Conviction

I love stealth games. I'm not 100% sure why, but I'm pretty sure its because I'm a self-trained ninja (I have an ad out on craigs list if you're interested in hiring me). The Splinter Cell conviction demo was released not too long ago, and although i had to clear some hard-drive space off my X-box, I was able to partake in its stealthy goodness.

All in all, I'm extremley pleased with what I was able to play. The demo itself isn't very long, about 10 minutes of game play really. I've played every splinter cell to date, and even though this game is quite a bit different from its predecessors, it feels like a very natural progression, and the differences don't take long to master. As this Sam Fisher is no longer bound by protocol, he is much more dangerous; he freely uses his firearm, whereas the other games discouraged shooting your enemies in favor of a stealthier (and often non-lethal) way of dispatching them.

That being said, stealth is still very much a part of the game. The screen does a nifty black & white effect to show when Sam is cloaked in shadow. And many of the gadgets seem to have been tweaked, like the sticky cam (my personal fave) actually allows you to keep moving as Sam while you watch the screen, before you had to disconnect the camera to continue. Little differences like this usually make for a great sequel. I'm very excited for what I see, hopefully suffering all the release-date changes will be worth it.

(Wait? are you gonna mention that you were gone for 8 months? No? That;s stupid...)