Splinter Cell Conviction Starter Kit

TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL CONVICTION | STARTER KIT

Contents:

* The Story
* Characters
* Factions
* Gameplay
* Xbox LIVE Co-op
* Weaponry
* The Splinter Cell Franchise: Games & Novels
* Xbox 360 Splinter Cell Conviction Special Edition Bundle

THE STORY

Sam Fisher Reborn on Xbox 360

Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 on April 13, 2010, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction is the highly anticipated sequel in the multimillion-selling Splinter Cell series and one of the most critically acclaimed Xbox franchises of all time. The game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, developers of Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and the sixth generation versions of Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

In this latest installment of the stealth-based Splinter Cell franchise, Sam Fisher’s long awaited return is here with a vengeance. Driven by a thirst for revenge and a desire to know the truth, a new side of Sam Fisher surfaces as he breaks out on his own and becomes a renegade agent. All of the rules have changed, as the storyline takes a dramatic turn that will change the Splinter Cell franchise forever.

Uniting revolutionary gameplay enhancements with a high octane, no-holds-barred storyline, Conviction arms you to the teeth with all the high tech weaponry and lethal skills of an elite operative and invites you to enter a dangerous world where justice means making your own rules. Featuring high intense co-op espionage missions on Xbox LIVE, Xbox 360 is the only console where you can unleash your inner renegade spy with the ferocious skills of Sam Fisher.*

* Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.

Now It’s Personal

Now operating as a free agent, Sam follows the trail of his daughter’s killer to the island of Malta. But what starts as a personal mission becomes part of something much bigger when Third Echelon intervenes. Sam is taken back to Washington, D.C. for interrogation and learns explosive secrets about his past – and Third Echelon’s future.

Forced into an impossible situation and tormented with new knowledge about what happened to his daughter, Sam teams up with old allies to unravel the deadly web of conspiracy that entangles his family. Sam’s personal quest and a threat to Washington itself collide as he dives deeper into the conspiracy. With time running out, Sam must face his past – or there may not be any future.

CHARACTERS

Sam Fisher

Sam Fisher is a warfare veteran of the CIA’s Special Activities Division (Special Operations Group) and United States Navy SEAL Team Three (ST-3), JSOC, DEVGRU. Fisher was the first field operative recruit in the “Splinter Cell” program for Third Echelon, an ultra-secret sub-division within the National Security Agency (NSA).

Sam Fisher has been described by his commanding officers as a gruff, no-nonsense type of guy with little patience for government bureaucracy or political maneuvering. He maintains a cynical, sarcastic sense of humor about the covert, illegal, and often morally ambiguous nature of his work.

Using his skills in stealth and combat, Fisher prefers to work as a solo field operative. He is highly trained in the Israeli hand-to-hand combat system of Krav Maga and is fluent in a startling number of foreign languages and scripts including Russian, Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Persian and Spanish.

Fisher has conducted operations in Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Iceland, Israel, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, North and South Korea, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Myanmar, Serbia, the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, and France in order to complete his missions. He has also conducted operations inside the United States, in places such as LAX International Airport in Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans, Ellsworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas and the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

After the death of his daughter Sarah, and the deep cover op where Sam was forced to shoot his friend and superior, Irving Lambert, Sam went solo. Now, years later, he’s on the trail of his daughter’s killer, a trail that leads inexorably to the island of Malta. But Sarah’s death is only a small part of an even greater mystery waiting there. With Third Echelon operating under new leadership and with a new agenda, Sam must find new allies – or decide if he can trust old ones – in his mission. Because Third Echelon’s rules no longer apply to him, Sam will do anything he has to in order to find the truth.

Tom Reed

Upon graduating from the Air Force Academy with a specialization in cyberwarfare, Tom Reed went to work for Air Force ISR. Instrumental in preventing multiple cyberattacks against United States interests from non-governmental organizations, Reed was soon transferred to AFCYBER immediately following Air Force reorganization. Chosen to testify before Congress on AFCYBER activities, he attracted patronage of several senior legislators causing his career to advance rapidly. Leaving AFCYBER behind, Reed was brought into Third Echelon by the former agency Director, Irving Lambert.

After Irving Lambert was killed in the field, Reed positioned himself to ascend to command position of Third Echelon. As the new head, he has expanded the organization’s head count, replacing most of Lambert’s appointees with his own as well as extending Third Echelon’s reach in ways his predecessor never would have imagined – or been willing to do. Moving aggressively into pre-emptive information warfare approaches, Reed has revitalized Third Echelon with relentless, efficient, and energetic initiatives. Tom Reed’s psychological profile indicates strong adaptive thinking with some narcissistic tendencies and a focus on personal loyalty.

Coste

Victor Anthony Christopher Coste had few choices growing up. He could become a petty crook, go to tech school, or join the military. He chose the United States Navy, where he excelled in SEAL training and quickly made friends with one of the other trainees, Sam Fisher.

Fisher and Coste served together as SEALs until they were mustered out, seeing action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Grenada and numerous other hotspots. At one point during their shared service in Iraq, Coste pulled Sam out of a hostage situation, a debt Sam has never forgotten.

After leaving the Navy, Coste relocated to Washington, D.C. and formed a security consulting company, Desirable Outcomes Operations, specializing in high-tech defense solutions and kidnapping recovery work. Working with a small staff, Coste still handles most of the fieldwork himself. He is plugged in to the defense, contracting, and intel communities through his contacts, meaning that he’s generally in the right place at the right time to get the job done.

Grim

Anna “Grim” Grimsdottir dropped out of Saint John’s College to work as a programmer for a private communications firm contracted by the United States Navy. After being recruited into the American Intelligence Agency, she quickly rose in rank as the Internet became vital to national security. Grim was recruited into Third Echelon by the former agency Director, Irving Lambert, and was rapidly promoted to act as the handler for the “Splinter Cell” program. Grim quickly earned both Lambert and Sam Fisher’s trust. After Lambert ‘s death she thought seriously about leaving the agency but eventually decided to stay, taking on the role of Chief Technical Advisor at Third Echelon. Working closely with the new Director Tom Reed, Grim is the agency’s conscience, as well as its most effective and ruthless asset.

Kestrel

Most of Mikhai Loskovl’s military history is classified however he is no stranger to death, misery, and misfortune. His parents were killed in a terrorist attack when he was six; leaving him with a violent foster father. At the age of 14 he ran away from home to live on the streets of St. Petersburg for more than four harrowing years. After numerous run-ins with the local police, Loskov was arrested at age 18 and turned over to the Army for his period of service.

Unlike many conscripts, Loskov thrived in the brutal atmosphere of Russian Army life, and was quickly transferred to a special counterinsurgency unit charged with tracking down and neutralizing Chechen guerrillas and Wahhabist fighters in the Chechen capital, Grozny. After an incident where his entire unit was ambushed and subsequently captured, Loskov was forced to witness the systemic executions of his friends. He endured three days of unspeakable torture before the Spetsnaz came to his rescue. After reading his report on the incident, an SVR officer named Viktor Kovalev approached Loskov to discuss a new, special operations group dedicated to high-risk infiltration and information gathering. From that day on he was known as KESTREL.

Archer

After earning an economics degree at Harvard, Daniel “Archer” Sloane-Suarez joined the NSA to pursue a career as an intelligence analyst. While with the agency, Sloane-Suarez interpreted signal intercepts connected to dozens of terror plots and personally identified the leadership of the extremist group, Grass Liberation Front. Though Sloane-Suarez proved to be a highly capable analyst, his deeply-entrenched resentment of authority created considerable tension with his superiors at Fort Meade. He soon began to chafe against the bureaucratic confines of his job. Fortunately for him, his personnel file was flagged for potential field duty by recruiters for Third Echelon, and Anna Grimsdottir quickly approved his admission to the group’s gruelling training program. Eighteen months later, he was assigned his call-sign, ARCHER.

FACTIONS

Third Echelon

Third Echelon is a top-secret directorate tasked with spearheading the American information warfare initiative. Initially located at Fort Meade, Maryland, it has relocated its headquarters to an undisclosed location within the Washington, D.C. city limits. Its position within the American intelligence community is undetermined at this time.

Third Echelon’s primary goal is to serve as the equivalent of Special Forces in the modern age of information warfare. Its most prominent initiative is the “Splinter Cell” program in which lone operatives, called “Splinter Cells”, do field work in sensitive areas around the world. Their work is the blackest of black ops, retrieving the most vital intelligence and acting on it in ways that other operatives cannot. Unlike the CIA’s field operatives, their identities are kept secret, even from other government agencies. Initiated with a single operative, Sam Fisher, the “Splinter Cell” program has been expanded under the direction of the organization’s new director, Tom Reed.

Black Arrow

Black Arrow is a private military company with global operations. It was built largely on the wreckage of the disgraced PMC Displace International. More recently, it was purchased by Golden Locust LLC, an investment firm led by American businessman Lucius Galliard. The firm was initially established in Panama City, Panama but was incorporated the following year in the Turks and Caicos Islands, primarily for tax reasons. Black Arrow’s first client was the government of the Comoros Islands, which hired the firm to defend against a coup attempt. The firm was also contracted to train and arm the country’s military and constabulary. From there, Black Arrow took on increasingly larger contracts, working mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and South America.

Stated operational policy prior to the purchase by Golden Locust was that operations inside the United States were off-limits. It is believed this was due to lingering issues from some of the company principals’ history with Displace, though this has not been verified. Instead, the firm focused on security, peacekeeping, and training of local forces. Currently, Black Arrow is on retainer to six countries, including Burkina Faso, Haiti, Myanmar, and Suriname. It has also been identified as supporting armed insurrections with training, weapons supplies, and manpower in at least three locations, including Uganda and East Timor.

Eight months ago, Black Arrow began a policy shift adding corporate security and body guarding operations, largely at the instigation of Galliard, to its portfolio. Black Arrow has also begun aggressively courting United States government contracts, both as support for ongoing foreign operations and within the United States itself.

GAMEPLAY

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction ushers in a new breed of action gameplay leaving players fully immersed in the life of the world’s most dangerous spy. Conviction provides a movie-like environment featuring real-world scenarios, dynamic camera angles, intriguing plot twists, high-tech gadgets and old-fashioned spy work. The difference is, as Sam Fisher, the player decides how the story ends.

Gameplay features include:

New level of action: A full arsenal of cutting-edge innovations allow you to outflank foes with the Last Known Position™ system, tag and eliminate enemies using the Mark and Execute™ feature, and much more.

Blockbuster Experience: A unique storytelling style keeps you on the edge of your seat as you navigate the explosive world of a renegade agent where trust is impossible and justice requires you to go above the law.

A New Level of Immersion: A revolutionary new graphic direction delivers an utterly seamless gameplay experience that’ll keep you totally engrossed in the story of Sam Fisher.

Explosive Xbox LIVE play: Brand-new multiplayer modes amp up the dramatic intensity like never before.*

Also included are a variety of new fighting and defense gameplay features that allow Fisher to introduce a whole new level of stealth to his mission.

* Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.

Core gameplay features include:

Mark and Execute: A way to pre-plan an attack, even the odds, and take down enemies before they know what hit them. After a hand-to-hand takedown – through either melee, pulling a target over a ledge or railing, dropping on them from above, or grabbing a human shield – Fisher earns the right to Execute.

Last Known Position: An indication of the last place the enemies saw Fisher. Most enemies will focus on that position, suppressing it, throwing grenades and eventually flanking around to check whether or not he is really there. The LKP automatically appears when all enemies lose sight of Fisher. It will stay active until the enemies have checked for his location.

Light and Shadow: When Fisher is hidden in the shadows and his enemies can’t see him, the screen display fades to black and white. While in this state, the only way they can find him is if he moves right in front of them, they happen to shine a flashlight on his position, or he fires and creates a muzzle flash. On the other hand, Fisher can still see his enemies clearly even while lurking in the dark.

XBOX LIVE CO-OP

Xbox LIVE Co-op Multiplayer Missions

Players can take on a special prologue operative mission using the game’s co-op play. Acting as two special agents, you and a friend can work together either online via Xbox LIVE or using a split-screen on the same console to play out the events that lead to Sam Fisher’s entrance and pending mission.*

Players initiate co-op through either the main menu or during a single player’s mission with the game’s seamless integration of drop-in play. After the co-op is completed, the two players can compare scores and rank to prove who is the better spy. Have no one close by to play with? Since the Third Echelon has counterparts around the world, that’s not a problem. Players who connect to Xbox LIVE can choose to play co-op online with either friends or other players. When starting a mission in single player, choose to host a game online with restrictions on who can join.

Beginning in the midst of a mob den in St. Petersburg, the co-op multiplayer details how the electromagenetic pulse (EMP) devices fell into the hands of the infamous Russian mafia two months before Sam Fisher’s mission begins. After learning of the plans to sell advanced warheads on the black market, two agents, Daniel Sloane-Suarez (Archer) and Mikhail Loskov (Kestrel), step in.

Like Sam Fisher, Archer is an American agent working for Third Echelon. With a genius-level IQ and an economics degree from Harvard, he is a force to be reckoned with. Due to Archer’s extensive education, he is articulate and good at problem solving. He can argue any side of an issue and win; a skill that comes in handy in high pressure situations. However, he is also known to be overconfident, stubborn and competitive.

Kestrel is a Russian agent working for Third Echelon’s Russian counterpart, Voron. The introverted yet tough operative has extensive experience in the field but works best alone. He is direct and to the point, often making piercing remarks. Known for his hard exterior and unforgiving mentality, he has no pity for terrorists or those helping them.

While the two may have their differences, Conviction’s co-op is about communication, tactics and protecting one another for the close to six hours the mission takes to complete. Full of surprising plot twists, the co-op mission weaves a suspenseful story of its own.

Also built into the co-op are standalone multiplayer challenge modes, called “Deniable Ops” missions. The modes will take place on the four multiplayer maps on the co-op campaign, as well as two maps exclusive to the Deniable Ops missions. Players can choose between four missions: Hunter (clear the map of foes), Infiltration (detection by enemies means automatic failure), Last Stand (fight off enemies while protecting a EMP warhead) and Face Off (challenge another player in a head-to-head battle).

*Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.

WEAPONRY

Tools of Engagement

Sonar Goggles
Now a renegade, Fisher can no longer rely on his trusted bag of tools and iconic goggles. Replacing the multi-chrome green tri-focal goggles Fisher is known for are new sonar goggles. The Ultra High Frequency Sonar Goggles use sonic pulses, combined with an advanced AI controller, to provide an enhanced visual representation of the engagement zone. Fisher can literally see through walls to identify humans, explosives and other obstacles in his way.

Sticky Cam
The Sticky Cam allows Fisher to see an area remotely anywhere in the environment. Once the Sticky Cam is deployed, a Picture in Picture is displayed that shows what the camera can see, and a Remote Control is automatically selected in Fisher’s weapon inventory. It also features night and thermal vision modes that enhance its abilities in the dark, or when warm bodies are obscured.

Snake Cam
The Snake Cam is essentially a fiber optic cable attached to an imaging device. It allows Fisher to discreetly view the action on the other side of a door by peering under the sill. He can mark any target under the reticule while using the Snake Cam.

Flash Grenade
Flash grenades temporarily blind and stun enemies that are close by, or who are looking directly at Fisher when they go off. This makes them a great tool for setting up entry into a well-guarded area, or even helping to cover escape from combat.

Frag Grenade
High Explosive Fragmentation Grenades are small anti-personnel devices that have the explosive force and shrapnel to take out multiple targets in a small area.

EMP Grenade
EMP Grenades are low-intensity, short-range throwable versions of the Portable EMP. Useful for preparing an entry into a hostile area, the EMP Grenade also temporarily stuns enemies in range.

Portable EMP
The Portable EMP device is a short-range, low-intensity EMP generator that is capable of knocking out electronics without permanently damaging them. When activated, the EMP device takes out all of the lights and electronics in a small radius, allowing Fisher to use the darkness and confusion for a quick escape – or to launch an attack.

Remote Mine
Remote Mines are manually detonated explosive ambush devices. Once a Remote Mine is deployed, Fisher’s inventory automatically switches to a detonator.

THE SPLINTER CELL FRANCHISE: GAMES AND NOVELS

A Lesson in History: The Splinter Cell Franchise

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is a series of video games endorsed by American author Tom Clancy. With over 13 million units sold worldwide and more Splinter Cell sales on Xbox than PlayStation and Nintendo combined, the series is a proven Xbox franchise. Conviction, the fifth and latest in the game franchise, picks up where Double Agent left off, following Sam Fisher’s missions and evolution from retired covert-operative to rouge agent.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (2002)
Retired covert-ops agent Sam Fisher is called back to duty by the National Security Agency’s secret Third Echelon division. He becomes a “Splinter Cell,” operating outside of the agency’s official knowledge of governance. Fisher must investigate the disappearance of several CIA officers in the country of Georgia, which soon leads to him to a mission to prevent the detonation of a suitcase nuke.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004)
Having prevented the detonation of the suitcase nuke, Fisher is sent to the newly independent nation of East Timor to track down a charismatic Indonisian militia leader, Sadono, and stop his plan to detonate bioweapon bombs in retaliation to the United States’ support of East Timor.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
Sam Fisher is on the trail of the Masse Kernels used by former Georgian President Kombayn Nikoladze to attack America’s infrastructure. Tensions are running high between China, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan, due to Japan’s formation of an Information Self Defense Force. With an information war brewing, a former ally pulls Fisher into a series of events that he must stop while World War III looms on the horizon.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent (2006)
After his 22-year-old daughter, Sarah, is killed by a drunk driver, Fisher goes deep undercover posing as a criminal in order to infiltrate a domestic terrorist group based in the United States. The new mission forces Fisher into a new and very dangerous territory where the line between right and wrong is blurred and thousands of innocent lives are at stake.

Extending the Entertainment Franchise

The success of the Splinter Cell video game series led to a series of novels written under the pen name David Michaels. The first two novels were written by American author Raymond Benson, also known for several James Bond novels and short stories. Grant Blackwood took over the series in 2006 after Benson’s decision to step down, adding an additional four novels that follow Sam Fisher on his special operative missions.

• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (2004) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006) by Grant Blackwood as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Fallout (2007) by Grant Blackwood as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction (2009) by Grant Blackwood as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Endgame (2009) by Grant Blackwood as David Michaels

Based on the videogame’s storyline, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction novel follows Sam Fisher’s story after the discovery of his daughter’s murder and move from secret agent to mercenary. Fisher’s steps pull him into a rogue mission he was not expecting while the Third Echelon is on his tail, trying to capture or kill the man they believe sold out his government. Marking the first time a Splinter Cell book has shared a title and similar story with one of the videogames, Splinter Cell fans now have two ways to follow Sam Fisher’s heart pounding story.

SPECIAL EDITION BUNDLE

Xbox 360 Splinter Cell Conviction Special Edition Bundle

Available in stores on April 13, the Xbox 360 Splinter Cell Conviction Special Edition Console includes a 250 GB Hard Drive, two Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers, an Xbox 360 headset and a copy of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction. The 250 GB Hard Drive, the largest sold with any Xbox 360 console, gives you the most storage to download games, the latest demos, TV shows, movies, music and more straight to your Xbox 360 console through Xbox LIVE.

At $399.99* (U.S. ERP), the Xbox 360 Splinter Cell Conviction Special Edition Console provides an incredible value for aspiring spies who want to enjoy the complete Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction experience, including the largest library of blockbuster games and downloadable Game Add-on content like new maps and levels (sold separately).

Product Details:
ERP: $399.99 (U.S.)
Black console
DVD upscaling; plays CDs, MP3s and more out of the box (CDs, MP3s, sold separately)
Xbox 360 Headset
250 GB hard drive
2 Wireless Controllers
Composite AV cable (standard definition)
Ethernet cable

*Estimated retail price, actual retail prices may vary.

Author: DaveWeLike

I'm the editor of StuffWeLike.com.

One thought on “Splinter Cell Conviction Starter Kit”

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