Splinter Cell Conviction 5 hour claims are Bull****

There's a lot more than 5 hours worth of entertainment in Ubisoft's Splinter Cell Conviction: "What's wrong with gamers today? If a game is too long a vast number of gamers simply don't finish it, although hardcore gamers (the very small minority in the grand scheme of things) will undoubtedly finish every game they play. If it's too short, then the same hardcore gamers moan and complain like there is no tomorrow. In some instances, dropping $60 or £40 on a game which seemingly can be beaten in an afternoon might be considered poor value for money, and if a game is only playable once then sure we'd have to agree. However, it seems since IGN posted their review of Ubisoft's Splinter Cell Conviction on Friday, the hardcore masses are in uproar. It's perhaps easy for them to ignore the fact that many casual gamers do not have the time to pump hours upon hours into a game, and this is possibly why game lengths have become shorter in general compared to times past. It's a known fact as already mentioned that many casuals (more than you would think) don't finish games.

Differences between casual and hardcore gamers aside, it appears the comments from the IGN review have been blown all out of proportion, and as the hardcore fraternity are the most vocal with the moaning, they are seemingly forgetting that Splinter Cell Conviction doesn't end once the credits roll for the story mode."

[Tompkins]

I played the 10 minute demo like 40 times because of the replay value. The full game is going to be even better. These 5 hour claims have been taken the wrong way (as usual yawn!).

[Jamie Foxx]

The author of the article also talks about the 'add-ons' which as nice as they maybe still doesn't detract that you may finish the single player in five hours.

I'm an old skool gamer...I'm single player foremost as that's what gamings all about,multiplayer whilst in games can be amazing I also feel it let's lazy developers make short player games thus using the argument 'well it has multiplayer'

I havnt played sc:c so cannot comment on the length,but it seems it has a lot of content,and heavenly sword was short but one of the most fun games I've played,so if you love the splinter cell series and don't hate the changes too much jump in and have fun I think the game looks kool.

[97gsx]

Too much hypocrisy in the gaming world nowadays. The length doesnt mean the game is crap but it should be considered in the reviews since people will be spending $60 and up for it. I enjoyed the hell out of shadow complex but I wouldn't pay $60 for it.

[LukaX23]

just... LOL.... how low can you be to make up these sort of rumors? I'm all for Conviction. The game is awesome, Splinter Cell is awesome.

[Cold 2000]

I'll be getting Convivtion day one...but one has to wonder what the heck have Ubi been doing for the last 4 years or so with this game.

I know it was scrapped and stuff but come on...whats up with the average graphics and the 5-7h campaign ?

Luckily it has multiplayer unlike some other 7-8h single player games with no multi. Otherwise it would have been a no buy.

[sid4gamerfreak]

"Splinter Cell Conviction 5 hour claims are Bull****"

HA, i knew it!! Love it when the ps3 fanboys get dissed by these articles...

Anyway, im not gonna buy the game cause of all that drm nonsense, im not gonna give a cent to ubisoft ever again...

Edit: I LOL at the disagrees.

[caladbolg777]

If you pay full price for this pile, you're a goddamn retard.

[Hellsvacancy]

Like ive said b-4, if SC:C cums 2 the PS3 (which it will) ill rent it, complete it and send it back, and thats y i shall rent it, soon as ive beat the game itll end up sittin there on the shelf collectin dust, Alan Wake (which has NO multiplayer) falls in-2 that catagory aswell (and so does God Of War 3 but i bought that coz of the epicness) but say with Red Dead 2 its gonna b the total opposite, its gonna hav a lengthy (and great appealin) story, kick ass multiplayer, more then likely hav co-op, tons of replay value and its gonna cost the same price as SC:C/Alan Wake

I know wot id rather (and will) b playin

[HolyOrangeCows]

So you add co-op to a game that already has dimwit AI that would only take one monkey to overcome and suddenly it doesn't have a short campaign?

I suppose if you spend a lot of time fighting over who gets to hit the execute button in this room, it may take longer.

[Christopher]

While I don't think 5 hours is bad for a good game, I think the writer's attempts to use 'replay' of the content as a reason why it's not so bad is way off. All games have the ability for replay and the 'replayability' of content is highly subjective. Perhaps some enjoy replaying it on a higher difficulty, while others don't see the point.

Be happy with your game, ignore the people who want to just find any reason to criticize the game, and move on.

[BrutallyBlunt]

Some games like MAG can be viewed as having terrible value but I've put in over 50 hours of playtime in that thing. How many can say that about most games? I also put in almost 40 hours into Mass Effect 2 and it has no online play. It does have DLC but those 40 hours are not even including that. Plus I want to play it over again because there are so many ways of playing that game.

So right there are two big examples of value. One has a lot of length to the single player experience while the other has none at all. Splinter Cell: Conviction sounds to be right in the middle. So if you don't want to go online then maybe it doesn't have great value for you. Same can be said about Halo: ODST. However with this game you can also play Deniable Ops offline which adds more value.

It's sad that kids these days just read something and run with it. A review comes out and says the single player game is only 5 hours and they go running on the forums and shout, "Hey, that new Splinter Cell is only 5 hours long!" Or they read a review and it only gets a 7/10 and they never even bother reading the actual review and flog the forums saying the game is only a 7.

[Bigpappy]

But SC:C has more than 1 game mode. I am sure I will get more than 20 hrs out of it with out replaying the story. I also expect to die a few time in the story as I will be playing the realistic setting and taking a lot of risk. SC is not and action game for me, it is a play ground. If it can be completed in 5 hours, it will take me 12-15 for the campaign. The co-op and spy vs spy online could be and extra month or more of play for me, depending on how engaging it is. I am a SC fan so. They got me.

[Inside_out]

M$ delivers again...This game gonna be an instant classic...wow...Great article...this man KNOWS what he is talking about...every gamer should have a chance to play a game like this...incredible...Surprising how many PS3 guys know so much about a 360 exclusive...I guess they'll play it on there 1000$ PC....

[StanLee]

The complaints aren't valid but when every PS3 exclusive is bemoaned for being too short or not offering enough content you can see how the PSTrihards would look for any opportunity to criticize Splinter Cell Conviction's single play campaign length, not noting or forgetting completely that the reviewer had played said campaign 3 times.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

This game has received stellar scores from 3 publications, it's only con is the length which is in many ways mitigated because of the co-op mode that also has multiplayer.

That means, it could be anywhere from 5, 10 or way more hours of quality gaming. However, if you are going to let the length from stopping you from enjoying this game then too bad for you.

I think then you should go play some other repetitive, long and boring game. I'm sure it will feel like it lasted many many many many... hours!!!

[2Spock]

While i would agree 5 hours is way short for single player but i also take co-op and multiplayer into consideration, which does help ease some of the short length. That's why i am glad i did not buy Heavy Rain due to only a short single player experience with only a decent amount of replay value in the later half of the game. So i think this SC might be just a rent considering i will only play single and co-op.

[vhero]

an xbox fansite saying its gonna be more than 5 hours?? Yeah it must be true.. Lets move on..

[ProjectVulcan]

IGN never said it was 5 hours entertainment. They said the single player was about 5 hours long. This it seems, is TRUE. Whichever way you spin it and turn it and defend it as replay this and online that, thats still short for a game that has built up its reputation from single player. Period.

Course that doesnt make it a bad game or even bad value. Personally though its not good enough for a game that has spent 4 years in development so i will be picking it up cheap maybe secondhand rather than paying up full whack straight into ubi's pockets

[The Time Reaper]

Stan - "not noting or forgetting completely that the reviewer had played said campaign 3 times."

I'm all for quality over quantity, and SCC looks to have as solid package which I'll certainly buy... but I don't get your statement here? I mean, I've replayed Super Metroid at least 20 times, but it doesn't make it a 50 hour game, does it? It makes it 50 hours worth of entertainment, but those are different things.

I just think if reviewers are going to be "bemoan" anything like length/replayability as the fanboys do, they should at least be consistent with it. If we add replays by the reviewer into said review for one game, should we not do it for all games on every platform? That easily can turn God of War 3 into a 40 hour game, or Gears of War 2 into a 90 hour game. Slippery slope, IMHO.

[Consoldtobots]

let me translate what "Stan Lee" just said..

"LMAO @ 360 fanbrats getting a taste of their own medicine"

there fixed.

[DelbertGrady]

Has anyone here played it, and if so can you verify its length? How many reviewers claimed it was 5 hours long?

[4Sh0w]

If the single player is 5hrs then that's a shame because despite replay value and multiplayer I believe that a dev's basic thought process should start with first and foremost on delivering a quality SP campaign that will last quite a few hrs, 5-7hrs imo is waaay too short.

If this game were single player only I would definitely make it a rental, but fortunately with the co-op modes I will no doubt get my money's worth because I know I'll likely play those missions quite a few times with multiple friends. I also think that any game with a multiplayer usually will deliver plenty of hrs to make a game worth $60, but with that said developers still need to remember the basic principle of delivering enough content in the SP campaign that will satisfy SP only type gamers, YES although rare these days they still do exist.

[Montrealien]

not trying to sugar coat this short single player campaign, but this is an industry norm latetly, all my favorite games last year are all sub 15hr single player games, this is a new low.

yeah, more at 11.

I am ejoying splinter cell conviction up until now, I am about 2 hours in and its great however I am also very dissapointed if it is infact just a 5 hour single player campaign. Like GoW3, this game is fun as hell, to bad they are short.

[Pika-pie]

Its all about the single player for me. I couldnt really care about co-op/multiplayer.

I would rather sit through a 60+hour RPG than play endless multiplayer matches.

I would expect 12 hours of story based single player gameplay out of a game like this.

[otherZinc]

PS3 owners are mad they're not getting a game thats not linear & repetitive like Uncharted 2. For the stupid, that means ONE WAY to play the campaign!

Splinter Cell:Conviction has several ways to complete the game. This 5hour crap is fanboyism anger & foolish, period!

[sikbeta]

@StanLee

Same way x360 owners were "complaining" about God of War 3 length, right?

[Both Ways]

[ThanatosDMC]

Now the question is, how much of that 5hours is cinematics, verbal story, etc. that retracts away from actual gameplay?

MGS4 is 5hours during a speed run when the person knows exactly where and when an enemy is going to be while skipping the all those verbal stories and cinematics.

I'm surprise those people that whined and complained about MGS4's so-called 5hr gameplay is adamantly defending this multiplat. Also, MGS4 had multiplayer and a lot of replay value due to guns and unlockables how come that wasnt brought up?

[N4Flamers]

the author claims that this game is shorter because of casual gamers and their lifestyle. The blaring mistake he made is that SC.C is not a casual game.

[xaviertooth]

my intelligent guess is the DVD capacity has something to do with that.

[ElementX]

My intelligent guess is that you have 1 bubble for a reason

[clarkjudo]

"So to conclude, that for your $60 a five hour experience is simply not good enough, yet what gamers need to look at is the entire package, and remember that there's far more than 5 hours worth of entertainment with this game." Posted by: Robert Cram/ MSXBOX WORLD.COM

Some people need to learn how to read. And give intelligent information or go back to playing their one time play through "movies" on their PS3 Blu Ray Player.

[xaviertooth]

bots cannot even count correctly.

i have 2 bubbles see i was able to post another comment. please bots, go back to elementary math.

[ElementX]

When I commented you only had 1 bubble, then everyone who disagreed with me bubbled you up, now you have 2. I'm not a bot, I don't own a 360, I have a PS3. Your bot "insult" is unfounded.

[kevinx1000]

"my intelligent guess"

YOUR 'intelligent' guess... that really means a lot to us...

i'd like you to meet gears 3 in a few hours :)

[Greywulf]

Do not pass go

Your flop ass game is 5 hours on a normal play through.

[fullmetal297]

"my intelligent guess...". Oh god the irony xDDDD

[ElementX]

wrong post

[Omega4]

The game has multiplayer AND co-op so playtime is limitless, unlike some games which last 7 hours and have no multiplayer.

Plus IGN said its really replayable too.

[Lucreto]

The 5 hours are upsetting the people who play games for the single player and don't have live. I for one prefer the single player experience and should be the main focus of the game. I don't care for deathmatch or co-op so this game is looking like a budget price if I wasn't getting it for free.

I usually get bored of multiplayer very quickly and it get really repetitive after a few hours. Hey thats just me.

The reviewing system should be changed as well. The single player and the multiplayer should be scored individually. So single player people will know they will get the bang for their buck and the muliplayer people would be able to see it is it just tacked on and shallow or a rewarding experience.
It will also make the developers to work harder on both aspects.

My example I game will a 15-20 single player would get 8/10 and the multiplayer aspect gets 6/10 for lets say poor implementation. that wold be 14/20 or 7/10. If it is just an single player game there will be no marks taken away for not having multiplayer.

[kancerkid]

@Lucreto

READ. THE. ARTICLE.

There are modes besides just the story which can all be played SOLO adding at least a dozen hours if not more to the game. Some of these can also be played in multiplayer, but that is not the point.

Almost everything on the disc (far more than just the story) is singleplayer, adding hours and hours to the 5 hour story

[2Spock]

I am not knocking your opinion or how you like to play games but....You say multiplayer and co-op is boring and repetitive, but you really only like single player. If that's not calling the kettle black i don't know what is. So you can play single player over and over and it stays fresh? Most of my hours gaming have come from multiplayer, i have put 40 hours into BBC2 mutli. There is no way i could put that replaying the single player over and over. Don't get me wrong nothing like a great single player experience but a great multiplayer goes a long ways in fun and replayability.

[Lucreto]

I know it seems odd but that how it seems to work for me.

I played FF XIII for 80 hour and enjoy it but I can't play multiplayer at all. I played Uncharted 2 for 3 hours max and the same as Resistance with 4 hours. I played Bioshock 2 for 20 hours online to level 40 I was bored by level 25 and was just grinding through it from there.

@ kancerkid - They can be played offline but designed be be online. So more than likely it will be hard on single player.

[nycredude]

MS got a great scheme here and everyone who pays is falling for it. Make short as& single player games with lots oaf mp and coop stuff so you have to pay for Live. Simple as that. Case close. WTF has Ubisoft been doing all this time. I was hyped for this but I don't pay for Live so now this games is a pass. With games like Uncharted 2 out this game seems like a rip off!

UC2
12 hour campaign
coop
mp
Free online

SC:C
5 hour campaign
coop
mp
Pay for live

[corneliuscrust]

If you dont feel you got your money's worth. Completely personal experience.

I love how everyone here has already beaten the campaign so they can come in and let us all know how worth it or not the game is...

n4g: sinking to new lows each and every day

[ShadesMoolah]

The Deniable Ops is Single Player Offline gameplay.

Hunter
Last Stand
Infiltration

[peeps]

Deniable ops is best played as mp tho:

http://www.gametrailers.com...

and the infiltration mode can only be unlocked if u have enough uplay points i believe? luckily i have so will be unlocking that when i get the game

[peeps]

is it just me or did the article post a spoiler lol i.e. a picture showing the names of all the missions... kinda gave away some of the locations

also i don't believe anyone was complaining about the whole package being short... IGN just said it was dissapointing that the main story was short but still had reply value + other modes. it's not like they were saying the game isn't worth it because theres not much content, because their is, just the story mode is over quickly

[ShadesMoolah]

The mission list has been widely known for a while now. Maybe not to you.

http://www.msxbox-world.com...

[peeps]

i guess i did well to avoid it then. i prefer to find out locals and missions playing the game for myself...

[v0rt3x]

I completely agree - next time you post a picture of all the levels unlocked - care to write: SPOILERS.

-.-

[Corrwin]

Why is everybody defending or attacking the 5 hours?

If it's 5 hours of awesome, who gives a crap? Yeah - those who want to replay it will get a lot more, but those who are in it just to complete it may be a little disappointed - so make a stand and don't buy it on release - wait until it's reduced in price to something more acceptable.

[Corrwin]

Those disagreeing don't want 5 hours of awesome? Or are they disagreeing they should have to wait longer to play it because they disagree with the price for 5 hours?

Either way is a bit_childish, really.

Holly crap you can't say "bit_childish" because N4G recognises it as a bad word :|

[corneliuscrust]

the same old n4g crowd. I wouldn't worry too much about it. No matter what you say on here there will be people angry with it.

[blizzard_cool]

Heavenly Sword - OH MY GOSH! It has a short SP!!!!111 Bash the hell out of it!

Splinter Cell: Conviction - 5 hours of SP. Yo man that's cool, ya can replay it.

Damn hypocrites...

[PandaJenkins]

I would say Heavenly Sword isn't the best example. In this case Splinter Cell has several other modes which some can be played in SP (possibly all I am not too sure). Heavenly Sword however was only a single SP story. I do agree on you with the replaying part though.

[DelusionalMsBot]

i think they bashed it because it was short and had no MP

[nix]

Heavenly Sword still is one of the most beautiful game i have played this gen. came out so early in PS3's life-time but still looks fresh. Folklore is another great game. creepiest story ever! q:

[hazelamy]

and for many people they won't be playing splinter cell multiplayer.
ign said the single player campaign can be finished in five hours, that's a fact.
they're defending it because it's an xbox exclusive, for now at least :) and they're an xbox site.
sure there are other modes and multiplayer if you choose to pay for it, but that doesn't change the fact five hours is just too short for a single player campaign, at least for a full price game it is, arcade games often have longer single player campaigns for a fifth of the price of this.
heavenly sword was rightly criticised for the length back when it launched, just as this has rightly been criticised for it's length.
and remember, heavenly sword was a launch title, not a title released five years into the life of a console.

[PandaJenkins]

I don't think anyone has thought of it this way but when a game has co-op in the story, it is usually the same as the SP story. However in conviction they are different stories all together. So as this article says about 9 hours in total for the two of them which seems like a pretty normal amount of time for story.

I do understand where those who want to purely play just the SP by itself though. But really this game is meant to be a whole package of modes. Also like this article said some will replay on different difficulties and also I'd say IGN would have rushed through it faster than most people. Almost every game that is a 5-15hour length I see from their reviews always takes me longer than they say.

[RedPawn]

Who gives a poo, if the game lives up to every minute it's in your system, mission completed. I will be getting it because I like the Max Payne/Bourne direction they're going w/it.

All the other modes are added bonuses for the players who enjoyed the gameplay elements, like Uncharted 2.

[jjesso1993]

I started and completed the game on relistic difficultiy and it took about 7 hours so it is very short game but has good replay vaule.

[Noob]

So with the addition of the disappointing demo released and the claims of how short the SP game is, I'll probably borrow it from a friend or buy it when it hits the bargain bin. I just know I won't be buying it any time soon or pay more than 30 dollars for it.

[monkeybrother9]

wow this guy is retarded, the main campaign is about 5 hours, but the co-op and what not adds alot more hours on.

[kingboy]

Single player campaign is 5hrs short even ign confirms it,nevertheless its still a descent offer considering the other modes present which eventually prolong longevity but on the other hand games like this make their reputation from their excellent SP story modes only and not vice versa

01:27 IGN Video Review confirms it
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/d...

[PS360_37]

great...was that after or before he talked about all the additional content that made it a 15-20 hour game...or was that after or before he talked about being on his third play-through?

Just curious.

[Ironfungus]

"If a game is too long a vast number of gamers simply don't finish it"

Wrong, wrong, WRONG. See people, it's this mentality and outlook that's contributing to the downfall of great games. If we had this look on life when it came to novels, books would only be 300 pages because ... who wants to read a story that actually had effort put into it? Oh wait, yeah ... everyone with a brain.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

I'm a Splinter Cell fanatiac and I'm buying this game on day one. It only takes one idiot to start BS on blogs & websites. I'm really beginning to hate N4G. People thrive on BS like this everyday.

[Michael-Jackson]

No, it's spot on because of the Gimpbox 576p DVD9.

[Inside_out]

Few more hrs to go....PS3 fanboys, with there sad faces looking at all the 360 gamers having all the fun....LMAO....poor PS3, nothing to play....sad really...I know, I have one.....

[Consoldtobots]

wow someone tell this fanboy he missed that troll parade about 2 years too late.

"ps3 has no games" = MASSIVE FACEPALM

[sid4gamerfreak]

Its n4g, news4fanboys where ppl love flamebait articles rather than real news...

Its like those gossip websites and magazines on celebrities, ppl thrive on that bs.

[PS360_37]

that is a great point that i never thought of. This website is exactly like the tabloids of gaming. I always make fun of people for reading tabloids, so I am just as bad.....DANGIT

Bubbles.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

Articles like this, which thrive on N4G, are the equivalent of the "Jen and Brad caught kissing" articles you see on grocery store lanes (just saw that one as I was picking up syrup yesterday morning), sensationalism.

That said, I just can't seem to kick my N4G habit. There's just no other place where I can get as much video game "news", though there are places where I can get much BETTER video game NEWS.

[monkeybizz]

Why are people trying to pretend that a 5 hour "main" campaign is ok?
I'm sorry but it is not good enough. When games like AC2, AA, UC2, has 12-15 hour "main campaigns" then all have tagged on extras like challenge, multiplayer, coop, events(mainly AC2). It makes SC:C look weak.

In addition, SC:C has been in development way too long. Games that have a strong story foundation, should have a healthy length with twists and turns.

That is why people are annoyed at the fact that the main campaign is 5 hours on easy (see below).

That being said i have just got to the reception bit of one of the levels, and died a bunch of times. I think playing on realistic helps.
I also think that some of the levels are huge but could have been scaled down and effort put into a few more levels to extend the game.

Ill finish it tonight and get to the PEC challenges. Gotta love UK stores sending this one out to me on Sat!

[monkeybizz]

I must also add that Ubisoft are smart, they have seen how well MW2 does online and sales with Special Ops, so they added a similar feature and probably concentrated on it alot more than the SP in the last few months.

[tynam]

That is so stupid, they are saying "no the game doesn't last 5 hours, not if you replay it" , wtf, that is the same for every game, if you judged other games like that Splinter cell conviction IS really short, its like saying "no MGS4 doesn't take 8 hours to complete, it takes, 8 hours on normal, then on hard, then on super hard, then on hard doing it stealthy, then on super hard doing it stealthy, then playing the online, so its more like a 60 hour game"

[NeutralGamer]

Man I see nothing but butthurt fans these days.. Both on the 360 and PS3 camp... (but most on the PS3 camp)

[badbond1]

for $50.00 and gave it to my neighbors son! LMAO! I don't do old technology - DVD-9 in my household. My 62" 1080p thanks me. Ill continue playing FFXIII, Uncharted 2, GOWIII, Heavy Rain, InFamous, and Killzone 2 on it. It thanks me every day!

[AliTheBrit19]

All but one of those games are single player only?

Dude thats so sad :( you just sit around replaying games again and again?

[cyborg6971]

Did it ever occur to you that he just bought those games you short bus riding, helmet wearing, drooling tard of a brit.

[CernaML]

Holy balls, calm down. =|

[exnihilonihilfit]

2 of those games are multiplayer. UC2 and Killzone2.

[AliTheBrit19]

LMFAO Cyborg, nice try but I find it hard to get angry at a bit of text on the internet written by some moron

And yeah my bad, 2 of them games are, didn't read it properly

FYI, all those games except Heavy Rain I own, plus a few more quality PS3 titles :)

[cyborg6971]

I'm not mad or a moron. I just loving talking smack to dbags like your pompus a$$. Half the time I find myself agree with you and alpha then you post some dumb sh!t and I can't resist.

[air1]

cyborg dont lie!! you are mad, and you are a moron. i proved that to you months ago...

[cyborg6971]

Air numb, you are my moriarty. You have only proved that the state you were born in not only allows, but promotes inbreeding.

[air1]

see you are a moron, i know of no "state" that promotes inbreeding humans. now if you would have said like " i must live out side the states" and they promote inbreeding then it would of sounded better. but nope, the moron didnt.. so yea, you are still a moron.. and mad at the fact that i gave you the wrong prescription for your bumps, i didnt think it would of took you that long to figure out all i gave you was over the counter lotion.. hehe..

[AliTheBrit19]

Haha at you calling me pompous

Whatever no hard feelings man, I guess what I call wit and intellect you call pompous :)

[Dance]

This game bags a ton of replay value and we even had reviewer's saying that 2 player co-op adds an additional 15 hours onto it

[edoman20]

But come on

Patethic asstards little bots got gaylo 3 RRODST last year

They are happy buying overpirced POS and let M$$$ f**k their asses everytime

so what`s the problem? XD

[ironcreed]

Stop beating everyone over the head with, "but you can play Deniable Ops solo", ect. The fact is, the lion's share of Splinter Cell fans are fans because of the single player campaigns. I am sorry, 5 hours for what is supposed to be the main draw of the series is laughable and there is no spinning your way out of that fact.

All of the other modes are nice to have, but Splinter Cell has never been about the extra modes being better than the single player for most. This is of course just the turd cherry on top of the crap cake when you consider they have taken out hiding bodies, the ability to whistle or throw objects for distractions, night vision and stealth as the primary focus.

Let's not forget the many 'additions'. Such as having your objective projected all over the environment, going so far as to even tell you when and where to climb a pipe by projecting the word 'CLIMB' in big white letters on the wall. Or how about the last known position ghost that showcases how ridiculous the AI is by their constant shooting at where you were instead of where you are. Last, but not least, we have the "I win" button mechanic with the insta-triple-kill mark and execute feature.

So, not only do they remove the sense of immersion and challenge of figuring out what to do with the objective projection, they give the AI a false sense of where you are with the last known position mechanic. This all allows you to easily manipulate the situation by taking out one guy with an easy, one button press CQC takedown, which of course gives you 3 free kills with mark and execute. From there, rinse and repeat.

The demo alone is enough to see how the game will play and to me, it is nothing more than something akin to a hand-held guided tour of Jason Bourne's greatest hits. As Splinter Cell, this sure as hell is not. The 5 hour MAIN CAMPAIGN is just one more reason on top of many for me to avoid this pile that is merely a shell of it's former self.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

The main draw of the series has indeed been the single-player, but not necessarily the story-lines. Hear me out, now... The main draw has been the missions and puzzling your way through them. I think if, indeed, some of the other modes are playable as single-player, that would fit into the "main draw." The campaign may (or may not) be short, but if you can add in a few more hours with a similar mode, that would fit into the "main draw."

[tiamat5]

When something is on the 360 everyone will make every excuse for it in the world. Uncharted 2 was a satisfyingly long games with a very robust mulitiplayer. But now here are the fanboys fighting for a 5 hour campaign on SCC. If Sony had made UC2 a 5 hour game,you same 360 owners would be here taking trash about how the the game shouldn't be GOTY because it is too short. No one can ever see the s**t on their own side of the fence.

[divideby0]

turning off way pointer indicators to make a game longer...I cant believe I read that

[GiantEnemyCrab]

So if it's bull**** then were is this stupid pile coming from? What FUD spreading liar is giving everyone the impression the game is only 5 hours long... Which smelt like bull the minute I saw it.

[The Time Reaper]

"The game" is not the same as "the SP campaign" sir Crab.

[badbond1]

killzone 2 and uncharted 2 have multiplayer! Do yourself a player and get with the system that has the better graphics, gameplay , and experience! Oh and I am not concerned to play with little boys over the network. You can keep that one. I'm from the old school and playing single player is still the best in terms of purchasing a game - campaign mode still determines if a game is good or not. In this case, I'll stick with MGS4 and this Splinter cell will go str8ht to hell! 5 hrs -bu, bu, bu, buh GOWIII is 8 hrs long...lmao!

[Enjoi915111]

my comment got deleted cause i said how short heavenly sword was and mention the retarded twing twang girl in heavenly sword......go n4g mods go....lol what a lonely job

[JackSchitt]

"For gamers used to shooters and stealth games, playing through on Normal is probably going to net you the 5 hours or more playtime as suggested."

That is a direct quote from the article. Point proven. The author is an idiot.
Replay value and "other modes" don't count.

The body of the game is 5 hours. That is what was being claimed and that is whats true. Form your own opinion of that as you will but the title of this article is, ironically, bullsh*t.

5=Rental

[Qui-Gon Jim]

It think he's just letting us know what to expect from the campaign.

[ShadesMoolah]

A number of people are assuming that the 5 hours story of the game is the be all and end all of what SCC has to offer, when in reality that's far from the truth. Look around and see how casually some people state that 'SCC is only 5 hours long', totally disregarding the game's other features for single players, and the co-op/ versus. The article in question highlights this fact.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

the single player is great but short,this we know now,there's no way around it.Now...make a decision to either rent,buy or don't play at all and move along.There's nothing else to see here.DEAD TOPIC!!!!

[Roukuko]

put it this way splinter cell has pretty much always been bought for the single player just like mgs who honestly bought mgs4 for the online?

[prettyboy1]

im a listen to an xbox site tea right.listen to me my home gurl who is an extremely good gamer told me she beat the campaign a lil over 5 hours.so to all my fellow xbox gamers do not be fooled

[Qui-Gon Jim]

It's not the size of your ****, it's how much enjoyment it gives.

(of course, "****" = "game")

Seriously, though, SC:C has a 5 hr campaign (probably longer), but has more game modes; GoW III can be finished in about 8 hours, but will take most people longer and is so awesome you may want to play it multiple times.

[ThisPlaceSucksBye]

It's worrying that a lot of the most logical comments like "Who cares if it's short? As long as it's good...", are getting so many disagrees.

It's really quite sad. It's been like this for a while, I guess. It's not about defending your console, it's about hating the other one and going to great lengths to show this. Why not just play the games on your console?

Never mind the fact that "defending a console" is already an idiotic thing to do. What, Microsoft cares? Or Sony? Haha please.
Those people should really start thinking about ways to improve their pathetic little lives, because I'm telling you, being a gigantic fanboy for either camp ain't one.

[keysy420]

5 hours is bullshit for a campaign forget the other modes thats not worth me buying

[sak500]

I hardly see any comments in here most are ignored guess teh psh33p are getting bored with their 4 hour GOW3 and movie heavy rain. Guess there is always GT5 which will be coming soon in 2020. they game which they have been hyping since the pos3 was launched.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

It's just the jealous sony fanboys spreading fud as always. Nothing new here. Can't wait to play this AAA title. :)

[chickenlegs9]

so shortish single player,guessing from the last joke of online gameplay,a rubbish multiplayer,and some dodgy special ops rip off...why on earth has it taken them so long to make.5 hours eh?cant say i believe that,but anyone else thinking....if only there was more space to fill on this dvd9.its going to be a growing trend i think for the xbox,shorter/prettyier games.and whats are the fanboys gonna say???dont need bluray,and it dont need to be long to be good.thats all good and well,but the truth is the xbox has seen its day,shorter games,no standard hdd,it all adds up...enjoy sc.c,having read the reviews ill pass,like stealth games stealthy,not gears rip offs...sad day

[COINTELPRO]

I'd rather count the wrinkles on my dogs balls than play this crap. Seriously, 5/60=$12 per hour. You're better off renting this game for $5 bucks and finish the SP if that's what you're interested in. I hope this game has one hell of an MP component to justify the price. Gamers should not get accustomed to getting less than theirs money worth otherwise it will become a trend just like locked DLC.

[JazzyKK]

This article is right on!! I for one like long games but nowadays developers are concentrating more on the online aspect of the games. I think that's why we're getting shorter games. I usually play all my games on the hardest difficulty as well so I enjoy my experience way more when I beat a level/Boss or something!!

[chickenlegs9]

@halo3mlgpro...jealous of what exactly???a 5 hour game?ps3 has metal gear...utter fanboi plum.

[The Iron Sheik]

Nice try guys but IGN already confirmed in their review that the single player is 5 hours.

And yes it has multiplayer but being on the xbox you have to pay for it. So instead of $60 it is around $110 for the full game.

[jay2]

I dont want to pay to play stolen, ex-Sony console avabile games online when I should be able to do this online for FREE, if devs didn't kiss M$'s $$$$$$ thanks.......

[_Q_]

Is it still bad even if its the most badass 5hours of your life? I remember being able to beat MGS in under 5 hours and its one of the greatest games ever made. Why the hell are people so concerned about the dumbest crap? Play it or not but shut the *%*( up.

[DanteLinkX]

-Include guns.
-Include a cover system.
-Make the campaign last 5-8 hours.
-Do not under any circumstance include a likeable character with backstory and whatnot, a random bald, nameless, that looks like your standard mechanic will do, of course must be bulky.
-Add online multiplayer (so you can sell maps as DLC later)
-Add blood, cursing words and some sex scene.
-For maximum sales and word of mouth, make it exclusively on 360.
-Call it a day.
-Release it.
-Smile your way to the bank while grinding.
-Get online and laugh at some actually skilled game developers that released a Japanese game with the exactly opposite characteristics as your game (which means its an excellent game unlike yours), but sold like 100K units only, while yours sold 4 millions+ on first week.
-See gaming go to hell.

[ironcreed]

Priceless. Bubbles for you, my friend.

[DanteLinkX]

Thanks for the bubbles bro, but its really bad to see that this is the new trend in gaming.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News...

Metal Gear Solid 4 can be beaten in 5 hours. And MGS4 doesn't have all the extra re playability that Splinter Cell does.

LMAO! SONY FANBOYS JUST GOT PWNZERS!!!!

[authentic24]

MGS4 has a very robust MP mode... You are a true fanboy... at least play these games and then comment and on avg MGS4 is longer than 5 hours. Speed runs can alter the time of any game. lmao you and various others on both sides are like a bunch of cultist who bash each others religions yet still wanting the same exact things. in this case it should be good quality games.

My problem with SCC is that I think they catered too much to casuals when the SC series was never a series that catered to them in the first place. Those captions telling people where to go is just piss poor game design.
The idea behind design of any game is to immerse the player and make them feel as if they are the player they are controlling. Constantly seeing objectives on walls seriously breaks the narrative of the game. Bad design decisions along with a short campaign and stripped MP modes makes me think that ubi doesn't care for the splinter cell franchise.

This isn't the first time co-op has been in a splinter cell either so that is bull as well. Chaos theory had Spies vs mercs Co-op and a Campaign longer than 5 hours. So what's the problem..... No explanation huh, only route you know is bashing a PS3 game without proper knowledge of anything. Anyway Convictions MP modes are lame by its own standards that were set in past games. If you deny that, you are truly blind and the reason that the gaming industry will go to the same direction as the music industry.

[grs20031]

I think it's funny when people complain about the story mode being only five hours. Five hours worth of STORY, not gameplay, is a butt load of entertainment. One could easily multiply GAMEPLAY hours by 10x if you take in to account that deniable ops can be played solo, and the main story can be replayed infinite number of ways. Don't take everything you read literally. I've played over five hours worth of the demo since it came out, and i'm still hooked! Jusr wait, even the crappiest splinter cell ( I wont name names) is awsome, and can be played for days on in.

[IHateYouFanboys]

geez you ps3 fanboys are predictable. lets have a look at the time each of these PS3 exclusives took me to finish on my PS3:

Heavenly Sword - 4.5-5 hours
Uncharted - 6 hours
Killzone 2 - 6 hours 40 minutes
Uncharted 2 - 8 hours 50 minutes
Little Big Planet - didnt count to the exact hour, but it was only about 5-6 at the very very most.
Metal Gear Solid 4 - 18 hours, including the 11.5 hours of cutscenes = 6.5 hours gameplay.
God of War - 8 hours 25 minutes or so

Now yes, the main single player campaign might be 5 hours on normal difficulty in SC:C, but youre forgetting that it has ANOTHER single player campaign that can also be played multiplayer. so thats at LEAST another 4-5 hours going by most reviews. so now all of a sudden the time needed to complete the game single player is, surprise surprise, about 9-10 hours - which is the average for a single player game.

but you STILL complain about it being only 5 hours because you choose to ignore EVERYTHING apart from the main single player, which is only 50% of the single player experience. its like saying Halo 3 has no long term playability simply because you choose to disregard multiplayer. its like saying Little Big Planet has nothing to do after you finish the campaign simply because you choose to ignore the level editor and online features.

but then again, im talking to the people who absolutely blasted IGNs God of War 3 review and anyone that confirmed that it was only about 8-9 hours long, saying that NOONE could finish it in less than 12-14 hours.........so im not really expecting you to understand lol.

[Otheros00]

so i am pretty sure that you have never played it even once.
I am pretty sure you are making those times up unless you you play them nonstop until the end of the single player mode and you have a stopwatch.
Also it takes longer to make a good single player mode than a multi-player one since, the dev have to actually put effort into the story, scriptes, dialogue, etc.

Edit: online modes are easy to make and take less time and since you will be playing the same map over and over they will just add new maps to keep you busy instead of fixing all the problems the game ships with. that is why Micro$oft and other devs, publishers are not putting any effort into their games because it is easy money for them.

[IHateYouFanboys]

it had something like 11.5 hours of cutscenes, maybe give or take 1-2. either way, there was more hours of cutscenes than hours of gameplay.

oh and pretty much every game these days has a counter of how long youve played the game for, generally on the save file. MGS4 has this, so i have to question if youve actually played it since you didnt know this? Uncharted 1 and 2 do, god of war 3 does, killzone 2 does as well. again, have YOU even played any of these games?

[spooky205]

Setting aside you pulled those times out of uranus. You fail to mention Resistance 2 which has 2 full campaigns single and co-op with a good solid 8-14 hours each along with a multiplayer mode and unlockables. No there is no reason why there should be a campaign with only 5 hours worth of playtime in favor of a tacked on multiplayer. Its very apparent you have not played these games based on your fanboy comments in favor of the 360. I dont see why anyone would defend this pathetic attempt at what once was a respectable stealth franchise. I want to meet just 1 splinter cell fan (that has played all the games and enjoyed them) that played splinter cell mostly due to multplayer....... *crickets* yeah exactly. Everyone who has enjoyed a splinter cell game has enjoyed the SP experience which this game severely lacks.

does anyone want some good advice gamer to gamer? Buy alan wake instead. Its not like the 360 lacks any quality games anyways.

[IHateYouFanboys]

do you not even read the articles and posts you respond to?

Splinter Cell:Conviction has 2 campaigns. one of them is STRICTLY single player with Sam Fisher. the second you can play single player OR multiplayer as some other agents. together, even if they are both only 5 hours each, you get 10 hours of SINGLE PLAYER campaign. that is more than the average length of most games this generation.

and no, i didnt pull the numbers out of 'uranus' - i pulled them from my PS3 save files where it tells you exactly how many hours youve played for. do you have a PS3? go pop in Uncharted, MGS4, God of War 3 or Killzone 2 and have a look at the save files and stat pages and youll see 'time played' lol.

if youre going to argue at least try and have an idea about what youre trying to argue, just a tip for future reference.

[mike9077]

LETS NOT Forget AC2 pwns every game with its awesome 18 to 20 singleplayer campaign

[gypsygib]

No one should support a 5 hr campaign, not for this game, COD or any other game. For many, MP get's boring very quickly, such that they rely on SP to comprise the majority of the value of their purchase. Needless to say, I will only rent SC Conviction.

[MGOelite]

be honest nobody added resistance 2 co-op onto the original story mode when they said how long it was... that would equal like 30 hours... its pathetic that one rule applys for one game but not for another

[Allowen]

I had lots of fun time with FF13 ,it is a very good game for me but to play it more then once it is hard since it is 80+ hours to plat it.

On the other hand a game such Mass Effect 2 is around 30 hours if you do all the quersts but the replay value on this game is outstanding. I finish it 4 times with 3 different characters.

I dont mind "short" games like ME2, Uncharted 1&2 , GoW3 or even HR since the replay value on those games is a 10 out 10.

[Allowen]

The problem here is not that you need ONLY 4-7 hours to finish a game but if you will play it again or not.

if a game is a 5 hours duration and after finishing it you don't want to play it anymore then I guess it was not that much worth the $60.

I played Heavenly Sword on my PS3 quite a few times because it was a very fun game and my friends asked me to show it to then.
Too bad HS had no trophy or I would have played even more.

Lets see if this Splinter cell will be worth or not the $$$ .

[jalen247]

5 hour campaign is way too short.

Come on gamers don't let developers get away with this mess.

I don't care if the game has multiplayer and/or co-op.

Any game with such a short single player campaign is not worth $60. That is why I bought MW 2 on sale for $39.99 during Best Buy's buy 2 get 1 free sale during the Holidays last year.

[despair]

its like modern warfare 2 all over again. Considering that the majority of persons who play these games do not take advantage of the online multiplayer but purchase it for offline content then developers and reviewers need to consider this as not everyone has an online x360 or uses it.

still want to try the game though. wait for the pc :(

[CountDracula]

Spies vs. Mercs plz

[chickenlegs9]

morning,its really sad this games so short,i remember sitting/hanging/crouching waiting for ages to make and execute a kill...this is NOT a stealth game anymore...just another(almost)clone of a gears game.even ign(if you watch the review)say its an action game.soooo is it stealth?not really from what ive seen/played.so the real question is,is a 5 hour action games campaign really worth it?proberly not.yeah its got mp,itll be rubbish,no doubt.and the special ops rip off..well,as with mw2s special ops finshed them all on veteran first play thru,and never looked at them again.whys this blantant copy gonna be any different?cant see this being a difficult game to finsh(even on realistic settings)as its been made for all the "noobs"and the masses...5 HOURS???thats almost a year for every hour to of made this game,that and i bet its even quicker to speed run it(as it dont seem to matter who sees you)so as many other websites continue to give this short ACTION game 6.5s up to the 8.9s ill crack on without another ruined franchise turned action game for inexperienced gamers(three kills,one button press)...pathetic really.