- "The thing you have to understand is this: the Sam Fisher you knew is dead. America killed him, asked him to make one sacrifice too many, cross one line too far."
- ― Victor Coste describing Sam Fisher while being interrogated by Black Arrow officers.
Merchant's Street Market is the first solo campaign level in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction. Former Splinter Cell agent Sam Fisher, after spending three years from when he walked away from Tom Reed and Third Echelon, must find and question Dmitri Gramkos to discover information about the death of his daughter. This level plays as a tutorial for the player, introducing the new features and gameplay to the series first introduced in Conviction such as Mark and Execute and the new cover system.
Information[]
| Assignment in 2011 | |
|---|---|
| Look up. | Follow Anna Grimsdottir's instructions: Look up to see her "eye". |
| Go toward the stalls. | Follow Grim's instructions: Go in the booth area. |
| Take cover here. | Follow Grim's instructions: Take Cover. |
| Move cover to cover. | Follow Grim's instructions: Move from cover to cover until you reach the luggage stand. |
| Shoot the Thugs. | |
| Find the gang leader. | Find the gang leader and see if you can get some questions answered. |
| Do a hand to hand kill. | |
| Mark both enemies. | |
| Execute the targets you marked. | |
| Interrogate Gramkos. | Reach, grab, and interrogate Dmitri Gramkos. |
| Cover. | |
| Bash the door. | |
| 20 Years Ago, 1991 | |
| Sarah. | Go to your daugther Sarah. |
| Switch on the light. | Comfort young Sarah. |
| Switch off the light. | Show Sarah that she's safe in the dark. |
| Do a hand to hand kill. | Protect your family. |
| Mark both intruders. | Mark the intruders. |
| Protect your family. | Execute the intruders. |
Overview[]
A waiter walks past a few tables carrying a plate with a headset on it and walks up to Sam Fisher, who is sitting at one of the tables outside. After the waiter gives Sam the headset, Sam puts the device around his ear and recognizes Anna Grímsdóttir's voice. He questions Grim, asking her how she found him, to which she replies that they are Third Echelon: they've always kept tabs on him. She tells Sam that there are men in the marketplace looking for him and asks Sam if he's carrying. Fisher confirms that he's carrying a sidearm, but tells Grim that he'd rather not risk civilians being killed in a firefight. Moments later, Sam hears gunshots in the market stalls ahead as groups of civilians flee the area.
Sam Fisher talks to his daughter, Sarah Fisher, during a flashback.
Sam makes his way deeper into the marketplace and takes cover behind a small wall. Grim tells him to sit tight for a moment as she creates a distraction by overpowering the powerbox on one of the power line poles nearby. As the power box is overcharged and produces an explosion of sparks, Sam has a flashback. In the flashback, Sam's daughter, Sarah, is a young girl and is calling him from her room. Sam checks on her and she explains that she's afraid of the dark. Sam tells her that the dark can be a good thing and states that if there are any 'monsters' he can make her mobile lights fall on their head so 'they won't be bad anymore.' Suddenly, Sam hears a glass break and tells Sarah to go stay in her room as he investigates the disturbance.
As Sam exits the room, he sees two intruders in the next room talking to each other about the valuables that may be inside the house. Sam moves in closer but is spotted by another intruder to his right; surprised, Sam grabs the intruder and kills him. He uses the pistol to shoot and kill the other two intruders with the thief's handgun, causing them to fall over dead. Sam collects himself for a moment but then hears Sarah exiting her room, asking him what was happening; Sam tells her to not look and comforts her as he regains his senses, as Grim calls out to him from the earpiece, ending his flashback.
Sam continues through the marketplace as the area is now darker, making it easier for him to conceal himself. He disposes of the men looking for him and eventually encounters Dmitri Gramkos in an open area. Gramkos flees, shooting behind him and eventually making his way to a bathroom down a set of stairs. As Sam nears, Gramkos blindly fires rounds into the door before Sam kicks it open and disarms him. After interrogating, Gramkos reveals that Andriy Kobin, a local gun runner and smuggler, is responsible for his daughter's death. Sam crushes Gramko's windpipe, killing him, and lets him fall onto the floor as he sets his focus to Kobin's Mansion.
Trivia[]
- This mission takes place three years after Splinter Cell: Double Agent, the last mission being Coast Guard Boat, where Sam had to disable the final Red Mercury Bomb and kill Carson Moss.
- On the table where Sam is sitting, the book, "The Romance of Zion Chapel" by Richard Le Gallienne can be seen sitting on the table.
- In the flashback section, the intruders talk about how there is a lady in the house who has valuables, possibly referring to Regan Burns, Sam's late ex-wife. The thieves also state that they learned that there were medals in the building, referencing Sam's service in the military.
- Additionally, in the flashback, Sam tells Sarah that he can make her mobile 'fall' on the 'monsters' head (to which Sarah excitedly states that, "And then they won't be bad anymore!"). This is a nod to the gameplay mechanic about how the player can shoot traps (like chandeliers) to drop on enemies to take them out.
- This is the first mission that the Mark and Execute feature is introduced in Splinter Cell: Conviction, as well as the first level in the series where it has appeared in. The Mark and Execute feature made a return in the next title, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and improved it by adding in Mark and Execute in motion.
- When Fisher chases Gramkos into the bathroom, Gramkos fires several times into the door. If the player stands on the other side of the door, the bullets will not affect them in any way which is strange, considering the door is wooden and Gramkos is using a .50 cal Desert Eagle.
- This is the second time Grímsdóttir helps Sam out in a situation by use of electronics to affect the environment, as she overloaded the power lines, creating a distraction and giving Sam shadows. The first time was in the first Splinter Cell, during the Presidential Palace level. This could be a reference to previous games.
- Grímsdóttir does not appear in this level, but she is one of the first voices heard at the start of the mission when the waiter gives Fisher an earpiece.
- It is impossible for the player to shoot, kill or grab Gramkos until he makes it to the bathroom, at which point the player is forced to interrogate him.
- This is the first level the player interrogates someone in, introducing the different interrogation system that Conviction uses compared to the previous Splinter Cell games.
Gallery[]
