The Xbox 360 has console exclusivity on their new title Splinter Cell: Conviction putting you in control of super-agent Sam Fisher. Sam’s looking worse for wear; his daughter is dead, his government has abandoned him, and his quest for answers has been dirty, bloody, and nearly fatal. You start the game in a café, getting a phone call you didn’t expect, and leading you on a chase that could change the political structure of the planet. There’s no downtime, no contemplative moments: you’re on the move, both hunter and hunted, in every minute of this game.

Graphics

Visually, Splinter Cell: Conviction is stunning. Ubisoft has put both their engine and their art teams to work, producing a game with smooth frame rates and gorgeous textures. While I was able to produce some tearing, it was extremely rare and didn’t distract from the action. The game’s graphical affectations are brilliant; desaturating colours to black and white when you’re under the cover of darkness is a subtle way to use the interface to give you information without resorting to a HUD. Likewise, the use of the environment as a projection surface for mission details is smart–it’s not intrusive, letting you focus on the action without having to resort to a PDA or some other interface element. Ubisoft’s commitment to keeping you in the action is both impressive and admirable.

Audio

Sound plays an important factor in the game. I’d recommend boosting your centre channel (if you have a surround speaker set) as the vocals can be drowned out by the intense action if you get caught in a fire fight. The positional audio is incredibly useful; you can, with the use of a surround speaker setup or with surround headphones) pick out the location of patrols through the noise they make on your soundstage. I can’t stress how sweet it is to know exactly when someone has rounded a corner without having to peek. Weapon sounds and environmental sounds are solid. Each of your gadgets has a tell-tale audio signature, and you can differentiate between enemy weapons by sound alone (don’t rush the guy with the shotgun. Seriously.) Overall, the sound is excellent.

Single Player

Gameplay is a huge subject to tackle, beause Conviction isn’t one game: it’s three. The first is the single player game. You’ll join Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher as he tries to track down those responsible for his daughter’s death, all while uncovering… well, you’ll have to play it, won’t you? Unlike previous Splinter Cell games, Conviction seems much more comfortable with you taking on your foes head-on, all while offering you many more ways to go undetected. Getting back into Sam’s shoes was a process for me, my first few hours were all fat thumbs and failed stealth attempts, so I saw a lot of gunplay. As you begin to prune your errors back you’ll see more opportunities to sneak, surveil, and snap some necks. You can’t go wild with the Rambo action, but you can remain confident that Sam can get out of a pickle if you miss that slide into darkness or put a bullet hole in the wall beside a foe instead of in him.

Sam’s gadgets are mack (mostly), some in creative new ways. The guerilla war that Sam has been waging is echoed by his gear. The snake cam gets replaced by a shard of broken mirror, and he has to acquire replacements for the tools of his trade. It’s a great way to gradually introduce gameplay elements, so even if you’ve never played a Splinter Cell game before you’ll feel right at home.

The ability to interrogate characters in-game is an interesting one; it’s more of an interactive cutscene, showing Sam violently extracting answers from his quarry, usually by using their body parts to vandalize whatever locale they’re frequenting at the time. They’re cool to watch, but they’re slow-time events. Just wait for the prompt to pop and hit the button to see more action. This element could have been improved to give the character more control. I’d also like the option to influence how Sam behaves; seeing him beat the tar out of people is interesting, but it’s not the only thing he could be doing.

I have to admit I love the new Mark and Execute feature. You earn execute “tags” by performing hand-to-hand take down kills; you can then tag your foes and pull off a guaranteed kill with the execute button–on up to four targets. It’s a great (and very classy) way to clear a room. Last Known Position is also a cool new feature; if you’re seen your enemies will flock to the position where they saw you last. You can use this to your advantage by setting up an ambush and taking them out when they coming looking for you. I’ve had some sweet incapacitations that way.

The challenge of the single player game can be adjusted, but you’ll find that the normal mode should be bang on for most gamers. Average folks will spend over 10 hours with the single player; take your time and enjoy it, it’s worth it!

Co-op

The second game is co-operative multiplayer. Set in the weeks leading up to the events of Conviction, this two-player story-driven piece is an awesome way to delve even deeper into the world of Third Echelon. You’ll really appreciate the speed of Xbox LIVE’s invitation system here, as getting a buddy into the action is quick and easy. Voice communication is crucial, so make sure your headset is plugged in (or your wireless set is connected). Running through co-op has been fantastic fun, I wish there were even more of this mode as it might be my favourite part of the game.

Denied Ops

Finally, there’s Denied Ops, the up-to-four-player multiplayer extravaganza, where you and your squad can go head to head against AI in modes like Hunter, Infiltration, and Last Stand. Hunter sees you taking out a target, Infiltration requires you to invade a destination, with Last Stand as a stand-in for a horde mode. Denied Ops also includes Face Off – the only competitive mode. Sadly Face Off is not the Spies Vs Mercs mode of Double Agent, truly the only miss for this game.

Conclusion

Ubisoft has delivered on the promise of the Splinter Cell series with Conviction. It’s a great game that matures and refines the premise of previous games, giving you more flexibility to fit your own play style, and allowing those new to the series to get into the action without punishing them. Experts can ratchet up the difficulty to keep the challenge right where they need it.

The blend of single player, co-op, and Denied Ops makes Conviction a great value. You don’t just get one great game, you get three very distinct, very fun experiences. On top of the Achievements you get in the game, you’ll find challenges from Ubisoft as well as their Uplay points system. Unlock themes, skins, and one of the Denied Ops modes by achieving goals in the single player game.

Ubisoft’s commitment to Splinter Cell is clear, with new content for Denied Ops rolling out on May 27th. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you should. Stealth action doesn’t get any better than this.