- Sam Fisher: "Thanks for coming back for me, Vic..."
- Victor Coste: "You don't leave a brother behind, Sam. You don't leave family."
Diwaniya, Iraq is the fourth solo campaign level in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction. This level is a flashback to when Sam Fisher was captured by the Iraqi Republican Guard on the Highway of Death during the 1991 Gulf War. The player controls Victor Coste and must fight his way through the hostile area in order rescue Sam. This level is unique in that it is the first level in the Splinter Cell series where players take control of a character who isn't Sam Fisher. Additionally, this level removes the Mark and Execute and color desaturation mechanics, whilst adding the ability to strafe.
Information[]
| Objective | |
|---|---|
| Rescue the squad leader. | Find and Rescue your squad leader. |
| Search the buildings. | |
| Rescue your friend. | Free your friend. |
| Take cover. | |
| Protect Sam. | |
Overview[]
The squad members talk to each other seconds before the ambush.
Victor Coste (callsign "Husky"), along with his squadmates including Sam Fisher, his squad leader, were talking to each other while on patrol when suddenly an IED (Improvised Explosives Device) detonates and disorientates the entire squad. The explosion killed one of the squad members, the other member was killed after being shot multiple times while the squad leader is dragged away by Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers. Coste regains consciousness and stands up and is contacted by command and is ordered to stay at his location for extraction, but instead disobeys orders in order to find his squad leader. Coste navigates across the war-torn highway littered with destroyed vehicles and patrolling Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers. Coste comes to a destroyed gas station and fights through the back alleys to another part of the destroyed village. As Coste is moving through the rubble of a destroyed schoolhouse, he could hear the screams of Fisher nearby being interrogated by the Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers.
Coste takes cover behind a destroyed car while being fired upon.
Coste performs a hand-to-hand takedown on an enemy.
Coste finds Fisher being tortured by the soldiers inside a separate building belonging to the school. Coste kills Fisher's captors and moves inside the room, freeing Fisher from his bonds. Coste radios command for extraction from his current location as Sam retrieves his SIG and reloads it, thus arming himself. Suddenly, hostile reinforcements attack the schoolhouse from the buildings across from their location. Coste and Fisher are forced to defend themselves from the hail of gunfire and rounds hitting their cover. After the heated firefight, reinforcements arrive and airstrike the hostile soldiers, neutralizing them. Finally, the helicopter arrives for the two as it decreases it's altitude from above. Before extraction, Fisher thanks Coste for coming to rescue him, to which Coste replies that, "You never leave family behind."
Trivia[]
- This level is unique in that is the first single player level in the Splinter Cell series where the player controls a different character than Sam Fisher.
- The level was set up to allude to the player that they are controlling Sam, but it's revealed to be Coste near the end. Some hints to his identity can be revealed by his grunts when taking damage during the gameplay sections.
- Although the emphasis on stealth is greatly reduced, it is possible to sneak past a lot of the enemies in the level.
- This is the first and only level in Splinter Cell: Conviction where Mark and Execute is not available for use from the player.
- Coste's words to Sam that "you never leave family behind" is echoed in the final single player cutscene where Coste tells the Black Arrow interrogators that Sam never leaves family behind, calling him 'brother.' Moments later, an explosion is heard and the alarms activate indicating that Sam was rescuing Coste.
- While the SEAL team is disoriented after a member gets killed by an IED, one can hear multiple voices, one of the voices is Sam's, telling his men to get down by saying "Down! Everybody Down!".
- According to iOS/Android version command and is ordered to Coste to stay at his location for extraction is from Tom Reed.
- This level is a fictional account of a real-life event due to that fact that no such incident took place nor no Navy SEALs were captured during the Gulf War in 1991.