E3 2009: Splinter Cell: Conviction UK Preview
Sam Fisher returns to the shadows for Ubisoft Montreal's series revival.
by Martin Robinson, IGN UK
UK, June 1, 2009 - Hobo Sam Fisher is no more; the vagabond that wandered the last build of Splinter Cell: Conviction has been sent to the barbers for a trim and a good old scrub, sent back into the world of espionage wearing a tight-fitting polo and sporting some grey-flecked five o'clock shadow. Still a fugitive, he's a more elegant and dapper protagonist than the one who fronted early versions of Conviction, and he's starring in a game that's the most finely tuned and taut take on the Splinter Cell franchise to date.
'Basically, we were trying to rejuvenate the gameplay by bringing something fresh and new to Splinter Cell,' reflects Conviction's producer Alex Parizeau on the game's original direction, 'The innovation came in all different aspects of the game the tech was pushed, the gameplay was pushed. Some of these worked, but some of these had been taken a bit too far.'
Two years on from its last appearance, Splinter Cell: Conviction is breaking cover once more - and it's a very different game to the vagrant simulator that raised eyebrows when it was first shown two years ago. 'It's not like we've scrapped things and started over,' assures Parizeau, who had worked on Rainbow Six: Las Vegas before being ushered onto the project following it's underwhelming showing at 2007's Ubidays. 'It's more like a refocus of the core design onto something that feels more like Splinter Cell.'
Elements of Conviction's first pass remain; Sam Fisher no longer answers to Third Echelon, now acting as a renegade fuelled by grief over his daughter's death. He's effectively a civilian, albeit one with a capacity to murder, and true to Ubisoft's initial desire to distil the Splinter Cell experience it's a game that's been heavily streamlined.
Elsewhere, however, Conviction has undergone a complete makeover, returning to the ideals that first defined the series while pushing towards a more action-oriented game. 'We were thinking about the pace of the gameplay,' says Parizeau of the change, 'and we wanted to bring more to the preparation phase - we wanted to make sure that you were able to control the situation from the shadows.'
Sam returns to the dark that pervaded the original games and was conspicuous in its absence from swathes of Conviction's immediate predecessor Double Agent. 'Without light and shadow, it doesn't really feel like Splinter Cell,' says Parizeau, 'it's like we're missing something, and we needed to bring back that aspect'.
Without his iconic goggles to aid his sight, it seems Fisher has been spending the last few years snacking on an inordinate amount of carrots; step into the dark and his eyes adjust, desaturating the screen and allowing him to survey his surroundings while remaining invisible to his enemies. Negating the need to flick through options, this instant-access night-vision is indicative of Conviction's change of pace, the snail crawl progression of previous games replaced by a breakneck tour that combines action and stealth with a seamless flair.
Sam's supernaturally sharp eyesight isn't the only thing helping to facilitate the shift in tempo, as Conviction adds a number of game-changing tools to his repertoire. Last Known Position places a thin and ghostly outlay at the point where Sam breaks line of sight with his pursuers, giving players a smart visual indicator of where the enemy will go to investigate. Whilst out of sight, it's possible to position Sam to leap from the shadows and attack opponents.
Lob someone from a window and you'll see their body crack and bounce as they fall.
This element helps reinforce the idea of Sam Fisher as a fearsome predator, a concept perhaps lost in Double Agent's more thuggish moments and one that was almost wholly absent from the first glimpses of Conviction. But while the game is restoring what Splinter Cell is all about, it's also redefining that very experience by making Fisher a man of action rather than a man who sulks in the shadows.
Parizeau is confident that this shift is the right move for the series. 'This is what stealth could be if it was more dynamic and not just about waiting,' he enthuses, 'it's about the hero taking charge and imposing his own pace on the enemy. That's something we wanted the player to feel and experience - that's where Mark and Execute came from.'
Indeed, of all the new features Mark and Execute looks like it could be the most radical addition to the Splinter Cell formula, enabling the player to dispose of whole rooms of enemies in one fell swoop. Fisher can scout rooms before he enters them, either from the veil of cover or via a broken rear view mirror placed under a door (a replacement for the snake cam in a concession to the game's edgier direction). From this vantage point, it's possible to tag enemies by holding down the right bumper. Red marks above their head indicate the potential for a swift kill, pulled off with nothing more than a simple button press.
Multiple marks can be made, turning combat into a case of positioning Sam rather than his weapon sights as the player gets him in place for a clear shot. In-game objects can also be tagged thankfully our demo was short on exploding barrels, with the Mark and Execute instead being used to take down a chandelier that hung precariously over a group of enemy soldiers.
When applied to flesh and blood Mark and Execute creates the kind of burst and kill moments familiar with anyone who's developed an addiction for 24 or sat through any of the Bourne films. Indeed, Fisher's similarities to Bourne don't go unnoticed in the presentation, but rather than merely referencing them Ubisoft Montreal believes its agent can trump his TV and film counterparts.
'We wanted to make a spy agent that feels real, and I think that Bourne, Bond to a certain extent and Jack Bauer have all influenced how we portray the spy,' says Parizeau. 'Sam Fisher had to be better than these guys he's the best agent in the world. He should be able to do all the things those guys can do, and you as a player should be empowered to use those skills and be able to do all these things.'
In keeping with its newfound inspirations, Splinter Cell: Conviction is relentlessly cinematic. It's evident from the very off, with a blood-red Ubisoft logo giving way to a scene in a down and dirty toilet wherein Sam is grilling a shaved and tattooed goon. The character models and lighting alone are impressive, creating a uniquely oppressive mood as the scene plays out amidst the squalor, but the real surprise comes when we realise what we're seeing is all playable, with Sam grabbing the thug and dragging him across the room, planting his face in the mirror before repeating the trick on a nearby urinal which duly shatters in a shower of porcelain.
'The new gameplay and presentation elements all work together to keep the pace dynamic so narrative tools need to be dynamic,' says Parizeau of Conviction's unique blend, 'They need to work seamlessly within the game, and that's one of the things that works well. It's simple in a way, but the whole interrogation scene in other games could be a cutscene.'
These interactive interrogations will feature several times in the game though there'll likely be no QTE-fuelled waterboarding or mini-game wherein Sam has to attach a car battery to his subject's testicles. Nevertheless, the scene offers a swift introduction to a new, more brutal Sam Fisher and is just one example of the innovative ways in which Ubisoft Montreal is interweaving the narrative with the main business of skulking in shadows and breaking people's necks.
Cutscenes are kept to a bare minimum, and instead the majority of exposition will come through a device unique to Splinter Cell: Conviction, with films projected on the in-game environment. It seems like a less naturalised version of Dead Space's innovative interface, nullifying the developer's claims that it's immersive, but there's no denying that it's stylistic in its execution. The projections are also used to highlight in-game objectives, plastering statements such as 'Infiltrate the Mansion' over the relevant locations. Subtle it may not be, but it's an interesting solution for a lead that no longer has access to the arsenal of gadgets he once had.
But with a shift towards the cinematic, we can't help but fear that the freeform gameplay that's forever been Splinter Cell's stock in trade may suffer. It's a fear that we put to the game's producer. 'No compromise' is Parizeau's blunt response. 'It's more the opposite. The major shift is that we've created a new presentation team, and they go through the levels and it's their job to present the information that the player will need to understand the story.'
While the gameplay remains intact, there's understandably some compromise that comes as a result of Fisher's more direct approach to his adversaries. 'You can avoid certain kills, but finishing a mission without killing anyone, I think is going to be impossible but you'll be able to do it without ever being detected.'
While the stealth hardcore might balk at the proposition, we're personally grateful for the small sacrifices made by Conviction, as ultimately they serve what's looking to be the best Splinter Cell to date. A run-through of the game's opening level in a Maltese market is both breathless and exhilarating, the very definition of a blockbuster film bought to console.
Starting amidst the market's stalls, Fisher mingles with the crowds, smashing the rear-view mirror of a parked SUV in order to obtain a makeshift snake-cam. The mansion that must be infiltrated lies just beyond the market, and there's a number of ways in - be that shifting along the building's exterior or setting off car alarms to alert the guards, scaring them off their posts and making a sharp dash for the unmanned gates.
Once in, Sam scales a pipe, climbing a ceiling and silently dispatching enemies from above. Going on to deal with several rooms using the remarkably effective Mark and Execute feature, he then moves on to a slick corridor lined with marble pillars, with an enemy lying in wait at its end.
Rolling an EMP grenade across the smooth floor, Fisher uses the confusion from the explosion to rush his enemy, engaging in some brutal hand-to-hand to dispatch him. The game then moves on to display how it deals with a more bravado approach, with Fisher pulling a shotgun on a room full of thugs before finding his mark and again utilising some of the player-controlled interrogation before our demo comes to a close.
It's exciting stuff, and naturally has some interesting repercussions for the online game - details of which are being reserved for some point nearer the game's autumn release. Either way, this is looking like nothing less than a triumphant return for Fisher, back in the shadows and more brutal than ever.
The footage definitely delivered, so glad this guy is no more:
