Splinter Cell: Conviction has co-op and trailer to match

Ok, confession time: I don’t know much about the Splinter Cell franchise. Stealth-y tactical shooters aren’t really, y’know, my thing. But I was really intrigued by Conviction‘s visual style and the write-pertinent-info-on-the-walls mechanic that Ubisoft showed off at E3 this year, and co-op kind of is my thing, so I guess I ought to start paying attention.

For those of you in the dark (like I was), Splinter Cell: Conviction features a co-operative campaign that serves as a prequel to the rest of the game. It’s pretty standard spy stuff: A rogue Russian military officer has stolen some warheads, and America and the rest of the well-behaved Russian military team up to stop him. Of course, this is is a videogame, two dudes—one American, one Russian—are going to do it all themselves. Naturally.

Even if the story is kind of bland, the gameplay should make up for it, right? I hope so. The co-op campaign doesn’t feature any of the dark and gritty espionage we’re used to seeing (the Russians prefer explosions, apparently), and I didn’t see any haunted messages floating on the walls, so I’m not sure this all ties into Conviction.

Luckily, Ben PerLee has a preview coming tomorrow morning that will put all of this in way better context than I can. This trailer will just have to hold you over until then. And in case you just really like it for some reason, the same trailer is available on Xbox Live.

Like, right now.