So I want to say up-front that I'm about 80 percent through the game, and I'm really enjoying the atmosphere, the graphics, and the gameplay. All the different locales have nice unique features that keeps the game from becoming monotous. My biggest issue with the game is just how cliched every moment of the story is. I can't think of a single moment from the story that I haven't seen many times before in movies, tv, or other games. The character themselves are all one-dimensional with no unique characteristics. The game even pulls its biggest punch right near the start: the whole game centers on Sam getting revenge for his dead daughter, but you find out less than an hour into the game that she's actually alive! At that point, I asked myself, "if she's alive, then why am I still playing?" Another moment for me that left a bad taste in my mouth is at the very beginning of the game when, in some sort of flashback/forward, Grim is pointing a gun at Sam. They share two lines of dialogue, then the camera cuts to Grim pulling the trigger. The point is for you to think that she's killed Sam, but how many times has this exact same set-up been used before? Though I haven't gotten to that moment again, I'm extremely certain that it will be revealed that she shot someone else right next to Sam, because that's how it always happens. 
  
I know these might seem like minor quibbles in an action game, but I find it absolutely perplexing that a game with novel spin-offs and an established back-story would rely on so many cliches. 

The above actually are pretty big spoilers, and I'm probably going to go further so... FULL SPOILERS AHEAD!!
 
To start with, there's a couple points in your post I disagree with. First of all, I didn't feel the bit with Sam's daughter hurt the story at all. When you first hear she's alive, my immediate thought was "No, she's not, that's just a lie being used to motivate Sam." This thought was actually reinforced several times throughout the game (The delayed call, then the call itself being cut super short, etc) so finally seeing her alive towards the end of the game actually held a pretty good amount of weight for me. 
 
As for the bit with Grim shooting Sam... have some faith and finish the game.
 
Now as to the characters, I don't think I would call them one-dimensional. Sam and Grim, being the main characters, certainly aren't. Some second secondary characters could've been fleshed out a bit more, but they're definitely better than the average for video games. As a point of reference, Duke Nukem is a one-dimensional character. 
 
But at the most basic level, I have to agree that the plot is cliched. Downtrodden hero tried to find a bit of redemption in "one last job", uncovered an evil plot, and saves the world through awesomeness and self-sacrifice, with a little help from his friends. It's even more cliched through the lens of Tom Clancey games: Evil conspiracy with government and PMC ties acquires a big purple McGuffin, and tries to use it to take over the US government, before being torn down by a few self-sacrificing patriots. And a token non-American guy. Now to be fair, the basic formula of "Hero saves day" can only be changed so much without sucking. The only viable alternative I've seen in pretty much any media is "Hero improves day somewhat, but tomorrow is going to suck anyways" (See Half Life, Gears of War, etc).
 
TLDR Version: Yeah, the basic plot is cliched, but it's as good as any other game. At least this game tells its cliched plot well.

I'm pretty sure the whole series is a Cliche. A one man army fighting random opposition by himself in the middle of nowhere in backwater countries and taking on immeasurable odds? Pretty cliche.

" I'm pretty sure the whole series is a Cliche. A one man army fighting random opposition by himself in the middle of nowhere in backwater countries and taking on immeasurable odds? Pretty cliche. "

Its Tom Clancy, ofcourse its cliche :) 
 
Cool gameplay, wasnt the least interested in the story though... standard tom clancy stuff.

It's not that bad of a game, I don't see what all the hate is about it

" @Xolare said:

" I'm pretty sure the whole series is a Cliche. A one man army fighting random opposition by himself in the middle of nowhere in backwater countries and taking on immeasurable odds? Pretty cliche. "

I dunno how true this is for the rest of the series but Conviction takes place entirely in America

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

 
Except in the flashback.

 Rest of the description fits pretty well, though. "