...you go and do something like this... and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!
Like Harry said. Ubisoft redeemed themselves after the disastrous third person rail shooter called Splinter Cell Conviction. That old-school PC "feel" of controlling Fisher in the first three games is still gone, never to return. Namely, the degree of how fast you want to move by using your mouse wheel; Sam moving extremely slowly; having to wait for a long time for the guards to pass; having only 3 saves per level, using your pistol's secondary option to temporary disable the lights, not being able to survive shoot-outs with more than 3 foes at a time, inability to take cover.
The only way to play the game if you have any respect for the legacy of the series or what's left of it is on the hardest difficulty which disables the stupid mark and execute option as well as prevents you from restocking on ammo at ammo drops, and it also disables that stupid ghost location of where the enemies saw you last among other things. Oh and the screen does not go black and white anymore whenever you are in the dark.
This time, we get the Palladin back. The HQ is pretty well designed. You get to do primary, secondary and co-op missions along with the multiplayer all from the plane.
The story: I was surprised actually how interesting and gripping it is. And it only gets more interesting as you play. There are a few moments that take you by surprise. You seldom feel safe and when you are able to complete the mission without dying the emotional payoff feels pretty good. The main story missions are many times more interesting than the secondary ones. The main antagonist is that bald British guy from 24, the one banging Chloe.
The graphics: I honestly couldn't believe Unreal Engine could pull this off. I thought the game was running on the Division Engine (Snowdrop). We get incredible details, tesselation, rich saturated textures, DX11, decent particle effects, the distant vistas also look pretty realistic. The faces could use a bit of work though. I don't know what system they were running the early presentations on, but they fooled me because the game looked mediocre at best at E3.
The AI: although many of the enemy AI fall into predictable patrol patterns the way they react to you is something worth mentioning. For instance, let's say you turn the light off to attract a guard's attention. You may hide after doing so, he flips the switch back on and walks away, try that again and he will get suspicious and start expanding his patrol area. Mess with the light by flipping the switch up and down and they will know that someone is there. The introduction of the heavily armored soldiers is a welcoming gift since they can't be taken down by conventional means unless you are packing armor-piercing armor. These enemies force you to flank and hide instead of blatantly run ahead and gut every enemy like you did in Conviction. However, sometimes the enemies will stop over the corpses of their fallen brethren and notice another corpse 10 yards away and sound the alarm.
The amount of gadgets is plentiful although you can mostly care 6 of them given the suit you are wearing. There are plenty of upgrades for your weapons - nothing that wasn't mentioned before in other reviews. There are many ways to finish any given level, just as advertised.
The multiplayer Spies vs Mercs mode is insanely good. The Spies get a third person view for better vantage points, they are quick and agile and are lightly equipped. They have to plant viruses at certain locations. The Mercs get a first person view and are packing. They have to find the Spies in time in the vicinity to disable the hack. It's a pretty interesting game of cat and mouse.
All in all, it's a decent game.
A solid 8