Round 1
Welcome to another addition of the Blend Games Weekly Battle. This time around we’re previewing and comparing the upcoming Splinter Cell: Conviction and the remarkably well-crafted Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Like before, we’re joined by a few staff members from the reputable UK online gaming news outlet, Electronic Theatre.
So here’s how this will work: there will be three rounds, and one round per week. We’ll compare the features of both games and take a look at what makes one more buy worthy over the other. You can further voice your opinion with the poll or comment box provided below. And as if the headline and images weren’t obvious enough this week we’ll be covering multiplayer versatility. All right, let’s get this thing started.
Splinter Cell: Conviction:
BG – Ryan: These games are way too different to compare! Climbing up a ledge and shooting a guy in Splinter Cell is so much more of a unique experience than climbing up a ledge and shooting a guy in Uncharted!
ET - Kev J: Splinter Cell Conviction is about to change the way you look at multi-player spy games, and that’s even with the PlayStation 3 exclusive The Agency on the calendar. Featuring a co-operative mode entirely removed from the single-player campaign as well as versus bouts, in areas populated by civilians, Splinter Cell: Conviction builds on everything you’ve experienced in previous games with the added grunt of the Current-Generation’s horsepower.
BG – William: Aside from agreeing with Ryan, I think Splinter Cell may differentiate itself more-so with multiplayer from Uncharted 2 than with the single-player. Mainly because the inclusion of civilians and the option to utilize the environment against foes adds a whole new depth and layer to the basic co-op modes and deathmatch. Side-by-side I’d have to tip my hat in favor of Conviction only for the fact that standard run-and-gun is an option, but the inclusion of multiplayer stealth amongst a throng of people in the streets is kind of original and cool.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
BG – Ryan: What a ridiculous comparison! How can you compare a third person shooter with climbing mechanics to a third person shooter with climbing mechanics and an outdoors setting?!"
BG - William: Even though you climb around on things and shoot people in both games the action is a little more frantic in Uncharted 2. This faster pace is probably the bigger cooperative difference between Splinter Cell: Conviction, despite the fact that the gameplay and character operation in Conviction is far more acade-y than previous Splinter Cell games. Even though both games have cover mechanics and melee attacks, I think Uncharted 2 seems more multiplayer friendly given its fluid control scheme and butter-smooth animations. However, I think it may lack some of the depth for playing-style options and environment manipulation featured in Conviction.
ET – Dan: Co-operative play, team-based multi-player and Deathmatch modes are promised for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, with much more besides. Gunplay works well enough in the original Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and in the beta test we’ve already seen it works even better here. Players need to take advantage of cover, hiding behind brick walls, firing blindly when it's needed. Platforming action is even involved, giving you an advantage just when you need it most, but exposing the player whilst on the way up. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves plays like a cross between Gears of War’s gunplay and Prince of Persia’s Platform action in multi-player, and offers one of the most diverse set of tactics imaginable because of it.
Voting Time! You’ve read over the details and you can check out both games in action below. It’s time to place your vote for which game you look forward to most when it comes to multiplayer versatility. And be sure to stay tuned in next week for round 2.
Round 1 compares multiplayer versatility. Which game offers multiplayer options that get you pumped?
**Voting can be done at the source**
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Welcome to round 2 of our three part series of “Vs” articles between Splinter Cell: Conviction and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
In the words of Ryan Rigney from last week’s round, “What a ridiculous comparison! How can you compare a third person shooter with climbing mechanics to a third person shooter with climbing mechanics and an outdoors setting?!"
Well, it’s true Ryan, we are comparing these games despite their vast dissimilarities of climbing up ledges and shooting people and stealthily climbing up ledges and shooting people. Nevertheless, that’s not stopping us from distinguishing one game from the next and seeing which of the two gamers are looking forward to the most. So without further ado, let’s get this thing started.
Which game do you think will be more likely to be replayed? Which game will offer more single-player goodness or multiplayer greatness that just keeps drawing you back in? Which game will be less likely to collect dust? Well, describing these features for both games is something we couldn’t just tackle alone, so joining us in this comparison is Electronic Theatre’s ManPac and Dan. You can read up on the details below, check out the videos below the details and vote below the videos. 
Splinter Cell: Conviction
ET – ManPac: Splinter Cell: Conviction has been a long time coming. Originally unveiled back in 2005 prior to the launch of the Xbox 360, the game disappeared off the radar only to reappear earlier this year in a totally new guise. This new presentation has taken so long to reach a presentable format simply because of how open the game appears to be. The player is allowed to tackle each mission objective in any way they see fit; fancy interrogating an enemy via a face-to-mirror combination? How about the sink? Maybe a knee to the crotch? While each opportunity may lead to similar end results, players are set to be granted an unprecedented amount of freedom within a world set against them. This, of course, opens each and every objective up to repeated playthroughs, as each time you may wish to take a different course of action.
BG – Willam: The Last Known Positon™ and multiple ways of interrogation definitely add a new sense of replayability to the game. The real question is how many times can you smash a man’s head against the window before it gets boring? Nevertheless, the fact that Splinter Cell games always offered up multiple ways of tackling a stage, the single-player portion alone should measures up to at least three play-throughs given the open-world structure and the newly added takedown mechanics.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
ET – Dan: I love Uncharted. I love the level design, the longwinded mission structure and the extreme Platforming. I replayed my favourite levels in the first Uncharted more times than I care to remember. Now imagine this with co-op. Add in multi-player supporting ten players through a variety of game modes, and you’ve got one hell of a varied game packaged. The Uncharted 2: Among Thieves beta gave us a taste of what to expect, and being as sweet as it was there’s no doubt that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will take over my life when it launches. Buy it, and it will own yours too.
BG – William: I might have to give this round to Uncharted 2. I think that despite Splinter Cell’s multi-approach to each level and ability to stealth or gun through a scenario, Uncharted’s epic movie-like approach to the general gameplay design is more than likely to influence people to play the game again. It’s almost like watching a favorite movie every so often that you just can’t get enough of…and that’s exactly how the replay factors seem to be for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Voting Time!
You’ve read the details and the videos are there for you to check out below. Time to pick which game you think you would be more likely to play again and again and again. And remember to stay tuned in with Blend Games for our final week in comparing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves with Splinter Cell: Conviction.
The second round is all about which game do you think will be worth playing over again?
You can vote for the game with the best replay value on the site..
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