Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series was seen as the pinnacle of stealth action video games during the last console generation. The sixth game in the series, Splinter Cell: Blacklist might just be this generation’s swan song to stealth action. After the combat- heavy Splinter Cell: Conviction, Blacklist is an excellent return to the stealth focus of older entries in the series.
Blacklist sees hero Sam Fisher return to his classic green goggles in response to a global terrorism threat. He joins up with the newly formed Fourth Echelon, consisting of both new and old faces. Though on the surface the terrorism premise might seem all too familiar, multiple points of tension between Fisher and his colleagues help ground the story.
The game consists of multiple separate missions that take Fisher to real world locations in an attempt to stop terror attacks known as “The Blacklist.” The locales are incredibly detailed and layered with multiple routes for the player to take to his or her goal.
These missions are accessed through a fascinating menu system that spans every feature of the game. Fourth Echelon’s base of operations, the Paladin plane, serves as the game’s menu. After a fairly lengthy loading screen, players can walk around the plane talking to other team members, who give out missions and upgrades.
On the Paladin, players can also access the multiplayer feature known as “Spies vs. Mercs,” back from Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. In this mode, a team of four Spies, who play just like Fisher in the main game, face off against four Mercenaries. The twist is that the Mercenaries actually play in first-person perspective and are much slower and more powerful than the spies. The mode is an excellent breath of fresh air in a multiplayer landscape overcrowded with mindless fast-paced first- person shooters.
Aside from the main storyline, side missions can be completed with a partner in splitscreen or online. These missions are given in-game by Fisher’s colleagues, each of whom provides missions based on differing play styles. The best of the available three types of missions are provided by the character known as Grim. Her missions are stealth-heavy and quite tense due to the fact that if detected, the player must restart the entire mission.
Blacklist’s gameplay can be thought of as an amalgamation of 2005’s Chaos Theory and 2010’s Conviction. Two major features returning from Conviction are “Mark and Execute” and “Last Known Position.”The former streamlines combat by allowing the player to mark multiple targets and take them all down instantly and silently with the press of a button. The latter gives the player a better understanding of where enemies will search by showing an outline of where Fisher was last seen.
At the core of Blacklist’s gameplay are the three varying play styles: Ghost, Panther and Assault. Ghost requires the player to remain undetected and use nonlethal takedowns. Panther players use silent but lethal takedowns. Assault players go all-out, taking down enemies with no discretion for noise.
While most players will avoid assault since this is a stealth game, they should know that it is still a credible approach. The tight third-person shooting controls allow the player to take cover smoothly and pop satisfying headshots on approaching enemies.
Using an economy system that spans every game mode, players can choose from a wealth of gadgets. Each gadget helps the player achieve his or her desired play style. While Sticky EMPs silently take out security cameras or landmines, incendiary grenades take out enemies with a bang. The ability to create multiple custom loadouts makes it easy to create one for each play style. This adds a good amount of replayability to the game by encouraging the player to replay missions with a different play style.
What makes Blacklist so great is its nonlinear level design. With the numerous available gadgets, accessible vents or overhanging pipes and three distinctly different play styles, the game deftly avoids feeling scripted or linear. Players can return to each mission time and time again to define how deadly assassin Sam Fisher stops “The Blacklist.”