This game fucking raaaapes. Been waiting on it for literally years and while it does take a few steps away from the previous games in the series it adds quite a bit to it as well.
The main thing to note for long-time SC fans is that, while it is still a stealth action game, the emphasis is now on action moreso than stealth. Previously, pretty much every kill the player made was a stealth-kill, and often times the gun was a last resort. In Conviction that's not the case at all, while you COULD play in the same manner as before, that's no longer the best or fastest way to move through the levels. The cover system is fucking awesome and really intuitive, and the new Execute system initially makes the combat seem trivial but ultimately becomes just another tool.
The single player campaign is pretty short and that was a bummer but the story is pretty sweet considering the previous lack of one outside of "heres your objective get it done."
There's multiplayer also, a seperate co-op campaign, player vs player as well as SP/MP challenge modes.
The game play is awesome, the graphics are awesome and the game as a whole just comes off really well. Definitely recommend playing it, though 60 bucks for just the single player (especially if you're expecting an old school Splinter Cell experience) is pretty steep imo.
Splinter Cell Conviction
Re: Splinter Cell Conviction
I would be interested to hear your review of it after you play multiplayer since the kotaku review i read said single player is like a tutorial for multiplayer and that's where the real enjoyment begins.