You can even hold the sucker in place and beat the crap out of him there :)

Oh, and I forgot to mention the cutscene between the interrogation and gameplay. Absolutely HORRIBLE. I realize not much is going on, but come on! Those are some low-detail models to feature in a cutscene, and their design -especially Captain Ponytail's- leaves a lot to be desired. On top of that, you've got some awkward voice acting coupled with some unconvincing animation. Brutal.

At least throwing guys off balconies into other guys is fun.

Well yea, that cutscene leaves a lot to be desired and the location in general is probably where my complaints about art direction would come into play. The models used, well, I guess I shouldn't expect too much outside of ones that perhaps include Sam himself.

There are clearly parts of this game, especially if you look at the story trailer, that looks like it could've used more attention from the devs, and then there are areas that look like they clearly received noticeably more attention than others. Although, I'm hoping that despite such concerns, the gameplay and various levels you'll play around in make up for it. For one, those levels they tossed at us in the demo don't even remotely appear as if they are the most dynamic or surprise packed of the levels we'll be playing in, and it still managed to feel really really good, so I'm hopeful. It's killing me that I couldn't progress any further than what I was given in the demo, and that I didn't get a chance to do the stuff before the one mission that we actually got to play in the demo.

I think we can expect a number of, I guess, lacking cutscenes in the game from what I've seen, but as long as the game itself delivers overall and some of the cutscenes approach a much more acceptable bar for quality, then I guess I'm all good. One of the more obvious nitpicks is how low Sam's voice usually is when he says stuff, you basically don't even hear what he says sometimes, but I assume that won't be the case for more important dialogue compared to when he's just trash talking the people he's owning.

It's pretty obvious that Assassin's Creed has taken up the large majority of Ubisoft Montreal's resources these days. While this game may end up being incredible, I'm doubtful it received nearly as much funding or development resources as was the case for AC1 or AC2. I hope to be proven wrong.

Played it and loved it, looks great too, yet another great game to add to my games list, damn it not enough hrs in the day!.

Reading some of the posts on GAF is hilarious. I checked people's past posts and how they were going on about how insane the game looked, how awesome the graphics were, how they had gotten the chance to try it out before the demo at this or that place and loved every minute of it, and now that they have the demo and have said the exact same things they said before -- about it looking impressive -- the moment they find out the resolution of the game isn't actually 720p, it's suddenly one of the worst looking 360 games they've ever seen.

Good times :)

Finally come around to playing the demo. I'm really not impressed, far from it. I'll try it again later and post my impressions.

Play around with it a bit, I started doing some pretty cool things that I didn't realize I could pull off initially once I started experimenting. I've toyed around a bit with the earlier splinter cell games, but I wouldn't classify myself as a hardcore like some others on here may have been, so perhaps this game just won't be some people's cup of tea.

All I do know is that, to me, this game is convincing at making me feel like a badass super spy :)

I'm going to try for a completely stealth playthrough now. I know it's possible, because of all the little things I've done throughout the demo, I just haven't done them consistently throughout the whole demo, because it's so damn fun taking people out :)

So awesome!

I just did the entire demo in complete stealth on realistic difficulty! :D

There were of course certain enemies you couldn't allow to live, because they were literally right in the way, like the 3 you absolute HAVE to take out at the start of the demo, one by hand to hand, the other two by mark and execute. Then the next guy on the outside who you kill if you want your execute ability back after using it on the first two you used it on, you can sneak around him if you really want to, but I chose to just take him out, even though I don't have to.

I easily sneak past the two guards outside, but to aide in my sneaking past them, i had set down a sticky camera really close by them and then made it make noise so they'd turn their attention away from when I'd be walking into the light on my way towards the left side of the warehouse.

I climb up the pipe, now this guy is right in the window area, but he's in the shadow. I climb into window and grab him, then kill him. I then head up onto the pipes and crawl as far as I can, without making the right turn on the pipes to get as close to that small room as humanely possible. I had to be super patient here watching the patterns of the guards, and they even randomize at times so I figured I'd need to set down a sticky in hopes of distracting SOMEBODY because there were just too many. I find myself really impressed with the randomized search patterns of the AI, they look really good doing their thing when you just watch them. When I did that and I was comfortable with the patterns of the guards, I quickly dropped down, then climbed over into that little pit area to stay out of sight, then at the right time climbed out and then snuck into that tiny room where there was one guard. I was fortunate that his back was turned at the time, which isn't always the case, and I hopped up onto the pipe and snuck right past the mofo and slide all the way down.

The rest of the way after you see that guy roughing up the female scientist, I managed to sneak past and didn't have to kill nor did I get spotted by a single enemy, even the 3 guarding the final room on my way to end the demo. I managed to go up the stairs, then snuck my way over to their side then dropped down while their backs were turned and ended the demo!

So besides the 3 you HAVE to kill at the start of the demo, and the 1 outside I chose to kill, but didn't have to, and then the one by the window I had to take out, because he was in the way, I beat the entire demo on realistic, without being spotted nor killing anybody :)

It isn't impossible after all, but again, you gotta be patient as hell. The AI may not do what you need them to do immediately and their search patterns may be such that.

So, anybody who thinks it isn't possible to beat this thing in total stealth, it's possible, but challenging as hell. Some hardcore sneaking and you gotta really use your brain with regards to those sticky cams.

And people on gaf were saying that it was impossible to accomplish this even on the easiest difficulty level? No way! I don't know how much easier it becomes, if at all, on easier difficulties, but I did it on the hardest level baby :D

As I said before, I wasn't some splinter cell hardcore, but I have played the games to know enough about what the stealth action was like and Conviction, based on this demo, definitely delivers on that pure stealth for people who want to do things that way. Hell, if anything, I'd say that it seems much more of a challenge to do it in this game than it has been in some of the older splinter cell titles.

Went through twice now not killing a single person besides the ones I have to at the start and the guards blocking each entrance into the warehouse. Wasn't spotted by anyone, nor did I place the guards on too heightened an alert based on my actions.

The AI is most impressive when they are given a chance to actually show it. They cover every friggin inch. No place that SAM can go to is ever entirely safe. They search those back rooms, they stick their flashouts down those pits and those hard to Reach areas.

A fairly convincing display of common sense on their part. Of course, that becomes much harder to see if you choose to utilize the mark and execute and allow Sam to let loose on the guns a decent amount.

Jiminy Cricket, I can't stop playing the demo, it's so much fun. It's a far cry from the SC I know and love and TBH I don't think I'll like it as much as say Chaos Theory. But damn, I'm enjoying the game for being what it is and letting me play as a kick ass Jason Bourne- uhh Jack Bauer- err Sam Fisher. :)

I think it's better as a shooter than being about complete stealth. It's like UBI have planted delicious cakes all around the levels and you just can't sneak past without taking a bite!

Ron what you said on the previous page about using the cams on SvM.. that would have been brilliant ;__;

OP I hear what you're saying about still being able to complete stealth, although with the way the game is designed, you don't get the same kind of satisfaction from it. Also part of what made the stealth great in the old games was the immersion. I find a lot of things in Conviction pull me out.
Of course that's just me. Other people will feel differently about it I'm sure.

But I really don't want to poop on the game -least ways the demo- because I feel UBI have done a great job. Bar a few nitpicks here and there.

I've been finding it to be the opposite. Granted, simply sneaking past enemies without them knowing at all isn't exactly doable in the demo, but using stealth to navigate and dispatch enemies without shooting them or using 'nades is pretty satisfying.

Dumbass. Did you not watch the video posted on the main page?

lol.
It's still definitely satisfying being stealth and not killing anyone, but at the moment, picking apart guards in creative ways feels a little better. Chucking emp/flash grenades alerts guards you're in the vicinity. In ye olde games, I could complete levels without anyone knowing I was there, and I didn't need gadgets either. That was mega satisfying.

I have seen a video of a different level (in Conviction) where the player goes from start to finish without the need of gadgets. So I'm sure I'll revert to my old stealthy ways.

I retract that statement about shooting > stealth. That's just silly Archaos.

I've done exactly that twice ;)

It's challenging as hell, more challenging than I remember it being in some older splinter cell games, even though I never beat any of em, and you must be patient as a mofo, but you can definitely do it.

Using the shadows right and taking advantage of your sticky cams to get them searching around and moving away from key areas. You can complete the entire demo without killing anyone besides the three you have to take out at the start of the demo, and one of two guys standing right in the way as you try to enter the warehouse.

I get through entire demo without being spotted, without having to use mark and execute at all, leaving every single person inside the warehouse alive, and every single person after you see the scientist getting smacked around alive as well, and none ever see me. Most are still relaxing and having their various convos, too.

Not a single one of the three men in the last room before ending the demo, saw me, nor did I have to kill any of them to end the demo. Oh and Archaos, it's perhaps even more satisfying to go all stealth, because that's when you truly start to appreciate the game for what it is and the potential that's masked and start to notice the little things that maybe you ignored before because you were using the more aggressive/stylish approach.

For one, the first number of times through, I didn't even take notice of the patterns with which the lights were being turned on and off on each half of the warehouse, presenting you with many exciting stealth opportunities.

Yeah...I know. Look at my post after that one. It should be obvious that I was mistaken.

Yea, my fault, I just saw those.

I'm pretty damn giddy about this game right now, because up until the last few videos and this demo, I had all but lost faith in any hope that it could end up being really good. It may not end up being perfect, but much better than I ever expected after the initially promising reveal, I'll settle for that :)

Oh, and supposedly this is the same as the demo played at TGS 09 apparently.

Also, you know what other criticism I had regarding this game from videos? It was how overly and unrealistically fast Sam seemed to be in so many instances, especially when crawling upside down on pipes, or simply while straddling outside a window and moving left to right, but you learn from this demo that they DO have much better and more realistic transitions while doing such things if you choose to operate at those more lay back speeds, but if you want to hurry things along, then that is available as well.

Check out this full stealth playthrough of the demo. Not a single person killed after the first 3. I didn't even attempt to sneak past the dude at the door without killing him. Thought you had to take him out :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyXRqdQQjfk

I also didn't even realize that path through the fence at the start even existed the many times i played this demo.

I did my stealth playthroughs nothing remotely like the way this guy did his. I never used the emp grenades nor the portable emp and the only similarity in the paths we took, was when he used that pipe to make his way across after the scientest got smacked around.

Guy made the AI look pretty silly in his playthrough, the way I play, they got all sorts of crazy crap going on sometimes, and I definitely don't do it that fast.

Yeah that demo was pretty bad

Glad they gave up on their own engine and invested in Unreal tech?

The demo made my mind up, day one for me, cant wait to get some Splintercell action!

Yeah I'm trying to play it now with full stealth, no emp/flash/cam and not shooting lights.. on Realism mode.

So far I can get to the inside of the warehouse and right up close to the guy in the control room. But I can't set foot in there without being noticed. I've waited and waited, but he never changes patterns. As soon as I set foot in that doorway he spots me.

I did manage it once, but it felt like a fluke and I'm not sure what I did different to not get noticed.

I've only played the demo once, and I was kinda underwhelmed to be honest - I can't quite put my finger on why though.

Gonna play it again a bit later to see if it grows on me. I mean, I was having to get used to the controls on my first playthrough.

Definitely give it a few more tries. Getting used to the controls was a big part of my enjoyment level going up...as was playing on Realistic and really trying to avoid using mark execute.

Yeah the controls still bugger me up occasionally.

I'll press X thinking it's going to bring out my weapon but instead I end up flashing someone. lol wait-