In our latest edition of "Trailer Talk," the GamerNode crew leveled their sights on the Splinter Cell: Conviction video.
From the first looks of it, our writers think that the game could be a good one. But for Splinter Cell fans that like the tried and true style of using stealth to hide Sam Fisher’s presence, they maybe in for a little shock.
by Boris Shubinsky, GN Staff Writer
I wouldn’t call myself a Splinter Cell fanatic. I haven’t pre-ordered any of the previous games, nor did I have the will or urge to finish them either. Sure I’ve rented them from GameFly to give it a shot, but it never really grabbed my attention as a "must have" game.
Well, it all changed with this newest installment of the Splinter Cell franchise. I really like the more densely populated locations that were shown in the trailer in addition to the increase of well lit areas, as spending most of the game in greenish-tinted night vision mode turned me off from the previous games.
Some of the newer game play features that have been revealed so far seem to be shaping up pretty well. The environments play in a much larger part in the game it seems — there is less emphasis on actual hiding but rather in active stealth (blending into the crowds), and more action in general.
The animation transitions seem really fluid as well, and as long as the entire game looks as good as the trailer, I wouldn’t assume to be disappointed in the end. A few things might bug me a bit (the running animation, especially up the stairs, looked robotic), but nothing that would take major points away.
Ubisoft is apparently handling the multiplayer aspects in-house this time, so at least we can expect to have the same game in both single- and multi- player this time around. All in all, I’m actually fairly excited. I’ll be putting my pre-order down in the upcoming weeks.
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by Chris Puntini, GN Staff Writer
The Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer looked fairly disappointing in my opinion. The trailer looked like a mix of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw and Grand Theft Auto rather than Splinter Cell. The trailer showed too much roaming, and not enough Sam Fisher.
Granted, I don’t want the same old Splinter Cell game, where infiltrating an abandoned warehouse and taking out everybody inside is your main objective, but I also don’t want a complete revamp in the game play either.
The trailer presents a brand new aspect that Splinter Cell fans have never truly seen before. Sam will be complete with all new tactics, including the ability of using a multitude of different everyday items to attack an enemy. Sam will also have to ditch some of his conventional spy maneuvers in order to "fit in" with the crowds of people he will be dealing with in the streets.
The online mode of the game will also be interesting. I can’t wait to see how Ubisoft Montreal is planning to pull this one off. If they can retain the core Splinter Cell game mechanics while spicing up an overused story line, I will be first in line to try it out.
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By Billy Wang, GN Staff Writer
In the latest Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer, the shift of the game play style is pretty evident. Now that Fisher is out in the open and has to deal with crowds of people, this opens up a new round of game play mechanics.
Instead of relying on high-tech spy gear, it’s back to the basics here: using conventional means to distract foes, knock people out and hide bodies without using gadgets and gritty hand-to-hand combat. The trailer got me giddy when I saw Fisher using direct knee strikes and harsh punches to lay people out.
In addition, Ubisoft Montreal is paying extra attention to Fisher’s animations and mannerisms. Picking up trash, tables, cones, even people; all these animations seemed so fluid and easy from the trailer.
Also, now that Fisher is exposed and isn’t lurking about, players have to react much quicker to the changing elements. In past games, we would wait in the dark for the right opportunity, but now that we’re in public, we have to act more deliberately.
I’m also excited about the story too. What happened to Fisher since the end of SC: Double Agent? What has happened to Third Echelon since Fisher left? What about all the other characters? What about Fisher himself — how has he changed since his previous exploits?
Judging by the different endings of Double Agent, which were based on what platform you played the game on, Conviction will use the ending of one of the next-gen console releases as the basis of the canonical continuation.
