Splinter Cell Is Still About The Shadows, But…
Firstly, let’s get my Splinter Cell history out of the way. Prior to Conviction, I had only played Sam Fisher’s 360 debut, Double Agent. It was hard. Very hard. Y’see, stealth isn’t my strong point. If I have a gun, I’ll use it just because I can. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the idea of stealth games, and the 360 seems to be sparse with games of the peepin’ and creepin’ variety.
Unfortunately, Conviction doesn’t fill this gap. Splinter Cell has changed direction, and from as much as a relative newbie can tell, it doesn’t feel like your typical Sam Fisher game. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does take some getting used to.
I tried approaching every scenario in as low key a fashion as possible; avoid detection, clean headshots, hand-to-hand take-downs where possible… But it seemed there were some situations where creating massive havoc was simply unavoidable. Disappointing.
Maybe this is justified by the story. Fisher has been alerted his daughter’s death was in fact faked, and after having spent years grieving her death he’s now on a mission to find her alive and well. I guess this means cutting out the sneaky bullshit and doing whatever it takes. Pretty understandable, right?
Sam Fisher and I don’t go back too far. We first met on the Xbox 360 with Double Agent, but even I can see that Conviction is a different, less stealthy approach to the Splinter Cell series. Still, it’s bloody brilliant and very much worth the long wait we’ve endured.
I don’t have anything derogatory to say about Alan Wake. My advice to you? Spend a night in Bright Falls and soak up the eerie atmosphere. Alan Wake excels at thrilling you psychologically. Which is why it’s called a psychological thriller, I guess…
