The Rules are Changing
Sam Fisher can no longer rely on his trusted bag of tools and iconic goggles. He's gone beyond being a double agent. Now he's a fully fledged fugitive without the intel of 3rd Echelon or the support of his friends. Those custom gadgets can't be found at your local hardware store. This time around, Fisher is going to need more than just a dark corner to survive. It's a whole new game and we'll be taking an in-depth look at five ways it has changed over the next few days. If you thought you knew what Splinter Cell was, get ready to see how UbiSoft is changing all of the rules.Meet the New Sam Fisher
Georgian rebels came to know a burnt out light bulb as more than just a simple nuisance. Or at least the ones who survived did. That's because the shadows were the home of Sam Fisher, spy extraordinaire. With deadly efficiency and a knack for going under the radar, Fisher followed the orders from Third Echelon like any good solider would: without question. But what about the man behind the mask? With new gameplay comes a new Sam Fisher, the focus of our second of five Splinter Cell Conviction features.Hiding in Broad Daylight
UbiSoft doesn't want you to feel like you're playing one of the Splinter Cell games of the past when you boot up Splinter Cell Conviction this holiday season. In the fifth installment of a series that defined itself by the light and dark stealth dynamic, shadows will offer no protection. While new lighting techniques are being put into action in Conviction the gameplay will no longer revolve around them. This third of five Splinter Cell Conviction features looks at how the crowd works as the new shadows as well as how lighting techniques for Conviction are being given the "next-gen" treatment.The Dynamic Environment
Sam Fisher is a wanted fugitive. Shadows will no longer afford him the sanctuary he once enjoyed. His enemies are constantly searching for him, forcing Sam to do his best to blend in to his surroundings. But sometimes, even the best fugitives get noticed. That's when things start to get interesting. The fourth of IGN's five days of Splinter Cell looks at how Sam can interact with the environment. And how it will react back.IGN Coverage
Uncle
Heh, in the mag they say that the devs are trying to make the fighting similar to the fights in the Bourne movies.
zoukka
Sam is pretty pissed off to the organisation he worked in. He kinda tries to quit, and he becomes a FUGITIVE. Outlaw if you will. A woman she knows gets kidnapped and he goes for the rescue by himself. Without any support from anywhere and without his equipment. The emphasis on SC5 is using your surroundings. Apparently every single object in the game is usable and uses real physics. The developers have put really big amount of work on making the animations on SC5 the best there are. For example Sam can grab a chair while running and there is not a single/multi pre-made animations for this event. The chair has a certain amount of points where it can be grabbed and the "animation-motor" adjusts Sams arms so the animation is fluid and realistic. The Journalist who tested the game said it was still not finished, but the animations looked way better than ANYTHING he had ever seen in a game. Sounds great.
Sam cant kill cops, guards and such, but he can kill terrorists and other bad guys. He has a very good set of close combat skills and can push. and throw people around and this way knock them unconscious. (is that how its spelled?)
The demo level was a park with about 300 civilians. Sam had to make his way to a computer in a bar/office or something. Midst the crowd was some security personnel who were searching Sam. The devs told Pelaaja, that they tried to make the game so, that the gamers has free will over how the game progresses. So there isnt just a couple of linear and scripted ways to play the game. Sam could just blend in to the crowd easily and it was important not to show his face. Sam could "shadow" a person thus making his way to the Computer or he could smack some civilians causing a fuzz in the crowd. He could even blow up a gas tank and thus wreak panic among people. Making it easy to move through the crowd. If Sam causes too much ruckus though, the guards call some reinforcements from the company Sam worked. And they kill on sight.
CHOICE is another big aspect of the game for example if you get caught with another dude (a merchant of sorts/informant etc) you can decide if to help him/her to escape or to leave him to the cops. Of course he/her wont be there for you later on in the game.inoperativeRS
- No more sneaking around in the shadows. Apparently you're going to be more like James Bond and infiltrate buildings in plain daylight. You won't have to use force or sneak around as long as you don't act suspiciously.- According to the article, every single object that is rendered on screen has physical properties and most of them can be used by Sam. For example, Sam can pick up furniture and use it as a weapon, or throw printers at enemies or papers in the face of enemies to gain the upperhand in fights.
- Melee fights are much more than "press this button to hit" this time around. There's different context sensitive attack buttons and as mentioned before lots of environmental interaction.
- Those are the most important things in there. Ubi also claims the AI is really good and the magazine says the AI for example makes cover out of chairs and tables.
szaromir
* So by now you know Sam comes back to help out a Grim, but doesn't like what's going down at the "new" 3rd Echelon. He is an enemy of the state, fighting for what he believes in. He's on the run with limited resources. He's alone but not defenseless. At the same time, he's not a victim a fugitive or in hiding; he's fighting for his convictions (hence the title).
* The screenshots are AWESOME! The environments look totally interactive. In one shot, it appears he punched or threw a guy who then lands on a counter and knocks over cups and plates while civilians are scattering. Conviction uses Havok physics, but all the original code has been rewritten.
* "In previous games, we had 2,000 or 3,000 animations, now we already have over 10,000."
* The pace of the game is going to be changed. The devs want to create 15-minute playable segments so it's a little more accesible to casuals, but they promise you can still sit down with it for a few hours if you like. Hopefully they find a balance that still keeps you immersed.
* Previous SC games were about "passive stealth" where you hide in the shadows and wait for a perfect opportunity to strike. In conviction, the idea is "active stealth" where you react quicky to your surroundings. You'll always be on the move. Again it's mentioned that Ubi wants to give Sam more ways to interact with the environment instead of just shooting or turning off lights.
*The animation system is based on the concept of Biometrics which just means getting the character to move naturally and fluidly. They mention how they want to eliminate pressing a button to pick something up and seeing Sam slide into place in front of the object before he interacts with it. They say an animation of Sam running up to a chair, picking it up and throwing it took 8 months to work out. I'd be willing to be they got it right. The screens of him progressing through the animation look very good. Also, there will be physics tied to the chair Sam is holding, so you'll bump into things with the chair and it won't just go through a wall.
* The original games went for a T rating from the start, but this time, they're going for an M rating so things should be a little more realistic. They mention how this could have an interesting impact on Sam's finishing moves.
* They mention a sort of hypothetical gameplay situation where Sam takes out a guard with some crazy melee combos. He then grabs the guard and throws him through a pane of glass or over a table (knocking over all the stuff on the table). Sam grabs the guard's radio and listens in on police radio chatter. He hears that they're sending in police after him through the front door. Sam opens the back door but doesn't go through; instead, he hides under a table, a guard walks in and investigates the open door. At that point, Sam could sneak out the front door, or he could knock over the table he's hiding behind, use it for cover and open fire on the guard. OR he could sneak up on the guard, handcuff him to a rail and kicks him down a flight of stairs. wow.
* When you are detected, there's no limit to what you can do. All the tools you use are available in your immediate surroundings. Sam doesn't have a backpack of gadgets this time. Use what's around you and improvise to get out of a sticky situation.
* About the beard: Originally, Fisher was created with a beard in the very first game.
* New form of lighting called indirect lighting means that the way light reflects off your surroundings affects how light is cast on you and nearby objects. Light reflecting off a large red poster will cast nearby things in a slight tint of red.
* There will still be a lot of clasic SC moments like planting bombs or hacking computers, but the gratification won't necessarily come from completing the objective, but the path you take to the objective.
* Crowd AI will react to Sam's behavior. For example, Sam can steal a guy's laptop, but the guy will follow Sam and call for the police. Nearby witnesses will also point Sam out to nearby police. Sam can blend into the crowd in certain situations to avoid detection. The crowd AI is pretty smart. You won't see NPCs walk into each other, spaz out, then walk away in totally opposite directions. People move out of the way of objects intelligently.
* Sam has an ability called Heroes Instinct where the crowd and surroundings become greyed out and threats such as police are made to standout. Assassin's creed anyone?
No MP details were given aside from the fact that Montreal is doing that aspect of the game as well, so they aren't going to split SP and MP between two dev studios.Excerpts/paraphrases from various magazines (Pelaaja, GameInformer I think)
Renders/Screens
Hobo-Sam artwork
(click for more and larger images)
Environmental artwork
As you can see this game is clearly awesome.
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