Review:
Splinter Cell: Conviction

Sam Fisher has been around so long that he’s punched the crotches of just about every terrorist organisation on the planet, as well as a few counter-terrorist groups, some drug dealers and more than a few mercenaries. After the events of previous title Double Agent, Sam’s gone all emo following the hit-and-run death of his daughter and tortured and killed his friend, only to go on the run. However, super spies never quit and in the grand old style of Jason Bourne, Sam is reactivated in Malta to do more sneaking, shooting and face punching.

It begins simply enough when Grim, an old associate, contacts Sam to warn him that his old squad mates at Third Echelon are on their way to kill him. Escaping them sends Sam on the path of drug baron Andriy Kobin, a man who claims to know more about his daughter’s death than he can say. From here, Sam goes on the warpath, killing goons, blowing up government installations and beating the merry hell out of anyone who might know more about his daughter, while simultaneously attempting to stop an insidious EMP-based terrorist plot.

As the opening paragraphs may have hinted, this is a game that requires an intricate, almost degree-level knowledge of the previous Splinter Cell games and anyone going into this game without that information at their fingertips is going to be more lost than a man with no eyes in a garden maze. To complicate matters more, it’s narrated by Sam’s friend Victor Coste, during an interview in custody that takes place well after the game has finished. Adding to this are the few flashforwards set at the very end of the game that seek to add surprise/ shock/ sheer confusion for all involved.

But don’t let that put you off – after all, story in gaming is still in its infancy and any form of narrative is just window-dressing for any excuse needed to go into a level and punch goons in the crotch, and it’s here that Splinter Cell: Conviction passes with flying colours.