Splinter Cell: Conviction - Realistic Difficulty Walkthrough - Mission 1: Kobin's Mansion

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• published: 08 Jul 2011
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[Warning: This guide is not a speed-run and you should not expect it as such. In fact, sometimes I proceed slower than normal in order to catch enemy speech.] Now that the short tutorial mission in Valletta is out of the way, we can begin the first real mission of the game: Kobin's Mansion. When you step out into the crowd just past the door at the beginning of this mission, you'll notice that your pistol is selected, even though it is holstered at the moment. I recommend keeping it holstered until you encounter the first enemies in this level, as otherwise you'll stir up the crowd and cause street-level guards to become unnecessarily alerted. You also don't have to walk through the crowd, though running will cause some of them to tell you off. (Additionally, crowded areas like the one at the beginning of this level are where I'm generally going to avoid recording chatter as it would just take way too much time.) It's not that obvious, but there's a climbable pipe closer than the one that I actually used. It doesn't matter which pipe you use, as you should still be able to perform a ledge kill on the single guard in that hallway. In case you didn't know, the body bags and the conversation the three guys have under the chandelier are all references to the events of the Co-op Prologue storyline. You can use two Mark & Execute chevrons on the standing guard and the chandelier to take all three men out in a fell swoop, but I avoided taking that overt action in order to record another bit of scripted dialogue in a nearby room. After executing the cocky guard and his associate, a P.E.C. Challenge notification pops up. If this is your first time through the game, you're obviously going to get different notifications than I am. Let me explain P.E.C. Challenges for those who don't know about them. These Challenges are divided into three categories: Prepare and Execute, Vanish and Splinter Cell. The first category deals with killing enemies in a variety of ways, the second deals with stealthy fleeing maneuvers and the last deals with miscellaneous skill challenges. By completing various challenges, you earn points that can be used to upgrade weaponry and gadgets (as well as uniforms and suits in the Deniable Ops and multiplayer game modes). Note that points and upgrades carry over between all game modes, and that a select few challenges are exclusive to Co-op. As you watch the parts of my guide, you'll probably notice that I roll a lot. When you press the cover button (Left Trigger for Xbox 360) while moving and crouching, Sam performs a little roll. It seems to make him move faster and its stealthier than running, so you'll see me use it often. (When I do get up and run at the 9:30 mark, a guard that notices the noise calls a hunt, though not a full blown alert, for doing so. That's why I generally recommend that you avoid running unless you are far away from any guards.) Looking through the Weapon Stash, you'll see that I already have the vast majority of weapons unlocked because I've already played through the game before on Normal difficulty. (Note that most gadgets are still unavailable at this point in the story.) The three weapons that I am missing can not be obtained in the single-player campaign but rather only in the cooperative campaign. Even though I have the vast majority of weapons already unlocked, I'm not going to use them that often. Instead, I will opt for usage of silenced pistols and melee kills to facilitate stealth, though I'll probably occasionally use some submachine guns and assault rifles before the campaign's end for various reasons. Andriy Kobin is easily one of my favorite characters from this game. I love the energy and paranoia Elias Toufexis put into the character, particularly because it juxtaposes well with the subdued emotions of many of the other characters in the story. It might also be because Kobin bears a resemblance to Frank West from Dead Rising. Now, you could bash in Kobin's door and get an easy kill on Anton, but you'd also run smack dab into a meat grinder by putting yourself in a position where all the remaining enemies have the advantage of cover. Instead, like one of the guards suggested, it's a better idea to use the windows. When I take out the guard at the 19:00 mark, note that I did not slip up and get detected. For whatever reason, all the guards automatically become aware of your presence when you get close to that guy. You're not "detected" in the usual sense, but the guards do start hunting Sam from that point on. It seems like you just can't avoid alerting the guards and being forced to kill them all in some manner, as the game simply doesn't allow you to interrogate Kobin while his goons are still alive. If you really want to, you could wait until Kobin pauses to reload to quickly run up and grab him, or (as shown in the video) you could just use an EMP grenade as it will briefly stun him and give you a window of opportunity.