I spoke with Steve Masters, the lead game designer for the title at Ubisoft Montreal, who walked me through a demo set in the later chapters of the game. What struck me almost immediately is the very considered, almost thoughtful approach Ubisoft has taken in rebooting Splinter Cell. A lot of work has gone into distilling and refining the parts that made SC great in the past, while shedding a lot of baggage in the process. The focus for Sam Fisher here is almost completely apolitical; it’s about his daughter. A personal vendetta taking place within the larger intrigue of the fiction. Fisher no longer works for a government organization, which frees up the story to move in some new directions (as Masters put it, “without every decision causing an international incident”). Sam is also a lot more pissed-off than he used to be, causing him to employ motivational techniques clearly not outlined in any field manual, such as impaling an enemy’s hand to a tree stump with a bowie knife. There is a conscious effort here to up the pace, to keep things flowing along, rather than succumb to the stop-and-start cycle that tends to plague a lot of “stealth action” games.

The Mark & Execute system is a thing of beauty. While hiding behind cover, Sam can essentially “queue up” a surgical death spree. Small indicators are assigned from your coverpoint, appearing over the heads of the enemies that the player wants to dispatch. When Sam emerges from the shadows, he shoots the marked targets in the order they were assigned, in the head, really fast. It sounds simple in description, but in practice, this makes for some dramatic takedown moments. Another example of Mark & Execute in action was demonstrated later in a hostage situation, using a flashbang. It really allows the player to think about the puzzle aspect of a given scenario, and let the Sam do his thing. Varying levels of Mark & Execute are unlocked as the player progresses, awarding higher numbers of marked targets, and even the ability to perform the technique in the middle of a firefight.

I noticed the use of post-processing effects right away. We are all familiar with the now-standard Screen Turning Red Meaning I’m Gonna Die. Conviction takes it a step further by indicating your overall “level of covertness” – while hiding, the whole image takes on a faded, grainy film effect, bursting back to full colour when you break cover. This style of immersive notification is prevalent throughout. When interrogating an enemy or talking to another character, a related “film” depicting the subject projects itself onto a nearby flat surface, like a sort of mental cutscene that doesn’t remove camera control from the player. It’s a fascinating way of passively showing Sam’s thoughts. Mission objectives are also written out as large, bold text on the environment itself, with a projection-style treatment.

Another example of forward thinking in the stealth genre: ghost outlines. As a firefight erupts and Sam dives for cover, the game creates a ghostly static version of Sam at the last known cover point, as far as enemies are concerned. This allows for a much greater flexibility in providing disctrations and setting up ambushes, even in situations that haven’t gone according to plan.

Everything about Conviction is centered around Sam and his motivations, sometimes in a very literal sense. The game camera never cuts away to another angle, even when a “cut scene” is underway. The words “immersion” and “seamless” are what come to mind as key goals for Conviction’s design. Although the game has been in development for years, it looks like Ubisoft has used the time wisely, and really taken the idea of a franchise reboot to heart. Personally, I would put Splinter Cell: Conviction at the top of my list of most anticipated 360 exclusives this year. It’s just that good.