Splinter Cell: Conviction demo analysis

By Richard Leadbetter Published 22 March, 2010

Extraordinary rendition?

Much delayed with rumours of massive re-tooling work behind the scenes, Splinter Cell: Conviction is finally in the last furlong of development and Ubisoft released a playable demo on Xbox Live just a few days ago.

Similar to BioShock and its sequel, Conviction is running using elements of Unreal Engine technology, but it's not the most recent UE3 iteration. Way back when, Ubisoft took an older version of the code and redeveloped it extensively for use in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Rather than migrate to UE3 and re-engineer that, the team instead decided to build new technologies on top of its original code, resulting in the so-called LEAD engine that is the basis for Splinter Cell: Conviction.

If you're interested in the game's renderer and the initial design decisions in what has been a mammoth five-year project, this GDC 2010 presentation from Ubisoft Montreal's Stephen Hill is well worth a few moments of your time.

In it Hill discusses the challenges in moving across from the old technology to the new and describes the tent-pole elements of the new renderer. Every light source in the environment is fully dynamic and can be activated or deactivated, and Ubisoft Montreal has developed its own system of dynamic ambient occlusion.

More recent innovations like SSAO (screen-space ambient occlusion) weren't around when Conviction started its own development cycle, so the team developed its own dynamic iteration. There are some overlaps conceptually with SSAO, but the new approach gives more flexibility to the artists and according to Hill's figures, it's a very fast performer too.

Onto the performance analysis of the available demo code and what we see is a fairly solid run of play from the demo. Frame-rate is fairly consistent in 30FPS territory, with the regular spectre of screen-tear when the engine is under load. Probably the most noticeable example is in the initial cinematic. As there is not so much lateral movement it manifests more as a slight "wobble" as opposed to the phenomenon at its worst.

Overall image quality is bolstered with good shadowmap quality and no noticeable cascade issues, and texture filtering is good too no shimmering textures, showing an accomplished anisoptropic/trilinear combination.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is similar to many other 360 games in terms of performance, targeting 30FPS and dipping out of v-sync before dropping frames.

In the final analysis, around 12 per cent of this test resulted in torn frames, but often it is difficult to notice. In the demo at least, there is little in the way of fast motion, no sudden panning motions and no high contrast colour schemes that would show off the phenomenon more immediately, which brings us on to how basic image composition and deft touches by the developer can visually mitigate the sorts of stats that frame-rate analysis throws up.

The demo has had some plaudits for the clarity of its image quality, but in actual fact the game runs at 1024x576, with just 2x multisampling anti-aliasing (MSAA). This compares with native 720p for the last Double Agent offering (with an edge blur to simulate AA).

The stats for Conviction aren't hugely impressive, but the game is still attractive. Having much of the demo in darkness and with low contrast edges and no overuse of specular helps to keep the more obvious side-effects of going sub-HD less apparent, so in a sense the art direction itself helps.

Alongside that, effects added by the developer work well - a well-realised depth-of-field literally takes close-range shapes that would be prone to showing off badly scaled edges and smoothes them off in a realistic fashion.

The demo is short but sweet, and technologically speaking it looks like being an interesting game. Those looking for a platform exclusive which showcases the strengths of the host console in an Uncharted 2 or God of War III kind of way are going to be disappointed. But Conviction appears to be a release where its charms aren't immediately in your face.

Take the AI for instance: choose a restart point within the demo and check out your opponents' behaviour. These enemies aren't predictable: their exact responses change even when you adopt similar strategies against them. Other more visually apparent technologies, such as the way light and shadow are handled, are all closely entwined with the core gameplay, and while this is showcased to an extent in the demo, it appears Ubisoft Montreal has more tricks up its collective sleeve than are revealed in the sampler.

The developer has talked about Sam Fisher interacting in crowd-based levels, along with level crammed with a ton of individual items and there's also been some discussion about destructible environments, but none of this is seen in the demo. Roll on final review code.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is due out for Xbox 360 on 16th April and PC on 30th April.

Picture of Richard.

About Richard Leadbetter

Rich has been a games journalist since the days of 16-bit and specialises in technical analysis. Commonly known around Eurogamer as the Blacksmith of the Future.

Read more articles from Richard by visiting the Richard Leadbetter archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • womble #1 2 years ago

    I like the overall look of the game, and think the hints system projected on to surfaces is quite ingenious. It gives a very "film" look to the whole experience.

    The resolution is definitely disappointing. Not just sub-HD, but sub-sub HD. And the tearing isn't pretty.

    The mechanics feel fluid, and I liked the tutorial.

    Not a day-one purchase for me, but I'd probably pick this up when it gets to $30 or so, which is typical for me.

    Edited by 1 at 22/03/10 @ 00:08

  • Kestana #2 2 years ago

    I liked the visual style of Conviction. The art direction is superb as well. But the gameplay mechanics have changed too much since the last Splinter Cell. It's a love or hate thing for many Splinter Cell fans.

    I'm also surprised it was running at FF13 resolution. I've played the demo myself and it doesn't look like it's running at that resolution. I can't let numbers toy with what my eyes see. So I still say that this game is a looker, especially after that interrogation scene.

  • karooo #3 2 years ago

    I want to play this on the wii as well : D

  • SniperZoz #4 2 years ago

    It looks quite nice ... have to admit this is one of the few games (demo at least) i didn't realise was sub-hd.

  • LazyNinjaUk #5 2 years ago

    Can't complain about the visuals or the gameplay, but the controls felt very akwardly mapped to me, like having a thumbstick as reload. If they have remapping or a better layout in the options, that will be good.

  • GamesConnoisseur #6 2 years ago

    Sub HD may be a disappointing fact, but didn't realise this was the fact as looked reasonably nice and as per PS3's sub HD of GTA4 is held to be the nicer looking one by some. Unlike FFXIII sub HD as no further advantages was taken in lieu of the spaces freed up.

    A very daring change of direction of SC gameplay in the demo but I m liking it, as need to innovates in some ways.

  • Negotiator #7 2 years ago

    My guess is the sub hd performance has to do with all the dynamic lights in this game, every light in the game is dynamic. That must be a serious hit to the processor, and it looks great any way.

  • funkateer #8 2 years ago

    sub-HD resolutions don't bother me so much if it helps keeping the framerate up. But the fact that it still tears 12% of the time *is* a slight disappointment.
    It still looks great though, and I think I'm going to like this one.

  • Darren #9 2 years ago

    I haven't had a chance to play the demo yet as I'm a Silver subscriber but I have seen video footage of it. It looks OK if a little dated. I did like the way the mission objectives were overlaid on the environment though Fringe-style; looks very cool, although I expect it'll annoy as many people as it impresses.

    Shame there's no PC demo and that the PC build will use Ubisoft's ghastly online DRM, that pretty much put me off buying it on that platform and I'm not sure I want the 360 version either (sub-720p and screen tearing are a bit hard for me to accept these days).

  • youhavenomail #10 2 years ago

    "Those looking for a platform exclusive which showcases the strengths of the host console in an Uncharted 2 or God of War III kind of way are going to be disappointed."

    Especially when they remember it's not a platform exclusive.

  • markymark22 #11 2 years ago

    Its a platform exclusive as much as left 4 dead 2 and mass effect!

  • xgen007 #12 2 years ago

    @ youhavenomail

    lol @"platform exclusive", along with the "console exclusive" bullshit.

  • RodHull #13 2 years ago

    Well I was enjoying the demo and its sublime gameplay dynamics, but now that I know it's sub 720p I don't think I'll be able to play it. I mean I'd never know by looking at it and haven't noticed a single screen tear but the fact someone else has is just as bad! Sub 720p: you might as well be playing on a Spectrum!!!&^&^$*$@:@:@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • VicViper #14 2 years ago

    my tiny 20 inch lcd screen must mask a lot the demo looked great but regardless of the graphics I'm really enjoying the excute gameplay though I do wish it didn't require a stealth hand to hand kill to 'charge' it but then it would likely break the game if you could do it all the time.

  • bluem4gic #15 2 years ago

    Unreal 2 Engine still has bang for buck. Just look at Rainbow Six Vegas Two

  • RodHull #16 2 years ago

    "Unreal 2 Engine still has bang for buck. Just look at Rainbow Six Vegas Two"

    Ditto Bioshock 2

  • KayJay #17 2 years ago

    "Having much of the demo in darkness"
    Cool, so it looks good in the dark. Jesus, I bet even SPAM looks good in the dark... ;-)

  • NightAntilli #18 2 years ago

    @RodHull:

    Well I was enjoying the demo and its sublime gameplay dynamics, but now that I know it's sub 720p I don't think I'll be able to play it. I mean I'd never know by looking at it and haven't noticed a single screen tear but the fact someone else has is just as bad! Sub 720p: you might as well be playing on a Spectrum!!!&^&^$*$@:@:@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Seriously? You didn't notice it before, but now that you know about it, you won't be able to play it? No offense, but that's garbage. You even admitted it yourself that you would never know by looking at it. What difference does it make if you enjoyed the game for what it is? I seriously don't get that.. If you liked the game, who cares if it's sub-hd?

    Now, that does not mean that all the screen tearing is justified, especially when it's sub-HD.. But I seriously don't get that analogy. It's like everything is backwards. If you tell someone smoking is bad for their health, they'll continue smoking anyway. If you tell someone McDonald's makes you fat, they'll keep eating it anyway. If you tell someone a game they enjoyed is sub-HD, suddenly it's the end of the world

    Something' s wrong with y'all..

    Edit: -5? Something is seriously wrong with you all...
    Edited by 2 at 22/03/10 @ 14:47

  • drumbaby #19 2 years ago

    I thought Rod Hull's sarcasm was HD enough for most to get it :0)

  • muscleblade #20 2 years ago

    @Darren

    Your comment is awfully familiar. Do you copy and paste all your new comments from older ones??
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/10 @ 13:10

  • BobsUncle #21 2 years ago

    1024 x 576? Really? That's just a wider version of PAL SD

    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vector_Video_Stan dards2.svg
    ]http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vector...[/link]

    Still, Splinter Cell is awesome.

  • RodHull #22 2 years ago

    @ NightAntilli

    McDonald's makes you fat????!!!! OMG WTF NMMFFM!!!!!!!*****%%%%

  • RustyBullet #23 2 years ago

    The demo left me dissapointed. i am a huge Splinter Cell fan but wtf, the game plays too easy. They have totaly F****d the game play if you ask me, i mean the whole tag and press Y is for me the biggest piss take, If some one needs to be shot then let us do it our selfs.

  • dr_shambles #24 2 years ago

    Haven't played the demo yet, so will reserve judgement.

    Must admit to be disappointed at many other Ubisoft games that all exhibit high levels of tearing.

    Well crafted games like Uncharted 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 manage to avoid it so what gives? Personally think as consumers we should stop buying games without a v-sync option.

  • minimong #25 2 years ago

    @ NightAntilli

    I bet you would make a great limbo dancer as everything goes straight over your head.

  • patchbox360 #26 2 years ago

    just watched the video. hmmm...

    character A - 'fisher is on his way here and he is not happy'

    character B - 'i don't care if he is goddamn ecstactic'

  • BobsUncle #27 2 years ago

    @Kestana

    I'm not too bothered about the low res, I was just suprised it was THAT low.

    Regarding italics, you need angled brackets, not square ones.

  • darren1976 #28 2 years ago

    Just played the demo, quite enjoyable but not sure about the controls and the graphics looked a little off to me.

  • MaoZedong #29 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • messiahtj #30 2 years ago

    We are judging the game over a demo? Let's wait and see when the full game comes (talking about graphics). And about the gameplay, well, I feel while playing like that isn't a Splinter Cell game.

  • the_sas_man #31 2 years ago

    Eurogamer is going to get itself in trouble for that video.

    I'm 25 so I don't give a monkeys, but there is no age warning on that video. The first lines uttered are "fuck you" along with a blokes face being smashed up.

    As said, I don't care, but watch out for the Daily Mail brigade.

  • NightAntilli #32 2 years ago

    @minimong: What are you talking about? My point is simple. Sub-HD doesn't have to ruin the experience. Some of the best games are sub-HD. MGS4, MW2, Halo 3, are all games that sold well and are considered to be the best this generation, and they're all sub-HD. Does that mean Splinter Cell: Conviction falls in that category? Not necessarily, but the point remains that a game does not have to be 720p to be enjoyed by a large number of people.

  • makeamazing #33 2 years ago

    @the-sas-man, so your complaining that the video isnt age rated, but then come onto a website which can also be viewed, and you repeat the said swear words... funny :)

    I do agree that the videos should be rated, but then i also think there is way too much swearing on these boards (people seem to swear at everything)..

    Back on topic, the demo looks interesting (not sure about the intro video, but i like how it zooms through the levels. I would hope that the hints arnt like that in all levels as that would kinda ruin the overall feel of the game... for the initial levels though, its quite ingenious.

  • womble #34 2 years ago

    "Not necessarily, but the point remains that a game does not have to be 720p to be enjoyed by a large number of people."

    Very true. I am disappointed with the low resolution in this game, but it still looks good due to all the lighting and shading work they've done. And, of course, their design decisions to keep things dark as possible while highlighting the interesting stuff.

    I think we're a bit spoilt for choice this year. So many goodies coming out.

  • balflear_pkt #35 2 years ago

    I feel the bias all over the way :/
    If this was a PS3 exclusive it would get hammered.
    Edited by 1 at 23/03/10 @ 01:56

  • Badassbab #36 2 years ago

    That's the problem when developing games for ages using old game engines, the industry move on technically etc. Still, looks like a decent game to play and that's what matters in the end and the graphics are still pretty good.

  • ChuckNorris #37 2 years ago

    @balflear_pkt
    Agreed.

    Also, after playing the demo, I must say that I'm quite disappointed. I'm not against streamlining the experience but it seems like much of the stealthy thrill is missing. The tech was also very dated.

    I was very much looking forward to this but not so much any more... Alan Wake pls be good!

  • photoboy #38 2 years ago

    Played the demo this morning, it certainly doesn't look sub-HD, probably thanks to the moody lighting. I think my only complaint would be the rather low-res textures (maybe they were compressed for the demo?). The camera control could probably do with a sensitivity slider too, it felt too slow most of the time and had a rather large dead zone.

  • the_sas_man #39 2 years ago

    @makeamazing

    The fact is, wherther members of the public provide opinion is one thing, but to have it sourced BY EG is a different matter.

    Why else do you think websites put caveats such as "The following content may be distressing to certain viewers" or "The opinion represented on this board do not represent the opinions of the BBC".

    My point is that the forums (albeit full of swearing) are a different thing altogether from a sourced article by EG with no warning.

  • riseer #40 2 years ago

    Womble, Mgs4 runs 1024x768 its not sub HD.Halo 3 runs around 1024x 556 resolution,seems Splinter Cell will also run sub hd.Without sounding like a fanboy yes the ps3 has games in sub hd.I think devs can pull more outta the ps3.That being said both systems do well.

  • Keivz #41 2 years ago

    Make sure to watch the vid to the very end. Nice.

  • Quixz #42 2 years ago

    Lame!

  • malmer #43 2 years ago

    Ok, this is EPIC! The paper i co-wrote back in -05 is finally getting used in games! I see the reference right there at the last page. Wow...I'm feeling knocked of my feet here...

    Too bad the didn't contact us. There are some extensions you can add to that technology that really knocks you off your feet.

  • kongzi #44 2 years ago

    Hmm.. this game is shaping up to be a disappointment for me. Admitted, the demo is obviously just some tutorial stuff, but wow, how easy was that? I was making all the wrong moves, but it just went on. Shooting guys was too easy so it became almost a confused and confusing third person shooter.
    On top of that I read the campaign is very short, and i wasn't impressed by the graphics. SC"s of old were always impressive looking games, this was just meh.. very meh.

  • martin1841 #45 2 years ago

    @riseer
    ok so you say 1024x768 is not sub HD. Tell me since when? So 1024x768 is new Hd ready standard? HD standard starts at 1280x720 and not less. MGS4 is sub hd game because its not in 1280x720.
    Acroding to international standards HD ready is 1280x720 and Full HD is 1920x1080.
    X resolution is also as important as Y res. Perhaps MGS rising will be in HD standard.

    EDIT
    Oh and Halo 3 is not in 1024x556 is in 1152x640 do some reaserch mate before you say wrong stuff.
    Edited by 2 at 27/03/10 @ 23:05

  • riseer #46 2 years ago

    Martan i looked it up and realized i messed up on the about MGS4,.Halo 3 still runs low sub HD, never looked good to me.The 360 is showing its age,first/second party games look rubbish compared to Ps3 first party/second.Most your first party Ps3 games run 1280x720.Sorry after playing Uncharted 2 and Gow3 graphics goes to the Ps3.Your such a tool i named the two best games on the ps3 and yet you comment about me being a graphics whore.Fk off
    Edited by 2 at 07/10/10 @ 17:13

  • martin1841 #47 2 years ago

    @riseer
    Ok mate let me ask you something. You buying only games with superB graphics? Graphics is the only thing that matters?
    Dragons age was ugly graphicly but awesome as hell.

    Ok i will run like hell and sell my 360 and buy ps3 because ps3 has games with better graphics? LOL and ROLF

    Splinter Cell: Conviction was never described as graphical powerhouse on 360. Halo 3 engine was just bit modified halo 2 engine. Mass effect 2 has awesome graphics. Some sites in previews already comparing alan wake to uncharted 2, kotaku for example.
    I played SC conv. demo few times and i will but it but not day 1 yes game dont look superB but quite good. Sc conv. is using modified UE 2.5 remember that.

    You said "3rd party software means nothing these days" are you on crack or something. I just think that you are graphics whore thats all.

    Edited by 1 at 28/03/10 @ 13:33

  • E2K #48 2 years ago

    Ubisoft can stick this game in it's ass;
    I want full 1280*720 MLAA OA HDR graphics.
    They should release this game for the PS3, and forget about the xbox version.
    It has tearing all over the place even at this resolution! Xbox is showing it's age.

  • pineapple762 #49 2 years ago

    check out old style GRAW2 on the 360. Watch out for me in the new recon.
    http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=7XQRAIggn...

  • Nebula #50 2 years ago

    The game is sub HD but techwise and visually the SSAO, HDR lighting, shadow quailty and more puts this as one of the best looking console games. On PC it is really great looking.
    Edited by 1 at 29/05/10 @ 22:36