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Monday Aug 26, 2013
Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Review
Monday Aug 26, 2013
Monday Aug 26, 2013
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is most certainly the best entry in the stealth series since Chaos Theory way back in 2005. And to long term fans of Sam Fisher that will get them rather excited. Chaos Theory has always been considered the best game to grace the franchise to date as it was the last time gamers could be 100% sure they were getting a complete stealth based game. Conviction threw that out the window by presenting fully loaded action at a crazy pace.
Returning to Blacklist we see that the fantastic Michael Ironside who many consider the true heart and soul of Sam Fisher has been replaced for a younger model in Eric Johnson. Johnson does put in a good performance as Fisher, he has a clear understanding of Fisher’s character and this comes across, but at times some will still wish that the deep rumbling voice of Ironside was delivering the lines.
Nonetheless, Fisher is at the head of a team called Fourth Echelon who are going after a mysterious group called The Engineers. They are demanding that the USA immediately withdraws all their troops on foreign soil.
What happens if the United States does not comply I hear you ask? Well The Engineers will then conduct a series of terror attacks that will continue to worsen known as “The Blacklist.” It is up to Fourth Echelon and Sam to stop The Engineers and of course this means doing what we all love in a Splinter Cell game, sneaking around in dark places using many different types of lethal/non-lethal gadgetry.
However there are 3 different ways you can play the game: Ghost, Assault and Panther. Ghost as you might suspect is the old school approach that many love from the earlier games, staying out of view, sticking to shadows in order to get past enemies, leaving them to get on with their job as if you were never there.
Assault is also self-explanatory, stealth is forgotten and you go in guns blazing trying to take the enemy out in a good old gun battle. Panther is a mixture of the two, leaving it up to you to decide when to stay quiet or create some noise.
The single-player campaign itself does feel a bit short, but contains moments of utter brilliance such as when Fisher is at Guantanamo Bay…we shall leave you to enjoy that moment. Where Blacklist does excel though is in the multiplayer department. We get the return of Spies Vs Mercs where you can engage in two-on-two or four-on-four battles in the dark. Spies are quick on their feet and packed to the teeth with gadgets as well as having the much loved night vision, Mercs however are heavily armoured and are carrying some heavy-duty hardware. Games play out like a grown up but awesome version of hide and seek.
Verdict:
Splinter Cell: Blacklist feels
like it wanted to cover so many different types of game-play in order to keep the modern Call of Duty/Battlefield
gamer happy, as well as those old school fans who love their stealth. This leads
to a game that is walking on a tightrope, sometimes leading to it having a
scare or wobble. That aside the single-player campaign does give you enough enjoyment, but
the multiplayer is where you will feel the most rewarded…playing late into the
night making you believe you are as good as Sam Fisher.
Score: 8.5/10
Grab your copy here today starting at £34.99 on PC.
*Author's Note: Splinter Cell: Blacklist is available for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U. Our review was conducted with and Xbox 360 version of the game.*
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