Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction review (Xbox 360)

The single-player campaign is very good in spite of its inconsistencies, but Conviction truly comes into its own when you add another player to the mix, whether you do so via Xbox Live, system link, or split-screen. The co-op campaign--a separate story involving a Third Echelon agent and his Russian counterpart--is the game's finest feature. Coordinating attacks leads to remarkably exciting moments, created in part by the ability to pull off dual executions. These allow you to perform executions when one target may be in sight of one player but not the other. Perhaps one of you is hanging from a window ledge, while the other silently flanks from within. The two of you might mark your targets in advance, the first player will yank an unsuspecting guard from the window, and the second will trigger an execution. A few seconds later, you've taken out four or five enemies together in a flurry of slow-motion zooms and profane yelps from your victims. Exhilarating triumphs aren't always planned, however. You might be cornered, only to have your companion appear out of nowhere and snap your predator's neck; or you may discover that the foes descending on you were marked by your buddy, letting you escape from the jaws of death by performing an execution.

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A few other dynamics lend even more tension and variety to co-op play. Should an enemy take you down, your teammate gets a bit of time in which to revive you--a fairly standard mechanic in cooperative games. But you aren't stuck waiting helplessly should you fail: you can sit up and take shots with your pistol if necessary, though doing so clues your enemies in to the whole "playing dead" routine. Should you get clobbered after you've sat up, you're done for, and the game reverts back to the most recent checkpoint. Enemy chokeholds also add variety and unpredictability. If you aren't careful, your foes can pull you into a hold and use you as a human shield. Your partner then gets a limited time to set you free by shooting your attacker, and you can assist by feigning an escape attempt, which distracts the assailant and hopefully gives your buddy a clear shot at him. The co-op play's most suspenseful stretches come when one player is down and the other is taken into a chokehold. If you coordinate things well and everything comes together, the downed player can sit up and take a shot at the grunting goon, freeing up his buddy to come revive him. Pulling off this dual-savior act is a rare rush that you'll relish each and every time.

The other two-player modes are more straightforward but still enjoyable. Aside from the co-op campaign, Hunter mode provides the most interesting experience. Here, you and your partner traverse a map broken up into smaller chunks patrolled by a set number of guards you must eliminate. Silence is truly golden in this mode, for should either of you get caught, reinforcements rush in, raising the number of enemies you need to take out. What makes this mode compelling is its variety and flexibility. Stealth is ideal, but it's hard to see the price of failure as a punishment; after all, once the jig is up, you can use your entire bag of tricks with abandon, marking and executing foes as you and your partner see fit. Last Stand is Splinter Cell: Conviction's battle-waves-of-enemies mode, in which you defend an EMP generator against the infiltrating hordes. This mode is an incredible challenge once large numbers of more powerful enemies start streaming in, though a touch of predictability lessens the impact. Guards might flow through a single doorway en masse, allowing you and your partner to dramatically reduce their numbers with a few grenades and mines. Last Stand isn't as special as the stealthier modes; the tension comes from the aggressiveness of your enemies rather than from the need to coordinate attacks from the shadows. Yet it offers some short-lived fun, and the smooth difficulty curve as you move from one wave to the next provides welcome momentum.

Face-Off is Conviction's only competitive mode and is the least interesting of the multiplayer offerings, because it removes some of the elements that make the co-op matches such a delight. Here, you and a single opponent attempt to take down roaming guards, as well as each other, while accumulating points for kills. It's satisfying to identify your opponent without being seen and to take him out as you would any other foe, particularly if you're sneaky about it. But the competitive nature of this mode eliminates dual executions and chokehold escapes, the very facets that make the other modes so fascinating. Nevertheless, hunting the most dangerous enemy in the game (an actual human being) gives this mode some urgency, as does trying to surpass your opponent's point total. For what it's worth, you can tackle the co-op maps without a partner through the Deniable Ops menu, and as always, it's great fun to string a few close-quarters kills and multi-enemy executions together. (You might cry out in glee when things come together so beautifully.) But once you've played these maps with a buddy, it's hard to shake the feeling that something is missing when you're on your own.

Conviction looks surprisingly dated but nonetheless attractive, a likely consequence of the older Unreal 2 technology that brings it to life. Fuzzy textures, some blocky geometry, and plenty of jagged edges betray the engine's age, yet you get the sense that developer Ubisoft Montreal squeezed a good deal out of it. Smart use of color versus the deepness of the black-and-white stealth effects makes certain environments, such as a carnival outside the Washington Monument, really stand out. It's best not to look too closely at the grainy textures when traversing war-torn streets, but the abandoned vehicles strewn about and a decrepit-looking fuel station make the dusty level feel uncomfortably--and appropriately--hostile. Sam looks good, if somewhat blurry (you could say the same about the rest of the game); he's got the expression of a man who has taken his punches. He quickly slides from one cover spot to another, and slick animations make his moves look authentic and feel satisfying. Your standard enemies, on the other hand, don't move so smoothly, and models are frequently reused, so expect to see a few familiar faces as you skulk through hallways and peek through windows. The most disappointing aspect of the presentation, however, is that the cinematics are overly compressed and suffer from distracting dips in the frame rate when the camera pans across the environment.

The soundtrack deserves special mention. You won't walk away humming any tunes--this isn't that kind of music--but it's impressive for how well its electronic pulses, trembling violins, and hi-tech warbles weave in and out of the action. You won't notice it often, but that's what makes it so effective: it enhances the tension without overwhelming it. Sound is an important part of Splinter Cell: Conviction. Guards will consistently taunt you when they are aware of your presence, even reminding you of the actions you took in previous missions. In fact, those reminders are so frequent that they get predictable after a while; it's a contrived dialogue trick that doesn't immerse you so much as it calls attention to its own cleverness, especially considering that the same voice actor was clearly used to record so many of the lines. But you sometimes rely on those calls to warn you of approaching guards, and you'll appreciate many subtle details in the audio, from the squeal of your sonic goggles when you turn them on, to the subtle whines of nearby security cameras.

This isn't the Splinter Cell of yesteryear. Sam Fisher is losing patience, which in turn translates into speedier stealth and a lot more bullets than before. It's hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment if you're a fan of the series. Sam's newest adventure doesn't offer the challenge you may be expecting, and recent stealth-action hybrids like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Batman: Arkham Asylum provide much more satisfying single-player experiences. Yet stellar storytelling, fantastic co-op play, and rewarding executions make Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction a legitimately great game that delivers frequent surges of excitement. Between the brief thrills of freeing your partner from a chokehold and the sharp adrenaline rush of a bloody execution, Conviction will leave a mark on your memory.