Splinter Cell: Conviction

Delay is seldom a good sign. The games industry's position as the preeminent "popular" art form, having usurped both music and movies, means that as well as the substantial-going-on-vulgar profits available, there are also the same indicators as to a project's state of health as apply to music (umpteenth remix, for example) or movies (second director fired, seven different names on the script). Think of the Stone Roses' Second Coming . Think of 1998's The Avengers . Delayed and delayed, and then delivered – to indifference at best and heartfelt raspberries at worst. Which brings us to Splinter Cell: Conviction . It's no Avengers , obviously, but there has been enough trouble and strife since this fifth (or sixth, if you count 2006's PSP-only SC: Essentials ) instalment in the by-the-numbers stealth-and-action series was announced in 2007 to put industry watchers on high alert. In 2007, SC: C was to be a decisive break from its predecessors, with lead character, Sam Fisher, trading an awful lot of lurking alone in the dark for interaction in populous localations, sometimes in broad daylight. It then all went terribly quiet for two years. Last June saw a relaunch of the rebranding, with Fisher returned to the darkness where, let's be honest, he prefers it. Ubisoft was none the less determined to bring something new to the Splinter Cell franchise, which is why what was once an honest stealth/action sneak-up-and-strangle-'em affair is now more like the story of a poorly dressed ninja with the ability to locate, target and dispatch an adversary as casually as he might pick his nose. It's these game-play changes that rankle most. What is this "mark and execute" nonsense? Now that Fisher's omnipotent to the point where he can case the room, identify targets and slaughter them before they've so much as heard his loafers creaking, where exactly is the stealth, the tension, the challenge? What's the point now? And don't even get me started on "last known position". Suffice to say, Fisher's become a mind-reader. There's been a film of Splinter Cell in the pipeline since 2004, when Paramount bought the rights. Names have periodically been named as far as writers, directors and even actors go. No release date exists. I'm just saying.