Splinter Cell Producer Calls Conviction a "Rescue Job"

[The Wooster]

Splinter Cell Producer Calls Conviction a "Rescue Job"

Producer, Maxime Béland, promises Splinter Cell: Blacklist will have more content for sneaky players.

Splinter Cell: Conviction launched to a warm critical reception (former Escapist editor-king, Russ Pitts, certainly liked it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/7453-Review-Splinter-Cell-Conviction]) and went on to be the second best-selling installment in the series. However, the game's focus on action, and gunplay in particular, left quite a few old-school stealth fans out in the cold. While previous Splinter Cell games encouraged an array of playstyles with varying degrees of dakka, Conviction really only allowed one, and that may be down to the game's troubled production.

"I'm not going to go into the whole story, but Conviction was kind of a rescue job for me," producer, Maxime Béland, told Joystiq. "It wasn't going well. We changed the direction and kind of shipped the game in two years. So Conviction is very sweet and sour for me."

According to Béland, Conviction was little more than a "stepping stone" towards Blacklist, which will be more accommodating to non-murderous players. He went on to describe the three player archetypes his team is trying to cater to: The "ghost player" who doesn't want to kill or be seen, the "action/tank/killer" who wants to charge through the levels like a gravelly voiced Rambo and "the panther" who strikes a balance between the two.

Shortly after the release of Conviction, Béland and his team went through the reviews of the game, marking which features reviewers hated and which they liked. The black-and-white filter applied when Sam entered the shadows was almost universally scorned, so that's out. The game was also knocked for being too short and too small, so expanding the story and the levels was a high priority for the team. The much-adored spy vs. mercs competitive mode is also making a comeback, which Béland described as "the easiest decision of [his] life."

While the recent gameplay trailers for Blacklist have struck a fine balance between shooting and sneaking, I'm not sure how any Splinter Cell game can truly work without the dulcet tones of Michael Ironside.

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/11/splinter-cell-blacklist-aims-to-take-convictions-promise-to-th/]



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[Evil Smurf]

they guy from Bastion should narrate it: "the snake new hiding in the box was the best idea"

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

While the recent gameplay trailers for Blacklist have struck a fine balance between shooting and sneaking, I'm not sure how any Splinter Cell game can truly work without the dulcet tones of Michael Ironside.

This is probably my biggest worry with Blacklist. Part of the charm of Splinter Cell was hearing Michael Ironside yell "Grim!" and "Lambert!" while still trying to remain quiet. Hell, at one time I had half a mind to audio edit together him saying "Grimbert!"

 

[BBboy20]

Yeah, I didn't mind Conviction because you basically put Sam out of his element and that came along with everything else.

But Sam is back into his element.... and yet Blacklist looks like Conviction 2.0 then Splinter Cell. Probably would put some extra effort of bring back the nuances controls, gadgets, level design, but it would probably worth it to go down in the annuls of history of the Splinter Cell to end all Splinter Cell (not literally). Yes, you have just mentioned that you want old-school fans to be happy but so far you haven't really tried. No, the knife and body grabbing isn't quite what we want. We want absolute control on our sneaking and seeing Sam awkwardly crouch walk the level is showing what your priorities are.

Not to mention, removing Michael Ironside because he's too old for FUCKING MOTION CAPTURE...ugh.

For the record, I'm not saying get rid of the Conviction elements but playing the Conviction demo for 12 hours straight told me Con could be easily played like old-school Splinter Cell if the sneaking were a bit more complex and polished and the world was a lot more interactive. Yes, thanks to the new controls, player choice has been expanded to where Metal Gear Solid been owning for years but given the recent trend gaming has been in turning everything into a explos-a-thon, it's worrying that the Conviction team will half-assed the "metling into shadows" part in the end result.

 

[AJax_21]

Yeah, I didn't mind Conviction because you basically put Sam out of his element and that came along with everything else.

But Sam is back into his element.... and yet Blacklist looks like Conviction 2.0 then Splinter Cell. Probably would put some extra effort of bring back the nuances controls, gadgets, level design, but it would probably worth it to go down in the annuls of history of the Splinter Cell to end all Splinter Cell (not literally). Yes, you have just mentioned that you want old-school fans to be happy but so far you haven't really tried. No, the knife and body grabbing isn't quite what we want. We want absolute control on our sneaking and seeing Sam awkwardly crouch walk the level is showing what your priorities are.

Not to mention, removing Michael Ironside because he's too old for FUCKING MOTION CAPTURE...ugh.

For the record, I'm not saying get rid of the Conviction elements but playing the Conviction demo for 12 hours straight told me Con could be easily played like old-school Splinter Cell if the sneaking were a bit more complex and polished and the world was a lot more interactive. Yes, thanks to the new controls, player choice has been expanded to where Metal Gear Solid been owning for years but given the recent trend gaming has been in turning everything into a explos-a-thon, it's worrying that the Conviction team will half-assed the "metling into shadows" part in the end result.

Nailed it. That "stealth" video was awful.

Honestly, I don't mind Ironside not reprising his role as Sam. I think the new guy, Eric Johnson, will do a good job but why didn't they simply cast him as a new character. Having a 30 year old dude voice and mo-cap a guy nearing his sixties is just bizarre. I don't mind a new protagonist.

 

[anian]

I can't for the life of me understand what's so hard about making the stealth work in a new Splinter Cell game... They know how to do it, they have an entire blueprint on the subject! It's called Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory!

Indeed. I'd rather be more inclined to go stealth than into action (which CT did really good), than Con pushing you more into action.

I sort of liked Conviction's marking the targets thing (it sort of makes you feel badass and a bit more like a trained killer), but the whole design was going for action and one of the more annoying parts of it was not being able to move the bodies into the darkness, which more than once forced me into a gun fight instead of stealth.
To be fair, the coop was more interesting in Con, for the same reasons - more action over waiting around.

 

[octafish]

No Ironside, no sale. Throw in how awful Conviction was plus uPlay and putting a producer in charge of the series who is on the record as hating Chaos Theory and not buying Blacklist is the easiest decision of my life.


What is with Sam, does he have the fictional disease that afflictex Benjamin Button or what?

 

[Goofguy]

I guess I would be categorized as a 'panther'. I'll wait until we see more Blacklist content before I decide whether it is a good or a bad thing.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Honestly, I don't mind Ironside not reprising his role as Sam. I think the new guy, Eric Johnson, will do a good job but why didn't they simply cast him as a new character. Having a 30 year old dude voice and mo-cap a guy nearing his sixties is just bizarre. I don't mind a new protagonist.

Probably just to appease the "we don't care if this new guy is 10 times more badass and with 10 times more characterization and emotion! WE WANT SAM FISHER!!!" crowd.

I mean, look what happened with Devil May Cry and Nero.

 

[Zhukov]

If it's possible to just Rambo through the levels, what's the point of being stealthy? Being able to just gun everyone down makes sneaking around feel like a waste of time.

I have this problem with a lot of games that try to be action-y and stealthy at the same time.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I too am bummed about no more Michael Ironside.

Well, I'm still open to getting this game, but it definitely won't be a day 1 purchase. If it gets a good enough reception though from critics and regular players alike, then call me a panther.

 

[BlindChance]

I'm just boycotting it because of the awful torture scene in it; which is just totally uncalled for. I'm sick of stories using torture to appear "edgy". If it turns out that it's not as bad as early reports, I will change my mind.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

But... I liked the black and white filter thingo. I thought it was cool. Anyway, I'm still buying it. Michael Ironside or not.

 

[Spitfire]

Sounds grea- WAIT, NO IRONSIDE?

I loved all of the Splinter Cell games up to Chaos Theory. Conviction seemed to be treading on thin ice in the gameplay department, and now, for Blacklist, Ubisoft is getting rid of Michael Ironside, whose interpretation of Sam Fisher is one of the most iconic things in this series. And why isn't Ironside reprising his role?

Spoiler

It was also announced that series veteran Michael Ironside would not reprise his role as the voice of Sam Fisher, with this part filled instead by actor Eric Johnson, who will also be performing motion capture duties. Ubisoft executives said that the change was made to take advantage of new performance capture technology to create a richer experience, with Ironside assisting Johnson in the role.

"to take advantage of new performance capture technology"

In a supposed stealth game.

Where your maximum level of interaction with other characters should be comprised of you sneaking up to them, and stabbing them in the back.

...

That doesn't sound like a return to form to me, Ubisoft.

Captcha: "identity theft"

Ha!

 

[Krantos]

The much-adored spy vs. mercs competitive mode is also making a comeback, which Béland described as "the easiest decision of [his] life."

Still don't trust them. The troubled development excuse makes sense, though. I mean, I think it's safe to say a lot of us thought for a while that Conviction would be cancelled.

I'm also glad they are at least giving lip service to the different play styles.

I am, however, extremely skeptical. The only gameplay we've seen thus far looks just as structured and action heavy as Conviction was. I mean at one point YOU CALL IN AN AIRSTRIKE! That's not particularly Ghost friendly.

Still, as damage control goes, this press release does the job. I've officially been upgraded from "NOT interested" to "interested, but skeptical."

Good on you, Ubi. I don't want the Splinter Cell series to be ruined. Now just make good on your promises.

I still think you should have started a new protagonist if Ironside wasn't going to be Sam. Let Sam retire, and have the new guy take over. Oh, well, too late now. Gonna miss Ironside, but as long as the gameplay delivers what I want, I'll be happy.

 

[Woodsey]

If it's possible to just Rambo through the levels, what's the point of being stealthy? Being able to just gun everyone down makes sneaking around feel like a waste of time.

I have this problem with a lot of games that try to be action-y and stealthy at the same time.

At least in other games the 'Rambo mode' isn't you literally just pressing a button and downing four guys instantly. It can work, for this I predict it won't work.

OT: Brilliant, can we have a Chaos Theory again please? There hasn't been a stealth-em-up in fucking years. Point-n-clicks are getting more love at this point, and they're the poster child for dead genres.

 

[Krantos]

If it's possible to just Rambo through the levels, what's the point of being stealthy? Being able to just gun everyone down makes sneaking around feel like a waste of time.

I have this problem with a lot of games that try to be action-y and stealthy at the same time.

It's a choice thing.

Take the Hitman Games. You COULD action through and shoot everything, but it wasn't the ideal way to go and was a lot harder than being sneaky.

Actually, now I think of it Chaos Theory let you Rambo through if you wanted too. You even had multiple Load outs you could choose, one of which was titled "ASSAULT."

Personally, I like the option. I'm primarily interested in the stealth/"Ghost" aspect. Unfortunately, a strict stealth game isn't likely to get a full AAA release in today's market. If that means it has to have optional action gameplay, then so be it.

My only problem with Conviction was that the action wasn't optional. That's my worry about Blacklist. As long as I can play stealthy if I want, I have no problem with the game allowing action-based approaches too. I just don't want to be forced into it.