher ranks of the government and be considered a hero as a result. Kobin later reveals that he never knew anything about Sarah and only provided a false body to stage her death, urging him to ask Grimsdottir as she knew the whole story. Sam confronts Grimsdottir with the information he learned, and plays a last audio recording of Lambert. Sam learns that Lambert knew there was a mole within Third Echelon and would use Sarah as leverage against Sam at one point. As a result, Lambert had to stage her death with a car accident and provide a new identity, and used Kobin to provide a corpse in order to protect Sam. Lambert later concludes that he wasn't able to locate the mole, and that his efforts may have been vain.

Grimsdottir later tells an enraged Sam to head to Michigan Avenue to stop one of the three EMP attacks, stating that Sarah's designated apartment is within Michigan Avenue's blast radius, while Victor recovers Sarah and later helps Sam with halting the attack. Grimsdottir would accompany Reed to the White House in order to halt the assassination. Sam is extracted by Victor as two EMP attacks go off, and has a brief reunion with Sarah. As the three go their separate ways, Sam infiltrates the White House while confronting Black Arrow and Third Echelon operatives in the process. Sam regroups with Grimsdottir and is held captive to get closer to Reed.

Upon entering the Oval Office, Sam and Grimsdottir kill the Third Echelon escorts, with Sam interrogating Reed while the United States Army extracts Caldwell. It is revealed that Caldwell was going to shut down Third Echelon and leave "America vulnerable to future attacks" and that Reed was the mole Lambert was looking for. Depending on the player's choice, Sam or Grimsdottir execute Reed.

Black Arrow's interview with Victor has concluded, with Victor stating that Sam would be with Sarah and that Sam loved him like a brother. Shortly after Victor finishes his sentence, an explosion places the building on alert, implying that Sam is assaulting the base.

Development

Conviction was originally announced on May 23, 2007 when Ubisoft released a trailer for the game. It depicted a more rugged-looking Sam with long hair and a fully-grown beard. He had the ability to blend in with the environment, interact with tables and chairs and utilize hand-to-hand combat against enemies. The lighting and shadow effects also showed a vast improvement over Double Agent. The game was due for release on November 16, 2007.

However, the game missed its initial launch date, and on May 19, 2008, Xbox World 360 magazine reported that Splinter Cell: Conviction was "officially on hold" and that the game had been taken "back to the drawing board". While Ubisoft never confirmed this, they announced that the game had been pushed back to the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The game resurfaced at E3 2009, with a completely new visual style and a more casual-looking Sam. The developers confirmed that the "new" Conviction had been in development since early 2008, commenting that "the gameplay has evolved a lot" and "the visual direction is simply much better".

The game was given a November 2009 release date at E3, but was later pushed back to the first quarter of 2010. After initially announcing a release date of February 23, 2010, Ubisoft delayed the game again until April 2010. On February 4, 2010, Ubisoft officially announced that the game will be released on April 13, 2010 for Xbox 360

On March 18, 2010, the demo was released for Xbox 360. The demo includes an interrogation scene, and a gameplay scene which allows the player to fully get a grasp of the games new features.

Audio

On July 16, 2007, it was announced that composers Kaveh Cohen and Michael Nielsen in association with music house Groove Addicts will be composing the musical score to Splinter Cell: Conviction, their first score for a videogame.

On October 25, 2007, SoundtrackNet posted a news item from the scoring session for the game, featuring photographs of the orchestral recording of the music.

On January 28, 2010, a message was posted on Amon Tobin's website, stating that "Amon's been brought in to contribute music for the climactic scenes of the next installment of the Splinter Cell game series."

On March 29, 2010, it was revealed in an interview that Michael Ironside considered not returning to the role as Sam Fisher as a result of not being able to add more to the character until UbiSoft sent him a copy of the script.

Retail versions

Splinter Cell: Conviction is currently exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows with a mobile version slated for the iPhone OS. Ubisoft has stated that it has no current plans to release it on the PlayStation 3 with Max Beland, the Creative Director of Splinter Cell further stating; "Well, Splinter Cell was originally built on Xbox and we’ve had a great relationship with Microsoft. So Conviction is an exclusive for 360, it’s not going to go to PS3..."

Each copy of Splinter Cell: Conviction will include an invitation to the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta, which begins in summer 2010.

Ubisoft have announced that Conviction will be released in four retail versions. As well as the standard version, there will be the Special Edition, Collector's Edition, and the Limited Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition will be exclusive to the United States and Canada, and will feature a custom USB drive, an artbook based on the Splinter Cell series, two decal stickers, a comic book detailing the events leading up to Conviction, and two in-game items: an MP5-SD3 sub-machine gun and a Third Echelon spy suit. The PC version will implement Ubisoft's new DRM which will require a permanent internet connection.

The Limited Collector's Edition is exclusive to European, Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific territories. It includes a high quality edition box with a Sam Fisher figurine, steelbook dvd case with the game disc, manual and game soundtrack DVD (over 17 tracks), and a card with 5 bonus in-game content codes: The MP-5 submachine gun, SC3000 assault rife, SMG-2 machine pistol, Infiltration game mode and the Shadow Armour outfit. Ubisoft released a trailer of the Limited Collector's Edition.

The Special Edition is exclusive to GAME in Europe and contains an alternate box art, a SPAS-12 Silenced Shotgun, early access to the SC3000 Weapon and a special "Shadow Armour" playable skin.

Amazon.co.uk have their own exclusive Limited Edition which contains its own alternate box art, SPAS12 In-Game Silenced Shotgun, a 32 page comic book - "Digging in the Ashes" and a DVD featuring the making of the game.

Play.co.uk also have their own exclusive Limited Edition, featuring a Splinter Cell Conviction Torch shipped with each copy.

In March 2010, Microsoft announced a special limited edition black Xbox 360 console for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction. The unit includes a 250GB hard drive, two black wireless controllers, a black wired headset, an Ethernet cable, a standard definition Composite A/V cable, and the standard edition version of the game. Due to a number of defective USB drives, Ubisoft has lowered the price of the collector's edition by $10.

Early reports have claimed that the usb drives initially shipped with the games might be defective. They are currently working on a fix and have since dropped the price of the American collectors edition games.

Reception

Conviction has received a 9.3 out of 10 score from IGN. Edge Magazine has awarded Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction 8/10 in its latest lead review, claiming that the title is "in reach of greatness". Edge is particularly impressed with Sam Fisher's ability to turn any environment into "torture chambers" at the press of a button. Main points of criticism are its short length and that too much of the title is played in new atmospheric monochrome.

External links

• Official site
• The Splinter Cell Wiki, an external wiki