Edge has awarded Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction 8/10 in its latest lead review - claiming that the title is 'in reach of greatness'.
The mag is particularly impressed with protagonist Sam Fisher's ability to turn environments into 'torture chambers' at the press of a button.
'[Even] the presence of a piano suddenly fills the room with ominous potential' it reports.
It adds: 'The environments, at their best, are playgrounds for Fisher's lethal abilities, giving him every opportunity to outflank and outwit opponents who otherwise outgun him.'
It calls one particular chase around the Lincoln Memorial Ground 'heart-pumping', and praises the new, less-stealthy style of play. 'As Splinter Cell goes from covert to overt, a new-found dynamism emerges,' Edge reports.
However, the mag finds flaws in the games 'short' single-player campaign - and says that too much of the title is played in new atmospheric monocrome.
'But when Conviction hits its stride, the environments unlock the player's tactical ambitions in a way that's truly empowering,' it adds.
Splinter Cell Conviction is released next Friday in the UK.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=242110
