Co-op and challenge modes detailed for Splinter Cell: Conviction

Splinter Cell: Conviction has been given not only a six-hour co-op campaign, but some standalone challenges when it ships next year, according to OXM UK.

The co-op mode includes a prologue to the main storyline, which takes place two-months before the main plot, where players will fill the shoes of Daniel Sloane-Suarez (Archer) and Mikhail Loskov (Kestrel).

This campaign details how EMP’s were freed by rogue factions cloaked within Russian Intelligence before the Russian Mafia stepped in.

“They don’t really like each other or trust each other,” said the game's co-op designer, Patrick Redding. "But you’ll hear in their dialogue, moving through the missions, that their trust is slowly building. If Sam Fisher is our panther, then these two guys are like a couple of Velociraptors taking down the herd.

"You are going into this really seedy, gritty underbelly where we can put the whole graphical horsepower of our engine and the Xbox 360 to work giving you the lurid texture of this place.”

The challenge modes, called Third Echelon Missions, are contained in six different maps based on the four levels from the co-operative campaign - two that are mode exclusive. The four revealed so far are: Hunter, Infiltration, Last Stand, and Face Off.

Sounds lovely. Hit the links for the rest, and watch the video below the break, courtesy of IGN. Game's out on PC and 360 in February.

Thanks, The Lost Gamer.