Rather than use sound and light meters made popular in previous entries to the series, things have been simplified and now the colour bleeds out of the screen to show that the player is hidden in the shadows. This further streamlines the experience and, whilst it’s not a game changing feature, it’s nice to see innovation being sought after in both presentation and gameplay. The objectives are no longer given to you on a seperate menu screen, but are instead projected onto the landscape as you play. Other less obvious changes come in the form of visual cues to alert the player to how well they are hidden and to what they should be doing. Hopefully it will work as an inspiration for other third person shooter games that are yet to come. It just feels right and 99% of the time it does what you want it to do. Conviction has one of the most robust cover systems in third person gaming to date. The surprise in this case being a pleasant one. One of the more surprising elements in the game is that of the cover system. Combining this with mark and execute makes Conviction a less frustrating experience in comparison to other stealth titles, as you are seldom left without a safety net or ace up the sleeve. A silhouette then appears showing where the enemies think you are. Just as it says, the game displays your position that was last seen by the enemy after you’re detected, provided you can break the line of sight with your AI assailants. Just in case the proverbial excrement winds up hitting the rotary blades, players who have been detected can now fall back on their last known position. The addition of mark and execute is the most significant addition to the gameplay as, when combined with a healthy dose of aim assist, the player no longer feels like the mouse in a den of vipers. Whereas in previous SC games, I would be forced to wait around groups of enemies until they split off individually, I can now drop on one of the enemies from above, mark his four friends during the kill animation and get the headshot on all four one after the other instantly. This mark and execute system feels just right, in that it empowers the player, whilst not overpowering them. This isn’t as overpowered a mechanic as you may initially think as, not only must they be in range and in sight in order to perform the manoeuvre, but the player must earn the execution by getting a hand to hand kill. Whenever you get a line of sight on an enemy you can mark him by using the RB and with a simple press of the Y button the player can instantly headshot all marked enemies simultaneously. Mark and execute is reasonably self explanatory. The balanced gameplay is easily the biggest draw of the game
It retains the series focus on stealth and the interplay between use of weapons, melee attacks and gadgets, whilst adding the new mark and execute and last known position systems that alter the flow of the game for the greater good. In terms of additions to the core splinter cell gameplay mechanics it is easy to see that Conviction is what a true sequel should be.
Whilst die-hard fans of the original games may dislike the new changes to their beloved franchise, the majority will find the progression from the trial and error of the first games, to the new found speed of the stealth and action in Conviction, a refreshing one. Ubi chose to delay Conviction and now it returns having been started from scratch since then. The game was initially slated for a late 2007 release date, but was mysteriously cancelled by Ubisoft, most likely so the crowd-based stealth shown in the May 2007 trailer for conviction wouldn’t be competing with Ubisoft’s contemporary stealth title: Assassin’s Creed. The engine and gameplay mechanics have been given a new lick of paint that completely reinvents the series’ dynamics. The same cannot be said of the latest title in the series: conviction.
It has gone on to spawn three direct sequels, but even the series most dedicated followers would admit that they all play in an almost identical fashion. The Splinter cell franchise has held a cult-like status among its legion of fans since it debuted on the Xbox in 2002.