Sam Fisher doesn't negotiate with terrorists. He doesn't negotiate with guard dogs, either, or with locked doors, or with hired thugs who notice things like every lightbulb in a room exploding. But he is prepared to negotiate with the mass market. Building on the ambitious, troubled Conviction, Blacklist is a stealth game for all shapes and sizes that sneaks, somewhat miraculously, into the realm of an essential purchase.
The only area in which the game's an outright disappointment is the plot, which is the usual glowering, jingoist nonsense that Mr Clancy's been serving up for decades. Suffice to say, somebody wants to blow up America again and only Sam Fisher can stop them, aided by Ballsy Redhead, Whimsical Nerd, Different Ethnicity Fisher and Traumatised Off-Screen Daughter. On the plus side, the story does somehow justify the introduction of a tricked-out plane called the Paladin to serve as the mission hub.
Fishing for compliments
Mass Effect's Normandy is an obvious inspiration - as in BioWare's game, you are able to customise loadouts, view meta-data such as multiplayer rankings, buy weapons and gadgets, and even discover more about the characters. If the idea's to foster a sort of cosy domestic bond with the franchise that can be leveraged on Xbox One, this is probably too little, too late, but there are lots of neat touches, such as a Batcave-style alcove for your sneaking gear.
Speaking of Batman, he's the real threat to Fisher's operations at this point - eclipsing even ancient rival Solid Snake. Ubisoft's Toronto team has sought to endow Fourth Echelon's finest with a little of the Dark Knight's balletic savagery, care of an eye-watering array of slick execution moves and the returning Mark & Execute mechanic, which converts melee takedowns into automatic headshots on up to three pre-selected targets.
At the same time, the studio has made it so that attention-hating players can get through whole levels unnoticed, save for the odd story-mandated sequence, using gadgets such as noise-makers and sticky cameras to out-manoeuvre the foe. While hardly cutting edge right now, the engine does the job when it comes to those mission-critical distinctions of light and shadow (there's a telltale green indicator on Sam's nape, should you be in any doubt). Fans of garden-variety shooters, meanwhile, are catered for in the form of a lock-to-cover system, armour upgrades and punchier secondary weapons like shotguns and assault rifles.
Mission actions fall into one of three earning categories, Assault (loud but deadly), Panther (silent but deadly) and Ghost (just plain old silent). Ghost actions rake in the most cash, but require more time and thought. It's an elegant bridging act that allows you to switch approaches on the fly without firing up a different mode - and there are difficulty settings to reinforce whichever style you prefer (these can be changed mid-mission). The hardest, Professional, turns off Mark & Execute, supercharges AI perception and limits what you can see through Sonar Goggles. Purists are going to have fun with that one.
20 comments so far...
OXM ETboy on 14 Aug '13 said:
Quick addendum to this - it wouldn't have made sense with the fiction, really, but I'd have really liked it if NPCs in this game could feel terror, like they do in Arkham Asylum/City. You get passing shock and suspicion, but nobody ever seems capable of actual dread. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a psychopath, but when I slaughter 14 out of 15 men and the 15th guy just wanders round with his torch up looking a bit vexed, that doesn't help the old suspension of disbelief...
evilcanofsoda on 14 Aug '13 said:
I can't still get over the fact that Michael Ironside is not doing Sam Fisher voice. Other than that this is a great game. Can't wait to play it.
Metalratex on 14 Aug '13 said:
On the list.
Metalrodent on 14 Aug '13 said:
so many game so little money! This will defo be a purchase at some point for me
OXM ETboy on 14 Aug '13 said:
Forum needs a Spies vs Mercs thread. As soon as I get a retail copy, I'm happy to participate. Spoilers: may be rubbish at Spies vs Mercs.
Metalrodent on 14 Aug '13 said:
found £40 I didn't realise I had - I'll be getting this at the weekend!
captainhetty on 14 Aug '13 said:
Why does that never happen to me? ¬_¬
My boyfriend played this at an event thingy in London last week, think he enjoyed it. Actually, I think he just went for the free burgers and beer, but that's by the by.
Metalrodent on 14 Aug '13 said:
lucky sod
and I only find money because I'm so disorganised I don't put in my bank, or safe places - it just hangs around until I rediscover it
Dave2123 on 14 Aug '13 said:
It really won't make any difference to the game and I doubt you'll even notice it. Loads of hardcore SC fans got to play the beta or something and afterwards one of them asked: "Did you guys notice Michael Ironside wasn't there?' and everyone else went: 'No, not really.'
Vulgar Plebeian on 14 Aug '13 said:
Already pre-ordered this one.
crippyd on 15 Aug '13 said:
I will also be getting this, although not straight away due to financial reasons. ET Boy, as several of the forum members can attest, I will give you a run for your money on being rubbish at multiplayer
CunningSmile on 15 Aug '13 said:
Oh God that RDR session last night was hilarious, I swear you must have been deliberately missing
ItchyRash on 15 Aug '13 said:
Where are the forum game nights organised, discussed etc? Wouldn't mind getting in on some if I even have any of the games any more.
CunningSmile on 15 Aug '13 said:
They're in the OXM Nights thread under game discussions in the forums. They sort of died for a long time, but seem to be picking up a lot more recently. We've had a lot of new regulars join the site which I guess has given it a bit of a kick.
crippyd on 15 Aug '13 said:
Thanks for the ego boost Cunning
I only wish it were true that I was pretending to be rubbish 
It was good fun though and looking forward to some more hopefully.
ItchyRash on 15 Aug '13 said:
Well unless it's Blacklist, Halo 4, L4D2 or soon to be GTA V I won't be involved too much but will certainly if the opportunity arises
CunningSmile on 15 Aug '13 said:
Judging by this thread there does sound like a lot of interest in Spies v Mercs so there may well be some OXM nights ahead for that.
EDIT: Just preordered the Ultimate Edition from Amazon. They're waiving all postage on games until Christmas so I spent the saved money on the upgrade. Comes with a cool watch
Maximus T on 19 Aug '13 said:
Speaking of the game nights thread, this may be a bit premature but at some point surely it would be logical to have separate threads for the 360 games nights and for the ONE game nights. Also, I should start taking part. I'll head over there now and share my GT. I am sort of nervous though, everyone says they're bad, but so does everyone else...
CunningSmile on 19 Aug '13 said:
No we are genuinely bad, L4D2 the other night some of us struggled on easy! As for splitting up the threads I think we are going to play it by ear. At present I think we can let the games dictate the platform, but if that becomes impractical than one for each platform will be the way forward.
jastastic on 4 Sep '13 said:
Splinter Cell Blacklist is fine & all, but the main reason I pre-ordered it was for the mercs vs. spies. My issue with it is that mercs vs. spies is not offline (no system link). I expected, since I paid $65 for it, that I would at least have the ability to play it offline. The storyline & multiplayer is great and all, but when I'm forced to play the major feature of the game online (& pay for xbox live accounts) that takes from my experience having the game & having its features at my disposal at all times. I don't want to go online all the time for it. If I wanted to system link at a friend's house (who doesn't have wifi or a good signal) I can't, and that really irritates me. An easy patch would fix this: have extra ai for offline (one/two player for instance) mercs vs spies game session (or be able to choose parameters)...make it offline & system link available. Then I will consider it my fav game of the year.