Splinter Cell Conviction Diaries Part Two

This is my ongoing exploration of the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell games, played in release order. I will chronicle my playthrough of each title in turn and discuss any recurring themes and noteworthy events. This time I continue Conviction.

Chasing vague leads into Sarah’s death, Sam made his way to Malta where Grim contacted him to point him towards a crime boss called Kobin. Whilst getting answers, Sam was captured by Third Echelon and left to be interrogated by Grim…

Grim shot the guard who was left to keep an eye on me, and let me go. She explained that she was a mole for President Caldwell, undercover inside Third Echelon which was now commanded by Tom Reed. They had captured me for vague reasons, but she wanted me to know that Sarah was alive, and she had known this entire time. Whilst she explained all of this, I was very aware of how much her hair and breasts were moving every time she shifted position even slightly, which was pretty distracting.

Can't you wear a sports bra, Grim?

To ensure her cover remained intact, Grim told me to hit her. I was happy to oblige, since she had continually lied about Sarah for the past several years. She gave me a comm piece and a gun, then sent me on my way. I grabbed the first guard I saw as a human shield before shooting two others and throwing the shield. Somehow this killed him, so I picked up the C4 that Grim had told me about. Since there was a helicopter, they would be able to track me even if I reached her car without being spotted. So I had to plant the C4 on it.

Climbing up a wall and in through an open window, I shot a guy in the head and snuck around. I was watching and waiting, analysing the situation - but decided to shoot a winch, crushing two people. Unfortunately, when I fired at the distracted guards they managed to pinpoint my position and pressed an attack. I stayed in cover and took them out as the opportunities presented themselves.

Once it was safe, I went down to plant C4 on the helicopter and left the hanger. I was to take out the generator, to further aid my escape. Outside I was quickly spotted and had to go a-murdering my way through the base. I managed to lose them long enough to knock out the power, and escape into the next section.

Thankfully, I didn’t alert the whole base (somehow), and moved through a hangar filled with partition walls. I climbed over one and then out the other side, to ensure I remained in shadow, and snuck to the far end where a radar dish was. Grim had told me to take it out, so they couldn’t use a satellite to track me. I shot a few guards strategically, but soon missed a shot and had three of them rush me. I took them down with gunshots and stealth kills, then rigged the radar. Unfortunately, that’s when the tannoy informed the base that I had escaped.

With the base now in high alert, I was quickly spotted and had to shoot many, many people. With the area clear, Grim contacted me to say that she couldn’t put Sarah on the phone for an unspecified reason. Of course, this did nothing to satisfy my dour mood, so when I encountered a group of four guards I took them out happily. There was another one calling out, so I went to open a door - then decided to look underneath it with my phone and “snake”, spotting the guy aiming right at the door. So I went around to the side entrance and stabbed him in the back.

Leaving the base and getting to Grim’s car, Sam detonated the C4 and made a call to Victor Coste, the one who was telling the events of this game so far to an unknown person. Victor said that the reason Sam trusted him was because of what happened in Iraq…

Certainly a better name than the M25...

Meanwhile, back during Desert Storm, Sam and Victor were part of a squad patrolling/wandering down the Highway of Death in Diwaniya, Iraq. An explosion took out one of the other members of the team, and the squad commander was kidnapped by the Iraqis.

When I woke up now alone, I got up and grabbed my gun before making my way after them. Two fell, then a group, and a third before I reached the outskirts of the bombed out town where they were keeping him. I could have been careful, but decided to use the bus I was next to for the added cover. A bunch of bullets and three grenades later, the area was clear and I made my way through to the next one. I avoided detection for all of 20 seconds, even silently killing a soldier, before getting spotted.

Luckily, my position beneath a staircase gave me plenty of cover as soldier after soldier came around to get gunned down. I could eventually leave, and went upstairs where I shot a few more from cover, and went along my merry way. I could hear the interrogation, but a chain on a gate somehow stopped me going the easy route. So, I went through a school to many bullets and at least one explosion.

Spoilers for the next paragraph

Finally with the commander in sight, I shot the two men with him and freed him. Now reunited with Sam (surprise, I was Victor!), I called in support moments before the building exploded, and Iraqi troops swarmed us. We stayed in cover, firing to protect ourselves for long moments before air support arrived with bombs and an escape helicopter.

Back in 2011, Sam had asked Victor to meet him at a county fair in Washington DC…