Platforms: PC, 360, PS3, WiiU
Developer: Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Montreal (MP), Ubisoft Shanghai (Co-op)
Publisher: Ubisoft
Ratings: ESRB M, PEGI 18+, MA15+
Release Date: 20 August 2013 (North America), 23 August 2013 (Everyone else) because of oceans apparently
PC Delay Announcement: 20 August 2013
PC Release Date: Add five months.
PC Minimum Specs:
Platform differences:
PC Features: DX11 effects such as TXAA, tesselation, HBAO; high-res textures; parallax mapping; oh and .... ummm .... UPlay.
WiiU Features: Well, definitely not off-line (off-screen) co-op.
360/PS3 Features: Screen tearing.
WiiU Features: Well, definitely not off-line (off-screen) co-op.
360/PS3 Features: Screen tearing.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is the sixth main-line game in the Splinter Cell franchise (seventh if you count the PSP-only game, Essentials). Blacklist is an attempt to 'course correct' the Splinter Cell franchise after having been received fairly poorly by long-time fans after a series of games following the seminal title and fan favourite, Chaos Theory, a game that many would consider the gold standard of the stealth-action genre. Double Agent (seventh generation) and Conviction were fairly linear affairs that did not offer much of the freedom that Chaos Theory introduced. Blacklist is an attempt to merge the speed and fluidity introduced in Conviction and the philosophies introduced in Chaos Theory together. That, and Sam Fisher is no longer 'on the run' or 'on his own'. He is back, doing what he does best; wet suit, goggles and all.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is the first game developed by Ubisoft Toronto. It is being touted as the biggest Splinter Cell game yet, including the return of Spies Vs. Mercs, the franchise's well-known asymmetrical multiplayer mode, along with a lengthy single player campaign and co-op features.
You may also know this as the game that will be the first to not include fan-favourite actor Michael Ironside lending his voice as Sam Fisher, plus a slew of offences that might seem blasphemous to the stealth gaming genre, such as allowing players to be aggressive or loud and to get into pitched firefights instead of sneaking and avoiding everyone. And an airstrike or two.
For anyone new to the franchise, this game is almost considered a soft reboot in the sense that you don't need to know much about the previous games, except for a few references from Conviction due to the timeframe between the two titles. This makes it a good place to jump in.
WARNING: Everything after this section was written for entertainment purposes and should be interpreted as such. That is not to say there isn't a small kernel of truth contained within.
If you are looking for factual information on the game, please see the OP in the hype/info/news thread where I have compiled actual information on the game.
Those dang terrorists are up to it again! In typical Tom Clancy fashion, they have had enough of America's WORLD POLICE-ing! Since they can't just fight like real men and call it a day, they decide they are going to spook all of America with some poorly-cut YouTube clips and an ominous countdown timer. Oh, and a bunch of actual terrorist attacks. The President of the United States - not knowing that she owes Sam Fisher one for saving her life in the previous game - asks him to lead the charge in hunting down those poor terrorists that just want America to leave them alone.
I also don't know who was in charge of naming the villains this time around, but they are called "The Engineers". A silly name if you ask me, because most engineers I know are just really introverted and will look at their shoes when talking to anyone. Well, maybe that's why they use YouTube clips to get their point across. And why they happen to be all dudes.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist tells the story of how Sam Fisher got bored of not having a job, so he jumped on a plane with a woman whose guts he hated, a nerd, and a black guy to travel the world and to fight another war on terror, because like they say, "you can't have too much of a good thing." In this case, I mean proper Splinter Cell games, not wars on terror.
All preorders come with the Upper Echelon pack which includes:
- Gold Goggles: dat swag
- Upper Echelon Suit: For your Chaos Theory roleplay
- Dead Coast co-op Map: because who doesn't like co-op?
Paladin Multi-Mission Aircraft Edition (aka the US Collector's Edition)
- A 3-CHANNEL TWIN-ENGINE REMOTE CONTROLLED PLANE THAT CAN FLY OVER 35 MPH WITH A RADIUS OF 250 FEET, MODELED AFTER THE IN-GAME PLANE: Does not get more ostentatious than this.
- Limited Edition Graphic Novel, Splinter Cell: Echoes: Supposed to tie the end of Conviction to the start of Blacklist
- Billionaire's Yacht Co-op Map: something else to do to avoid spending time with loved ones
- Limited Edition Splinter Cell: Blacklist Poster: for lining the walls of your virgin den and keeping members of the opposite sex away (including your mother)
The Ultimatum Edition (EMEA only)
- Collector Box: it's still cardboard ...
- 24-page version of Splinter Cell Echoes: because you couldn't pony up for a more expensive edition, you only get the first chapter!
- Special Ops watch: so you can record the time when she says, "not even if you were the last man in the world!"
- Some ghost boots (formerly owned by an actual ghost) and the Billionaire's Yacht map
The Fifth Freedom Edition (EMEA Only, which is ironic because the Fifth Freedom is a US thing in the Clancy-verse...)
- Collector's Box and a Steelbook: so you won't dent it with anything, not that you own anything heavier than an anime body pillow
- A copy of Splinter Cell: Echoes
- Some more unlocked gear across SP/Co-op/SvM
- A 2 foot tall Sam Figure figurine: just because?
The Fifth Freedom Silver Edition
- It's the same fucking thing as the Fifth Freedom Edition, except they dipped it in silver.
- A 2 foot tall SILVER Sam Figure Figurine: There should be a fight between this and the R/C plane to decide which one is more ostentatious than the other.
The Black Edition (Australia only)
- It has the box art and name everyone else wants, how about that?
- Also some mix of equipment DLC, that's all the rage these days I hear.
- ... something's not right here ...
Steam Digital Deluxe
- You get it on your Steam account!
- You get to play it on PC!
- You get a copy of Conviction, if you didn't already own it! (umm, why are we excited for that?)
- You essentially get all the DLC that was divided amongst retailers on top of the other pre-order/physical CE bonuses, just not physical goods
- ... I guess I should mention it has UPlay too.
Sam
The man with a million faces who also suffers from Benjamin Button disorder. He suddenly is thrust back into the world of Tom Clancy-esque espionage because he realizes he still needs a job to pay for all his facial reconstructions and treatments for Benjamin Button disorder. Apparently all the fans think that Sam Fisher should never use his full power (just like Superman), and they find that it is more unrealistic that a former Navy SEAL and CIA operative could actually be more aggressive than a tiny kitten.
In Blacklist, Sam Fisher is played by Eric Johnson. You may know him from other TV roles in Smallville, Rookie Blue, or that really crappy Sci-Fi Flash Gordon remake, which I may have been the only person who watched it.
Yes, that is him smoking a blunt
on Orphan Black
Anna "Grim" Grimsdottir
The tech lady who sits back at home base to lecture you in your earpiece, not that I think that's where women belong in a clandestine black-ops agency. Grim has known Sam for as long as there were Splinter Cell games, except she sat out Double Agent because she already knew it was going to be bad. Apparently fans were too busy frothing at the mouth over Sam Fisher getting a new voice actor they forgot they had also replaced Grim's as well (as well as in Pandora Tomorrow). She and Sam start the game off kinda not wanting to talk or make eye contact with one another, and not because they read your shitty Sam/Grim fan fiction. If you wrote that, it was probably bad and you should feel bad.
In Blacklist, Grim is played by Kate Drummond. Hopefully they won't include those really bad boob jiggle physics she had from Conviction. If you liked that, you are bad and should feel bad.
Isaac Briggs
There's some really boring background about how Isaac Briggs was born into a military family and is the most by-the-book CIA operative and how he doesn't exactly mesh well with Sam Fisher. But over time, they probably become bros and all that through the hardships of fighting terrorists. I wouldn't expect a Predator handshake anytime soon though (or the far superior Spartacus one).
In Blacklist, Isaac Briggs is played by Dwain Murphy. He is also your co-op partner and plays exactly as Sam would. Cue the horrible palette swap and Black Panther jokes!
Charlie Cole
The 'nerd' and 'comic relief' and probably 'heart' of the team, Charlie is with Sam on a private job when the first Blacklist attack goes off. Occasionally wears a stupid hoodie. He probably gets too excited because of the gadgets and is woefully untrained besides shooting off bad quips.
In Blacklist, Charlie Cole is played by David Reale. My first reaction is to wonder why didn't try to get Aaron Stanford (who plays Birkoff in CW's Nikita) who plays a really good tech/nerd dude. But holy shit, this guy was in that Sci-Fi (SyFy??) Red Riding Hood movie with Felicia Day! (where they hunt werewolves!)
The
It's like the SSV Normandy, except instead of a futuristic stealth spaceship based on Human and Turian designs, it is just a giant 4-engine military cargo plane that you fly around in and have your home base in, complete with places to upgrade your equipment, receive sidequests and choose your next mission with the
Andriy Kobin
Apparently this asshole keeps coming back again and again. If you cared enough about the plot of previous Splinter Cell games and could wade through the Tom Clancy jargon ... this is the guy who pretends to kill Sam Fisher's daughter. Apparently he doesn't do background checks on the people he sells black market weapons to and accidentally sells them to the bad-guys-of-the-week, so Sam Fisher is forced to break his face a bit for another game.
In Blacklist, Andriy Kobin is played by Elias Toufexis, who reprises his role from Conviction. You may know him better as the voice of the protagonist in the game, "I Never Asked For This", the prequel to the 2000 game of the year, "What A Shame: A Bomb!", confirming that he clearly took inspiration from Christian Bale's Batman.
Sadiq of The Engineers
Well, every video game needs a antagonist, and it isn't a Tom Clancy plot without a either a Central Asian or Middle Eastern antagonist. Well, I guess a rogue general would also fill that role, but here our antagonist is both Middle Eastern looking and has a British accent! Classic bad guy vibes already!
In Blacklist, Sadiq is played by Carlo Rota. You might know him from 24 or Little Mosque on the Prarie, where he plays a nice person and rarely does violent things and in the latter case, gets kinda goofy occasionally. But not in Blacklist. I'm surprised there aren't many interviews with him. I didn't need a comparison picture of him in game because they just copy and pasted his face into the game without a care in the world, but I have to imagine he just has to put on a scowl, and he's a bad guy now!
The Three Playstyles: Unless you've been living under a rock or still stewing about Michael Ironside, the game now rewards you based on how you play. Ghost, Panther, and Assault are the options they identified, unless you are from the official forums and you want to be even more of a special snowflake, you can make up your own dumb name like Hawk or Tiger or Barghest or Virgin (specializing in hover hands, which explains why your brand of stealth involves little to no contact).
As you make your way either sneaking, stabbing or shooting fools, you get the appropriate amount of points. But be warned, just because shooting everyone is more efficient doesn't give you many points at all! At the end, they count up all your sneak/stab/shoot points and multiply it with some insane algebraic equation to give you some mad cash money you can spend playing the actual RPG mini-game where you buy things and upgrade them for the sake of buying things to upgrade.
Did I also mention you get the same cash money playing the multiplayer modes and it all collects into the same pool?
Ghost: This style emphasizes never being seen. You slip past guards, maybe knock a few out but you don't cause a ruckus and no one is none the wiser. You continue on, complete the objective, and get out without anyone ever knowing you were there. That or you spend more of your time on the Internet discussing the finer details of what qualifies as 'proper' ghosting such as if breathing qualifies for disturbing the environment or not. Might not actually spend as much time planning to stay undetected as they would have you believe. Bottom line: usually it means no detections, no alarms, no kills, and a whole lotta...
Popular Ghosts: Casper, Slimer, basically everyone who says they were a fan of the older games, anyone who can pause the game and load their last save when they get spotted, and hopefully you.
Panther: Popularized in Conviction in turning Sam Fisher from being slow as a grandmother to deadly and fast as a panther, this is a more predatory version of stealth. You stick to the shadows, but you aren't below snapping some necks or shooting some heads - as long as no-one trips the alarm or notices long enough to. Mark and Execute is probably your bread and butter, but silently murdering all the guards one at a time is also an option. They tell me the better you get as a panther, your screen should be filled with ...
Popular Panthers: Sam Fisher in Conviction, people who need to review the game on a deadline, people who want to "stand out" on the Blacklist official forums, Batman (if he weren't a sissy about shooting guns or snapping necks). I wouldn't mind if you were a panther, I guess.
Assault: Well, I guess they had to do it. Assault means might is right, unless you're a Splinter Cell fan, at which point you might faint at the simple prospect of the option to shoot loud guns. You're going to be in for a shock, but those were options back even in Chaos Theory (guess where those headers came from) and Conviction (guns that didn't have silencers was an "option" as well). Also relies on plenty of explosives to get the job done. I guess you'd have to because you'd cause one hell of a ruckus and all the guards will drop what they're doing to hunt you down. Might be interesting if you can make use of some stealth to use to flank your enemies. Or I guess play peek-a-boo and pop them dead as they emerge from cover.
Popular Assaults: Probably anybody in the cast of any Call of Duty game, that twelve-year old on Xbox live that called you [expletive here] over voice chat while playing BLOPS2, hopefully not you if you can help it.
Co-op in a stealth game can only mean one thing: trolling your partner. Some possible consequences? Calling in more enemy reinforcements. Or how about just making your partner's life harder when the enemy starts searching for you? Or how about instant-fail stealth missions? Get caught just before you finish the level! You can always make new friends later in life!
In Blacklist, the co-op missions come unlocked out of the box and you can even play some of them solo again and again if no one loves you enough to play with you. Don't worry, they are only nominally connected to the main story line so don't worry about spoiling yourself by playing them first (either alone or with a friend you actually secretly hate).
I get a lot of questions asked about this new version of Spies vs. Mercs. Examples might include, "But the spies, they have knives now!" Yes, I realize that wasn't really a question, more of a complaint. Other complaints also include, "Why are spies so fast? Why can they just kill mercs left and right? I mean, wouldn't that just kill the flow of the game?" And those are maybe valid complaints the first couple times. When I've explained two things again and again, those being 1) maybe they changed the pace to make it slightly more accessible, and 2) to wait for a metagame to develop before actually complaining about imbalances, then it feels like the message is not getting through to anyone because it is in fact, not your daddy's Spies vs. Mercs anymore. But it certainly isn't Call of Spies vs. Mercs either. At least, not yet.
For handy reference, I have summarized the philosophical differences inherent in SvM then and SvM now:
- The Blacklist Begins trailer
- Multiple Choices Trailer (aka Blacklist 101)
- Ghost/Panther/Assault trailer
- Threat trailer
- Co-op trailer
- Spies vs. Mercs trailer
- Abandoned Mill walkthrough with commentary
- 100 Ways to Play gameplay footage
- An Introduction to Spies vs. Mercs Classic mode
- Spies vs. Mercs Blacklist mode preview as a Spy
- Spies vs. Mercs Blacklist mode preview as a Merc
- Dev walkthrough of the Seafort co-op map
- Dev Diary with Michael Ironside and Eric Johnson
- Dev Diary with Kevin Secours, the combat stunt director
- Dev Diary with the Spies vs. Mercs Team
- IGN feature: Campaign Declassified
- IGN Feature: Sam Fisher Declassified
- Ubisoft: Kate Drummond as Anna Grimsdottir
- Ubisoft: David Reale as Charlie Cole
- Ubisoft: Dwain Murphy as Isaac Briggs
For a complete list, please see this post.
XBL:
PSN:
Steam/UPlay:
WiiU:
Embargo breaks on 14 August!
