15 Most Underrated Video Games Of The Decade (So Far)

12. Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Gamers really have a problem with change, and although Dante and Lara were aesthetic switch-ups, Sam Fisher stayed the same aside from the legendary vocal chords of Michael Ironside finally stepping aside to let newcomer Eric Johnson have a bash. Many fans revolted - especially being previous title Conviction's equipment-less hobo approach didn't feel like a 'proper' Splinter Cell game either - and so with Ironside out the picture Blacklist essentially fell by the wayside.

Which was a huge shame, because this was Ubisoft back on top form. Electing to tell a 24-style narrative of super-boss bad guys and missions undertaken behind enemy lines, if you're a fan of the genre this was super-spy heaven.

Johnson's Fisher was far more aggressive and less humorous than before - assumedly as a play on the events of the previous games - but overall it was with some of the finest stealth gameplay the series has ever seen that made this an essential purchase. You were free to tackle levels however you liked, speccing Fisher in a number of ways from gadgetry to assault mastery, but it was always the former stealthier approach that made the series, and when you were darting through enemy encampments felling guards in a blur of tear gas and knife-stabs, this is easily a Splinter Cell on par with Chaos Theory.