Sharing the shadows: Splinter Cell: Conviction

Walking through the tunnel system, my partner and I hid in the shadows, dropping the world in shades of black and white. We needed to lay the C4 charges to break through the wall. Which wasn’t so much of a problem, except for the bothersome guards who ran in to see the commotion. Thankfully, they aren’t so bright, and between me and my Russian partner, we were able to work through a group of four enemies with two quick pops each. Back in the shadows we went.

And that is how the very beginning of Splinter Cell: Conviction‘s multiplayer mode starts out. It certainly is an experience like Sam Fischer’s main narrative, although the addition of a second character is bound to mix things up. What we have here is a full story based experience, tied up in the idea of building on the world of Splinter Cell. More than a quick mode, it’s almost a whole separate game. Not many games can say that. Hit the jump for an in the shadows hands-on.

Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360, PC)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
To be released: February 23, 2010

When fans play a videogame franchise, they expect certain elements to continue across the board. For example, when you play a game of Left 4 Dead 2, you expect the experience to remain largely the same as the first Left 4 Dead. Not so for the Splinter Cell series. While the single player has just built on an already established and very functional foundation, the multiplayer has gone through many changes and rarely stayed the same. Sneaky indeed.

Things have changed yet again for Splinter Cell: Conviction‘s multiplayer. No longer a versus focused affair (although there is some of that), it is also devoid of any experience beyond a two-player offering. This multiplayer campaign (for that’s what it is) was designed to not be something of an extra. Rather, the goal is to expand the universe of Splinter Cell.

There are two primary elements of the multiplayer experience in Splinter Cell: Conviction. Prologue is the initial game mode here, with a 5-6 hours plot that takes place before the main campaign of Conviction. It tells the story of Third Echelon dealing with a Russian threat by teaming up American agent Archer with Russian Voron agent Kestral. Sure, it’s the story of two men who are miss-matched pair, but we can all agree that it is a given they will be friends by the end.

Yawn worthy plot? Maybe, but at least the gameplay promises to be solid. Unlike the now rogue Fischer, Kestral and Archer have full access to all of the gadgets and abilities that their agencies can throw at them. Having played through part of the first mission, in which Kestral and Archer work their way through dark Russian buildings crawling with guards, it’s easy to say that the experience is solid and enjoyable, as you would expect, and being able to play with another person is great.

I’m not the most capable Splinter Cell player, so coordinating attacks and executions timed with another player to take out six guards with the “mark and execute” system was dreamy. Add the alternating interrogations, where one mashes an informant’s face in a fax machine, and another punches the guy a few times, to make things even more fun. There’s obviously enjoyment in sharing the game, and all the elements from single player show up just fine, from the projected texts showing where to go next to methods of hiding.

With 3 difficulty modes, Ubisoft wants players to go back and play the Prologue story multiple times, with the idea that you will play through better each time. While things won’t be too different each time, the fact that everything in this mode has been given the care of the main game is pretty cool.

The second mode, and probably more interesting to multiplayer fans, is called Deniable Ops. This is a 6 map, 4 mode multiplayer game in which players are tasked with shorter goals than in Prologue. All of these can be done over local split screed, LAN, and Xbox Live, so there are plenty of options to get through the game. Even better, Deniable Ops works much like Left 4 Dead. With an AI in the background running things, each playthrough of these modes are designed to be different each time. Cool.

So what do we have? The first mode is Hunter.  It is here that the team will move through a map, and take out guards along the way. It’s pretty simple, but may be the most popular game mode when it releases. Infiltration is a little different than Hunter, in that while you are trying to make it across a map, you cannot be detected once. If an enemy finds you, it’s back to the beginning.

Last Stand is a survival mode, in which waves of enemies are coming at you to attack and object, such as a warhead. Players have to make sure that doesn’t happen, so allowing yourself to be seen, then sneaking around for the kill is much more effective than just staying in the shadows. Finally, there is the one versus multiplayer mode Conviction will have: Face-Off. Still two-player only, each player must earn points for kills on the map, and even better, you get more points for killing your opponent.

It is clear that Ubisoft has really been paying attention to how multiplayer games have changed over the last few years. Gone as slap-dash, last minute additions to a game, multiplayer is now something that can have his own narrative, and can offer an experience that really builds on everything else. That’s the impression I got with my hands-on with multiplayer here. It’s an experience that can be appreciated wholly on its own, and the co-op nature is as solid as any other co-op focused game.

Unfortunately, I have two big disappointments. First, the inclusion of only one versus mode is a drag, and second, limiting gameplay to only two players is a huge bummer. Sure, everything could turn out fine come February, but it would be nicer to include more players in the experience. Also, the loss of some of the older multiplayer modes in the Splinter Cell series is a tragedy, as they were fantastic. However, if they can prove that this co-op focus will offer solid replay value, much like in Left 4 Dead, Ubisoft will be golden. Finger’s crossed the single player is just as good and better.