Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Ubisoft has done a tremendous job of disappointing me lately. Splinter Cell: Conviction makes it a trifecta.
The game starts out promising enough, building on the fun I had in the demo: while previous Splinter Cells left me bored and frustrated in a matter of minutes, Conviction offered an easily accessible sneaking system, a pleasant amount of freedom in killing thugs (and in completing other objectives, I guess), and an exciting edge that the Bourne game could only wish to achieve. The first few levels are actually pretty fun, and I would generously describe the experience as "Arkham Asylum with a gun."
But then things start to go awry. The game's narrator, for some reason, suddenly decides to flash-back to Desert Storm -- and now, instead of sneaking around with a silenced pistol, you're charging down sandswept streets with an assault rifle. Putting aside the curious narrative gaffe - the game proceeds to turn into a bad episode of 24 - it raises the question, what game did the design team want to make? (Given the four years Conviction spent in development, it seems like they weren't sure, either.)
Returning from the flashback, levels become overburdened with enemies - who, as I discovered at this point, don't indicate their line-of-sight very well - and understaffed by effective hiding spots. As the challenge escalates, options dwindle. Well, more weapons become available, but these are basically meaningless; you have a few silenced pistols which are barely different from one another, and using any of the rest of the weapons is just asking to be killed (Sam Fisher is much worse at soaking up bullets than Batman is).
Oh, and checkpoints: they're terrible. This is 2010, guys. If I die and have to repeat the last fifteen minutes of my life, I didn't fuck up, you fucked up.
Right now I'm in a level where I lose instantly if I'm detected. This is my least favorite game mechanic. Ever.
If you've been a Splinter Cell fanboy for a while, Conviction will probably feel like a "fresh" take on the series. For me, and for anyone else who was hoping for a better game, it's a let-down. I guess I was foolish to hope for anything different from Ubisoft.
Progress: Infiltrating Third Echelon