Splinter Cell: Blacklist Message Board older than one year ago

Credit where credit’s due: Splinter Cell: Blacklist is looking significantly more like classic SC than Conviction or Double Agent – except, you know, when it’s really, really not. There’s pitch-black darkness and rainy atmosphere and the option to play without killing anybody (though non-lethal roughhousing  is, sadly, quite encouraged), so that’s a good-ish sign. But what of multiplayer? Conviction mystifyingly abandoned the series grimly satisfying, intriguingly asymmetrical Spies vs Mercs showdowns, so it’s good news indeed to hear that clandestine game of cat-and-mouse-and-AK-47 is making a return. Catch it after the break (courtesy of IGN) before it throws down a smoke bomb and places a not-so-gentle hand around your tenderest of neck regions.

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I’m stoked to speak with you guys about our latest trailer for Blacklist, which we’re calling “Stalk. Strike. Silence.” If you’re a Splinter Cell fan, you know that there’s a rich history to the franchise. The idea behind Blacklist is to embrace those roots by bringing back most of the core elements and merging them with the advanced gameplay and graphical evolution of the more recent Splinter Cell games.

We’re also bringing back that sweet, dark, geopolitical drama that Tom Clancy fans are familiar with. In Splinter Cell Blacklist, the high-level storyline centers on a group of rogue nations coming together to create an ultimatum; they’ve had enough of the American occupancy on their land. This collective institutes a countdown, warning the United States to back off… or else.

That ‘or else’ involves specific threats to American interests. That’s where Sam Fisher, now the leader of his newly formed Fourth Echelon unit, their mobile command center, the Paladin, and the classic Splinter Cell globetrotting come into play.

Looking at this trailer in particular, we wanted to re-establish Sam for both our existing fans and those who may not be as familiar with the character. You may already know that the core objective for a Splinter Cell is to get in, handle business, get out and leave no trace of their presence.

The way of ‘the ghost’ is still very much still a part of Blacklist; that tense, no-contact, no-detection way to play. But there’s also something incredibly satisfying about getting your hands dirty as well. Splinter Cell fans can attest to the first key element of this trailer, and likely, correlate that to why they responded so well to the classic games in the first place. There is really nothing quite like the ‘Stalk.’ Seeing your target… and planning how you want to deal with it.

Sometimes you want to be quick and efficient; other times you drag it out a little more, just for the thrill of it. Do you bring the fear to their doorstep by letting them know you’re there, or do you put them down, without them having any knowledge of your presence or what happened?

The ‘strike’ is that execution phase. Lethally or non-lethally, Sam Fisher is a deadly weapon. He’s got all the tools to do what needs to be done, often before the enemy even knows what hit them. The ‘silence’ is the soothing hush as the dust settles with your threat now in the past tense – one way or another. That is the sound of Sam Fisher.

We hope you liked the trailer… and with that being said… I’m happy to stick around to chat for a bit. Hit me up with any questions you may have in the comments below, and I’ll answer what I can!

We posted the UK one this morning, so why not the NA one?! Thanks to all that sent this in.


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The voice at the beginning of the new Splinter Cell trailer sounds a lot like Jigsaw, the dying/dead/metaphorical villain of the horrifically dull Saw series. This voice is threatening the whole of America though, which means he might not be Jigsaw, who is more likely to spend his time righting individual wrongs, such as finding a chap who inadvertently left the milk out of the fridge and sewing a cow’s udder to his bottom lip while perching him on a machine that converts his bumcheeks into burgers. The rotter! New Sam Fisher will deal with the Splinter Cell baddy and the video suggests he’ll do so by STALKING, STRIKING and SILENCING. He’s also magnetically attracted to helicopters.

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Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell, give me your answer do / I’m half crazy / For half of what you do / It shouldn’t be a stylish barrage / But I’m intrigued by your gameplay styles’ marriage / So you might look sweet / Upon the seat / Of a game machine built for games.

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Splinter Cell: Blacklist game director Pat Reading offers intel on the campaign level Abandoned Mill, highlighting the three different play styles at the heart of Ubisoft Toronto's effort: ghost, panther and assault.

#splintercell It's hard to know what to think about the next Splinter Cell right now. I liked Conviction but the last Sam Fisher game was a clear break with some of the series' more iconic elements. Blacklist is clearly trying to bring some of that tech/stealth feel back while also expanding the options and scope of the game. More »

Right off the bat, we'll tell you that none of the Splinter Cell: Blacklist limited editions announced for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa come with a plane. What you lose in radio-controlled miniature vehicles, you gain in choice, as there are four different special editions.

The 5th Freedom Edition is exclusive to GAME in the UK and GameStop in Ireland, and comes with a Sam Fisher figurine, Splinter Cell Echoes graphic novel, two co-op maps, and some in-game gear, all in a steelbook case (well, except for the in-game items that exist only in a digital state).

The 5th Freedom Silver Edition, exclusive to Uplay, is like the other 5th Freedom, but with a fancier steelbook and a silver Sam Fisher.

The Ultimatum Edition comes with a digital watch, a shorter selection of Splinter Cell Echoes, and a bit less unlockable gear, along with a really silly name. Finally, the Upper Echelon Day 1 Edition comes with a bunch of digital stuff: the maps, some gold goggles, the "legendary Upper Echelon Suit," and more. It's exclusive to GAME in the UK and Xtravision in Ireland.

Our news cousins at VG247 have put together a new Splinter Cell: Blacklist video, with commentary from “cinematic director” David Footman. You can see that below. I have to admit I was a little bored by the last Splinter Cell game, despite its ultra-violence and clever presentation, and I wonder if this new game will be something of a return to form of more workmanlike shadow-lingering. It certainly all looks quite familiar, with hapless guards getting grabbed from behind, and that big American action man dressed in figure-flattering black. Ooh, stealthy.(more…)

#preview The more venerable and successful a video-game series, the tricker it must be to make sequels. Fans who have been around since the beginning likely start feeling a bit put-out about changes made over the years, changes that welcomed the very newcomers who might balk at an old-school return to form. That conundrum certainly seems true of Splinter Cell, which will get its sixth major release this summer with Splinter Cell: Blacklist. More »

Maxime Béland tells us all about Splinter Cell: Blacklist and what we can expect from Sam, Grim, Briggs and how hard Perfectionist difficulty will be.

The arms race taking place between publishers of military action games continues to heat up. Ubisoft is one-upping the Call of Duty: Black Ops spy car by including a working radio-controlled plane with a special edition of Splinter Cell: Blacklist. The $170 "Paladin Multi-Mission Aircraft Edition" includes a radio-controlled Paladin airplane, just like the one Tiny Sam Fisher uses as his base in-game (or, if you prefer, a scale model of Regular Size Sam Fisher's plane).

The bundle also includes two co-op maps, in-game items, and a Splinter Cell Echoes graphic novel. See footage of the new content, and that plane, on IGN.

Once upon a time, the Ubidelay was a dreaded and ponderous creature – the raging 18-wheeler we just knew would plow into high-profile PC releases at the last possible second, catapulting them clear into the stars of some far off month. But lately, its power has waned. Assassin’s Creed III only stumbled a few weeks behind its console counterparts, and Far Cry 3 didn’t miss a beat at all. Still though, there’s something to be said for “better safe than sorry,” so I checked in with Ubisoft on the status of Splinter Cell: Blacklist. In light of its newly announced August 20th release date, here’s what they told me.

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Have you been eagerly awaiting Sam Fisher’s sneaky, skulky return from wherever he’s been for the past few years? Well, how do you know he’s not already right in your living room? I mean, this man’s a near-future ninja. Look closely: are you sure that’s a lamp, and not a disarmingly spry geriatric infiltration machine with a lampshade expertly positioned atop his head? Here, let’s run a test. Try turning it on. Is the general bulbular region made up of three green lights? Also, did it kill you? Congratulations! You found Sam. Unfortunately, however, it looks like the rest of us are gonna have to wait, as Ubisoft’s sent Splinter Cell: Blacklist behind August’s all-too-distant frontlines. A delay heralding trailer’s after the break, courtesy of IGN.

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Way back when Splinter Cell: Blacklist first leaped into the spotlight, it did so in a fairly strange fashion by, well, leaping into the spotlight. Instead of methodical skulking, we saw fast-paced hulking – in broad, nearly blinding daylight, no less. It felt bizarre, as though Sam had suddenly become some hard-charging young gun in his old age. Recent videos, however, have eased my fear the teensiest of bits on that front – first with some admittedly takedown-heavy stealth, and now by showing us just how much time and effort is going into getting various forms of light and darkness just right.

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Sam Fisher of Men deviates from the assault and battery that didn’t make him famous to demonstrate some of his shadowy, stealthy takedowns. It’s not the kind of stealth that involves shooting a light, becoming one with the darkness and leaving a group of men trying to work out how many terrorists it takes to change a lightbulb – instead, in Blacklist young (old?) Sam crouches behind crates and then punches people in the kidneys when they’re looking the other way. It may be non-lethal but there are going to be a few hospitalisations, that’s for sure.

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In this latest Splinter Cell: Blacklist developer diary, stuntman and combat consultant Kevin Secours puts some of his best choke holds and close-quarters combat maneuvers to use. These moves should come in handy the next time we're trying to get information on the next Xbox.

As Alec recently pointed out, Sam Fisher isn’t acting much like his old self these days. I mean, he’s technically gotten older, but – based on what we’ve seen so far of Blacklist – he may as well be some testosterone-bloated young gun who doesn’t play by the rules. Shoot this, break the arm of that, hold a man’s quivering neckflesh mere centimeters away from jagged glass’ unforgiving teeth. These are not the actions of a man for whom the stakes used to be “Get noticed and be totally disowned by your organization and country.” Now, though, Ubisoft’s trying to assure potential players that there’s more to the new Sam Fisher than meets the eye. He can still play non-lethal peek-a-boo with the best of them, Blacklist’s creators assert.

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The art of sneaking up on people in the dark requires refinement, practice and a studious mind. Take a minute today to brush up on your sneaking skills, with a video of Sam Fisher demo-ing the latest techniques in Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

IGN's Splinter Cell experts break down the new gameplay trailer.

With long-time Splinter Cell protagonist Sam Fisher replaced by new character Bland Younger, series reboot Blacklist has a lot of work to do win over old fans. This latest trailer probably won’t help, given it focuses almost entirely on open, brutal violence and winds up by promoting pre-order incentives. It’s for The Young People, the ones who can’t get enough of machine guns and evisceration. Let’s hope, as appears to have been the case for Hitman Subtitle, that this turns out to only be true in a marketing sense, and in fact the Splinter Cell we know and love (i.e. hiding, gadgets, not killing anyone) is still in there underneath the surface bombast.(more…)

"I'm not going to go into the whole story," says Splinter Cell: Blacklist creative director Maxime Béland during an interview with Joystiq at PAX 2012, "but Conviction was kind of a rescue job for me." As the last game in the Splinter Cell series (that also served as a more action-oriented reboot), Conviction ended up doing fairly well at retail. But Béland says that he and another producer were "brought in because it wasn't going well. We changed the direction and kind of shipped the game in two years. So Conviction is very sweet and sour for me."

Soon after Conviction's release, Béland says he and his team sat down to put together a spreadsheet, going through over 80 reviews of the game and marking out what features were most mentioned, and which were most positively or negatively received. The black-and-white graphics during gameplay weren't well liked, so this past E3 when Béland announced Blacklist, one of the first things he said was that black-and-white was out.

Players felt the single-player part of Conviction "was too short, and the scope of the game wasn't big enough," so growing the world of Sam Fisher has become a priority for Blacklist. And the least-liked feature of Blacklist? Fans really missed the spy vs. mercs competitive gameplay mode. That's why for Blacklist, it's implemented right back in there. "Easiest decision of my life," says Béland.

Community Developer, Zack Cooper of the Ubisoft Toronto studio is answering some questions regarding stealth game play style.