I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Splinter Cell games. They often seem too focused on being able to do nothing but hide in the shadows while sneaking forward at a snail’s pace. The latest gameplay demonstration of Conviction (after what looks like a complete scrapping of the original project) may have strayed a bit too far away from the stealth aspect and into action game territory… but I don’t care. It just looks fucking sweet.

It looks like Microsoft picked a good project to pin the exclusive dollars on. They have succeeded in what seemed to have been their original intent with the scrapped Conviction project – they’ve made the game feel like the Jason Bourne movies. Too bad they’ve lost the social stealth elements.

A question for series fans: I care a lot about story in games, even if it’s not the primary reason that I play a game. Is it worth swallowing my distaste for the pacing and lack of action in previous Splinter Cell games to catch up on the story for Conviction?