Splinter Cell: Conviction Post Mortem – Part 2

Wild Gunmen interviewed the director of Splinter Cell: Conviction about Metal Gear Solid 4, game design and why he thinks the DLC is gonna be good.

[Joule]

Yeah Kojima is very story driven, best series is the MGS series.

[ShinMaster]

Conviction lost a lot its stealth elements. And whenever there was a moment for a stealth approach, it was pretty much already set up for you.

With MGS4 on the other hand, if you tried, you could definitely sneak that sh--.

[IcarusOne]

But I was definitely able to stealth some of those Conviction levels without ever being seen. Sure, it was put on a diet (I like the way he says "fast stealth") but the core design is still there.

IMO Snake plays looser than Sam, but that's just me. Maybe it's the controller.

[iiprotocolii]

Playing both games, I think that each game has it's own element that separates it from the other. Personally, I felt that MGS4 required much more espionage than Conviction. After beating Conviction on Realistic, it just didn't seem better than the older ones, where they were *much* more interactive. Sure, it was a good game. But it just wasn't the Splinter Cell I expected.

I think IcarusOne said it best - it [Conviction] was put on a diet. Sure MGS4 had a much more cinematic feel; but it also had a much more somewhat realistic approach with regard to being stealthy.

[zetsuei1]

More 20 years to get close and produce a masterpiece such as MGS4.

Its almost unfair to compair Splinter Cell to MGS. MGS own in every aspect:

Sound (Can you remember at least one original music from Splinter Cell?! I can't, but i can give you at least 5 great musics from MetalGear).

Story (Can you remember any boss from SC?! I can't even though i played all of them but Well i can remember ALL BOSSES from Metal Gear because all of them was too much awesome!)

Gameplay Do i need to say that MGS4 and MGS3 was the best in its kind?! No not really.

Online - i still play MGO a lot!

Best Cut-scenes?! Better Value?! Obvious answer.

So, this guy needs to be more humble when he is talking about some other work, cuz he ain't shit compared to Kojima.

[bobcostus]

I didn't really like MGS4 to be honest. MGS1 2 and 3 are amazing, but something about 4 just didn't do it for me.

[IcarusOne]

Did you ever play Chaos Theory? One of the first true next-gen games.

SC was the first stealth game to use the controllable 3rd person camera, which for me changed everything. I'm a big MGS fan, but I wasn't thrilled by the gameplay until MGS4 when it finally got a controllable 3rd person camera.

I love MGS but lately it's been pushing my limits in terms of cutscene length and verbal diarrhea. Minus cutscenes, I completed MGS4 in 8 hours. And my friend and I spent almost twice that going through Conviction's coop campaign. How long was MGS4's coop campaign? Oh. It didn't have one.

Better value. But I'm sure Kojima-san appreciates you so ardently defending his ego and self-perceived genius.

[Eamon]

lol Kojima doesn't even speak english.

But, I think MGS is the best stealth series. Much more tactical than Splinter Cell Conviction.

And I loved the story and lengthy cutscenes.

[NYC_Gamer]

nothing from ubisoft will ever be on the same level as MGS...

[ClownBelt]

QFT.

[tavo1117]

WTF, this guy must be nuts. MGS4 is the best game i've played because it can be played in many ways. You are able to decide whether you shoot everyone or you can try to get unnotice trough the entire game, besides the cutscens are a plus. If we take off the cutscens from MGS4 it's still longer than Conviction.

[Man In Black]

People criticize MGS4 for being too action-orientated, when sneaking is well-rewarded. I bet they haven't even played it on Solid Normal difficulty.

[A change in the wind]

Conviction is not even worthy of being compared to MGS4. It was extremely simplified and watered down, and it held your hand the entire way through.

[crapgamer]

Conviction was far better then MGS4 IMO. I couldn't stand the direction MGS4 took. You can beat the game in under 2 hours if you skip the cut scene movies. There were very little actual stealth in the game.
It's like asking people do they want to watch a movie about stealth (MGS4) or do you want to play in a game about stealth (SCC)? The answer is clear.

[Timesplitter14]

You can beat MGS4 in 5 hours by running through the game and timing everything perfectly. This means you must be an expert and you've completed the game before.

You can beat Conviction in under 6 hours on your first try and taking your time.

And exactly where do you see stealth in Conviction? Because you have a silenced pistol to kill everyone easily? Because you can climb conveniently-placed pipes in every level? Because you can see ennemies through walls? Conviction doesn't even have alerts, which make stealth almost pointless. You just kill everyone and you're done. MGS4 had far better stealth and a lot more variety in the tactics you could use.

[solidsnake222]

psh, they call MGS4 a shooter, well I don't call Conviction a stealth game. You can't hide bodies like in MGS or other SC games, and you are usually forced to take out enemies in Conviction, not sneak around like in MGS and other SC games.

[Timesplitter14]

I loved past Splinter Cell games, but this one not so much. There was little to no stealth, 6 hours of gameplay, and a story no one will remember.

Past SC games were REALLY stealth-centric. The story was crap like in every Tom Clancy game but that didn't matter because it was really all about the gameplay. And they lasted longer.

It makes me laugh when the guy says that MGS4 came out more as a shooter to him, because that's what Conviction is : a shooter. During the whole game you just take cover and headshot everyone in the room. MGS4 is only a shooter if you play on easy and don't want to unlock anything.

[ToastyMcNibbles]

he probably feels its a shooter because he must've played mgs4 as a shooter.. its the thing i absolutely loved about mgs4 was that you were given so many ways to approach an area..if you wanted to sneak you had tons of options available to sneak.. if you wanted to shoot up they offered you tons of ways to play it as a shooter... kojima productions made mgs4 more modern with complete third person control and over the shoulder aiming so that it can benefit the players who wanted to play it as a shooter but the options were there

talking about the game makes me want to play through it again because it was really such a masterpiece of a game.. every act had a different feel and different play style to it but in the end it always gave the player choice on how to approach the situation

by the way i love how he indirectly tries to take shots at mg4 with his choice of words lol.. at least thats how i took it