| X09 - Hands on With Modern Warfare 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction |
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MSXBOX-WORLD recently got the chance at X09 in Toronto Canada, to see some of the latest titles that will be hitting your Xbox 360. While there were many games on display, we had the unique opportunity to get hands on time with Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 and Ubisoft's upcoming Splinter Cell Conviction.
Modern Warfare 2:
Activision had Infinity Ward developer Joel Emslie hidden behind a black curtain along with a copy of Modern Warfare 2. After taking a seat we watched Joel run through a single player level that started with the player climbing up a mountain of sheer ice. We noted that Modern Warfare 2's single player campaign appears to be very story driven, even more so than Call of Duty 4. The first enemy to be taken out showed us how well done the rag doll physics in the game actually are which we later found out are actually motion captured. The enemy wasn't finished however, he started crawling away trailing blood, but not before whipping out a pistol to take some pot-shots at Joel. We noted that as the player took damage blood hit the screen acting as a damage indicator which is really a nice touch.
Modern Warfare 2 is going to have some truly enormous levels thanks to improved texture streaming. Draw distance and depth are also increased by far. Joel indicated the team's mantra has always been 60 frames per second - meaning that even with all the improvements the game will still run as smooth as butter.
After watching Joel play through a level of single player we had the privilege of actually getting hands on time doing co-op in the new Spec Ops mode. Spec Ops is going to take as long to complete ( if not longer) as the single player campaign and can be played alone for the most part although 2 levels will require a second player.
Players should be aware that the enemy AI in Spec Ops is extremely sophisticated. During our playtime we found ourselves pinned down multiple times and hostiles flanking us from multiple points. It was fun as hell to be honest and brought back that same 'feeling' (the this-is-omg-awesome feeling) we originally had the first few months of playing Call of Duty 4.
Splinter Cell Conviction:
Splinter Cell Conviction we didn't get to play ourselves but instead go to watch lead designer Steven Masters run through the second level of the game.
The first thing that really struck us was how different the gameplay seemed from previous versions. Those of you hoping for a spiritual successor to Splinter Cell Chaos Theory will have to keep on hoping. Splinter Cell Conviction takes the old style of gameplay and throws it out the window. In Splinter Cell Conviction the focus is still on stealth, but as Steve put it 'action stealth'. From what we observed stealth now represents a means to an end, namely, getting into the right position before taking out an entire room of baddies. The game definitely has a more 'action' feel to it, and it remains to be seen how fans of the previous title will feel about this change.
Steve Masters stated he had 3 goals behind the development design of the game:
The first goal was to tell a personal story about Sam, bring character to forefront of experience and tell what happened after last title.
Steve's second goal was to tell the story in much more involved way. This was accomplished by keeping the player inside the experience. The game features projected text, protected movies, interrogation story all designed very purposely to not break the overall immersion of the title.
Steve's third goal was to take the nature of stealth game play and turn it's on it's head. No longer defensive in nature, the experience in this game has changed to be much more dynamic and action oriented without compromising the stealth roots. The goal was to make the game more offensive in nature, and in this aspect they have definitely succeeded.
The game features a robust mark and execution system - players have to kill one hostile in hand to hand combat which allows them to auto execute the rest of their marks. Depending on the weapon Sam is currently holding, may increase the amount of marks available to be used and hostiles can be marked using either line of sight or a thrown camera. The effect of this system is that players will spend a ton of time in stealth trying to position themselves as best they can to make the kill. There will be tons of crawl spaces and other places to hide while positioning for kills. which fans of stealth games should enjoy.
Perhaps the most interesting addition to the game is the introduction of an interrogation system -- a nice way of saying 'torture¯'. Ubisoft should be commended for touching on a subject matter that some games fear to tread. How it works is that once Sam has an enemy incapacitated he can demand information from them. Enemies may not be forthcoming at which point a knee to the groin or a forehead against cement can suddenly make the hostile much more talkative and cooperative. Players will see the physical abuse the enemy is taking as they are beat down by Sam.
As we mentioned, torture is a means to and ends in this game. Once hostiles break down and talk Sam will be thrust into a projected movie similar to Prototype/s Web if Deceit. Unlike Prototype however the player will not once be taken out of the game to view these movies, instead getting a view of Sam with the movie playing out in the background behind him. It's hard to explain but I can assure you it looked fantastic.
The single player campaign will take 10 - 12 hours to complete. We would have liked to have learned more about multiplayer but unfortunately Steve wasn't talking. He did leave us with these cryptic words however "You will be happy"
We hope so Steve we sincerely hope so! Be on the lookout for Splinter Cell Conviction due out in February 2010.
Posted By: Scott Strickland
Date: 2009-10-12
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