Coming off of a mildly disappointing entry (Conviction) in the high-tech stealth-oriented Splinter Cell franchise, Blacklist is a pleasant return to form in both single player and multiplayer stealth espionage. Blacklist successfully lifts the more action-oriented stealth from Conviction, dialing it back just enough so that the traditional meticulous planning naturally blends in to the faster-paced style. Are you invisible, silent and deadly, or an assaulter? Splinter Cell: Blacklist offers you the tools and freedom to stop a terrorist threat suited to your play style in the most thrilling operation since Chaos Theory. Blacklist immediately tosses you into the story campaign upon booting the game causing a seamless experience between both the single player and multiplayer modes. Aboard your technologically advanced airplane titled The Paladin is a touchscreen interactive display board that presents you with an international map. From here you are allowed to scan around the map selecting various locales locked to a mission type (story, co-op, and competitive multiplayer); its essentially a unified game menu within the story. Instead of opting for a more personal story (rescuing your daughter) as seen in Conviction, Blacklist offers a simpler premise but one thats as equally intriguing. A terrorist organization dubbing themselves as The Engineers have set up elaborated attacks on America and have one demand; bring your troops home, leaving it up to iconic special operative Sam Fisher and his Fourth Echelon squad to pinpoint the locations of the threatening attacks and subsequently put them to an end. This provocatively premise is unfortunately all that ever comes of it though. as the story is the very definition of going from level to level through uninspired motions. Bland villains and motives that go nowhere plague the initial thrills leaving you caring less and less with each passing mission. Its also worth noting that Michael Ironside was kicked to the curb as Sams regular voice actor in favor of someone that can physically do the motion capture along with voicing. Enter Eric Johnson who in much disappointment delivers a fairly flat and deadpan performance as he argues with his squad mates or terrorists. The blunt tonal delivery is erased, leaving us with a Sam who actually sounds bored preventing all out war. I cant deny the motion capture wasnt fantastic though, pleasuring us with some awesomely brutal beat down scenes. Ultimately though, this just isnt a game youre playing for the story, but rather its satisfying and calculated stealth gameplay. Functioning in tune with your play style of Ghost (silent and non-lethal), Panther (silent and lethal) or assault (Rambo) is pivotal to success. Fortunately, Blacklist also boasts an extensive and initially overwhelming selection of customizable options for Sam. Ghost players such a s myself will most likely bring along noise devices, flash bang grenades, tazers, and other non-lethal weapons while Panthers will bring along tear gas and other quietly deadly assortments. There are a varied and ridiculous amount of guns to buy each featuring a plethora of attachments as well. Even the freaking aforementioned plane has upgrades too which grant you various worthwhile gameplay abilities such as enhanced radars and quicker regenerating health. Sams suit is also fully customizable from head to toe (including his gloves, even) with each piece statistically affecting his stealth, armor, and weapon handling stability. I truthfully was not expecting customization settings this in-depth and am in awe at the amount of effort Ubisoft Toronto invested into transcending each play style into more than just a buzzword. Money is easy to come by too as you are rewarded based on your performance with each play style throughout a mission. In other words, you arent confined to one specific play style but rather encouraged to mix up tactics confronting each situation however you see fit. You will be taken on an expedition around the globe featuring distinct locales including Libya, Guantanamo Bay, London, my own personal home city of Chicago, and many more. Outside of each level separating itself aesthetically from the last, they are all carefully blueprinted allowing players to fully optimize their preferred play style. There are an uncountable number of paths to take beyond your basic decision of killing or knocking everyone out involving tazing a puddle of water to immobilize multiple guards, attacking from above, scouting with drones, classically shimmying along ceiling pipes, avoiding all confrontation, lobbing incendiary grenades, creating audio distractions, and more. Tossing unconscious bodies into rivers is also hysterically awesome. I mean, you gotta hide those bodies somewhere after all. The focal new feature though is Mark and Execute which when filled, allows you to select multiple targets and automatically execute them in slow motion whilst stationary or on the move grabbing a guard as a hostage. At one point on a train there is a civilian hostage situation that allows you to either toss in sleeping gas or stylistically executes both guards while simultaneously feeling like a bonafide badass in the process. Sure it is a more stylistic and casual feature but you can just ignore it completely if you feel it is cheap. This author personally loved morphing into one silent yet gunslinging assassin. There are a couple instances of truly idiosyncratic gameplay instances though that ultimately should have been cut. Your field partner Briggs is given some awkward and clunky first person shooter segments that thankfully only last a few minutes. It is just a jarring and unnecessary transition that adds nothing to the game immediately leaving you wanting Sam back. Rounding out the game though is a final boss that is an incredibly frustrating and broken game of hide and seek. Without weapons or gadgets you have to sneak your way around a wide open area making your way behind the villain to ultimately apprehend him. The nuisance is that he seems to know where you are going before you do half the time resulting in you getting immediately sniped to death.
The cover system (which is already faulty and occasionally has you dashing in directions you dont want to go) really irritates here as mentally you will have your route mapped out until the game refuses to cooperate. Taking cover and shifting cover really shouldnt be mapped to different buttons either considering it is instinctual to identify one button with cover-based actions. Aside from the campaign, Sam can also interact with his Fourth Echelon team accepting side missions that can be tackled either cooperatively or alone (with the exception of Briggs missions}. These welcome additions are essentially a more complex and expanded take on the core gameplay tasking you with neutralizing targets, surviving waves of attacks either silent or loud, or providing missile cover fire. They are certainly more challenging than the core game to fulfill your cravings for something tougher. Co-op also allows for even more strategic options as you communicate and rule the shadows together. You can also boost each other up higher terrain as you plan out your approach. It may consist solely of mini-missions more than anything but hey, more gameplay is rarely a negative thing, especially when their well executed cooperative modes paving the way for amusing camaraderie. In addition to co-op is competitive multiplayer in the form of the returning fan favorite mode Spies Versus Mercs, which pits Sam Fisher skill-suited agents against mercenaries who must play from a first person perspective. There are five different game modes that are pretty standard conceptually now but what separates Blacklist from the pact is its matchup of agility versus power. Spies obviously get the more silent and stealthy gadgets while Mercenaries get more heavy duty weapons. There are two different variations of Spies Versus Mercs allowing you to play it with new Blacklist rules or a Classic setting that pits two players on two. Most online game modes nowadays are so tacked on they arent even worth touching but this offers some much needed rejuvenation within its refreshing utilization of the multiple play styles. If a 10 hour campaign and co-op missions werent enough you most definitely will get your money and time worth out of the online. Sam Fisher may be back with a modified and less appealing voice but he is still very much the stealthy special operative we have grown to love. Hes actually better than ever with dozens of new toys and unparalleled covert ops freedom. His mission is an intense one featuring addicting gameplay reaching long beyond the lackluster story and minor gameplay nuisances. Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a worthwhile and reassuring return to form.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is available now in NA and releases August 23rd in the UK