What ConViction WILL be.

Note: All the comparisons with Double Agent (DA) is about the NEXT GEN (360, ps3, pc) version of the game, unless noted otherwise.


Many people (including me) are having doubts whether ConViction still is Splinter Cell, without the light-shadow gameplay. But I noticed that many people (including me) don’t know nothing about ConViction. This got me searching for reviews at reliable sites and writing down (read ‘copy, pasting’) every single detail.

I created this list, based on what we know so far.

Splinter Cell Fans all over the world, united on this forum… Behold! THIS is ‘’What ConViction will be’’:

- A PC / XBOX360 exclusive
- Featuring a 42 year old Sam
- Build with a heavily modified Unreal 2.5 engine (called LEAD engine )
- Set almost entirely in open urban areas
- If you rush through the levels,a tleast 15 hours long
- A look in Sam’s life, because up to now, many of you (once again, including me) want to know more about Sam outside of work. DA was a good step into this, ConViction will bring us much closer to the man himself.
- Both multiplayer and Co-op have been confirmed
- A fully interactive environment (everything can be picked up)
- Scripted Action, Unscripted Solutions, meaning you have an objective, and you can complete it, anyway you want.

- A fully interactive crowd, something I’m looking forward to.
- Lightning with a quality, unlike anything seen before, with the lighting engine ‘Ambient Occlusion’ created by Mathieu Ferland’s team itself, specially for ConViction.
- Created in the same building as Assassins Creed, so there must have been some peeking at both teams.
- Have multiple levels of crowd manipulation. (‘’As your small-scale terrorism will be great for keeping one step ahead of the cops. But it’s a tool that grows blunt with use; once every civilian has fled the level, there really is no place to hide’’)
- Set two years after the end of Double Agent. The game sees Sam rejoin Third Echelon, only to find his old outfit has become bleaded and inefficient. With a crook in a high-ranking NSA position, Sam is drawn to the inescapable conclusion that the only way to save the world is to outside the system.
- A renegade and a criminal, and the entire might of the US government is against him
- Set (MOSTLY) in and around Washington DC.
- Having Sam still being the good guy, saving us from a corrupted intelligence service.
- A game, less intimidating to newcomers. ( To bad this commercial way of thinking has got us a game, not fancied by most of the hardcore, diehard SC fans )

- …looking out for guards, and planning discrete ways to trick them into tailing you, before hiding their unconscious bodies in the shrubbery. ( Or, you can just fight your way through every situation, taking the consequences as you go.)
- …closer to Soul Calibur than Zelda; every possible move is available from the start. (Or so says Producer and Technical Director Dany Lepage.)
- Featuring THIS CONTROL SCHEME: ‘’Pressing A gives the NORMAL actions, perhaps picked up something from a desk. B is the AGGRESSIVE action, which makes Sam do stuff like flipping a desks on its side for improvised cover. X is the STEALTH action, like ducking under a desk to HIDE. The L trigger is the UNIVERSAL SPRINT COMMAND.
- …telling a mostly linear story, each level will be broken down into discrete chunks that are designed to take only around 15 minutes to play through. ABOUT 60 of them.
- The story consists out of 3 ‘parts’:
- In the first phase, you'll play as Sam Fisher, back into Third Echelon.
- In the second and longest phase, you are hunted down like a beast, and you'll make your own plans to stay ahead of the police and government.
- The third phase ''the hunted becomes the hunter'': Sam reveals a much larger plot then he could ever had imagined, and is planning on taking revenge.
- … having the ‘Ambient Occlusion’ engine (Yes, I am bringing this up again), a dynamic radiance algorithm that changes when any item is moved. It took Dany Lepage’s (and Matheui Ferland’s) team 18 months.
- Grim and Redding are back! Hurray!
- The ‘’Hero’s Instinct’’, that Sam gained after years of experience in the field, he can ‘anticipate’ (well, actually, see tru walls) where the guards are. Everything else will be blurred.
- Introducing a breaktrough in game design: The smooth animations in ConViction will make Sam pick up any object from any angle, and even doing so on the move.
- Taking down federal agents and South-American mercenaries in vast numbers


What ConViction won’t have:

- Nightgoggles
- Fancy gadgets
- Usefull intelligence
- Lambert
- The Light/shadow gameplay it has had for years
- There won’t be a version for your Gameboy Advanced, not for your iPod, and especially not for your Playstation 3. Not now, not then, not ever. That’s because of a deal with Microsoft, that, I’m sure, got Ubisoft quite some money
- Dancing banana’s

My own personal opinion:
- A very (brilliant) good and tense story

My doubts:
- Will the new gameplay work?
- Will Sam surive ConViction? (‘’That’s Classified’’ so says Dany Lepage)
- If he does, will he ever get back into Third Echelon? (‘’That’s Classified’’ so says Dany Lepage)
- If he does, it will have to be for a good reason, if not, all the things that happened in DA and Essentials will look lame, and undramatic if you look back at it, and a huge anti-climax
- Has Michael Ironside signed yet?
- What will the multiplayer look like?
- What will the Co-Op be like?
- And, one of the things that really concern me, will there be a proper transition from DA to ConViction?
- Please don’t have ConViction have this freaky rag-doll effect I’ve seen in the trailer, but more of a realistic engine, such as Assassins Creed, when Altaïr stumbles, falls down, rolls and gets up with a very smooth animation.
- I know I am complying a lot about what I’ve seen in the trailer (I know it says ‘’Ingame footage, work in progress’’) but the animation of the crowd was bad, buggy and laggy, and when Sam threw a guard into a couple of those blue, plastic garbage cans, they went flying all over the map like crazy


Silly rumours (Me just thinking out loud here):
- Isn’t there any info on the Multiplayer yet, because DA was delayed eight months (from March to October) + one month (from October 23rd till November 23rd) because the multiplayer wasn’t finished?
- But looking at the trailer shows at the Ubidays, ConViction needed some serious tweaking at the time.
- Is Lambert truly dead, because I haven’t played Essentials? Because at the end of the current-gen (Wii, Ps2, Xbox1version) of DA, Sam says to Assistant Director Lawrence Williams ‘’I know about your case against Lambert and me.’’

Conclusion:
So, all with all, it is fair to say that I am looking forward to Splinter Cell: ConViction. It is said to me, that Ubisoft could take a **** in my mouth, and I would still like it… well, that’s true, but that is not what ConViction is.

ConViction is a good looking game with a great story, and it is THE game I am looking forward to at the moment, and with all the great games of 2007/early 2008 allready in stores, after the greatest-ever game-autumn/winter ever (Halo 3, Assassins Creed, Mass Effect, ect. ect. ect. ect. ) plenty of people will buy Splinter Cell: ConVictions (with the newcomers to the franchise drawn to this game because of the great reputations of Ubisoft (Montreal) and the SC franchise, and for the hardcore SC fans, the most intense game experience in Splinter Cell ever!)

That doesn’t mean I am a not disappointed by the fact Ubisoft went down this road (well, nothing we can do about it know, so I ‘’just suck it up and smile, one more time’’ (original quote by Michael Ironside on Splinter Cell: Double Agent), because I am.

But, whether the fifth (officially the sixth, if including Essentials) installment will be as good as I think it will be, you’ll just have to see for yourselves, in next year's first fiscal quarter (which begins April 1, 2008), but my guesses are the game will be released in

Well, thank you all for taking a look at this very long post, please, feel free to post a comment,
David.



Sources:
SplinterCell.com
Gamemagazine ‘Power Unlimited’
IGN.com
Gameplayer.com.au
Wikipedia.org
Insidegamer.nl
Powerunlimted.nl
Gametrailers.com

These are about all the sites I used, I don’t remember all of them, because I have most of the info picked out of my own personal (P)review of Splinter Cell ConViction in my own personal Video Game Magazine (the DUDE: David Unlimited: Digital Entertainment), an assignment for school.

This post is purely for informational and emotional purposes only, so don’t blame me, Ubisoft, for using information, posted by other gamingsites. I love you guys at Ubisoft Montreal, and I can’t wait for Splinter Cell: ConViction
__________________________________________________________________________________________
DGG's Splinter Cell:Organised Chaos (part III, MissionTrippleAgent) trailer at YouTube

This message has been edited. Last edited by: davidov,

quote:

‘Ambient Occlusion’

1: That's just a technical term. It's no engine. It's like 'specular highlighting' and 'high-dynamic range lighting'. zomg.
2: There will be a PC version. It's only CONSOLE exclusive.
3: I doubt the story is better than the previous ones, since a linear story in a non-linear gametype usually sucks.
4: All moves were available from the start of every SC game.
5: 60 hours of gameplay is wrong. It's more like 10-15.
6: I believe the age has been set at something in the 40's. Could have been changed, but can you imagine a 53 year old guy outrun a whole young police department?
7: I am not totally sure about the 3 different phases. You could be right or wrong. I dont think switching from L&S at 3E to the Fugitive gameplay is good, so it's probably both Fugitive gameplay.

Rest seems to be accurate.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: scworld,

60 hours of gameplay? Yeah...right.

Its 15 missions broken into about four 15 minute parts. Its more around 10-15 hours they said. Oh, and you might want to add indoor levels.

quote:

Originally posted by davidov:
A XBOX360 exclusive, a deal that got Ubisoft quite an amount of bags full of cash, otherwise they wouldn’t do it, if it wasn’t profitable.

Corrective, ConViction's being developed for Xbox 360 and PC.

quote:

Originally posted by davidov:
Conclusion:
So, all with all, it is fair to say that I am looking forward to Splinter Cell: ConViction. It is said to me, that Ubisoft could take a **** in my mouth, and I would still like it… well, that’s true, but that is not what ConViction is.

I told you that

Look, thats great you're so optimistic about this game, and many of us would LIKE to be, but what we've seen/read so far, and with what happened in DA, some of us have lost faith in Ubi. And what they've shown for this game hasn't helped those people, including me when it comes to the multiplayer aspect. All we can hope is that it goes above and beyond all our expectations in every way...

After all, these games get millions of dollars put into them to make..they need to make it good.

It will be for the DS,Pc and for 360

No dancing bananas? Rats...

Mostly accurate information there, except Sam's age is set at 42, and there will be a PC version.

But you have to be careful not to include speculation in the facts section. Saying that the story is the best of the series is subjective at the best of times, but with the little info we have on it, you cannot possibly put a claim like that in the "What we know" section.

Yes I made some mistakes indeed:
- I meant to say 15, but I got carried away and wrote down 60.. my bad.

- ConViction will be an Microsoft Exclusive. Again, I didn’t pay enough attention, and I wrote that ConViction won’t come to the PC, but it WILL.

- The part about the best story ever, I took that from WHAT WE KNOW and placed in in a new subject: ''My personal opinion''

- I just changed the original post, and took out all the errors i've made so far:P

__________________________________________________________________________________________
DGG's Splinter Cell:Organised Chaos (part III, MissionTrippleAgent) trailer at YouTube

This message has been edited. Last edited by: davidov,

If you see any more errors, please note them, post them, let me know anyhow.
I put this list here to give a clear idea on what ConViction will be like, not spread rumours myself

__________________________________________________________________________________________
DGG's Splinter Cell:Organised Chaos (part III, MissionTrippleAgent) trailer at YouTube

This message has been edited. Last edited by: davidov,

This is probably just nitpicking now, but the personal opinion bit is under the "What Conviction Won't Have" section, so it is a little ambiguous. But the rest of your post makes it pretty clear what you think, so I'm sure it doesn't matter.

good post, though no spectacular news.

i agree that the delay of release might be for reasons of multiplayer.

btw i heard rumours that the mp is crowd-based and 1 on 1, but i cant remember where i heard that (but was a quite reliable source i think).

quote:

Originally posted by cool_keith_303:
good post, though no spectacular news.

i agree that the delay of release might be for reasons of multiplayer.

btw i heard rumours that the mp is crowd-based and 1 on 1, but i cant remember where i heard that (but was a quite reliable source i think).

Yes, people are starting to talk sense again on these forums!

I heard (well, read) something alike, but that was just an idea pitched by the men at PowerUnlimited. I actually pitched the idea at a forum here. I think the idea is very intresting, although many might disagree with me.

I would actually really like this multiplayer if it would get into the game. Mostly because originality is very important to me (as well as keeping this the same, I know it's contradicting, but I hated to see Sarah and Lambert getting killed, and Sam going rogue...)

If not, I am not sure what kind of multiplayer I'd like to see. DA's multipayer was pretty Okay, and sometimes very cool, but it was way to laggy for me to actually enjoy it, and I am not sure wether I want another PT/CT multiplayer, but I'd like to see some old multiplayer levels return in the ConViction's multiplayer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
DGG's Splinter Cell:Organised Chaos (part III, MissionTrippleAgent) trailer at YouTube

quote:

- Lightning with a quality, unlike anything seen before, with the lighting engine ‘Ambient Occlusion’ created by Mathieu Ferland’s team itself, specially for ConViction.

I still see that error.

quote:

Originally posted by MKCC14:
60 hours of gameplay? Yeah...right.

Its 15 missions broken into about four 15 minute parts. Its more around 10-15 hours they said. Oh, and you might want to add indoor levels.

quote:

Originally posted by scworld:

quote:

- Lightning with a quality, unlike anything seen before, with the lighting engine ‘Ambient Occlusion’ created by Mathieu Ferland’s team itself, specially for ConViction.

I still see that error.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I copied/pasted it straight from an interview with Dany Lepage...

__________________________________________________________________________________________
DGG's Splinter Cell:Organised Chaos (part III, MissionTrippleAgent) trailer at YouTube

He mentioned it, yes. And it's part of the engine. It's a feature. Not the name.

PLEASE... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...



Let this be the last Splinter Cell game... We can't take it anymore...

quote:

Originally posted by Halo_99:
PLEASE... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...

Let this be the last Splinter Cell game... We can't take it anymore...

It's NOT. : because, the way I read that original post and from everything else we know about this game right now ; it's a SpinOff game.

If there will be no SC named game after this one, then I will personally consider SC DA on Xbox1 the last final Splinter Cell game.

For what it looks like to cater for, Conviction seems to be shaping up as a sweet n solid "Hollywood-ized, Fugitive-ized, Bourne-ized" game in
which i still lack total interest. Sure, i believe it will be a tense and tactical game, full of sneaking moments ; but due to the premise and styling which deviates so much, I will say goodbye to the franchise for now. Zero interest.

Realtime adjusted Ambient Occlusion is a sweet icing to the graphical cake, but I'm sure more games will have it or will look great without such a feat.

Since it will only launch on PC and Xbox360 - and I doubt my 1900XTX will run it smoothly at eyecandy settings - I will have to choose between getting an Xbox360 (again, since i resold my last one) or a PS3 for Metal Gear Solid 4.

Big likelyhood I will prefer MGS4 on PS3. If there were a next gen SC game other than Conviction, the choice between XB360 and PS3 would have been alot more difficult for me.

quote:

If there will be no SC named game after this one, then I will personally consider SC DA on Xbox1 the last final Splinter Cell game.

quote:

Originally posted by Knot3D:

quote:

Originally posted by Halo_99:
PLEASE... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...

Let this be the last Splinter Cell game... We can't take it anymore...

It's NOT. : because, the way I read that original post and from everything else we know about this game right now ; it's a SpinOff game.

If there will be no SC named game after this one, then I will personally consider SC DA on Xbox1 the last final Splinter Cell game.

For what it looks like to cater for, Conviction seems to be shaping up as a sweet n solid "Hollywood-ized, Fugitive-ized, Bourne-ized" game in
which i still lack total interest. Sure, i believe it will be a tense and tactical game, full of sneaking moments ; but due to the premise and styling which deviates so much, I will say goodbye to the franchise for now. Zero interest.

Realtime adjusted Ambient Occlusion is a sweet icing to the graphical cake, but I'm sure more games will have it or will look great without such a feat.

Since it will only launch on PC and Xbox360 - and I doubt my 1900XTX will run it smoothly at eyecandy settings - I will have to choose between getting an Xbox360 (again, since i resold my last one) or a PS3 for Metal Gear Solid 4.

Big likelyhood I will prefer MGS4 on PS3. If there were a next gen SC game other than Conviction, the choice between XB360 and PS3 would have been alot more difficult for me.

I meant FOREVER. I do not want to see another Splinter Cell game being released ever again.