Have I ever taken the time to talk Splinter Cell on this blog before? I can't remember. Maybe you didn't even know that I'm a total Stan for this franchise, but then it's hardly a surprise given how much I talk about my love for the Stealth Action genre readily. Although my experience with the series doesn't actually go as far back as my time with Metal Gear, I have played through nearly the entire franchise in another 'buy and play every-game over the summer' binge that I pulled a couple of years back. (The only one I haven't played is Pandora Tomorrow, which is either the worst or best in the franchise depending on who you ask.) Ultimately I enjoyed my time greatly, with my thoughts on the series shaping up like this; Splinter Cell, holds up surprisingly well; Chaos Theory, practically a masterpiece; Double Agent; a flaming pile of cow dung; Blacklist, severely underrated. But Conviction is the one that really sticks with me, you know?
When it was launched, 'Splinter Cell: Conviction' received both condemnation and praise across the board, and even being a complete stranger to the franchise at the time I noticed this weird divide. The gameplay was great in the eyes of most players, but the game just stumbled on basic tenements of Splinter Cell so badly that it hardly felt like a game from their ken. In fact, this felt like an adaptation of the latest series of 24, rather than the continued adventures of everyone's favourite intelligence task force operative: Sammy Fisher. Coming to it myself I understood both sides, having played the previous games beforehand (again, excluding Pandora Tomorrow) but rather than take this for the horrific betrayal of character that most did, I'll admit that it took something decidedly special from my time with Conviction, but before I explain I need to detail exactly what Splinter Cell was and why it was so good in the first place.
Splinter Cell followed the machinations of a secretive branch of the American intelligence offices known as Third Echelon who seemed to pride themselves in performing convert reconnaissance/strike missions far outside of America's legal jurisdiction. Functionally, this fictional branch of government fulfils the same duties as 24's CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) only with such secrecy that even the public has no idea that they exist. This allows them to operate with the sort of autonomy as to act against a foreign dignitary who could prove a threat to American safety (provided they remain secret whilst doing so and can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are a threat.) And this entire world was born from the military-obsessed mind of Tom Clancy, so you know he did everything he could to make this as believable as he could.
And with that, albeit thin, veil of reality comes the crux of what makes Splinter Cell so unique. It doesn't take place in some weird world of nano-machines and races to save the world or... whatever the hell Siphon Filter is about, (I never played those games) it take place in a world that has rules and consequences, ones that the player must abide by. In the first game this translates to you being unable to kill an enemy unless explicitly told to. (i.e. given 'fifth freedom') Sometimes secrecy is of paramount of importance and so you cannot be spotted no matter what. It gives this great sense of weight to all those actions that you take for granted in other games, so that when you are allowed to take a life you know this isn't an action to be taken lightly. Later games weren't quite as strict with this, as modern game design laws dictate that players should be allowed to be stupid where possible, but you were still encouraged to be a ghost most of the time, achieving objectives without leaving any trace. Afterall you were a Splinter Cell, knowledge of your existence was a highest luxury, things should be kept that way. In many ways, the sanctity of that secret, and your standard operating procedures, was the heart of the Splinter Cell franchise. And then Conviction happened.
24 actually debuted a year before the first Splinter Cell game, so I can't levy the blame for Conviction solely on ol' Keifer Sutherland, but honestly I think the similarities are too close for comfort. (Former government Agent on the warpath against those he used to work for due to some terrible personal secret kept from him? Did FOX put this script together?) Whatever the reason, fans tend to conclude that this game is the one that so divorces itself from the heart of the franchise as to seem like a completely separate entity, but let's really analyse that shall we? How does the game start again... oh, that's right! Sam Fisher just gets finished smashing someone's head against a urinal as the tutorial immediately tells him to shoot some guy outside. Who is he? I dunno. Why does he need to die? I dunno. And with that the Devs have immediately sucked away all of the power behind the act of taking someone's life within less than five minutes. (Truly astounding.)
But that's not the end of it, oh no. You see, whilst literally every other Splinter Cell game in existence prides itself on allowing the players to go about their mission without alerting guards; Conviction invites it, it thrives on it. From the moment the tutorial is done you will not be allowed to alight from an area without dealing with everybody in that room, either my murder or choking out. (Although considering these folk stay down indefinitely, whereas a real choke-out victim would only be out momentarily... yeah, they're dead too.) Sam Fisher will be spending the game throwing folks out of windows, shooting holes into them, and aggressively torturing people who, honestly, look like such pushovers that he could have probably got what he want by asking in a gruff voice. (Or heck, point a gun at him if you have to.)
But Sam hasn't just turned from being a level headed tactical operative into a psychotic killer, oh no, he's also undergone a severe personality change that would have psychologists shook. Gone is the charismatic agent who liked to playfully jibe with his handler over the radio, here is this overly gruff stereotype who delivers everything with such a growl he sounds like an oncoming tractor. (No offence to Micheal Ironside, this is all down to the material he was handed.) Sam never cracks a smile once in this entire campaign, and all he needed was a depressive inner monologue with a penchant for gutter poetry to replace Max Payne. (He was literally that far gone.) I can honestly say that I've never seen an utter destruction of character so profound as what happened with Conviction. And honestly, I love it.
Not to imply that I didn't 100% prefer Sam like he was, of course I do, but I'm still drawn to Conviction like an onlooker to a horrific car crash. (I just feel this unrelenting desire to poke and prod at the remains.) Perhaps the thing that struck so hard with me was the way how I had actually kept abreast of my kill count throughout the franchise. (That's right!) I was so blown away by an action game that didn't rely on waves of enemies and killing for it's action that I honestly decided to keep track of that. I was still on single digits before Conviction. Needlessly to say, after shooting Sam halfway across America I had no idea how far Sam's rapsheet was. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention? 90% of this game, and therefore the lionshare of these unlawful killings, occurs on American soil. Way to keep your country safe, my man!
It's just such a machismo-fuelled unaware romp completely driven by (forgive me) pure American egoism. You can just taste that unapologetic, kill-'em-all-let-god-sort-it-out energy oozing out of every pour of Conviction, and it's all so out of place and ill-judged that it's frankly sublime. (For all the wrong reasons.) And just to be clear, I have nothing against the excessive violence, again I'm a freakin' DOOM diehard, it's the more the sheer balls of it all. A design philosophy that had no place in this series, shoved into a game where it did not belong and executed adequately so that even a critic is stuck with little more to say than "Yeah, but no." So do I recommend 'Splinter Cell: Conviction'? Yeah, I kinda do. It's ridiculous, stupid and unfitting of everything else that the Splinter Cell franchise is, but I'll be damned if isn't a whole lot of fun. There's something hilarious about watching Sam go serial killer on his entire former workplace off of a threadbare plotline which hinges entirely on a retcon. (It's so wrong but so right at the same time.) Bonus points for the stinger dialogue at the end which was so dumb that the next game would repackage and deliver the same concept at the end of it's story with a slightly more clever set-up. (Keep going guy's, you'll set-up Splinter Cell's Illuminati eventually!) This isn't a review but we're in a lockdown so screw it; play 'Splinter Cell: Conviction', it's more fun than staring at the wall all day.
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