Splinter Cell - Blacklist
Splinter Cell Blacklist, the newest chapter in Sam Fisher's career. The Splinter Cell series' iconic crown jewel game, Chaos Theory, is one my favorite games of all time. I'll be in the minority of Splinter Cell fans when I say this, but I actually enjoyed’s Conviction, however, its more action oriented direction just wasn't the experience I look for in a Splinter Cell game. In Conviction, you are an empowered action hero. Stealth options to complete an objective were less appealing and more tedious than killing everything in sight.
Blacklist improves upon all of Conviction's shortcomings and gives us the best Splinter Cell game of this generation. Before talking about game play specifics, I want to make a mention of the game's development. When the game was first revealed at E, gamers collectively anguished over Michael Ironsides not making a return as Sam Fisher. His voice is very strongly tied to his character. As per the industry standard, Ubisoft used motion capture for their character movements, so they chose Eric Johnson, an actor who could physically fit the role. I'm curious as to why they didn't retire Sam Fisher entirely. Sam is biologically getting up there in age, and he seems to be pulling a Benjamin Button, becoming more physically capable as he ages.
There are definitely more stories to be resolved in Sam's life, but I would have liked to see him take on a more mentoring role instead of doing the fieldwork. Maybe I'm too strong of a traditionalist, but Johnson's voice acting as Sam Fisher just isn't convincing enough. Graphically, Blacklist manages to impress. The game play in this video is on PC with all settings maxed out with super-sampling ant aliasing. As with most games in the late lifecycle of consoles, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't play this game on PC. Blacklist is Vida optimized, showing off exclusive tech such as TXAA and HBAO+. TXAA is anti-aliasing that makes your game play look like cut scenes. Some may prefer that style of anti-aliasing, but I personally don't, and opt use super-sampling. HBAO+ by itself is definitely a step up from generic ambient occlusion, but all the lighting, reflections, and shadowing effects in Blacklist are arguably the best in any game, even Metro or Crisis. The lighting and shadowing are far from just eye candy- they are a critical element to stealth game play.
Outside of the effects, the player and guns are only average, and the environments are a little disappointing when analyzing the graphics critically. Blacklist is great to play on screens at x, but playing it in D is not recommended, which is disappointing for a Vida George optimized title. For its game play, Blacklist returns to the deep stealth origins of the series. Accomplishing objectives by planning and innovating using new gadgets at your disposal is extremely rewarding. There are endless possibilities for how you can proceed. If you can think it up, you can probably do it. Missions can be completed by sticking to the shadows entirely, by striking as a hidden predator, or by engaging in head on encounters.
For each play style, you receive Ghost, Panther, or Assault Mission points, which you need to complete challenges and earn in-game currency to spend on weapon, suit, and gadget upgrades. As mentioned previously, there are wide range of weapons and gadgets for each play style. New to the series is the tri-rotor drone, which you can use to scout ahead and knock out enemies. Light and shadow are critical in adopting a stealth play style. You can shoot out lights to create your own paths to stay hidden from enemies. Looking for vertical routes through areas gives you a big advantage and literal drop on enemies. The mark and execute mechanic featured prominently in Conviction makes a return, but it isn't so overwhelmingly strong anymore. The maximum number of targets you can mark is, and you have to fill up your execute gauge with takedowns before you can hit the execute button to instantly eliminate your marks.
The range at which you can execute has also been reduced. I am very impressed in how the game is balanced so that no one play style is more favored than the other outside of player choice. There are some segments in the game that you must complete without killing or even getting detected. For all other parts of the game, I personally feel that the assault style is the most difficult. One major annoyance is that when aiming with a mouse, the game caps your turn rate. When the game detects mouse acceleration to a certain magnitude, it prevents your aiming reticule from moving any faster. A lack of -to- mouse-cursor input may be the deal breaker for many in deciding to play this game with a mouse.
The Blacklist campaign is backed by a thrilling story, where the terrorists hold the entire nation of the United States hostage. I do feel that the campaign could have been a little bit longer, though. I played on panther-style on Realistic difficulty, which is the second hardest. I beat the game in two power-gaming sessions, taking breaks to do side missions, so the core campaign clocks in at slightly under hours playing panther on Realistic. However, there is an abundance of extra content after you beat the game. There are co-op story-based missions where Sam and another agent Briggs team up. Many maneuvers can only be executed with coordinated actions. It goes without saying that it's better to go into the missions with a partner selected beforehand rather than allowing the matchmaking to pair you. Available at anytime are a variety of side missions that include infiltration without getting detected and wave defense modes. These are possible to do solo or paired. Finally, there is the multiplayer.
The legendary Spies vs. Marcs mode returns after a hiatus during the Conviction era. The spies are more agile, can climb up ledges and through vents, and they have gadgets good for distraction and incapacitation. The marcs, however, play the game in first person, have stronger armor and weapons, more lethal gadgets, but are not as mobile as the spies. The multiplayer has a classic, barebones mode, which is played versus. The spies have to hack Intel, while the marcs have to defend it. This is the closest mode to the modes of Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory. Back during when they were released, not as many people played the multiplayer as played Halo or Counter-Strike, but the original Spies vs. Marcs had a very strong and dedicated player base. Many traditionalists won't like the modernized feel of Blacklist v Spies vs. Marcs, but the mode is polished and deep enough that the playlist should remain fairly active. The v Spies Vs Marcs extraction mode, which is capturing the flag, plays competitively as well. The other multiplayer modes in Blacklist are another story entirely.
I really don't know where to begin to start ripping it apart. Game balance is a problem. There are modes where you choose your load out and spies and marcs can play on the same team. Spies have the sonar vision ability, which allows you to see through walls. I can't think of anything in any video game that is more overpowered. The time between sonar pulses is very quick, you can walk around in sonar vision without disorientation, and the range is ridiculously long. Death match is a mess, and doesn't work with the type of game Splinter Cell is. Having custom load outs is the industry standard because of the Call of Duty and Battlefield 4 effect, but it just failed extremely hard in the case of Blacklist? I am reminded of another Ubisoft game; Assassin's Creed's multiplayer, where the original design of the game was nothing like how the players ended up playing it.
The developers designed the game to be a very tense, stealth-based game, but each game just ended up being players running in full sprint along the rooftops. It may be that some of the game's balance issues are due to a met game not envisioned during play testing. It is possible that after the first few weeks, when those who are just testing out the multiplayer stop playing, that the game will be naturally more balanced with people really intent on learning the multiplayer making the proper counter classes and learning how to play around cheap tactics that we see now. What's unfortunate is that game balance may be the least of the multiplayer's problems. Even on PC, the game doesn't use servers, it uses a host connection. If the host quits in the middle of the game, the host migration kicks everyone to the lobby, and you lose all your progress.
The amount of lag is insufferable. I won't be playing much more Splinter Cell multiplayer until the game client stabilizes. To me, there is nothing more game breaking than lag in a modern game. On PC, even if you buy the game through Steam, you have to launch it through up lay, which Ubisoft wants to rival steam as a software distribution platform. I really don't understand the logic. If you want us to use your service, you should at least give it something to offer that's competitive with other services. Launching a lag-ridden game through your client is not the way to do it, Ubisoft. As it stands now, the only bigger joke than Blacklist multiplayer is the Oakland Raiders team or Mark Sanchez. When I review games, I score them based on the sum of their parts. Blacklist had superb campaign and side missions, went back to the style of gameplay that made the early Splinter Cell games great, and added modern gameplay elements while still staying its own distinct game. However, the bulk of the multiplayer experience diffuses disaster, and is blight upon what would have been a top-flight title. Splinter Cell Blacklist,
Blacklist improves upon all of Conviction's shortcomings and gives us the best Splinter Cell game of this generation. Before talking about game play specifics, I want to make a mention of the game's development. When the game was first revealed at E, gamers collectively anguished over Michael Ironsides not making a return as Sam Fisher. His voice is very strongly tied to his character. As per the industry standard, Ubisoft used motion capture for their character movements, so they chose Eric Johnson, an actor who could physically fit the role. I'm curious as to why they didn't retire Sam Fisher entirely. Sam is biologically getting up there in age, and he seems to be pulling a Benjamin Button, becoming more physically capable as he ages.
There are definitely more stories to be resolved in Sam's life, but I would have liked to see him take on a more mentoring role instead of doing the fieldwork. Maybe I'm too strong of a traditionalist, but Johnson's voice acting as Sam Fisher just isn't convincing enough. Graphically, Blacklist manages to impress. The game play in this video is on PC with all settings maxed out with super-sampling ant aliasing. As with most games in the late lifecycle of consoles, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't play this game on PC. Blacklist is Vida optimized, showing off exclusive tech such as TXAA and HBAO+. TXAA is anti-aliasing that makes your game play look like cut scenes. Some may prefer that style of anti-aliasing, but I personally don't, and opt use super-sampling. HBAO+ by itself is definitely a step up from generic ambient occlusion, but all the lighting, reflections, and shadowing effects in Blacklist are arguably the best in any game, even Metro or Crisis. The lighting and shadowing are far from just eye candy- they are a critical element to stealth game play.
Outside of the effects, the player and guns are only average, and the environments are a little disappointing when analyzing the graphics critically. Blacklist is great to play on screens at x, but playing it in D is not recommended, which is disappointing for a Vida George optimized title. For its game play, Blacklist returns to the deep stealth origins of the series. Accomplishing objectives by planning and innovating using new gadgets at your disposal is extremely rewarding. There are endless possibilities for how you can proceed. If you can think it up, you can probably do it. Missions can be completed by sticking to the shadows entirely, by striking as a hidden predator, or by engaging in head on encounters.
For each play style, you receive Ghost, Panther, or Assault Mission points, which you need to complete challenges and earn in-game currency to spend on weapon, suit, and gadget upgrades. As mentioned previously, there are wide range of weapons and gadgets for each play style. New to the series is the tri-rotor drone, which you can use to scout ahead and knock out enemies. Light and shadow are critical in adopting a stealth play style. You can shoot out lights to create your own paths to stay hidden from enemies. Looking for vertical routes through areas gives you a big advantage and literal drop on enemies. The mark and execute mechanic featured prominently in Conviction makes a return, but it isn't so overwhelmingly strong anymore. The maximum number of targets you can mark is, and you have to fill up your execute gauge with takedowns before you can hit the execute button to instantly eliminate your marks.
The range at which you can execute has also been reduced. I am very impressed in how the game is balanced so that no one play style is more favored than the other outside of player choice. There are some segments in the game that you must complete without killing or even getting detected. For all other parts of the game, I personally feel that the assault style is the most difficult. One major annoyance is that when aiming with a mouse, the game caps your turn rate. When the game detects mouse acceleration to a certain magnitude, it prevents your aiming reticule from moving any faster. A lack of -to- mouse-cursor input may be the deal breaker for many in deciding to play this game with a mouse.
The Blacklist campaign is backed by a thrilling story, where the terrorists hold the entire nation of the United States hostage. I do feel that the campaign could have been a little bit longer, though. I played on panther-style on Realistic difficulty, which is the second hardest. I beat the game in two power-gaming sessions, taking breaks to do side missions, so the core campaign clocks in at slightly under hours playing panther on Realistic. However, there is an abundance of extra content after you beat the game. There are co-op story-based missions where Sam and another agent Briggs team up. Many maneuvers can only be executed with coordinated actions. It goes without saying that it's better to go into the missions with a partner selected beforehand rather than allowing the matchmaking to pair you. Available at anytime are a variety of side missions that include infiltration without getting detected and wave defense modes. These are possible to do solo or paired. Finally, there is the multiplayer.
The legendary Spies vs. Marcs mode returns after a hiatus during the Conviction era. The spies are more agile, can climb up ledges and through vents, and they have gadgets good for distraction and incapacitation. The marcs, however, play the game in first person, have stronger armor and weapons, more lethal gadgets, but are not as mobile as the spies. The multiplayer has a classic, barebones mode, which is played versus. The spies have to hack Intel, while the marcs have to defend it. This is the closest mode to the modes of Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory. Back during when they were released, not as many people played the multiplayer as played Halo or Counter-Strike, but the original Spies vs. Marcs had a very strong and dedicated player base. Many traditionalists won't like the modernized feel of Blacklist v Spies vs. Marcs, but the mode is polished and deep enough that the playlist should remain fairly active. The v Spies Vs Marcs extraction mode, which is capturing the flag, plays competitively as well. The other multiplayer modes in Blacklist are another story entirely.
I really don't know where to begin to start ripping it apart. Game balance is a problem. There are modes where you choose your load out and spies and marcs can play on the same team. Spies have the sonar vision ability, which allows you to see through walls. I can't think of anything in any video game that is more overpowered. The time between sonar pulses is very quick, you can walk around in sonar vision without disorientation, and the range is ridiculously long. Death match is a mess, and doesn't work with the type of game Splinter Cell is. Having custom load outs is the industry standard because of the Call of Duty and Battlefield 4 effect, but it just failed extremely hard in the case of Blacklist? I am reminded of another Ubisoft game; Assassin's Creed's multiplayer, where the original design of the game was nothing like how the players ended up playing it.
The developers designed the game to be a very tense, stealth-based game, but each game just ended up being players running in full sprint along the rooftops. It may be that some of the game's balance issues are due to a met game not envisioned during play testing. It is possible that after the first few weeks, when those who are just testing out the multiplayer stop playing, that the game will be naturally more balanced with people really intent on learning the multiplayer making the proper counter classes and learning how to play around cheap tactics that we see now. What's unfortunate is that game balance may be the least of the multiplayer's problems. Even on PC, the game doesn't use servers, it uses a host connection. If the host quits in the middle of the game, the host migration kicks everyone to the lobby, and you lose all your progress.
The amount of lag is insufferable. I won't be playing much more Splinter Cell multiplayer until the game client stabilizes. To me, there is nothing more game breaking than lag in a modern game. On PC, even if you buy the game through Steam, you have to launch it through up lay, which Ubisoft wants to rival steam as a software distribution platform. I really don't understand the logic. If you want us to use your service, you should at least give it something to offer that's competitive with other services. Launching a lag-ridden game through your client is not the way to do it, Ubisoft. As it stands now, the only bigger joke than Blacklist multiplayer is the Oakland Raiders team or Mark Sanchez. When I review games, I score them based on the sum of their parts. Blacklist had superb campaign and side missions, went back to the style of gameplay that made the early Splinter Cell games great, and added modern gameplay elements while still staying its own distinct game. However, the bulk of the multiplayer experience diffuses disaster, and is blight upon what would have been a top-flight title. Splinter Cell Blacklist,