Sam Fisher Smashes Faces Through Urinals in Splinter Cell: Conviction

A few new moves for our hero heap even more violence onto the upcoming Splinter Cell title.

Everyone’s favorite black-suited badass is back for another stealthy romp in the dark, but this time things have gotten personal.

So begins the story behind Splinter Cell: Conviction, which has ex-government super soldier Sam Fisher out on his own, pursuing revenge rather than fulfilling government-sponsored missions as he has in the series’ previous iterations.

Not surprisingly, things get messy. In the live gameplay demo shown at Ubisoft’s Monday press conference, Sam starts a mission by slamming an informants head through a urinal and into a mirror to extract information while the other restroom attendees scatter like cockroaches.

Violent? Yes. Fun? Undoubtably. But also incredibly prescripted, judging by the fact that the separate live demos given at both Microsoft and Ubisoft’s press conferences went down almost exactly the same, move by move.

However, there are some new tricks at Sam’s disposal this time around. A “mark and execute” maneuver allows Sam to peek through a door before popping through, tag targets on the other side, then peg them consecutively with headshots after he bursts through the other side, usually before they even have a chance to react. And before disappearing from sight, a 3D silhouette now marks Sam’s last-scene location by pursuing guards, allowing players to anticipate how they’ll react and play off false impressions.

To tell a story without interrupting the gameplay with cut scenes, bits and pieces of background information  are now projected across different parts of the map, and new missions seamlessly begin where old ones leave off without a loading screen.

Currently, Splinter Cell: Conviction is slated for a release during the 2009 holiday season.