Splinter Cell Conviction - Time to Hunt

After completing the co-op story back in October, it was time to return to some local co-op gaming with Abbas. Abbas was quite keen to ditch the other modes of Splinter Cell Conviction in favour of  starting Gears of War 3 but I was adamant I wanted to go back and complete the other modes & get every penny worth out of the game.

Deniable Ops includes 4 different modes you can play either local co-op or on-line we started with the Hunter mode which has you revisiting locations to take out a set number of enemies. You start each map with a limit of 10 enemies to kill but if you get detected this automatically raises the number to 20.

We completed the first two maps St Petersburg & Russian Embassy, the Hunter mode is quite easy to play although playing on realistic be careful you can only take a few shots before you will need reviving, another advantage of playing with Abbas because he can revive me & vice versa. Make sure you take out every enemy before you get to the end of the map otherwise you will need to go back and get that final kill like we did on the Russian Embassy level retracing our steps to get that last enemy. It's good to get back to some local co-op gaming.

Splinter Cell Conviction - Let's Play Together - Completed

The co-op campaign has you control Archer (agent of Third Echelon) or Kestrel (an agent of Voron). The game offers the usual on-live co-op but more importantly has a split screen option which meant I would play with who else but Abbas.

The story takes place before the single player campaign and has the two agents team up to stop an arms sale taking place in Russia. The story is split into 4 lengthy chapters starting you off in St Petersburg before moving you onto the Russian Embassy then the Yastreb Complex & finally Mozdok Grounds.

I can't tell you much about the storyline because there is not much you basically start a chapter & have to get to the other end destroying enemies & equipment from turrets, cameras to mounted guns. Some sections of the game have an unlimited number of enemies spawning until you complete the objective, these can prove challenging especially on the realistic difficulty setting.

The joy from these games come from playing with a local co-op partner, Abbas managing to deactivate a turret or I sniping an enemy from distance. The banter when one of us falls in combat and the other has to run over to revive to the planning that is required on some of the more difficult sections. Apart from on-line gaming local co-op for me has made this generation more enjoyable from playing Halo, Gears of War to Army of Two, Rainbow Six Vegas & now Splinter Cell Conviction. Go on share your sofa ...

New Logo - Splinter Cell Conviction

Time for a new logo, I've had Assassin's Creed Brotherhood since 21st April. I was tempted to go with a Batman Arkham City logo but I will save that for when the game is released. So until then I give you Splinter Cell Conviction. Also a little note for myself remember the width of the logo should be 975 x 3??

Old Logo - Ezio looking into the Colosseum

New Logo - Sam Fisher getting ready for action

Splinter Cell Conviction - Completed

“Do you think we are stupid lochlear?!”

This game has some memorable dialogue but this line we have used a lot in the Khan household when responding to silly questions.

I was stuck for quite a few days on a level at the end of the game where you are in a restaurant & soldiers are coming at you from two directions. All you have for cover is a small piece of furniture, I tried various tactics. Launching grenades at the enemies to charging in all guns blazing but I kept on dying. I was adamant I wanted to do this section myself & not let Abbas have an attempt life my previous frustration. Also to prove I still had it in me to play games.

After a break of a few weeks I came back to it and noticed a climbing pole in the corner, so I promptly went up this pole & was invisible to the enemies who I now easily dispatched. Then I dropped to take cover & used my grenades for the 2^nd wave of soldiers. Amazing a few weeks off makes you think more clearly. I then promptly continued the last few stages to get to the white house & saved the president.

It has taken me nearly 3 months to complete the game, I’ve been side-tracked by a few other games mainly Borderlands but I have enjoyed my first experience with Splinter Cell. It is a mixture of Metal Gear Solid style stealth & Gears of War action cover & shoot gameplay. By performing a melee attack on an enemy you get the option to mark enemies & take them out with a special attack. The storyline is what drives the game forward and has you saving your daughter whilst trying to prevent the President getting killed.

I have now started the co-op campaign with Abbas, the question on the single player is do I go back and replay to unlock some of the other achievements or do I start another game? Abbas’s response is play something else specifically Red Dead Redemption but I like to get full value out of my games & I am not done playing Sam Fisher yet. So I intend to start the campaign again albeit on a slightly easier difficulty than my completed realistic play-through.

Splinter Cell Conviction - Frustration !!

How many times have you wanted to throw or break a controller in frustration? Which game was it? Final Fantasy XIII? Mario? Zelda? Sonic? Is it poor game design? Or just a lack of skill by the player?

Playing on the realistic setting I knew the game would throw up some challenges but it’s been fairly plain sailing for me so far until I got to Third Echelon HQ. First you had to plant two C4 explosives on the power generators without getting detected, the enemies are not bad you can easily dispose of them but it’s the cameras you have to keep an eye on. I managed to plant both the explosives and boarded the lift to the reception area. After a short cut scene you blow these explosives and have to run down the corridor before the emergency doors shut.

I vault over the reception desk and run for the hallway, bang dead ! ? There is an enemy in an office after you jump the desk. Ok I’ll get you next time. Restart the level, watch the cut scene & I duck this time behind the reception desk & take out the enemy in the office. The alarms are sounding & doors closing fast, run for the hallway and the doors slam shut in my face. Aargh !!

Ok try again, sod the guy in the office I’m going to ignore him and run for the hallway. Watch the UNSKIPABLE cut scene again. Jump the desk run for the hallway, the guy in the office has managed to shoot me once, the screen is flashing red. I make the hallway, past the first door running for the 2^nd and two more enemies appear in front of me BANG!! Dead.

AARGH !!

After another few failed attempts and swearing at the television. Abbas says let me have a go, so I pass the controller over. He watches the cut scene, vaults over the desk, shoots the guy in the office, runs past the first door & gets into cover to take out the two enemies that appear. Not worrying that the door in front of him his closing fast once they are killed he runs and slides underneath the last door. Passes me back the controller and says “here you go”

Hmmph !!

My lack of skill? The frustration getting the better of me? Payment for all the years I helped Abbas on games? (recently an achievement on Red Dead Redemption)

The pressure of playing to a timed event or a countdown timer, that is what I hate. AC Brotherhood had it at the end & Final Fantasy 7 had it with the exploding power plant.

Anyhow the controller survived and I went on to complete the level (which includes an equally annoying avoid the laser beams section, which I completed without Abbas’s help)

New Game - Splinter Cell Conviction

Finally on the 5^th attempt Ubisoft have gotten me to play a Splinter Cell game but only because it has a co-op mode and Abbas does not want to play Lara Croft (XBLA). Stealth is king in this game, hide in the shadows,  take out your enemies silently either with melee or your trusted silenced pistol with unlimited ammo. I have not played a stealth based game since Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 (I really must play the sequels of these games).

You have to take a different approach to playing, slow & steady will always win out against fast and kamikaze (take note Abbas). The co-op mode has you playing as Third Echelon secret agents Archer & Voron to stop rogue elements of the Russian military selling warheads. Deciding to opt for Realistic difficulty (Hard) so we can unlock the completion achievement, you soon realise that this difficulty setting is really quite easy thanks to unlimited ammo on your pistol. By using melee on an enemy you have an option to mark & shoot a certain number of targets which when triggered has you quickly dispatching enemies. This makes the game seem too easy to me but is satisfying when you can pull off multiple kills.

After managing to compete the first level of the co-op mode my skills were slightly lacking so I decided to start the single player campaign to hone my skills. This mode is a slightly tougher because you can’t rely on your co-op partner to come and revive you. If you get shot, you die & back to the previous checkpoint you go. There were quite a few stages I messed up on the first attempt but you learn through failure and eventually find a tactic that works. Unlike the co-op mode, single player does not give you all the gadgets at the start but introduces them slowly which gives you a better understanding on how & when to use them. I especially like the snake cam which lets your peer under doors before opening them & sticky camera which can create noise to attract the attention of an enemy, you can use this to sneak pass them or press x to make it explode.

I’m enjoying the single player game & hopefully this will make me more useful when I next play the co-op storyline with Abbas.