10 Video Game Heroes With Surprisingly High Bodycounts

Sam Fisher, the protagonist of the Splinter Cell series, isn't an inherently bad man. Sure, he works for a clandestine branch of the American government, sneaking about where he probably shouldn't be, but that doesn't make him a bad man. Killing isn't optional in the earlier titles, that's on the player.

But it seems that the agency for Sam's motivation and rules of engagement were changed in 2010's Conviction, as killing seemed to be a standard affair from the get go.

It took the choice out of player's hands, considering the series was renowned for that choice in stealth or murder for its first four main games. Such was the focus on the game's Mark and Execute function, that style of kill over stealth was a heavily touted feature.

There were even sections of the game that wouldn't let you progress until everyone had been killed, which was out of place for the series. Sam may not have a self-imposed "no kill" rule, usually by way of mission criteria instead, but it didn't matter in this iteration.