This has to be the most polarizing big-name-franchise sequel in Xbox history. So much has changed in super-spy Sam Fisher’s long-awaited return that the game’s transformation isn’t as simple as pulling Ghost Recon’s camera out to a third-person perspective in GRAW or removing inventory management for Mass Effect 2. To wit: even while the credits were rolling at the end of Conviction’s campaign after eight-ish hours, I still didn’t know what to make of what I’d just experienced.

Then again, I’m an unabashed super-fan of this series who’s been playing it since its 2002 debut. By nature of the franchise’s age and the long wait between iterations (the last one, Double Agent, debuted in 2006), Conviction will mean different things to different players.

Know upfront that despite its overhaul, this Splinter Cell is still a stealth game — a rare commodity under any guise on the 360. You’re still Sam Fisher, you’ve still got an arsenal of gadgets, and you’re still trying to stay out of the bad guys’ sights. Picking up a couple of years after Sam’s post–Double Agent disappearance, Conviction sees Fisher living off-the-grid Jason Bourne–style and investigating his daughter’s death. Naturally, he gets lured back into the spotlight with another conspiracy-driven narrative — this one far more compelling than anything the series has presented before thanks to its focus on Sam himself instead of on nebulous international forces. And though the plot lulls a bit in the middle, it finishes strong and leaves the series with countless directions it could take.

The missions are set mostly in Washington, D.C., including several famous national memorials — one of which houses arguably the game’s best sequence: a classic Splinter Cell eavesdropping session followed by a sadistic interrogation scene (more on that shortly) and a thrilling chase sequence through a crowd of citizens and police officers you’re not allowed to kill. Most of the adventure, though, plays by a brand-new set of Splinter Cell rules. In his post–Third Echelon life, Sam Fisher is no longer patient or a planner, nor is he concerned with light and shadow. No, Conviction nudges you along faster by gluing a gun to your hand and encouraging you to use it.

You’ll take cover behind objects, use sonar goggles and cameras to scout foes, and then sneak up behind them and press B to perform a takedown — most of which involve a brutal execution animation. Sound mostly familiar so far? Except for that last part, yeah. Puzzlingly, you don’t have any non-lethal options here (we’ll miss you, sticky shockers!), which is disappointing considering how previous Splinter Cells actually encouraged it and graded you more favorably at the end of each mission if you didn’t execute bad guys.

But the big change really comes from the “tokens” you earn by performing melee takedowns. By tagging enemies with RB (up to four at a time with certain guns), you’ll be able to press Y anytime they’re in sight and range to execute them automatically with whatever weapon you’re holding. Dubbed Mark and Execute, the result is exciting to watch and makes you feel badass, but it’s also a challenge-siphoning “win” button. However, you can usually choose to simply not use it if you’d like to try to play as stealthy and old-school as possible. In some sequences, it’s almost impossible to not resort to shooting people. It’s as if Sam Fisher joined Rainbow Six. And with or without Mark and Execute, you’ll still have plenty of trial and error. But you’re simply encouraged to put bullets in your foes’ heads after your mistakes instead of reloading your checkpoint.

Regardless of how you feel about that, you’re bound to love Conviction’s visceral interrogation sequences. To advance the story, you’ll sometimes need to literally beat information out of people. Evolving the previous Cells’ “tighten your chokehold a bit” method of intimidation, these moments feature extra-grisly context-sensitive spots that let you do everything from jam a broken-off flagstaff into someone’s shoulder to slamming a guy’s face into a paper shredder.

We also dug the unexpected experience system, which nets you points for performing certain actions, such as executing four guards simultaneously or dropping onto baddies from above. At checkpoints along the way, you’ll use these points to upgrade your weapons with silencers and/or range, accuracy, and damage boosts. We appreciate how they encourage you to try different tactics.

You can also cash in your points to upgrade your kit in Conviction’s secondary modes: Deniable Ops (playable solo or with a friend) and Co-op Story. The former offers Hunter — a stay-out-of-sight mode that feels delightfully like classic Splinter Cell — and Last Stand, a defend-the-spot challenge that decidedly doesn’t. Meanwhile, the cooperative campaign is nearly as long as Sam Fisher’s story and just as good…maybe better. Working together to silently dispatch foes using different methods — such as one of you acting as bait or by laying gadget traps — never gets old, and the four missions are refreshingly varied. We loved it when we were ordered to remain completely undetected and when we got to take turns performing the aforementioned interrogation moves on targets. It gets difficult, but it’s also thoroughly satisfying and highly replayable. If only the co-op missions had some kind of scoring and/or leaderboard system to further encourage that replayability the way Chaos Theory did…

Amid all the change, you may be compelled to wonder: Does Conviction fix what wasn’t broken? We’d argue yes. It’s commendable that Splinter Cell’s keepers sought to keep it from falling into the “same ol’, same ol’” sequel trap that waters down too many of gaming’s best franchises, but this series simply hadn’t come anywhere close to that dangerous territory yet. Pandora Tomorrow introduced the profound Spies vs. Mercenaries multiplayer mode, Chaos Theory was arguably the Xbox’s finest game ever, and Double Agent began to explore the intriguing themes and consequences of choice.

Ultimately, of course, Conviction shouldn’t be judged on what it isn’t, but rather what it is — and whether that game is worth your $60. Quite frankly, we like classic Splinter Cell better, but this doesn’t make Conviction a bad game. Far from it, even. It offers a clever Deniable Ops mode, a co-op campaign that’s equal or superior to the solo section, and best of all, a solo campaign with lots of excellent missions in unique locations threaded by the series’ best narrative. All told, it’s an excellent package on its own merits — if you can accept them.

On Xbox 360

+ Brutal interrogation moves; engaging story.

+ Riveting, replayable Co-op and Deniable Ops modes.

- Limited freedom to be the spy you want to be; has a game-y "win" button.

? Any chance of more co-op missions as DLC, Ubisoft?

8.5