I can see what they're doing, and in many ways it makes sense. Modern spy tales like The Bourne Supremacy and Mission: Impossible are all about being on the run, losing yourself in the crowd, being relentlessly pursued by corrupt former employers and getting away at the very last minute.
Why not, then, take Splinter Cell out of the shadows and place it within the popular 'good guy made to look bad, so good spy agency (who are actually bad) chase him around until he can prove his innocence through mad secret agent skillz' genre?
Well, my main argument would be that Splinter Cell was previously, amazingly enough, the last bastion of 'pure' stealth gaming. And I'd then proceed to make a lot of huffing, puffing and spluttering noises.
But Sam Fisher is Ubisoft Montreal's baby, and seeing as Conviction has been in the works for years in the hands of the team who developed the original Splinter Cell (in the same way that Assassin's Creed is the remit of the gang who created Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time), then just maybe I ought to give them their dues and have a little faith.
FISHER ULTIMATUM Fisher is on the run from his previous employers at Third Echelon, which has taken his usual hi-tech gadgetry and limitless business-class air travel off the menu somewhat.
For the most part, then, Conviction takes place in and around Washington DC, with many of its landmarks serving as backdrop for Sam's exploits. This isn't just so they could have a 'chasey chasey' sequence with alerted guards around the toes of Abe Lincoln either, but also because there are plenty of people shuffling around staring at things.
You see, Conviction is big on using crowds to disappear in or distract guards. For instance, if you want to get rid of a security chap so you can pass by undetected, you can wander into the crowd and nick a laptop. The owner will point and bray at you, the guards will rush over, then you can stick your hoodie up (yes, I know) and run off into the secure area. You see? Genius. Not exactly sliding down a rope, doing a forward roll and stabbing someone in the neck, but there you go.
Similar distractions could come from, say, shooting the gas tank on a hotdog stall and watching bystanders run away while the guards rush over and scratch their heads.
Otherwise, you could simply look shifty in front of one of the US's many buzz-cut-enhanced state protectors, lure him down an empty path and do unspeakable things to him to render him unconscious. It's all rather a sandbox affair, so if you're thinking that it all sounds a little like Hitman, you're bang-on: Fisher has stolen Agent 47's clothes and is dancing a little jig.
You won't be able to slaughter the innocents though (they'll simply run from gunfire) as you're misunderstood rather than suddenly psychotic, but the rudiments of Io's merciless killer are there nonetheless.
While you're being chased hither and thither, it's the manipulation of the environment that'll save your bacon - something made possible by some stunning animation techniques that'll have Sam lifting and throwing tables, desks, barrels, enemies and essentially whatever's in his way just as he would in the real world.
Long gone is the forever-friend that was the 'crouch for no reason and pick up stuff' sequence. This means that you can stack items against a door to make sure pursuers can't get in, rearrange a room so it looks like you haven't been lummoxing around in it so as not to alert guards, or simply throw very heavy objects at people intent on arresting you. It's all very physical, and entirely in keeping with the new aura of breathlessness that surrounds the game.
FEAR OF THE NEW If I'm sounding a bit lukewarm about all this, it's because I am. Maybe it's my internal 'not broke, don't fix' mantra echoing around my brain (not that the PC version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent wasn't broken in many ways). Or maybe it's something as simple as its vague similarity to that godawful, flag-waving lump of shite that was Nicolas Cage's National Treasure.
I don't know - I'm just so used to being overwhelmed by the potential of new Splinter Cell games that when I'm simply 'whelmed', it comes as some surprise. Make me see that I'm wrong Mr Ubisoft... I know you have it in you.
hmmmmmmmmm, we'll have to see. see i loved splinter cell right up until 'double agent', which i thought was s**te not so sure why? i couldnt be bottomd to even finish it! "buggy" and "not fun" come to mind.
now chaos theory, that in my opinion was a perfect outing for mr.fisher. i hope whatever it was that was wrong with double agent gets fixed for this new adventure
I agree, I was a fan of SC up until DA. Couldn't bring myself to play past the third level. Next gen needs a shake up.
I applaud them for trying something new.........even if it is liberally borrowing from elsewhere. A more technically impressive hitman is fine by me, for now.
Reading the book at the moment, its pretty damn good, he's a bit more acrobatic in the book, maybe they wanted him to be a bit more acrobatic in the game but its turns out a bit gay. Personally there wasn't anything better than hanging a few inches above the insurgents in the dark waiting for the right moment to strike. Now thats Splinter Cell.
I'm not going to admit DA was a 'great' game, heck sometimes it was barely even a 'good' game. There were more bugs than i could count, the ragdolls for the bodies were awful whenever you dumped them they just flopped all over, and the annoying way you could only enter air-vents from a particular position, to just name a couple.
Nevertheless, the story breathed some new life into the francise. let's face it, Chaos Theory, it was fantastic (thats a fact) but also with it they had more or less perfected the 'pure' stealth genre.
So one can view DA as a stepping stone to Conviction. Also with Ubisoft Montreal back behind the game rather than Ubisoft Shanghai its bound to be perfect.
Also hiding in shadows seems to be so passe these days. It's all about crowds apparently, what with Hitman: Bloody Money, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, and Assassin's Creed all in some shape or form using crowds!
see call me old fashioned , but i quite like lurking in shadows waiting for that moment when i can jump out n s**t someone right up just before finish i them...... and i also like doing it in games!
i like the whole 'crowd' idea, but am a little concerned that instead of it being used for the benefit of gameplay, that its really being used as a tech demo . perhaps developers are doing the crowd thing, just because they can . a bit like the 'next gen' graphics push that is also moving too quickly. i really like the new shiny graphics getting chucked around, but dont like the fact that developers are starting to disregard lower spec machines. now, my machine is no slouch, but very quickly im having to lower resolutions and tun off nice effects. that sucks big time and i bet im not the only person with this issue!! ..... well, its turned into another rant so ill stop ..MuNKee..
This Splinter Cell is going to be something completely different from the previous ones. I supposed they are listening to use, because we want something new. But this, from the sounds of it, wont be the SC we all know and love.
If i dont like this game, it will be the first time SC has ever dissapointed me. So i guess they DO desserve a little optimism.
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not so sure why? i couldnt be bottomd to even finish it! "buggy" and "not fun" come to mind. 
