Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is a 2010 action-adventure stealth game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and co-published by Microsoft Game Studios and Ubisoft. The game is a sequel to Splinter Cell: Double Agent and part of the Splinter Cell series. Key members of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas team, such as creative director Maxime Béland worked on the game. It released for Windows and Xbox 360 in April 2010. Gameloft released a handheld version for Apple's iOS in May/July 2010. There are also versions available for Android, Windows Phone and Bada, as well as a side-scrolling 2D version for mobile phones.
Splinter Cell: Conviction received positive reviews from critics. They praised its gameplay, art direction, and narrative, although there was criticism on the short length of the campaign, and departure from the stealth genre when compared to previous titles. The game had sold 1.9 million units by July 2010. A sequel, titled Blacklist, released in 2013.
Gameplay
Splinter Cell: Conviction introduces a number of new gameplay features to the Splinter Cell series, one of which is the "Mark & Execute" feature, which allows the player to mark specific targets, such as enemies or objects, and shoot them in rapid succession without manually targeting each one. The player can choose to prioritize these targets, so that, for example, he can 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 where the guard thinks Sam is, allowing the player to flank his enemies.Other new features include the ability to interrogate characters in real-time, and use objects in the surrounding environment against them. Mission objectives and key plot points are projected onto walls within the in-game world, in order to keep the player immersed in the gameplay. Several other features, such as blending into crowds, improvising gadgets, and interaction with the environment, were announced, and according to creative director Maxime Béland would have given the game "a lot of Bourne Identity influence," but were scrapped after the development team decided that going in this direction would be taking too much of a risk.
Some of the features that were present in the last four games in the series do not appear in this game. Sam's hybrid night/heat vision goggles and his multipurpose SC-20K assault rifle, which were the mainstay of the last four games, no longer appear. They have instead been replaced by Sonar Goggles and the SC3000, a standalone assault rifle with no unique properties. His light sensor is also absent, although the change in the screen saturation into grayscale now shows whether Sam is hidden from view. Sam can no longer move or hide dead bodies, nor can he knock enemies unconscious, as all equipment that helped doing the latter are absent. Lock picking and hacking minigames are also not included in the game. Sam has been equipped with pistols with unlimited ammo and suppressors, which helps him terminate enemies stealthily. While other options such as battle rifles, shotguns, and submachine guns, are available to use, pistols are classified as primary weapons.
One of Ubisoft's stated goals for Conviction was to make the game more accessible. According to Béland, Chaos Theory is "very hardcore", which turned off many players and disconnected people from the fantasy of being Sam Fisher. Béland contrasted the earlier games in the series with works containing James Bond or Jason Bourne, who "run fast, they don't make noise, they kill one, two, three or four guys super quickly", and he stated that Conviction delivers a similarly dynamic experience with more of an emphasis on action than previous Splinter Cell games.
Multiplayer
in Splinter Cell: Conviction involves both split screen, System link, and online cooperative mode, plus a "Deniable Ops" mode, involving four modes that pit players against AI enemies in game modes such as "Hunter", "Infiltration", "Last Stand", and "Face-Off". "Face-Off" is the game's only competitive multiplayer mode, as it features the ability to kill the opposing player. "Hunter", "Infiltration", and "Last Stand" can be played in single-player modes and do not always have to be played with a human partner. The game does not contain the "Spies Vs Mercenaries" mode featured in the previous games of the series.According to co-op game director Patrick Redding, the stealth in Conviction is designed around new core elements like "Mark & Execute" and "Last Known Position".
Plot
The game's story is divided into two portions. The main portion is the game's single-player campaign, which puts the player in control of Sam Fisher three years after the events of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. The "Prologue" portion of the game, meanwhile, is accessed through the multiplayer co-op mode, which puts two players in control of agents Archer and Kestrel 10 days before the campaign starts.Prologue
Third Echelon agent "Archer" and his Russian partner, Voron agent "Kestrel" are deployed to Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia to halt rogue elements of the Russian military from selling advanced warheads on the black market. Intelligence from criminal Andriy Kobin points to drug and human trafficker Valentin Lesovsky as the broker for the sale, and Archer and Kestrel are tasked with terminating Lesovsky and his associate, Boris Sychev, as well as gaining Lesovsky's contact list.Having completed their mission, Archer and Kestrel are then deployed to the Russian embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan to gather intelligence on an arms deal conducted by former Russian GRU Colonel Leonid Bykhov. They observe the deal and witness Bhykov betray his associate, Tagizade, ordering his men to kill him. Archer and Kestrel prevent the destruction of the weapons crates, learning that the weapons Bhykov was going to sell were Block II JDAM missile guidance kits. They interrogate Bhykov, learning that he is working with Major General Kerzakov, who is in the Yastreb Complex, an underground fortress situated underneath Moscow's Red Square.
They infiltrate the complex and learn the location of the EMP warheads. They render the JDAM kits inoperable by using their portable EMP devices, and download data from multiple servers to trace the EMP devices to the Mozdok Proving Grounds. Sneaking aboard a supply truck, they infiltrate the Proving Grounds and secure the EMP devices with the help of Kobin. During their extraction, Third Echelon director Tom Reed contacts Archer and orders him to kill Kestrel; concurrently, Kestrel reads Archer's OPSAT device, forcing him to act in self-defense. Whilst either player can die, the canon ending has Kestrel fatally shooting Archer; overcome with grief and unaware of Kobin's presence, Kestrel is shot in the head.
Main game
Black Arrow interrogates Sam Fisher’s former Navy SEAL squadmate Victor Coste, who begins to recount the events of the last few days.After quitting Third Echelon, Fisher heads to Valletta, Malta, to investigate rumors that the hit-and-run death of his daughter, Sarah, might not have been an accident. Suddenly, Anna "Grim" Grímsdóttir, Sam's former colleague, contacts him and warns him of an imminent attack by a group of hitmen. Sam neutralizes them and goes after their contractor, Kobin, who was the true culprit behind Sarah's death. He infiltrates Kobin's mansion, kills his guards, and begins to interrogate him, but a Third Echelon Splinter Cell team subdues him before he can extract anything useful.
Grim and Black Arrow bring Sam to Price Airfield in Virginia, where they are to interrogate him. However, Grim releases Sam, revealing that she is working undercover for U.S. President Patricia Caldwell, investigating suspicious circumstances concerning Director Reed, Black Arrow, and the stolen Russian EMP technology. She reveals that Sarah is still alive and helps Sam escape the airfield.
Sam then contacts and arranges to meet with Coste at the Washington Monument to receive some equipment. He also learns that Lucius Galliard, CEO of Black Arrow, has tasked them to provide security for White Box Technologies, his recently purchased R&D company specializing in EMP technology. Sam infiltrates White Box Technologies and witnesses Black Arrow mercenaries purging scientists that are no longer needed. He hacks a high-security White Box computer and retrieves strategic data about an operation involving EMPs for Grim's analysts to study. He escapes the facility after fighting through more Black Arrow mercenaries, triggering an EMP to cover his tracks. Later, President Caldwell directs him to the Lincoln Memorial to eavesdrop on Reed and Galliard. The conversation and the subsequent interrogation of Galliard reveal that a group called "Megiddo" funds and organizes the operation, which is to take place in 24 hours. However, a hitman shoots Galliard dead before running away; Sam gives chase, but a car bomb ultimately kills the assassin.
Sam then heads to Third Echelon headquarters where he receives a set of advanced sonar goggles from Grim's friend Charlie Fryman, and raids Reed's office for information. However, Sam finds Kobin there and interrogates him. Kobin reveals that Reed works for Megiddo, and is planning to activate three massive EMP devices in Washington DC and assassinate Caldwell in the ensuing chaos, allowing Vice President Calvin Samson to take over the presidency. Reed would then get a promotion in return. Kobin also reveals that it was Grim who gave him orders to fake Sarah's death. Grim confirms this by playing an audio recording of deceased former director Irving Lambert where he reveals that he discovered a mole in Third Echelon who was plotting to threaten Sarah's safety and use her as leverage against Sam. Although Lambert successfully staged Sarah's death to foil this plan, he was unable to identify the mole. Grim urges an enraged Sam to destroy the EMP device in the Michigan Avenue Reservoir, as Sarah's apartment is within its blast radius. At this time, the Third Echelon building's self-destruct protocol activates, and Sam escapes before the building explodes.
With the aid of Coste, Sam attacks the Michigan Avenue Reservoir. After fighting through the Black Arrow mercenaries defending the site, Sam marks the EMP generators for Coste to destroy from the air. Sam is then extracted by Coste and reunites with Sarah before the two remaining EMPs are activated, destroying most of the electronic defenses in the city and causing chaos. Shortly afterward, a surface-to-air missile takes down Coste's helicopter, but all three survive. While Coste takes Sarah to safety, Sam journeys through downtown Washington to make his way to the White House, which has been overrun by Black Arrow mercenaries and Third Echelon operatives. After he confronts and incapacitates the corrupt Vice President, Sam regroups with Grim.
As Grim and Sam must enter the Oval Office without alarming Reed, who may kill the President, Grim shoots Sam in the shoulder and pretends to detain him at gunpoint, allowing them to enter the Oval Office safely. Reed prepares to execute Sam and the President, revealing that Caldwell was going to shut down Third Echelon after Lambert's death. Reed then plans to frame Sam for assassinating Caldwell as supposed proof that Third Echelon is still needed. Sam and Grim then spring into action, disarming Reed and killing his escorts. Sam interrogates Reed while United States Army soldiers extract Caldwell. Reed finally reveals himself to be the very mole Lambert was investigating. At this point, Sam or Grim executes Reed depending on the player's choice. Canonically, Grim executes Reed.
As Coste begins to wrap up his story, he states that Sam, in his last conversation, promised to protect him just as he would his brother. At that moment, the interrogators hear an alarm, followed by an explosion and gunfire in the background. They abandon the interview and leave Coste behind.