Man of Conviction

So I've been playing the hell out of Splinter Cell: Conviction since last week. I have to say, a lot of the negativity I've seen from previous fans of the series is unwarranted. Being a big fan of the series I was a bit wary, but it's nowhere near as severe as people make out. I've heard complaints about things like forced firefights....um, they had those in since the first Splinter Cell. The argument of "no stealth" is also a bunch of crap, you can be as stealthy as you want shooting out lights and sticking to the shadows for silent headshots or takedowns. The game just doesn't always punish you if you get seen (aside from one area each in the singleplayer and co-op story where detection is game over), and allows you tools to either get hidden again or use your exposure to your advantage. It really is quite an amazing game. Of course, if you only play through the single player campaign, then you're losing out on where the real value is: Co-op.
 
Co-op's story mode is pretty great and it's nice to have objectives as you move from place to place, but the real treat, imo, is Hunter mode. Anyone who's a fan of Rainbow Six Vegas or Vegas 2 knows what fun Terrorist Hunt is (especially on realistic). I've lost countless hours, mostly split-screen, playing Terrorist Hunt with friends. To me, Hunter mode is like an evolution of that. For one, it's a continuous set of areas that are all attached via corridors and rooms that contain weapon stashes, so there's a constant progression without having to get back to the lobby menu. Also, the fact that although there are only 10 guys in each of five areas, this number doubles if anyone gets detected. Now sure, it's fun to bust through all silent and try to take everyone out stealthily, but hey, having more dudes for you and your partner to kill isn't really a downer at all. 
 
It's amazing the sorts of crazy stuff you can pull off with a partner as well. The number of times we've managed to just save each others ass by headshotting or meleeing an approaching enemy that the other teammate didn't see, performed a double execution that takes out 8 guys at once, have one teammate who's down headshot an enemy who's choking the other teammate so that he can get free and revive him. These are just a few of the crazy situations you'll find yourself in.
 
Realistically, I could see myself continue to play this game for months provided there are new maps, guns, etc released to keep it somewhat fresh. The gameplay is fantastic and the sense of teamwork, power and camaraderie you get are unprecedented for me in a game like this. I would highly suggest checking it out, it's really worth it.