There's a lot more than 5 hours worth of entertainment in Ubisoft's Splinter Cell Conviction. Read on.
Five hours of Splinter Cell Conviction only scratches the surface
What's wrong with gamers today? If a game is too long a vast number of gamers simply don't finish it, although hardcore gamers (the very small minority in the grand scheme of things) will undoubtedly finish every game they play. If it's too short, then the same hardcore gamers moan and complain like there is no tomorrow. In some instances, dropping $60 or £40 on a game which seemingly can be beaten in an afternoon might be considered poor value for money, and if a game is only playable once then sure we'd have to agree. However, it seems since IGN posted their review of Ubisoft's Splinter Cell Conviction on Friday, the hardcore masses are in uproar. It's perhaps easy for them to ignore the fact that many casual gamers do not have the time to pump hours upon hours into a game, and this is possibly why game lengths have become shorter in general compared to times past. It's a known fact as already mentioned that many casuals (more than you would think) don't finish games.
Differences between casual and hardcore gamers aside, it appears the comments from the IGN review have been blown all out of proportion, and as the hardcore fraternity are the most vocal with the moaning, they are seemingly forgetting that Splinter Cell Conviction doesn't end once the credits roll for the story mode.
DIFFICULTY:
Splinter Cell Conviction offers three levels of difficulty, Rookie, Normal and Realistic. For gamers used to shooters and stealth games, playing through on Normal is probably going to net you the 5 hours or more playtime as suggested. What's more, gamers looking for a greater challenge for their first play through should head to the OPTIONS and turn OFF the WAYPOINT INDICATOR - perhaps Ubisoft have shot themselves in the foot with this, because although helpful to casual players does make navigation a piece of cake, rather than letting gamers explore the levels themselves, like in the previous games of the series. The game also offers a level select and the option to replay levels on a harder setting. Not everyone is going to do this but at least the option is there and can effectively double the 5 hours playtime. Those who start the game on the hardest setting for a first play are also going to extend the playtime considerably.
REPLAY VALUE:
The way Conviction is designed means that using the level select, you're able to play your favoured scenes again and again. In addition, the option to choose load-outs for specific play styles is also available. Want to try running and gunning through Kobin's Mansion, then you can do this. If you favour not using the Mark & Execute feature, or remaining undetected you can try this also - there are simply many ways you can tackle each mission which warrants playing through them several times. The game offers PEC challenges which net you points that can be used to upgrade weapons and costumes. You're not going to complete all these unless you play the game more than 5 hours.
DENIABLE OPS:
The single player experience is extended with the rather snazzy Deniable Ops which although can be played co-op via Xbox Live or split-screen, can also be played OFFLINE SOLO. There are three modes of play here, Hunter, Last Stand and Infiltration (unlocked via pre-order or Uplay). The Deniable Ops can offer infinite replay value as there are simply limitless ways these can be played. Each of the six levels are broken down into stages and can take up to an hour to complete, possibly more if you're a purist wanting to play with no detections on Realistic settings - there's even an achievement for this. What's more, the design of this mode means that playing through each time will have different guard layouts, so remains fresh each time you play. There are also option to turn off gadgets, have pistols only alongside self imposed restrictions such as using un-silenced weapons only.
We've only really touched upon the single player aspects of the game, not mentioning the additional co-op campaign which offers up to four hours or more play time, and the adversarial Face Off mode which again can offer limitless amounts of replay value. So to conclude, that for your $60 a five hour experience is simply not good enough, yet what gamers need to look at is the entire package, and remember that there's far more than 5 hours worth of entertainment with this game.
http://www.msxbox-world.com/xbox360/news/article/12033/Splinter-Cell-Conviction-5-hour-claims-are-Bull****.html
