Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

Although Conviction promises to offer the player more options and freedom, many of the game's levels are designed contrary to that goal. The Iraq level may as well be an on-rails shooter. A chase scene later on is almost completely devoid of gameplay whatsoever. And the no-detection-allowed mission I was on last time is virtually impossible unless you know the golden path through it -- even trying to discover this path by trial and error is an exercise in frustration, as the game in general has terrible check-points.

Sneaking works reasonably well, when the level can support it, but there are also a number of circumstances where the game devolves into a poor Gears of War imitation. Frequently, in the middle and ending sections of the game, hordes of enemies search for Sam, and the only escape is through them. Unfortunately, this exposes the insufficiencies of the shooting and cover mechanics; Sam isn't built well for these kinds of fights. So why do I keep getting into them?

I've heard that Ubisoft plays musical chairs with its gameplay designers - switching them off of and onto projects "as needed" - and I feel like this game is a perfect example of the somewhat-obvious consequences. Conviction has some great ideas, but more often than not, doesn't execute them properly; parts of the game go in totally different directions, and even the big concepts like mark-and-execute are barely followed-through on.

Better than: Vampire Rain
Not as good as: Batman: Arkham Asylum
But probably also better than: the Bourne and 24 licensed games

Progress: Finished on Normal