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Sam Fisher uses Krav Maga martial art, according to Splinter Cell Conviction dev diary
"We had to find a martial art that fits the characters and the situations he would find himself in," animation director Gilles Monteil tells us in this new dev diary for Splinter Cell Conviction. "We needed something very quick, efficient and brutal -- something without any rules. That's why we chose Krav Maga.""Krav Maga is not a big flashy martial art," game designer Steve Masters adds, which may explain its relative obscurity. Turning to Wikipedia, we discover it has its origins in street fighting and literally means "close combat" in Hebrew, and that the Israeli Defense Force and Special Forces use the martial art to this day. Apparently, stabbing someone in the hand is kosher in a form that has "no rules."
Splinter Cell walkthrough video brings out the brutality
This four-and-a-half-minute walkthrough preview of Badass: The Game (a.k.a. Splinter Cell Conviction) is not for the faint of heart. "We really wanted to bring out Sam's brutality," observes an unseen narrator, as the rogue agent stabs a terrorist in the hand in a torture scene that would make Jack Bauer feel at home. Certainly, Amnesty International wouldn't approve of these tactics -- but we're a rather depraved bunch here at Joystiq HQ. It's pretty clear Splinter Cell Conviction is one of our most anticipated games targeted for the crowded Q1 season next year.
TGS 2009: Hands-on: Splinter Cell Conviction
Let's make one thing clear: Splinter Cell: Conviction is more difficult than you think. When the game's "mark and execute" feature was revealed -- a feature that allows players to target and automatically take enemies out -- some players assumed the game would be a cakewalk. Beyond being one of the more difficult titles I personally had hands-on time with, Splinter Cell: Conviction leads the pack as one of the most impressive titles at TGS 2009. Our meeting with Ubisoft began with producer Alexandre Parizeau walking us through a never-before-seen section of the game before handing us the controller. Taking place "about three-quarters of the way" through the final product, this is the first piece of the real game Ubisoft has ever shown. The E3 2009 demo was developed specifically to showcase Sam's new abilities, but doesn't appear as it did in the final game. This mission's setting: Washington, DC. After living a life on the run, Sam is captured by Third Echelon and brought home. But now, it appears Sam is back on board with his former employers. Whether his return was made voluntarily, forcefully or due to a patriotic sense of duty is unclear. Parizeau and Co. want to keep a few things hidden in the shadows. %Gallery-74031%
Splinter Cell Conviction designer on delay, exclusivity, Natal ... and bowel control?
After teasing us with the carefully scripted Splinter Cell Conviction E3 demo -- for the umpteenth time -- lead designer Steve Masters commented on the game's current status as a "March quarter" release today at Ubisoft's "Holiday Preview" event (we'll be celebrating well into 2010, you know). Masters echoed CEO Yves Guillemot in saying, "really [the delay] was just a decision to allow us to polish up and really deliver the experience that the fans are looking for.""Right now we're about to hit alpha -- literally this week," Masters confirmed. "So that means the levels are largely complete, and now it's just time to polish them up and get them looking really great, and playing really well." The current (and what better be final) iteration of the fifth Splinter Cell game has been in development for roughly eighteen months, according to Masters.On the topic of platform exclusivity, the designer continued to tiptoe along Ubisoft's party line when it came to discussing the apparent arrangement with Microsoft. "I can't really go into the details there. All I can say is that we're really exploiting the full power of the Microsoft console here, and Microsoft has been tremendous in giving us a lot of support and really helping us to utilize the full power of the 360," Masters offered. "I don't think that we're ever gonna go to the PS3. But I can't confirm or deny it."As for Project Natal and the future of the Splinter Cell franchise? "I would love to use Natal. I think there are a lot of very cool possibilities with that -- everything from doing outrageously interesting educational stuff to really-involving video games." Did he say, educational? Ah, so that's what exploring Milo is all about ... and here we thought it was just outrageous. "I've only had a very quick demo with [Natal]. I haven't had any serious, in-depth hands-on, but I know Ubisoft has been working with it."Finally, Masters fielded our most pressing question ... Who would win in a fight: Sam Fisher or Jack Bauer? Masters emphatically declared Fisher the clear favorite given his superior sneaking abilities. But if the match-up was limited to a 24-hour time frame? "Bauer does have tremendous bowel control," Masters conceded. "I think that might be the tipping point in this battle."
