Splinter Cell is undergoing a drastic rebirth with Conviction, and this is evident all over. For one, the storytelling is pretty good and the action is as awesome as it always has been, or at least, in the early Splinter Cell games. However, when it comes to the sneaking around, infiltrating and so on — you know, what spies and agents like Sam Fisher are supposed to do — Splinter Cell Conviction is a lot easier than previous games. It’s a lot more straight forward, simplified, which might turn off the hard core stealth gamers — actually, it most definitely will. But for the rest, Conviction is a lot more approachable Splinter Cell game.

Once again, you’re playing as Sam Fisher, the ousted agent who’s been through quite a lot over the past few games. And while the stealth part has been simplified, it’s not exactly a run and gun action game — you’ll still be doing a lot of sneaking, peaking around corners, hiding in shadows and so on. What makes Conviction different, is there’s a lot more “head on” action, a lot more shooting and taking out enemies. And there are plenty of ways of taking out enemies and finishing them off. However, some of the gameplay is too scripted and takes away a lot of the challenge, and truth be told, that notion carries out throughout the game, it’s simply not as challenging as the previous Splinter Cell games. You won’t be climbing of rappelling down walls or picking locks or taking out lights, another way the game has been simplified just a bit too much. Even the selection of gadgets is quite limited. And the interrogations in the game are too scripted and are pretty much cut scenes.

Another down turn is that the game is quite short, you can complete it around 5 hours. One of the good aspects though, is the co-op mode, which pits you with a friend throughout an alternative campaign, and it gives the game a lot of replayability. Visually and technically, the game is pretty good, but it’s not as good as it could be, as it was built on the aging Unreal Engine 2. However, the game is quite entertaining and co-op is certainly one of the high points. But as noted before, the biggest downside is the gameplay which has been too simplified and doesn’t offer enough challenge, especially for Splinter Cell fans.

The Good:
Good gameplay
Great co-op
Great story

The Bad:
Too easy
Simplified compared to last games
Visuals appear dated at times
Short campaign

Overall score: 7/10