Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

Sam Fisher's back in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction with a whole lotta vengeance and whoop-ass. It's a more personal story that takes Sam on a journey to find his daughter's killer as well as high-stakes mission to protect our great country from the very company he helped create, Third Echelon. 
 
  Pros:  
- Mark and Execute works fantastically and is feels pretty rewarding when you pull off a four-man kill.  
- Gameplay flows at a breakneck pace yet never feels overbearing. 
- Projective scenes keep the story going and gets the player inside Sam Fisher's head. 
-  Rewarding in-game challenge system 
- Cool customization toolset for both weapons and attire 
- Some cool and unique co-op and multiplayer options 
- Many intense set pieces keep the game feeling fresh. I particularly liked the on-foot pursuit of the assassin in D.C.
- I really digged the Bourne-esque cut scenes with the handy cam and brutal action. 
- Interesting characters and plot twists keep you guessing and engaged in the story.
 
Cons: 
- Some story elements didn't seem as well put together as others. I mean, I was really getting into all the characters and Sam's relationship, but things like Black Arrow and some other minor instances didn't get me. It's not that I didn't understand those parts, I just didn't care. 
- The black and white filter to indicate you're hidden ruined some moments for me. There were times when I'd sneak into an area that looked pretty dark with the B&W filter but then the screen would change to color because the area wasn't as shadowy as I had been led to believe. 
- Many AI issues. Some enemies would literally be standing two inches away and staring directly at me in broad daylight and not do a thing. Also, their unnecessary dialogue got very annoying very quickly.
- Many weapons besides the pistols are useless. 
- Some of the challenges reward you for doing something wrong, which I found kinda weird. Why would you make a challenge that required me to get caught? 
- Interrogations seem cool when you're stabbing guys with American flags and slamming their heads into pianos... until you realize all of them are set around you moving the guy into one of three objects and interacting with it.  
- The stripped down stealth mechanics made me feel this game was conforming to other stealth games instead of in the past when it was the other way around. 
 
Overall, a solid addition in the Splinter Cell franchise. Much of it feels like a step in the right direction for the series. Some other aspects, however, either feel like the developers tried to be too different and fell short or that they tried to be too much like everyone else.