Stealth will be "something you want to use" in Splinter Cell

Max Beland, Splinter Cell: Conviction's creative director, has explained to Industry Gamers why the team decided to reboot the franchise, and why the new stealth gameplay mechanic will be something the player "wants" to use.

Stating that most of Sam Fisher's outings were a bit hard for players, Beland believes that this time around, the team got it right.

"We had a clear player fantasy that we wanted to continue to deliver, but it was clear that we weren't delivering it properly or well enough since people were not sticking to it," said Beland. "They were not finishing the games we were making and the sales were stagnating.

"If you look at the sales of Splinter Cell 1 versus Splinter Cell 4, they go a little bit down. So, our fantasy was good but we needed to approach it differently.

"We're going to make stealth something you want to use. We want you to be a predator, not a grandmother. Being a grandmother before kind of forced you to be stealth. You need to hide in the shadows because if you're seen, they shoot you and you're dead.

"But what if we make the shadows something that's interesting and makes you powerful and you use as a tactical tool against your enemies. So that's how we're able to approach our franchise differently while staying true to the values."

Splinter Cell: Conviction is out Tuesday, April 13 for Xbox 360, and PC users get it on April 29.