Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction reviews

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4.1 out of 5 stars Based on 74 Customer Ratings

5 star
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"Fantastic game despite technical shortcomings."
5 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

After the epic failure that was Double Agent, which most people probably didn't finish, the series return with conviction (pun intended).

Gameplay – I personally found the gameplay mechanics far superior than its predecessors, although lacking the stealth element from the good old days, the new mark and execute, last know position and cover systems are fantastic and overshadows its flaws. It is very satisfying to take a human shield, while executing the rest of the crew. It is even more satisfying using death from above on a pair of enemies, taking one down then immediate executing the other. The range of weapons is quite impressive, and finding the best weapon combination is definitely addicting.

Video – An enhancement on the unreal engine, it is by no means a Crysis, but textures and lighting are both spot on for a game like this. Shadows are a little weak in areas, so sometimes you won't know if an area is lit or not until you get there. With anti-aliasing enabled to CSAA, you might see drops in framerates, but 4×MSAA is probably all you need.

Sound – Music is a little repetitive, voice acting was good but not great when compared to the likes of Dragon Age and Mass effect series (as you'd expect). Ambiance is lacking somewhat compared to Chaos theory, you cannot separate distinctive areas that well. With that said, the sound quality is definitely a plus.

Story/Re-playability – Single player is not as short as advertised, please take note of that. If you take your time and do the challenges as you go along, on normal difficulty the game will take around 10 hours, realistic will probably double that if you want to upgrade guns and gadgets. Deniable Ops will take a little less time, if you've completed the main story thus gaining some experience in playing the game. Co Op story will be the same, but it will depend on your friend and if he's a hider or seeker. The overall story was predictable in a way, yet it kept me on edge in the later chapters, hopefully we'll see another Splinter Cell sometime next year.

Technical problems/bugs- The DRM server sometimes loses connection for a few seconds, but the problem has been resolved in the new patch which also fixes other problems and includes optimizations/en­hancements (1.02). There are some minor glitches which can be easily overlooked when you really get into it.

Splinter Cell Conviction for me was on par with Chaos Theory on some elements, while exceeding it in others. If your computer is relatively new, turn off your lights and turn on your speakers, then you should have a blast playing it solo or with a friend.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
"One of THE BEST FPS' I've ever played bar none. Mark & Execute!"
5 stars"

I never thought much about Splinter Cell – to me it's always been just another stealth First Person Shooter (FPS). Until I gave Conviction a go. Boy was I hooked.

The story was engrossing, the gameplay was stylish, the graphics were serious. FPS is just an FPS unless it sports a unique feature that makes it stand out above the crowded FPS genre.

CRYSIS' suit did it for me. FEAR's slo-mo did it for me. And with Splinter Cell: Conviction, it's MARK & EXECUTE! Everytime I used this I literally cheered for Sam Fisher for a superbly fluid execution – execution in every way! This is truly the most innovative feature I've seen in any FPS.

While you could choose to go in with guns blazing, it's so much more fun going stealth with Mark & Execute – a feature that allows you to nail up to 4 enemies with deadly pinpoint accuracy – after you performed a melee attack that is. This is so that it doesn't make it so easy to complete each level.

Of course, the storyline was superbly engrossing and just draws you in the entire way. One of those games I wouldn't stop until I was done.

One of the most satisfying FPS games, EVER. Get it. Yes, it requires the internet connection, but for what it's worth, it's worth it. No complaints there.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
"Great game"
4 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

Great game Bit annoying that it requires permanent internet connection

"Awesome Game but......"
5 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

This game is stunning, awesome graphics and embodies the stealth action of the previous games in the franchise perfectly. The only thing I find frustrating is that you need a “permanent internet connection” to even play just the single player. But if you are always connected to the internet you should definitely buy this game, although I am yet to finish it, I heard it is not very long.

""Good Shooter""
4 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

After getting around the need for online connection to play i could play the game offline. This game is a good fun shooter with resonable graphics and story line but however it only took me 2 1/2 hours to complete so is not the longest of games. The problem that concerned me the most was aiming, it is very slow to move and it is hard to get used to it. Other than the online part and aiming the game for me was resonable. Well worth it if you buy on special for 25 bucks though .=) Thanks mighty ape for your great specials and low everyday prices, hard to find it cheeper in a actual shop.

"One Of The Best Splinter Cell's to Date"
4 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

Splinter Cell Conviction picks up after Double Agent with Fisher chasing information on his daughter.

The SP Story itself is good, well voice acted and the cut scenes are great. The story develops well and has a nice ending that setups the premise for the next game nicely.

The actual length of the SP was a little on the short side, but was full of quality.

The gameplay was a bit more action then previous games. While Stealth is still the main premise of the gameplay, you will find yourself opening fire and taking down large groups of enemies quickly. The Mark & Execute feature work really well for a planned attack, and the last known position works well with the AI.

There is also a Co-Op and Multiplayer game modes. The Co-Op story is a prologue to the main story when you play as either a Third Echelon or Russian person working together. The Co Op works well together with the added Dual mark & execure and levels designed for two players to work together. Works well enough to see it wasn't just an add-on but a full on feature/mode of the game. Voice comms are a must though, so best to be playing with someone you know over Teamspeak or other VOIP program.

Overall the game is great fun, kept me wanting to play more. Only downsides were the short story mode, the sometimes impossible to join multiplayer/co-op games and the checkpoint saves – you can't save your progress through the level, instead it auto saves at designated checkpoints. Whilst they are generally well spaced throughout the levels, there were a couple of times they were a bit far apart and dieing meant you had to go all the way back to the start of the level rather then just load a previous save file

"Birthday present for Teenager"
5 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

I got it right this time, my son thoroughly loves playing this game

"Best one ever"
5 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

I have played all of the splinter cell games and in my opinion this one is the best that I have ever played.

Buy it!! Buy it!! Buy it!! Buy it!! Buy it!! Buy it!! Buy it!!

"Still the best"
5 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

Ive loved the Splinter Cell series from day one, this game really took me by surprise. I had heard so much about it yet never played it until just recently. I am blown away. The single player, Deniable Ops, and the Co-Op are just awesome, reminds me of the good ol days playing Chaos Theory Co-Op with my mate! Good Times!!

"epic"
5 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

Awesome game, has innovative game mechanics and hours of fun. The only real downside i can think of to this game is probably the overall game completion time as i was able to finish it very fast. However it does come with deniable ops, a co op campaign prequel which does add a few more intense hours of awesome.

"Game is OK, DRM is terrible"
1 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

While the game that I've managed to play so far as been pretty decent – after I got used to the cover-to-cover scheme, which seemed to be a bit of a dumb down of the Splinter Cell mechanics, the DRM and general quality of this game absolutely kills it for me.

First of all, I couldn't even install the game without booting into Safe Mode, otherwise the setup program just crashed.

Then you run into the DRM, where you must be connected to the 'net at all times while playing or else it won't run.

Then of course is the poor support for older ATI cards resulting in numerous (hard) crashes, where it locks the computer up before crashing the OS.

It's a shame – I've always like the Splinter Cell franchise and was looking forward to this, but this has turned me off Ubisoft completely. Not buying one of their games again until they clean up their act, start trusting their customers, and deliver a game that'll actually run reliably.

The game itself, from what I could play of it, wasn't too bad, but the controls make it feel very dumbed down. You have to wait for prompts to perform any sort of special action (jumping, climbing, taking cover, etc) which makes it feel almost like a rail shooter rather than the previous SC games.

The achievements and weapon upgrading system isn't too bad however, and is a nice touch. However while the black and white stealth system (where the world goes mono when you're hidden) is visually kinda cool, practically it's a pain since while you're hidden it's very hard to make out details of anything (including peeking under doors to areas which -are- lit well).

Overall, a couple of nice enhancements, but vastly overshadowed by an overall bad experience.

"Fun but risky"
3 stars"
Purchased on Mighty Ape

This game wasn't what I had expected it to be but that wasn't a bad thing. It had a well set out storyline probably the best in the series, but, when it comes to game play it's mainly kill kill kill, no more options of dragging the bodies out of sight or knocking them out cold which is a risky move for the developers since that was what drawed most players in because it was different. But on the other hand the graphics are pretty mint and the removal of the HUD was also a bonus for game play. I didn't think much about ubi's Data protection system (DRM I think they call it), anyway I thought fair enough they made it so it shouldn't be stolen, but every 10mins a pop-up came up ‘connecting to server’ and also in fight scenes, all I can say is I'm actually almost considering selling it for the xbox version. The pc coop and multilayer doesn't work well so I haven't tried it so I cannot review it. But overall It's worth the price though it's a short game.