His Name is Sam and He is Very, Very Angry

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series is back for its fifth installment. It's called Splinter Cell: Conviction and it brings with it a few new wrinkles to go with its bad attitude.

Splinter Cell is spy code for an agent who has carte blanche to eliminate anyone he deems fit. [1]

The series revolves around the adventures of Sam Fisher, a badass veteran government agent who recently has come unraveled after the death of his daughter. In Splinter Cell: Conviction, Sam learns that his daughter's death was not an accident and goes all out for revenge.

Ubisoft, the game's developer, brings several new features to the game. They are:

• Cooperative play (for the Xbox 360 version.)-[2] Players can team up to get the bad guys in split-screen fashion.
• Mark and Execute-Players have the ability to single out specific targets in advance before launching an assault.
• Last Known Position-Players can leave a brief silhouette of Sam, where enemies think they see him.
• Players can interrogate enemies in real-time and use the objects around them.
• Sam can use crowd to vanish if he is under pursuit.
• Multi-player action consists of several modes[3], including: Hunter: Killing everyone you find; Infiltration: Getting spotted is lethal; Last Stand: Where players protect a warhead; and Face Off: One on one action.

Splinter Cell: Conviction has been a long time coming. When it was first announced in 2007, Sam Fisher had quite a disheveled look, with long hair and a beard.[4] The game missed its November 2007 release date. It missed a May 2008 date then was put "on hold."[5]

In the interim, the game missed dates in 2009 and early 2010. Its official street date has been listed as April 13, 2010.[6]

I have played all the installments and recently got my hands on demo copy available on Xbox Live.

The game's colors seem vastly different from earlier versions. The controls had a bit of a learning curve but it wasn't too difficult and caught on quickly.

The cut scenes were long, as always, but in fairness, they had quite a bit of exposition to take care of.

Overall, I was quickly and steadily impressed, especially in the changes since the last version. I think most people like it.

Splinter Cell: Conviction will be available on the Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

The game is rated M or Mature by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) for blood, intense violence, sexual themes, and strong language.

[1] Mcavity. "Splinter Cell" Urban Dictionary.com 01/23/2004

[2] Ogunnubi, Michael. "Split Screen Support Confirmed for Splinter Cell: Conviction." XBOX Evolved 12/23/2009

[3] Glasser, AJ. "Splinter Cell:Conviction Multiplayer Preview: Separation Anxiety Times Two" Kotaku.com 03/25/2010

[4] Richard, Mitchell. "Ubi Soft Dates Its Winter Titles" Joystick.com 06/19/2007

[5] CVG Staff. "News: Splinter Cell Conviction Put On Hold" cvg.com 05/19/2008

[6] Thorsen, Tor. "Splinter Cell: Conviction Infiltrates April 13" Gamespot.com 02/04/2010