Splinter Cell: Conviction. Developer video

The Video Game Blog has a new video up about Splinter Cell: Conviction (due October 2009) and where Ubisoft plans to take the game.

Splinter Cell is one of my favorite series. Its modern world, spy premise is unique, and I enjoy the complex plots, slick production values, and fun stealth gameplay. I played the first three on my X-Box, and when Double Agent came out, got it on PC. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the level of finesse and control I was used to so I quickly set it aside. By the time Conviction gets here, I hope to have an X-Box 360 and to have finished Double Agent.

At this point, there is little they could do or say that would make me *not* buy this game. Still, some of what they’re saying makes the game sound less appealing.

One of the issues developers have to grapple with in a series is what to keep the same and what to change. There’s no right answer as ‘the fans’ will always complain. Ubisoft appears to be deemphasizing the stealth gameplay in favor of action, as well as simplifying the gun battles. One of the developers asks ‘Why would being seen mean game over? Why not let the action evolve to the next level?’ It’s a good question, but there are reasons for this particular mechanic.

The developer is engaging in a bit of hyperbole here; only a handful of times in the Splinter Cell series does being seen once means game over. Usually, it’s being spotted and identified three times or killing someone. This emphasis on stealth helps set Splinter Cell apart from other games on the market.

Game AI being what it is ‘evolve action to the next level’ can easily turn into ‘slaughter everything in sight while taking minimal damage.’ And while I like Ubisoft, I’ve never found the combat in their games particular complex or difficult. Having a pass/fail condition also makes sense in the game-world: you’re a single, lightly armed man in a building full of people with machine guns. In the real world, being spotted would mean death, capture, and/or a failure in the mission. I have no problem with ditching verisimilitude for fun where appropriate - Wolverine can tear through base of super marines and I won’t blink - but Tom Clancy novels and games attempt to be realistic.



I once read a review of horror films that talked about dread versus terror, and how different films evoked those emotions in the audience. Most run and gun games go for terror; they want your adrenaline to surge and your heart to beat at a mile a minute. At its best, Splinter Cell evokes dread. That sensation that someone’s slowly squeezing your heart as a group of heavily armed guard march through a dark hallway while Sam Fisher crouches inches away. The gnawing knowledge that if you’ve positioned yourself wrong and one of them spots you, it’s FAILURE. No taking them all out and then applying a bandage to make everything better.

One feeling isn’t better than the other: it’s all about what form of emotional masochism you’re in the mood for. I play the Splinter Cell series, and other stealth games, for the dread and I hope in an effort to update the franchise they manage to keep that feeling.