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| | Genre: Action | | | Min OS X: 10.6 |
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction
April 26, 2011 | Jon Carr | |
Conviction also introduces another new element in the form of interrogations. During the story you interrogate certain characters with Sam's particular method of questioning. Everyone resists you of course, and Sam enters a semi free-form state in which to beat the questions out of your subject. You can just punch them silly, or use the environment for a variety of painful moves. These sequences are interesting but sadly only the first one - an intensely brutal interrogation in a dirty bathroom - is the best one. The rest become more predictable rather than shocking or evocative as they could have been. The single player story has a very slick presentation that does an excellent job of putting you into Sam's head and emotional state. Mission objectives are shown in text along walls or buildings, and past memories and feelings like "anger" or "guilt" will often be projected onto nearby surfaces. It's very immersive and Michael Ironsides once again voices Sam to great effect. Other characters are also well acted and manage to be emotive enough to be believable. Convictions main story will take you about 6 hours to finish. Normal mode isn't very challenging, so I suggest you play on Realistic. While a little on the short side there's enough twists in the story to keep you going along at a brisk pace. Environments are also varied, from chaotic streets, clean offices to science labs and military bases. An airport, a carnival and a tense chase scene are all standout sequences. With the exception of a slightly awkward flashback to Iraq where the game changes to more of a cover-based shooter, it's quite good. Graphically the game uses the Unreal Engine 2.5. While it doesn't look next generation, it's still pleasing to the eye and makes great use of vivid color. Whenever you are in the shadows, everything goes black and white except enemies and objects of interest which stand out. Given you spend a lot of time in the shadows, some may find this bothersome, but it's still a good system. The music is also excellent, being very well paced with a wide range of energetic beats and subtle moments that blend perfectly with the situation. There is an upgrade system in place for all your gear. You earn points by completing various challenges, which are either stealth or combat based. Weapon lockers are stashed at the start of levels and between checkpoints where you can change your equipment and choose to improve your guns, gadgets or suit. Every gun has 3 upgrades, and could be more damage, range, clip size or a silencer. Gadgets, like grenades, mines and camera's can be made more effective, and suits can hold more ammo, gadgets or have stronger armor. Eventually you will upgrade everything, but it's still a fun process that adds to the gameplay. Once you are done with the single player, there is Denied Ops and Multiplayer. Denied Ops is a series of solo maps in which you take on the role of Archer or Kestrel, American and Russian operatives respectively. You can choose a few different gameplay modes such as Hunter, Last Stand or if you have the Deluxe version of the game, Infiltration. The deluxe version also gives you a few extra weapons and suits. Hunter mode is a simple elimination of all the enemies on a map, but if you aren't quiet, reinforcements will show up and makes things harder for you. Last Stand has you defending a generator against waves of gunmen who get increasingly harder, and Infiltration is like Hunter except if you are detected once, the game is over.
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