Projectjustice
Banned
Patch 1.3.0 came out on Wii U. Does anyone know the patch notes?
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LTTP - Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Hint: It's much better than Conviction.
- Thread starter Dance Inferno
- Start date
Man I love this game, I'm on the last mission. I think I'd rank it above Chaos Theory personally (heresy I know) even minus Micheal Ironside. I guess what I really love is the fact that it promotes multiple playthroughs with different styles and allows much more customization imo.
My expectations for this game were not very good, but man was I wrong.
Probably the second best game in the series (just shy of CT). The fantastic gameplay and level design went a long way to making this game a fantastic surprise, its still in my top 5 for this year.
It's just a damn shame it didn't sell well, because I would love the series to continue like this.
Probably the second best game in the series (just shy of CT). The fantastic gameplay and level design went a long way to making this game a fantastic surprise, its still in my top 5 for this year.
It's just a damn shame it didn't sell well, because I would love the series to continue like this.
Projectjustice
Banned
I do agree its a really great game. Its too bad the sales werent that great.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
My attempts to look online only really turned up general stuff for all versions. Either way, online is still broken I believe. Miiverse had people requesting to meet up posted minutes prior and I could still connect to no one.
Projectjustice
Banned
Well that blows. I too did a google search and came up empty.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
You know that's a good point, and not something I had previously considered. A lot of this year's big games were relatively linear in their level design, and even The Last of Us, which I consider to be more flexible than BioShock Infinite or Tomb Raider, basically boils down to you deciding whether to go loud or sneak up on people. Blacklist actually gives you significantly divergent paths throughout a level that change your playstyle completely, which was refreshing.
Yeah the amount of content thrown into this game is pretty generous. You have a length, replayable campaign, you have side missions that each have a specific twist (survive x number of waves, neutralize all enemies, do not be detected), you have co-op missions, and you have competitive multiplayer. I doubt I'm going to touch the multiplayer very much but I expect to drop a ton of time into co-op.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
I would have preoredered if Ironside was voicing Fisher, but now it's a "wait for steam sale" game. The dude was so iconic in that role that it's hard to let it go.
You really think he'd like it anyway? He hates modern stealth conventions. He only has time for real games that totally aren't ruining stealth, like Assassin's Creed III and the Arkham series.
You really think he'd like it anyway? He hates modern stealth conventions. He only has time for real games that totally aren't ruining stealth, like Assassin's Creed III and the Arkham series.
NullPointer
Member
I spent so much time even on the basic elimination side-missions. They were my test labs, for each weapon type or new gadget, or trick or maneuver I wanted practice with. I tried to make a point of taking a different approach each time I played a mission, and it surprised the hell out of me just how many different ways you can work your way through them. That could be finding some ziplines that could be very handy for escape after going loud, or finding a way to climb a cliffside to creep into an area through an overlooking window or a new side passage to circumvent a patrol. Or of course all the different ways you can go about accomplishing the objectives with specialized gear like the tri-rotor and sticky camera. Seriously, try to approach replaying each mission by starting on the other side of the map and see what you find.
There's a fuckton of game in Blacklist, and its hard to believe that even with all of those choices in paths to take, rules of engagement and gadgets that its as balanced as it is.
grandwizard
Member
Loved this game, one of my favorites of the year. I really hope they put out some more missions as dlc similar to the ones that were part of the ultimate edition or whatever. That cruise ship was a ton of fun especially in co-op.
I agree about those two fps sections being really dumb but thankfully they are short. However the 'ambush' part if that is the same one I am thinking of I was able to climb up and stealth around them to leave. That was one of my favorite missions of the campaign.
I agree about those two fps sections being really dumb but thankfully they are short. However the 'ambush' part if that is the same one I am thinking of I was able to climb up and stealth around them to leave. That was one of my favorite missions of the campaign.
I spent a lot of time on the Grimm missions. Damn if there weren't some frustrating moments due to the no check-pointing but it was really rewarding to finally beat the level. As you said, there is a wide variety and I found all of them to be fun.
MP was fun, although there were some balance issues. It was fun but I tell you, playing as the Mercs made me want a new Rainbow 6 more than anything.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Oh my god I remember being really interested in that game but I haven't played it yet. Every time I finish a game in my backlog two more appear.
Yeah they should've replaced Sam Fisher with Keifer Sutherland.
Messofanego
Banned
The biggest shock to me with this game, is that even playing Assault is actually ... really, really fucking fun.
Playing Charlie's missions co-op is amazing, and honestly some of the best TPS gameplay this gen, easily. You can cover all the doorways with mines, and just snipe people nonstop, then go into knife kills.
Even on Charlie's missions though, you can play the entire thing with non-lethal takedowns and go for zero detection. It's extremely fun, and those are honestly the "weakest" missions in the game.
Then you have the campaign, all of Grim's missions, the co-op campaign, and all of Kobin's elimination missions.
The thing though, is that all of you people that are loving Blacklist now, I just have one question for you. Do you occasionally enjoy playing Panther style? If the answer is yes, then you have to admit that Conviction is also a fantastic game, because it's basically all Panther style. Blacklist has better level design, and mastered offering the choice of 3 styles, but the actual gameplay in Conviction isn't even bad; it's exactly the same as Blacklist really. And Conviction has a whole huge chunk of levels with Archer and Kestrel that are pretty much on par with Blacklist - full no detection levels with lasers and traps, co-op campaign, the works.
Maybe in time people will finally be able to admit that while Blacklist is definitely the better game, Conviction was always good too.
Playing Charlie's missions co-op is amazing, and honestly some of the best TPS gameplay this gen, easily. You can cover all the doorways with mines, and just snipe people nonstop, then go into knife kills.
Even on Charlie's missions though, you can play the entire thing with non-lethal takedowns and go for zero detection. It's extremely fun, and those are honestly the "weakest" missions in the game.
Then you have the campaign, all of Grim's missions, the co-op campaign, and all of Kobin's elimination missions.
The thing though, is that all of you people that are loving Blacklist now, I just have one question for you. Do you occasionally enjoy playing Panther style? If the answer is yes, then you have to admit that Conviction is also a fantastic game, because it's basically all Panther style. Blacklist has better level design, and mastered offering the choice of 3 styles, but the actual gameplay in Conviction isn't even bad; it's exactly the same as Blacklist really. And Conviction has a whole huge chunk of levels with Archer and Kestrel that are pretty much on par with Blacklist - full no detection levels with lasers and traps, co-op campaign, the works.
Maybe in time people will finally be able to admit that while Blacklist is definitely the better game, Conviction was always good too.
D
Deleted member 126221
Unconfirmed Member
I'd blame the marketing team behind the game more than Neogaf honestly. What was shown at E3 really looked like a dumb dudebro shooter with torture porn thrown into the mix. I completely ignored the game after the E3 presentation, in fact; now I want to play it thank to this thread.
So, in my case at least, Neogaf is helping sell the game!
Thanks for a great review. I'll definitely be picking this up at some point.
The bolded in particular is really cool, as not a lot of games handle "goon" AI well. Good to know you're already excited about replaying it, too.
Shame about the random gung-ho/FPS sections, but good that they don't take up too much of your time.
Have you tried the multiplayer at all? There's a separate thread about it, but it'd be good to hear the opinions of some who enjoyed the SP and are maybe carrying their experience through. The original SvM was something to write home about, so I hope it's made a triumphant return.
Pretty good review OP.
This is more or less how I feel. I JUST got done with Thief 2 and no what Blacklist has no chance of getting near that game's heights in terms of level design, but I'll be satisfied if I can at lest get something that drives towards the same idea in this day and age.
Also Spies vs Mercs.
This is more or less how I feel. I JUST got done with Thief 2 and no what Blacklist has no chance of getting near that game's heights in terms of level design, but I'll be satisfied if I can at lest get something that drives towards the same idea in this day and age.
Also Spies vs Mercs.
Splinter Cell level design was never ever in the same vein as TTLG stuff. If anything, SC levels were generally pretty linear, even most of Chaos Theory was moving from an area to another. Everyone just remembers Bank from CT and then assumes the whole game was like that.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
That never really bothered me. One of my favorite levels was Battery and not only was that shit linear but you had to backtrack multiple times lol
NullPointer
Member
Yep. Its even in the title of the OT and in the first post of it, with "traces of stealth" and gifs presenting assault as stealth.
Its all in good humor but doesn't represent the game for what it is, at all. Unfortunately, some people might have taken it for truth though. But to be fair, the initial marketing of the game was at fault for this.
This was THE summer game for me, I wound up loving it much more then I expected to, doing all the side missions, etc. It really was EXACTLY what the marketing shpiel claimed that it would be, which was an updated version of classic Splinter Cell. I really wish more games these days would deliver a such a total package of content (stinker train yard level excluded but eh I forgive them).
Hope to see a sequel soon, SC was a better series when each game was more content and small tweaks rather than full reinvention (pre Double Agent basically)
Hope to see a sequel soon, SC was a better series when each game was more content and small tweaks rather than full reinvention (pre Double Agent basically)
PhantomZone
Member
Will pick it up if it is reduced in a Steam sale 
Surface of Me
I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
I plan to pick it up for $30.
You might've missed the part where I was pretty much the only actual advocate of the game and was trying to collect information about it before it released. I had always intended to write the OT as tongue in cheek. Stealth requires some thinking. If someone read my OT and took it as fact, well I doubt they would've gotten too far into the game anyway.
I tried so hard to love Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The world was nice and the atmosphere was compelling. I loved the augments and conversations and whatnot. But when I got down to it I thought the gameplay was fundamentally broken. That switching between third-person and first-person was TERRIBLE. How did that get the green light?
While playing Splinter Cell: Blacklist I honestly thought to myself: this is the gamplay that DE:HR wished it had. Ubi just hit the nail on the head.
I don't know about Dishonoured. I don't know how you can have proper stealth gamplay in first-person viewpoint.
Get a hold of Blacklist asap.
I liked the game despite the terrible Mr. Fisher. The actor is just plain bad. I don't mind not having Ironside much, but they could do a lot better than this. His inappropriate voice and monotonous delivery of his lines made the cutscenes pretty bad, others were decent enough and there was some humor here and there other than the overly serious Mr. Fisher.
Previous games didn't have this much dialog and cutscenes though, this game has much more cinematic and dialog than those, even Conviction.
The game is surprisingly replayable, level design is pretty good even though it's segmented. Ideal Splinter Cell to me should be designed like the Grim's side missions, like Chaos Theory was in several of its levels. Still the levels are wide enough here mostly with several well hidden paths, some bad scripted parts here and there aside. Previous games had those things too, not unique to Blacklist. Overall I like the maps in side missions (Grim and Kobin in particular) a lot more than story missions.
The game was fun and I liked the controls, their choice of locales was interesting too mostly. It should've probably done better if they didn't release the terrible last two games and didn't reveal it like they did last year. They have only themselves to blame, still give it a shot if you're on the fence.
Previous games didn't have this much dialog and cutscenes though, this game has much more cinematic and dialog than those, even Conviction.
The game is surprisingly replayable, level design is pretty good even though it's segmented. Ideal Splinter Cell to me should be designed like the Grim's side missions, like Chaos Theory was in several of its levels. Still the levels are wide enough here mostly with several well hidden paths, some bad scripted parts here and there aside. Previous games had those things too, not unique to Blacklist. Overall I like the maps in side missions (Grim and Kobin in particular) a lot more than story missions.
The game was fun and I liked the controls, their choice of locales was interesting too mostly. It should've probably done better if they didn't release the terrible last two games and didn't reveal it like they did last year. They have only themselves to blame, still give it a shot if you're on the fence.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
I bought this along with Arkham: Origins over the weekend. Once I've got my Batman fix out of the way I'm looking forward to diving into this. I was one of the "IT'S THE DEATH OF STEALTH" set, so it is nice to hear it receive so many positive reviews.
Dishonoured doesn't seem all that at first, but I have to say, it has a way of really drawing you into it's world. How the gameplay mechanics intertwine is deceptively deep too, so there is a lot of room for experimentation. Whether it is a successful "stealth" game though is up to you, but it is probably the best First Person Magic Batman game you'll ever play
The DLC, Knife of Dunwall and Brigmore Witches, is actually better than the main game by quite a margin and worth the price of admission alone.
Dishonoured doesn't seem all that at first, but I have to say, it has a way of really drawing you into it's world. How the gameplay mechanics intertwine is deceptively deep too, so there is a lot of room for experimentation. Whether it is a successful "stealth" game though is up to you, but it is probably the best First Person Magic Batman game you'll ever play
The DLC, Knife of Dunwall and Brigmore Witches, is actually better than the main game by quite a margin and worth the price of admission alone.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Haha looks like you and I have the same taste for underappreciated games (first RE6 now Blacklist). I personally love the Panther playstyle, but I couldn't stand Conviction because it was forced on you. You had to play Panther whether you wanted to or not. I generally played Panther in Blacklist, but every now and then I would switch to Ghost or Assault depending on what my mood was like. In Conviction I never had that option, and I generally had to kill everyone before getting to the next section, which was kind of annoying.
I played one game of multiplayer and to be honest I found it really annoying. I played the Blacklist variant of SvM and as a spy my entire game involved spawning, heading towards the objective, and then getting murdered by a turret or a drone or a mine or a merc who was camping. I think at this point in the game's life there are people with all the high-tech gadgets unlocked that it makes it difficult for a newbie like myself to ease myself into the game at all.
What might be fun is setting up custom GAF games, if there are still enough people playing the game. The concept of the multiplayer seems really fun and I do want to experience it before completely dismissing it.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
What system?
That final fight really is terrible, it took me a good few tries and the QTE in the middle was over so fast that I actually fully missed it the first time.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
I'm on 360. My gamertag is in my profile if anyone wants to hook up for some custom games or co-op.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
? I hate AC3 and consider it one of the worst games I've played in my entire life. I love the batman games because they're batman simulators. Neither series are stealth series and I don't consider them stealth games so I'm not sure why they were brought up here.
IvorB said:
You realize the greatest stealth game ever made was in first person view right? (Thief 2 in case you didn't guess right)
I mean Dishonored was a really poor stealth game but not because it was first person.
Blacklist is still easily my personal GOTY and I doubt that will change. It's a huge bummer that it bombed, and I really hope that doesn't mean Ubisoft take the franchise in another wildly different direction, because this is the best game they've made during this entire generation.
Assault play style is better than most dedicated TPS titles, panther style is far more fleshed out and impressive than in the awful Splinter Cell: Conviction, and stealth gameplay is actually very close to the classic stealth style of the earlier games in the franchise. Chaos Theory still beats it on the pure stealth front, but Blacklist offers so much more in addition.
It's not just better than Conviction, it's better than just about every stealth game I've played since hooking up my current gen consoles.
Assault play style is better than most dedicated TPS titles, panther style is far more fleshed out and impressive than in the awful Splinter Cell: Conviction, and stealth gameplay is actually very close to the classic stealth style of the earlier games in the franchise. Chaos Theory still beats it on the pure stealth front, but Blacklist offers so much more in addition.
It's not just better than Conviction, it's better than just about every stealth game I've played since hooking up my current gen consoles.
diddybeats
Member
I think these are the notes for the last Wii U patch
http://splintercell.ubi.com/blacklist/en-CA/home/news.aspx?c=tcm:164-116708-16&ct=tcm:148-76770-32
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Damn good game, though.
But stealth relies on being hidden. How can you know you are hidden if you cannot see yourself? If you have no visual awareness of your body how can you be stealthy?
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
If you can see an enemy, the enemy can see you. That's the basic gist of stealth in first person. I actually think first person stealth is more exciting and thrilling than third person stealth because you don't have the ability to see around corners and behind you as you move around. You have to be a lot more methodical and careful in your approach.
