Splinter Cell: ConViction

[ProjectPat2280]

Yeah, that's not my idea of a super-spy. A super-spy is good enough to not get shot, which I am not, so the game allows me to take some bullets to compensate.

Oh, haha, yea that could be a problem. I have always been really good at the Splinter Cell games, so if the game will let me, ill prolly run through it on Realistic my first time out

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah the game is looking awesome. A bit different than other splintercell games but looks good overall.

It looks a lot more brutal than earlier Splinter Cell games. I'm curious about the gadgets. All the gameplay footage we've seen has featured Sam interrogating people for information and shooting anyone who gets in his way rather than the familiar sticky cameras, gas grenades, sticky shockers, etc. from the earlier games.

I wouldn't mind a more back-to-basics approach that ditches most of the high-tech gadgets, to be honest. I rarely used anything other than sticky shockers in the earlier games. I tended to treat the stealth aspects of the earlier games as really complicated movement puzzles; using the gadgets always made me feel like I was cheating the system somehow.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Interesting, I've never seen Sam as a spy really. I mean, I know he does spywork. But I've always seen Sam as more soldier than spy.

Realistic mode sounds like it's aimed at the hardcore Splinter Cell- stealth freaks out there. Like me.

 

[CELTICPRED]

Bourne is a covert operative.

That's the way I see Sam with just better gadgets.

Is there a big difference between that and a spy? IDK.

 

[BlackLantern]

The difference, to me anyway, is that a spy would assume anothers identity in order to gain information or access to information

Sam, and I agree with Chris, is more of a soldier, albeit an unconventional soldier

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I consider anyone who uses stealth to obtain information a spy. Whether that stealth comes in the form of literally hiding in the shadows or in going undercover and such, those are just tools within the spy trade. Spies are information gatherers by whatever means they're ordered to use.

Also, going by BL's definition, Sam is still a spy. Double Agent, anyone? He didn't kill anyone and present himself as that person, but he did pass himself off as something he wasn't: a loyal member of John Brown's Army.

 

[BlackLantern]

yes in DA he was the classic definition of a spy....he still gets to do cool things regardless of his title

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I think people have a skewed perspective of a spy because of the Bond movies. It's not all tuxes and clandestine meetings. And even the new Bond movies have given Bond a much harder edge with a lot more blood and sweat involved in his job.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Well, I think the idea most people have for spies is the lack of a military background.

Sam is alot like Solid Snake in that regard, in the sense that they're military grunts who get moved into doing CIA-NSA stuff.

I think most people assume spies are like the suits, and soldiers are like the blue collar workes of the government. It nicely combines the two.

I just always thought that Sam was more soldier than spy, given how vast his military record seems to be. Certainly, Double Agent was as spy as we've ever seen him. Looks to be the same with ConViction, too.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm no expert or anything, but from what I understand, most spies have some kind of military background. And if they don't, the CIA/NSA is basically paramilitary anyway. Both they and the armed forces train and equip people to go out and kill; soldiers just do it on the front lines while spies work behind the scenes and often are just after information rather than traditional military objectives. Stealth + intelligence gathering is all you really need to register as a spy in my brain. Not to say that's the only thing spies do. We see Sam do a lot of assassination missions and such as well. But primarily, he's there to gather information.

I don't know, maybe it's me. I just don't see as hard a line between "soldier" and "spy." I've seen a lot of crossover in fiction. The SG units in Stargate were Air Force and Marines, yet they did a lot of covert stuff if they needed to. Bourne, Bond, Sam, and other spies get mixed up in military operations and have to fight their way out. And so on.

 

[DACMAN]

The difference, to me anyway, is that a spy would assume anothers identity in order to gain information or access to information

Sam, and I agree with Chris, is more of a soldier, albeit an unconventional soldier

From "dictionary.com"

spy  /spaɪ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [spahy] Show IPA ,noun, plural spies, verb, spied, spy⋅ing.
Use spy in a Sentence
–noun 1. a person employed by a government to obtain secret information or intelligence about another, usually hostile, country, esp. with reference to military or naval affairs.
2. a person who keeps close and secret watch on the actions and words of another or others.
3. a person who seeks to obtain confidential information about the activities, plans, methods, etc., of an organization or person, esp. one who is employed for this purpose by a competitor: an industrial spy.
4. the act of spying.

Sam sounds like a spy to me.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Sam sounds like a spy to me.

Thats because he is. Don't know why this conversation was really even started. Sam started as a low level soldier and became the "spy" we know him to be. Most agents like Sam start off as standard soldiers. Sam didn't join the military and immediately jump to the position we saw him in when we first met him.

In fact, Sam himself states he is a spy in Chaos Theory, just "not the tuxedo wearing kind".

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Kind of a raw deal when you think about it. Sam's kind of spying sort of sucks compared to Bond's.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

lol, I remember Sam took a swipe at Bond during an interrogation convo in Chaos Theory. Or might have been Pandora Tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it was CT.

I think it's just a relic of the cold war, really, the thinking of what a spy is. Didn't CIA and NSA types basically originally start out as college grads just getting the jobs for being the "smartest" bunch?

I attribute it all to Bond, personally. He's been the symbol of spies since forever...but then again, even he had a little military history too.

Sam was in the military sector for like 30 years or something before heading into the NSA, wasn't he?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

30 years seems like a long time, but I haven't even played all the games, so most of this stuff about Sam's background is new to me. Still, I guess if he joined the army early, like right out of high school, 30 years would place him at 48 when he joins the NSA, and he seems like he's in his early to mid 50s in the Splinter Cell games.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Pre-order at Gamestop and get an in-game shotgun

I'll probably pass on this myself, as a shotgun doesn't exactly scream "stealth" to me.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Pre-order at Gamestop and get an in-game shotgun

I'll probably pass on this myself, as a shotgun doesn't exactly scream "stealth" to me.

Haha yea a shotgun deff defeats the purpose of stealth, altho this game isnt going to be a pure stealth game the way the previous games were. I preorder all of my stuff from Gamestop, so guess ill be getting this.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yeah me too.

I'm a shotty guy, so I'm cool with it.

I noticed, after watching the live demo again, that you probably could sneak into the place without alerting anyone. Maybe. Without killing or maybe knocking anyone out, I think. It looked like it might be possible to ghost it, I thought.

I just think that if they can open it up, and be more like MGS...that would be for the best.

And by that, I mean not force players to NEED to be stealthy. Just to WANT to be stealthy. Essentially, you can play MGS4 as if it were a straight up shooter. Or you could play it like a hardcore stealth game, if you want.

So, I hope your right Pat. If this game can be played almost like a straight up action game, but still allow players to be ghosts...that would be the smartest move possible for the franchise, I think.

 

[Darthphere]

Yeah, the E3 walk through showed that ending was about pure action and disorientation.

 

[CELTICPRED]

Never used the shotgun attachments in the past games, but after the E3 demo, I might want a little boomstick action.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'll almost certainly get the shotgun, since I fully intend to pre-order this, but I don't know if I'll actually use it. I don't really want to play Splinter Cell as a straight-up shooter. I like that they're integrating more visceral stuff into Conviction so you're not constantly reloading when you're spotted, but I still intend to try to be as stealthy as possible. I'll probably kill a hell of a lot more people now that we have that mark and shoot mechanic, but I'll still try to be stealthy. Just more of a Batman-style stealthy, where some guards are walking and one of them falls over dead while the other is pissing his pants wondering how the f*** that happened without him seeing anything.

 

[XxDelta09xX]

Pre-order at Gamestop and get an in-game shotgun

I'll probably pass on this myself, as a shotgun doesn't exactly scream "stealth" to me.

Shotgun r u kidding me,Thats very sneaky.t:

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I'll almost certainly get the shotgun, since I fully intend to pre-order this, but I don't know if I'll actually use it. I don't really want to play Splinter Cell as a straight-up shooter. I like that they're integrating more visceral stuff into Conviction so you're not constantly reloading when you're spotted, but I still intend to try to be as stealthy as possible. I'll probably kill a hell of a lot more people now that we have that mark and shoot mechanic, but I'll still try to be stealthy. Just more of a Batman-style stealthy, where some guards are walking and one of them falls over dead while the other is pissing his pants wondering how the f*** that happened without him seeing anything.

Im with you. Ill use violence only when i cant use stealth. Altho with that mark and execute, i see myself kicking a door down and dropping enemies much more than what i would have in the previous games.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh, I'm totally busting in the first couple doors. Sneak around the back, mark the hell out of everyone and their mother, kick in the door, and when the dust clears 20 seconds later, it'll just be Sam surrounded by half a dozen corpses.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yeah.

Well, I might use it on multiple playthroughs.

I didn't use any of the shotguns, or even the machine guns, in MGS4 on my first 3 playthroughs or so. I think on about my 4th playthrough, I used it.

I think if they don't hit you over the head with a brutally tough hammer for using it, like swarms of thugs and stuff, then I'm game.

I'm a little surprised there's not a Collector's Edition announced yet. Chaos Theory and Double Agent both had one. I would expect one for ConViction too.