Ever since its showing earlier this year at E3, Splinter Cell Conviction has been the darling of the games press at large. It seems that the rough, tough hero of the series, Sam Fisher, is no longer merely a poor-man's Solid Snake, but rather a legitimate action game icon in his own right. The wait for Splinter Cell to be considered among gaming's elite has been a long one, but from what we've been able to get stuck into so far, it's a position that it seems to be taking up quite comfortably.
The story surrounding the events in Conviction is hardly an original one. It involvies you searching for clues as to the identity and whereabouts of those responsible for killing your daughter, while trying to stay one step ahead of constant attempts on your life at the hands of your former employer, the Third Echelon. If you've ever seen a Bourne movie or an episode of ‘24' then you probably already have a decent idea as to what you can expect in terms of narrative - i.e. excitement first, explanation later or perhaps not even at all.
As Fisher is no longer on anyone's payroll, we find ourselves at the start of the demo without the usual collection of fancy gizmos and gadgets one would use to partake in the kind of tactical espionage action used by a man of such talents. The order of the day here is to make do with whatever you can find until you get a chance to steal something altogether more expensive - preferably with a few little green lights that look cool in the dark - starting with a piece of a car's wing mirror that you've happily smashed with a quick whack of your elbow. The piece of mirror comes in handy for looking under doorways, allowing you to observe any enemies on the other and plan your assault (or evasion) accordingly.
Your mirror handling skills are put to the test immediately. After silently disposing of a guard monitoring anyone coming back and forth through a door leading into the museum (with a little help from a ledge and the accompanying hard landing), you need to use the mirror to locate the guards on the other side. There are then a number of different options available to you, depending on how you eliminated the initial guard. If you disposed of him silently (i.e. without him, or anyone else, seeing you) then you're rewarded with a couple of execution points. Execution points make it a whole lot easier to kill enemies quickly and efficiently, without being seen or wasting lots of ammunition.
To use your earned points you simply move the cursor over the desired target and hit the button to tag him, resulting in a white circle appearing over his head. The white circle is visible through walls and ceilings, so you always know where your victim is and in what direction he is moving. When you've got yourself into a good position, with a line of sight to your target (the white circle turns red to indicate you're in range) you need only hit the ‘Y' button (on 360) and Fischer will take him out with a well-placed shot to the head.
As you needn't be concerned about lining up a head shot the flow of the game (at least during the segment we played) is much improved from previous instalments in the franchise; removing the painstaking process of setting up a good position and slowly moving the target reticule until you've got the perfect shot. Despite taking some control away from you in these moments, you feel more powerful - able to use all of Fischer's abilities without worrying so much about committing an error on your part. Whether or not the need to aim manually is completely removed remains to be seen, but it's certainly possible to complete the demo we played without firing a shot outside of the targeting system - providing you're playing using stealth and earning enough
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