Splinter Cell Conviction Thread!

Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
This will be good to finally get some hands on with it to see how the performance is holding up.

I pray we aren't getting a severely scaled down game compared to Chaos Theory. I've never really had the privilege of playing a brand new Splinter Cell game when it was brand new, I was always pretty late to the party.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
I'm not certain, but have you guys seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pls9JChDarI&feature...

The game is really looking good. This vid has done a lot to alleviate some of my fears about the game.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

blmbox
blmbox
Since 6332 Days
I haven't seen that before. Cheers for the find, Optimus.
In reply to
Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
The game, when all is said and done, may not be perfect, but as long as it's of solid length and the various missions are well designed, I think I may give this one a early purchase.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

KORNdog
KORNdog
Since 6405 Days
definately buying this, it's a bit sad to hear the single player is so short, but the co-op (split screen no less) makes up for it. it might not be a day one for the same reason i've yet to pick up mass effect 2 (too many games on the go) but i'm definately going to buy it.
In reply to
LEBATO - IS WRONG
LEBATO
Since 7123 Days
Great video optimus, looks great.
In reply to

Mods, stop changing my SIG! I'm going to end up banning you!

SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
I just hope there are variables to it that you can sorta polish over time as you get better or approach things a bit differently. I'm not talking renegade or paragon, just in terms of how you tackle a situation. If the base, core gameplay, movement and combat feels nice and there is flexibility there, I'll gladly go for seconds and thirds of a game and I do believe this will fit that bill nicely.

Difficulty settings and corresponding achievements always have me covered if I love *playing* a game. Shortness is only a real issue for me when it's about accumulative game design - an RPG or a grand action adventure with some form of character evolution.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
I agree completely, Simon. I want to feel as if it's possible to polish up our approach to getting things done to a meaningful degree and, naturally, the movement and combat has to click by feeling nice and natural.

Really liked the proximity mine, portable emp, mark and execute combo. I initially wasn't digging the way diving onto an enemy from up above looked, but I've definitely gotten use to it now.

Also, judging by the selection of weapons there, I'm obviously expecting some high action shootouts where using stealth and gadgets may be tougher to do, and seeing the situation that Sam is in, I guess it makes complete sense that we'd encounter such moments.

Looking at the sticky camera, I'm just imagining making it play some music just to get the guy's attention then exiting the sticky camera, then while he's pre-occupied with it, I sneak up on him and take him down.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

icemanufc
Since 5667 Days
In reply to
Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
Awesome, and I agree completely, I hope that interrogation method like in the bathroom scene isn't too heavily overused in the game. They should keep it to a bare minimum.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Viginti_Tres
Viginti_Tres
Since 6503 Days
The demo is up on the marketplace.

Direct link in case you don't find it in your region: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-AU/games/media/66ac...
In reply to
Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
I'm definitely buying this game, I love it. There are a number of ways from which to approach your objective. I like the different options that are available to you thanks to the gadgets. I can engage a decent amount of enemies however I wish usually. I played the demo about 3 to 4 times and did different things differently each time. You're rewarded greatly for learning your surroundings before trying anything risky.

I like that you can mark specific targets that you want to take out quickly even before having the execute capability. So shooting out a light, having the enemies react to that light being shot out and 2 enemies moving away from one of their allies leaving him alone to go check things out allowing you to quickly jump down and take out the one who is now by himself with hand to hand combat then quickly executing the 2 targets you designated beforehand is nice and feels really good.

You would think that the mark and execute ability would make the game way too easy, but that isn't the case at all judging from the demo. You have to really take care with what you're doing or else you pretty much get overwhelmed by enemies and slaughtered. It's been made more accessible, but I wouldn't consider that the same as it being dumbed down. For example, when you do get yourself into a jam now, you are much more capable of dealing with the enemies and shooting it out with them, as should be expected of a trained professional like Sam, but anyone will take notice of the fact that they haven't made it so easy for the player that they can pretty much take control of a situation like one could in a Halo, Call of Duty or even Gears of War game. So, while the player is much more capable of surviving hectic shootouts once you sorta blow your cover, you aren't so capable that it can ever feel like there are no consequences for being careless, if that makes sense. You've become more run and gun capable, without it actually feeling like the game has become too much of a shooter, which is a concern a lot of people, including myself, had.

The game feels pretty polished, more so than I was expecting in overall design and performance. For one, I absolutely love that in moments where you need to think fast, Sam automatically crouches for you so that you can get into a hard to reach player without you specifically having to hit LB to get him to do it, because I can see how in tense situations that could be annoying as hell if you should forget to hit the button.

Performance is great, I didn't feel like there were any major performance issues of note nor much tearing at all. In fact, the only signs of tearing that I could spot were very slight, and I do mean slight, instances of it during the bathroom interrogation scene. I've also gotten very use to the black and white transition when you are hidden in shadows and when you aren't. Works surprisingly well and is comforting to know for certain that you are concealed by shadows.

The cover mechanic is really well done, I think. I love how you move from cover to cover. The AI feels appropriately aggressive. There are times when you just hope that they'll be more predictable and stop snooping around, but then you notice that they change their patterns and really check those areas they haven't checked, which can usually lead to you getting exposed. It's nothing groundbreaking, mind you, but it's nice to see that the AI is persistent, even if they aren't rocket scientists.

I like how you have to specifically look down at something to interact with it, like picking up a gun or having to look at the bottom of a door before the peek under option becomes available. I also really like the button layout. It's just enough responsibility given to the player without seeming overwhelming or too much. It actually makes it feel like you have to learn and get use to things to get better rewards out of the system they've layed out.

I'm definitely buying this one when it comes out, and hey, the story actually seems like it could be handled better than in previous games, which is a plus.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Ronsauce
Ronsauce
Since 6986 Days
The controls are going to take a bit of getting used to. Left bumper to crouch and stand seems a bit funny, and left trigger to drop isn't very intuitive for me. I think I'd prefer left bumper for doing hand-to-hand kills and B for crouching/dropping.

Also, the black and white filter for when you are hidden works well, but I tend to confuse it with the room just being dark if I've shot out some lights.
In reply to

Zapp Brannigan: If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate.

SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
I've been goofing around with the demo a lot to get a feel for the core game here.

Mark and execute works great, and unless you're a baby crying AUTOMATIC MURDER IS LAME, that isn't a problem with this game at all. Splinter Cell is not a shooter, and whatever game they evoke with the changes to this, it's not more of a shooter anyway. Much like Resi 5 had people getting their knickers in a twist, so will this, for all the wrong reasons.

HOWEVAHR. There are some things that plain make no effing sense. The cover system/mapping being one.

So yeah I get that you crouch automatically when you take cover because the crouch button is mapped to LB for some reason I can't fathom, but that also means that they couldn't have him NOT crouch when getting OUT of cover. That may be a great decision in many cases in a game where you'll sneak around a lot, but when you wanna get up and run, it's such a damn nuisance. It negates the darting around you feel that the game in SOME ways encourages, and it chops up encounters in an absolutely catastrophic way.

But Simon, surely it's not that bad! If you're spotted you're not out to hide, you're just out to take cover! Yeah! I know, I KNOW but the game clearly doesn't, forcing Fisher to crouch no matter the height of the cover! Simply moving from cover to cover in a firefight, even when it's about walls or pillars, you keep having to stand back up by hitting LB immediately as you leave cover. Because jesus, that guy is not in a hurry when he's crouch walking.

And even when not in a firefight it just feels plain wrong to have to curl up in fetus position when taking cover next to a door.

If they're adamant to map the cover stuff to the left trigger and bumper, I would rather they had LB stick to cover and stay in crouch, and LT stick to cover, crouch if it's low cover or stand if it's high, and stand when exiting. Both solutions sound semi-retarded though because they are.

I'll make reservations though for maybe having an epiphany eventually and this all makes sense, I'm not gonna pass definite judgement so soon.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
Actually, I kinda think I underestimated my own non-shooter reasoning. It's easy to get carried away with how this brushes past Uncharted especially, movement wise, but if you kinda play this as a little bit more spontanious, gung ho Splinter Cell game, it kinda sorta feels pretty neat.

I'm still not wildly fond of not being able to take standing cover, and the right stick click isn't a great substitute for the old ways to aim when you simply wanna take out a dude walking under you without going for the full on dropping down, Zorro antics. But yeah. Warming to it some.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Since 6893 Days
I understand what you're saying there Simon, it's something that I had to get use to. Gotta program it in basically. It's one of those things that I think are done intentionally to make it tougher in crazy shootout situations because they don't want it feeling too much like a pure shooter, and I suspect for other design related reason as well.

One way to look at it is this: If you personally had a choice between the two options.

Immediately have Sam transition to a stand and run whenever he wants to leave a piece of cover or things get a bit heated.

or

The current situation where you may want to get up and run out of there, but you have to specifically press a button before you are able to, otherwise you stick to your crouch in hopes of avoiding detection

From a design perspective and in the interest of giving the player a choice, I'd have to go with the second option of the two, even though there's a chance that it can be frustrating. The lesser of the two evils is the second option, I think, which is what they seem to have gone with for the game.

If you manage to land yourself in a certain amount of trouble that running seems like it may be a must to get out of there as fast as possible, then I instantly hit the LB button to stand and dart out of there to break their line of sight, then I try to get tricky from there on out and use whatever tools are in my arsenal to turn the situation back to my advantage. The current system, as much a pain in the neck as it can be sometimes, forces you to become better at reading the situation and reacting to it, which I suppose I can't complain about.

Yea, I also get what you're saying with regards to standing cover. It'd be cool if there were standing covers as well.
In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
I honestly don't agree with that assessment though. It's a button mapping cockup before it's an intentional THING they did for sure. It's not like they don't allow you to run. It's just a fucking hassle to get the dude to stand up after taking *any* cover.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

KORNdog
KORNdog
Since 6405 Days
the visuals and performance arent as great as i expected/wanted them to be and i DO NOT like how forced the mark and excecute situations are. the developers made it out to be an option, but in reality, it isnt, there are about 10 instances where 2 enemies are facing each other and using any other method to dispatch them would be suicidal. and so you're forced to use the mark and excecute, which i'm not a massive fan of to begin with, sure splinter cell has never been a shooter, and i dont expect it to turn into uncharted anytime soon...but i'd like to be able to play the game how i used to...not have to rely on automated shooting (what is with ubisoft and automating everything in all of their games?).

but ultimately i can accept it for what it is and what it is trying to do, the performance issues (framerate, aliasing and screen tearing) are just plain terrible tho. and the graphics are pretty middle of the road, not the show stopper i expected it to be. otherwise i love it and i'll still be buying it.

as for the controls, i dont have a problem with them at all. having stand/crouch on the left bumper seems very natural to me. dare i say better then the original games control layout.
In reply to
SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
This game is really built around and BASED on its mark and execute stuff, that's not just thrown in there - that in itself is the misconception I think. People mistake it for flashyness, but it is in fact a surprisingly rule based gameplay mechanic that if anything follows so traditional design philosophies it almost feels out of place. There's no justification for why Sam can't do it all the time, as little as there is for Mario holding three powerups in the overworld in SMB3.

Embrace that part of it and play around with that as intended and it may open up and be fun in ways you didn't expect, especially in how you distribute them, when/where you trigger them, and what you leave up to yourself to do up until you unleash them. The worst thing you can do is try to have the game be something it isn't, and that is always the case with any game really. Ohhh... Gunvalkyrie, how often you are the perfect example.

Turns out the right click aim is tweaked somewhat by taking your gun out by pressing down on the d-pad and then clicking the stick when hanging from the ceiling. That gives you a more apropriate aimy cam which helped a lot. In a lot of cases he's got his gun tucked away after traversal and stuff as you'd expect, but it's easy to forget (or was for me) to whip it out before you take more calculated aim than the total flailing you often resort to when shit hits the fan.

EDIT: Actually, when you click the stick, getting a bit of shooter on is way easier. It's basically the equivalent to taking out your gun in the old games though which means it's still largely "suicide" like you say, but it's definitely not the spaz out until you die-fest that NOT clicking the stick treats you to. :)

I've become pretty efficient with the clicking of LB too now actually. It's certainly not a combo of button presses I'm used to, but it's getting to feel a bit more natural with time.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

KORNdog
KORNdog
Since 6405 Days
it's clearly a misconception the developers themselves have then since it was THEM who made out you could approach the game in the old, tried and true way, and that mark an excecute was just an option. if they hadnt have said that i wouldnt have minded, but the fact that situations are set up purely FOR mark and excecute, it basically throws all hope of approaching the situation the old way down the crapper.

it's a great game bar the crappy performance, facial animations and aliasing, but i'd have prefered to be able to use my own skills to dispatch foes...but since they've taken out some of the old mechanics (whislte distractions) it makes it virtually impossible, and thus you have to use mark and excecute. it's all well and good saying it's the way the game was made, but the game is limiting itself by doing so. it basically means that whenever there are 2 guys facing each other in the room, THOSE are the ones you have to dispatch with mark and excecute since no other way is really feasable. not without alerting them so they all split up. in the old games in those situations you at least had the option to lure them away from their enemy compadres with a simple whisle...i mean, why is that ability even removed? did fisher just forget how to whistle one morning?
In reply to
icemanufc
Since 5667 Days
Played it 3 times now and love it, day one purchase confirmed.
In reply to
Slabs
Slabs
Since 7031 Days
The sticky cam is in the full game, should be able to distract them with that.
In reply to
SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
Sticky cam is in the demo too, and you are free to use that to distract people yeah.

But also, this is a new game, and in your own wording trying to play it "the old way" is indeed not entirely possible.

But you'll be amazed by how much you can actually play around with what is THERE and not immediately obvious to you in your search of things that used to be there.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

KORNdog
KORNdog
Since 6405 Days
Posted by Slabs
The sticky cam is in the full game, should be able to distract them with that.
but how many times. the sticky cam will probably replace the sticky cam/shocker form the first games (although you throw it in conviction rather then shoot it) so you'll no doubt have a limited amount. i just dont get why the whistle is gone tbh. seems like a stupid decision...and a pointless one at that. i cant imagine the ability to whistle would have broken their gameplay/mechanics in any way.

but whatever, i'll be buying it. i'm more gitted by the visuals tbh. they've really let me down. i thought this was going to be a 360 showpeice but it's not. i guess that's a spot reserved for alan wake.
In reply to
SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7024 Days
I don't see Alan Wake wooing anyone with its visuals either to be honest. I think Gears 3 will be it really, seeing as Gears 2 kinda set the bar when that came out. Those outdoors bits and the Skorge fight still look totally nuts.
In reply to

http://modeseven.blogspot.com | Dominic and Simon - dyanamic games blog duo!
Twitter: @simonlundmark
Mode-7 on Twitter: @Mode_7updates

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