Most brutal of all are the interrogations. Placed in a confined area with three or four standout objects, Sam can slam his prey against mirrors, urinals, pianos and even brick walls to get the information he needs. Essentially, these boil down to a very simple press of the B button against whichever hard surface you would like to smash the guy into. This gives an insight into the ‘man on fire’ aspect of Sam’s personality without ever dehumanising him – there’s always a very good reason and they’re always very bad people, so it feels justified in context as opposed to needlessly violent.

Conviction also features an impressive upgrade system, where weapons can be equipped with add-ons such as silencers, scopes and larger clip sizes. Points are earned through the plentiful P.E.C. challenges, ranging from repeated activities such as vanishing silently or performing executions to one-time actions such as throwing an unfortunate soul straight through a closed door. These challenges extend to the Deniable Ops mode, where you’re tasked with taking out rooms of enemies in locations separated from the main story. Points come flooding early on but once the quest is finished and you find yourself upgrading for achievements and the Uplay Infiltration mode, things start to become far more challenging. While replay is encouraged, the levels are too linear to draw anyone but the most die-hard fans back repeatedly – a fact compounded by the numerous cutscenes, only some of which are skippable.

Co-op extends the life of the game considerably, which clocks in at around eight hours otherwise. Taking the reigns of Archer and Kestrel, you and a friend can move through the shadows popping lights, breaching doors simultaneously and interrogating key personnel. Online ranges from competent to downright laggy and we even suffered from the occasional lost connection. Thankfully split-screen has been implemented, which comes highly recommended given the fundamental need to rely on each other. Co-op can be particularly dark, even compared to the single-player story mode and this serves as an indicator that you’re doing things right; should colour flood the screen for more than a few second it probably won’t be long before you bite the big one and need to reload. It’s still an enjoyable experience and comes wholly recommended to anyone looking for a change of pace from the usual deathmatch offerings.

With a truly superb stealth mechanic coupled with the more modern trappings of cover-to-cover and immediate, explosive thrills, Tom Clancy’s latest doesn’t just have a lot to recommend it – it stands as a testament to how modern stealth-actioners should be done. The graphics may disappoint those looking for the beauty seen in other titles of late but its visual strength lies in the artful use of light and shadow. True enough, when things are going smoothly it can get very dark, very quickly and stay that way until the situation changes. There are a few standout locations such as a carnival surrounding the Washington Monument and a memorable chase around the Lincoln Memorial but overall, the result is a game that’s far more enjoyable to play than it is to watch and, as such, should not be judged on trailers and gameplay videos alone.

Splinter Cell Conviction may still demand patient planning but when a well-conceived scenario pays off and the air fills with the cries of frightened soldiers, the sense of empowerment becomes palpable – indeed outright addictive. Sneak to your local store and grab yourself a copy – the Fisher is back and he’s better than ever.

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