Splinter Cell always has been on my gaming radar and Chaos Theory for me was the best Stealth game experience I ever had. Blacklist brings a new story, more awesome gameplay and I can say with relief that Splinter Cell is back with style. Put your goggles on and let's get this review going.
Story
Sam Fisher is on the clock to stop a terrorist group called The Engineers, he establishes 4th Echelon and familiar faces like Grim returns, hacker Charlie, field operative Briggs. In my opinion, the whole team has really good chemistry throughout the story, you can really feel tensions between them when they are forced to make hard decisions. Attack in a military base starts up a chain event where Sam's friend Vic, gets sent to the hospital, making it personal for Sam. Vic's knife has a symbolic meaning and it also serves as Lethal takedowns, what are brutal.
Paladin
Sam's team is in air this time, via C-147B Paladin, what serves as a main hub between missions. You can talk to Grim, Briggs, Charlie and Kobin, also Sam's daughter Sarah can be called via phone. The dialogue may get repetitive and I always thought of a Mass Effect like character development between them, that would have made it more interesting for me.
With Grim you can order upgrades to the plane, with each section having 2 levels max. For example upgrading the cockpit it gives you a radar with enemy movements and directions their facing. Plane also could have been changed cosmetically, I didn't notice much changes when I bought the options.
SMI
4th Echelon's intelligence system, what acts as a mission map. You can choose between 4 mission types:
Solo Campaign - Only as Sam Fisher or sometimes you can play as Sam's allies.
4E Missions - Ally missions, Grim has hacking type missions, Charlie has Horde mode, Briggs is purely Co-op, Kobin wants you to stop arms dealers in various areas.
Each 4E mission can be played with a partner, opening some more variety in levels, especially making Charlie levels little bit easier.
Gone Dark - I would call this one a Meta game, where you receive tips and try to decipher them by moving around the SMI map. Each puzzle solving gives you a extra cash bonus for missions.
Multiplayer - Spies vs Mercs game matches.
Shadownet
By pressing Triangle in SMI menu, you access Shadownet, where you can watch news updates, check your progress, daily challenges, latest 4E recommended mission etc. This place, especially Progress tab is packed with Challenges ranging from Single to Multiplayer and Weekly based challenges are a lot of fun to do. By accessing Social feed, you can see mission results from friends and beat them in their own turf, I must admit, it's a total challenge to achieve full score in each mission, but also it's so much fun.
There is plenty to do in Challenges for a hardcore Splinter Cell fan like myself, with days worth of gameplay here.
Single Player
This is where Blacklist shines by giving us 3 modes to play as:
Ghost - Absolutely invisible, sneaking around, avoiding contact as much as possible.
Panther - Deadly and fast, this one is the best mode to play as, where SC's dynamic gameplay really shines.
Assault - Go in guns blazing, kill everyone loud and obnoxious, like a Michael Bay action movie.
To every style you can set your own Load out slots with different gadgets and weapon types. For example a Panther uses Tear Gas on group of enemies, than you roll in and take them all out in quick kills. I used it on several occasions and it's a lot of fun. As a Ghost you can use a Drone to do the dirty work for you by knocking out enemies silently or attracting them to you. Sam can also lure enemies to his location by pressing select. Good old favorite of mine, Sticky cams return as Sam throws them on walls, luring enemies near it, knocking them out with gas or use a flashbang. You can set outfit types for Sam, the Stealth fiber or Combat heavy kevlar, improve Sonar and NV goggles, customize weapons etc.
Core gameplay itself is pretty similar to Conviction, with it's rapid movement from cover to cover and Chaos Theory is also mixed in. This kind of combination creates a sweet and fast gameplay. Although I had difficult time at first getting used to the new gameplay mechanics. For example when Sam is in cover, you see the x symbol on next cover, but I didn't notice button prompt on my left said "climb". In high tense situations, it happened to me couple of times, but in later gameplay sessions, I was more used to it and paid more attention. In longer perspective, this type of interface makes gameplay more dynamic.
Standard equipment selection is placed into a Weapon wheel, by holding any arrow and with right analog stick you can select equipment. To me, it felt new and added again a faster dynamic to the game, making my flow even better. By tapping arrows, you can select pistol, machine gun or crossbow, a new addition to the game. Crossbow comes in 3 ammo types: Noisemaker, Shocker, Sleeping gas. I consider Crossbow a Ghost weapon and it didn't have much use for me in Panther.
Lethal/Non-Lethal takedowns can be changed by pressing square, for me it's better than in Chaos Theory, where these attack types were under several buttons, sometimes I confused them.
There are also new enemy type like Heavy, who can be taken down from above or behind. Guard dogs also add great tension, especially for Ghost players. Sam can also hide bodies, dogs, destroy lights to create dark areas. Drone operators force you not to use Goggles, because they are jammed and mini drones are also scanning the areas.
Each action in gameplay earns you Score. Stealth knockout awards Ghost, kills award Panther and loud weapon kills award Assault. For the score you earn money and mastery of the level you played in. Also, there are hidden Dead drops, terrorists to capture alive and laptops to hack. Also completing challenges earn you money, for what you can buy new equipment in Single or Multiplayer. Yes, I finally got my pink lights :D
Multiplayer
While writing notes for this review, I was just playing Multiplayer today and I had such on the seat experience. Classic MP modes are back and it's ALL IN with Spies vs Mercs. Spies are quick and sneaky, disrupting mercenary equipment with flashbangs and jammers, making the situation less pleasant for me. Spies need to hack terminals or defend them, extract information. They can attack from shadows like Sam does, forcing the Merc side on their toes.
Mercenary gameplay is your traditional FPS, mercs can also use Drones to locate enemies as well as Spies. You can place Proximity mines to create a good element of surprise for the other players. I mostly play as a Merc, but today I tested a Spy and my god, was it brilliant, SC has some of the best MP components I have played in a long time.
You can choose traditional classes on both sides or create custom class of your own. I made a mix between Disruptor Merc and Intel scout, giving my Mercenary a Enemy locator and Proximity mines, ACE machine gun and a silenced pistol. For that you need money and tokens by playing the Multiplayer, buy yourself new pants to add a gadget slots or create custom machine gun for your gameplay needs. Pretty much endless hours of play is in Multiplayer, with over Rank 50 total. Teams are really small, max size of 4 vs 4, what makes it like a cat and mouse game between two teams, that's where all the tension for me comes from. You are forced to work together as a small squad, making the game more exciting and combat heavy.
In my most recent game, we had 1 Spy and 2 mercs, Spy moved forward with stealth, while me and another player were as backup, we always watched each other's backs. As a result, it was one hell of a gaming experience.
But Multiplayer does not come without problems, especially one day, when every game session everything froze or host migration happens. But I can admit, everything seems to be working now and despite these small flaws, Multiplayer is really immersive and excellent.
Graphics, Audio
Graphics in the game are really good to look at, but some glitches and bugs may start disturbing the gameplay. Me and a good friend of mine did some Charlie missions in split screen and the game just started glitching up, making it impossible to play. Single player itself had no glitches or bugs. I even encountered some frame rate drops when finishing a mission, scoring menu lagged, but only once or twice.
On the soundtrack I really miss Amon Tobin, who added surrealistic, dark tone to the game, making sneaking around more fun. but the best song in this one is the pause theme, that instantly reminded me of Amon's work. Sam Fisher also is revoiced and overall I liked his style, sort of calm Sam, not so gritty like Michael Ironside performed. Actually, I got used to the new voice really quickly and later when I heard Ironside, for some odd reasons I din't like it.
Conclusion
Splinter Cell Blacklist is one of my longest reviews and I didn't even touch all of the points about it. It's truly returning to the old SC form with something for both sides. Those, who prefer Chaos Theory and those, who prefer Conviction. Level design is varied enough, allowing all of the play styles to shine, various paths to explore, making the game easier for yourself. Execution also makes a comeback, but I didn't use it much because on Perfectionist it's not there. I could go on for hours how good Blacklist is, I truly recommend it for a hardcore fan or a newcomer, who wants to try a really good stealth experience.
Pros
+ Highly addicting, dynamic gameplay, both in SP and MP
+ Lengthy storyline and plenty of Side Challenges to do
+ One of the best stealth experiences
+ Good chemistry between cast members
+ MP modes are highly addicting, on the seat experience
+ Good level design offers something for all play styles
Cons
- 4E missions got bit repetitive for me
- Graphical glitches
- MP games may freeze sometimes
- More customization options for Paladin