[segadc]

So excited to play this!!!

http://marketplace.x...38840?cid=SLink

[core238]

I played this, early this morning. You'll have to play through it at least twice.

It's a fun demo, but it is way too short - like the crap five minute demos that usually passes for 1st party demos on the PS3 (Heavenly Sword, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, God of War 3, etc.). After playing the hour+ demo, that THQ put together for Darksiders, short demos piss me off all the more.

By the point you really start getting comfortable with the new control layout and play mechanics, the demo comes to an end - and a cheesy end at that. The ending (plus some of the intro narrative) almost put me off buying the game, it is that cheesy. But then I realized after a second play-thru, that all that cheesy crap, was slapped in at the last minute, just for the demo.

Other than that, this game is awesome. The editors at Joystiq have been affectionately calling Conviction, "Badass: The Game", since they got a hands-on with it sometime last year, and I honestly think the name is accurate. The game play in Conviction, once you get used to the changes, is a wicked delight. And the bits of dialog/story that are actually part of the game (and not tacked on, as extraneous parts just for the demo), speak of the high quality we have come to expect from Ubisoft Montreal's handling of the Splinter Cell series.

Played through a third time, just to be sure I was not fanboying out. Each time I approached my objectives in each play-thru, I did so from largely differing routes. Each play-thru, as I grew more comfortable with the new play mechanics, I found better and better ways to take out the bad guys. The first play-thru, I was mostly doing things classic Splinter Cell-style. By the third play-thru, I was completely playing cat & mouse with the game's villains - and it did feel totally like I was the biggest bad ass on the planet. The only thing that could have made the feeling better, was if at some point, by reputation alone, I could have had those guys pissing their pants in fear of me, by the time I dispatched them. Far Cry 2 (another Ubisoft game) did that very well, and the effect was nice. You'd kill off so many of a guys mates, and they'd be terrified of you. There was one other game that did that very well, I can't remember which. The villains in that one, were openly running away from you in feat, by the time you got to them (I really wish I could remember what game that was). But it was a good feeling, and I am surprised that more games do not adopt this type of notoriety mechanic. I could easily see where in Conviction, that would fit perfectly if you are wracking up a lot of stealth kills.

Anyway, the demo is good; short, but good. And you will have to play through it a couple times to really get the gist of what they have done. Definitely keeping my pre-order.

This post has been edited by core238: 18 March 2010 - 10:50 AM

[drstan00]

Thanks for the impressions. I've downloaded it but haven't gotten around to playing it yet.

By the way, if you text the word 'weapon' to 44144 you should receive a response with a code for a 'Secret In-game Weapon'. I tried it and it appears to work. The code is for use in the actual game, not a Xbox Live code.

[Team Andromeda]

Perfect demo , makes you want more .

Loved it (the beating in the Toilets is simply brilliant ) , can't wait for the full game .

[segadc]

It was great but yeah soooo short! Looking forward to the full version. I am glad that you can still play like the old Splinter Cell games which is what I will be doing. Really they didn't even have to release the demo since I was going to buy it either way. Love the Splinter Cell series!!!!

Yeah I text that number and got a code for an in game weapon.

Batman had a similar feature (but probably not as in depth) where the bad guys would get scared as I picked them off.

Definelty, I hope we get even more chances to interrogate.

Oh yeah I need to play it again but I wanted to do a stealth kill ala AC2 but I couldn't. Is there stealth kills in the game. I want to grab a guy and drop him in a hole but instead I just killed him in the open and got caught.

[Jellex]

Great demo. I was already going to buy the game, but it's nice to know the game is as good as the E3 demonstration made it seem.

The restroom interrogation is even more impressive than it has looked in videos I've seen. The interaction with the environment (head smashing through the urinal - lol) and the flashbacks displayed on the walls - so cool.

The gameplay mechanic forcing players to earn marked take-downs via melee kills seems ... a little too contrived, but it's not game-breaking or anything.

[whippingboy]

Yeah I was bummed about having to keep doing takedowns- wasn't expecting that. Try interrogating pushing him on the Restroom stall door to the left.

I need to play this more- I'm not very good at this series and found very few ways to approach a situation.

[Jerome]

I haven't tried the demo yet, but I'm already planning on getting the game. I've finished all the previous Splinter Cell games, with the exception of Double Agent. I haven't beat it yet, but I'm currently going through it. I need to finish it before this one comes out.

Can't wait!

[drstan00]

I got a chance to try it once this weekend. I was really impressed with how well everything worked, but very disappointed in how short it was. I'll have to replay it to take a different path though. I kind of screwed up in my playthrough and used one of the mark and execute powers too early and ended up in a hard spot because a section seemed perfect for mark and execute but I couldn't use it. Probably has a little bit of a learning curve on when it's right to use it.

[Ross]

Has anyone else used their mark and executes to annihilate the one bad guy underneath the EMP by dropping it on his ass?

I'm getting this game for sure, but I agree this demo is WAAAAAYYYYY too short. I've played it at least 3 times just to try all the weapons and approaches.

[segadc]

Get Splinter Cell for $46.99 @ Amazon. Add SPLINTER during checkout and receive $5 off your order.

[core238]

Ross, on 22 March 2010 - 10:15 AM, said:

Has anyone else used their mark and executes to annihilate the one bad guy underneath the EMP by dropping it on his ass?

I'm getting this game for sure, but I agree this demo is WAAAAAYYYYY too short. I've played it at least 3 times just to try all the weapons and approaches.

You can actually take out two enemies with that EMP.