Developed by Ubisoft (Single Player only)
I won’t be playing it again Sam...
It’s hard to breathe new life into the stealth genre without the technology to do it. When in total darkness, everything except bad guys and interactive objects drain of colour. Now if you’re going to have 2/3rds of your game in black and white – you might want to make sure it looks stunning that way. Conviction rarely looks stunning in COLOUR. That’s because its game engine is over 5 years old – an eternity in videogame years.
But it’s not just the engine that’s holding it back. Despite his age, Sam Fisher now scales walls and traverses ledges with speed (Assassin’s Creed), tags - sorry... “marks” - bad guys for auto-kills (Rainbow Six Vegas) sports sonar technology (Batman: Arkham Asylum) oh, and this time it’s personal! There’s very little here that we haven’t seen or played before, and played better.
You’re supposed to feel as skilful as Bourne or Bauer – but only if you knock someone out first. ‘Interactive’ interrogations are as fun as pushing the B button. Mission objectives are beamed as text onto buildings to keep you in control – and also handily informs you of what Sam is emoting, like “GUILT”. That’s about as subtle as a speed dater wearing a “GOT PUSSY?” t-shirt. The new ideas may be bold, but they’re largely untested and uninspired.
Oh, it has its moments for sure. When the levels open up and Conviction is allowed to do its thing, the player is free to plan their moves, engage and dispatch goon fodder with swift and deadly efficiency - undeniably fun times. But levels still feel unfinished, concepts too rehashed and it doesn’t come close to competing graphically (or otherwise) with today’s stealth or action titles.
If the next one takes the ideas further and actually bolsters it with some 21st Century tech, we may yet see some real conviction. But until then, Sam Fisher will have to remain in the shadows, silently waiting for his moment to take down the competition.