Splinter Cell: Blacklist Message Board older than one year ago

The following info comes from and ONM interview with Blacklist producer, Liu Jun.

The GamePad's connection to Sam's OPSAT, unique features

"The GamePad screen is the player's version of Sam Fisher's arm computer or OPSAT (OPerational SATellite uplink). Sam uses his OPSAT throughout the game to access and control his gadgets and to communicate with his team. With the Wii U version, the player gets to experience first-hand how OPSAT works for Sam and how it feels to operate it. In the Wii U version, players can see what Sam sees through the OPSAT and it's a very powerful feeling to choose how to use this gadget to make decisions as the leader of Fourth Echelon.

Originally, Sam's OPSAT was based on real-world military prototypes and secret research programmes, but our inspiration is not just military. We look at exciting innovations and we find inspiration from the latest technology.

Players are going to be constantly making tactical choices on the fly, such as, 'should I kill this guard or just knock him out?' or, 'should I use a Five-Seven with a silencer, or a shotgun?' We use the GamePad screen to help players make tactical choices on the fly, without breaking the game's flow or story's tension. So, at any moment and by simple touch, you can pick any of your weapons or gadgets, or switch from lethal to non-lethal takedowns.

Killing in Motion is a core gameplay philosophy in Splinter Cell: Blacklist, enabling the player to move through the environment to kill quickly and fluidly and we've connected this in an innovative way to the GamePad. By raising the GamePad, for example, you can activate the thermal vision on your GamePad screen. From there you can use the motion controls to scan the environment and conveniently mark enemies with a simple touch. Once you've mastered Sam's abilities, you can give the execute command, and enjoy the spectacle of the Killing in Motion you've just triggered on the screen.""

On Spies Vs. Mercs and ShadowNet

"It's the most requested feature from fans of our game. We believe it offers a tremendous amount of variety and complements the single-player component. In Blacklist, we've created ShadowNet and while we aren't discussing all the details about it yet, players will be able to see their friends and receive challenges and updates. These features can be accessed via the GamePad without breaking the flow of your game. We'll have more to announce about ShadowNet closer to launch."

On enhanced lighting and online multiplayer

"In the Wii U version of Blacklist we are taking full advantage of the hardware to really show off the details in our game, particularly with light and shadow, a core element of all Splinter Cell games. Also, it's the first time with a Nintendo console that we can offer an online multiplayer experience on par with the other consoles. It's an exciting challenge to design with two screens in mind and make them equally useful."

On the removed torture scene

"Making a game like Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a highly iterative process and design decisions sometimes change along the way. The core narrative dictates what happens in the gameplay and the interactive interrogations weren't serving the story well. The interrogations are still in the game, but now they are narrative moments that propel the story. When we launch the game in August, we're confident that players will feel like the story and message is getting across."

On the potential of Wii U

"At Ubisoft, we believe in exploring new technologies and we believe in the potential of the Wii U as a platform for core games. We already released many games for the platform including Assassin's Creed III and ZombiU. Really, the only question for us was whether we could do Splinter Cell justice on the Wii U. The answer is a big yes and we think Wii U owners will think it was the right decision, too."

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I know it’s not cool to be excited about a new Splinter Cell game, but I think I’ve proven time and time again that being cool isn’t the first thing on my mind. So this post is a judgement free zone: feel free to declare yourself a fan of a series that people get rolly-eyed at. Be proud of your allegiances! So I am excited about Splinter Cell: Blacklist, because it looks like Splinter Cell’s greatest hits. They’ve taken all the good bits of Splinter Cell and crammed them together in the Conviction engine. One of those bits is the awesome Spies vs Mercs multiplayer. Want to see it?(more…)

A group of terrorists calling themselves The Engineers have had enough and initiate a terror ultimatum called the Blacklist - a deadly countdown of escalating attacks on U.S. interests. Special operative Sam Fisher is now the leader of the newly formed 4th Echelon: a clandestine unit that answers solely to the President of the United States. Together, they must hunt down The Engineers by any means necessary, and stop the Blacklist countdown before it reaches zero.

The Wii U™ GamePad replicates Sam’s OpSat, allowing the player to operate gadgets such as tri-rotor drones and the sticky cam through touch and motion based inputs. The GamePad allows for faster reaction times, letting the player mark enemies, switch weapons, quick reload and choose gadgets to adapt to any situation, among other features.

Features:

Operate Without Restrictions: Sam is back in his tactical suit and goggles, and he’s more lethal and agile than ever. Thrilling gameplay is enhanced by full performance capture, creating a highly cinematic player experience.

Own Your Play Style: Splinter Cell Blacklist builds on the stealth roots of the franchise, while exploring new directions to embrace the realms of action and adventure. Players can define their personal play styles and be rewarded for those choices.

Ghost players want to remain undetected. They analyze and plan the best way to make it happen. They are the perfect spy.

Assault players rely on instincts and frontal blow to deal with a situation. They are about open fire.

Panther players look for lethality in the most efficient and silent way. They are all about surgical strike.

Tools of the Trade: Take down The Engineers by using new gadgets such as the upgraded Snake Cam and Micro-trirotor Drone. Splinter Cell Blacklist is also bringing back fan-favorites like the Sticky Shocker and the brutal, curved Karambit knife. Fans of stealth will be happy to make the most of Sam’s sneaking abilities to abduct and carry enemies, while Killing In Motion allows the player to strike with surgical precision by marking and executing multiple enemies in one fluid motion.

Build a New Echelon: Sam is building a whole new Echelon unit; his team, his way. 4th Echelon is a fully mobile ops unit with unlimited resources and cutting-edge technology aboard the repurposed stealth airliner, the Paladin.

Enjoy a Fully Integrated Experience: Sam and his team are aware of terrorist attacks in real time thanks to the Strategic Mission Interface (SMI). The SMI allows 4th Echelon to receive data about mission objectives while on the move. It also serves as the hub for all game content, including cooperative and adversarial modes. With the SMI, players can take advantage of the universal game economy system that allows players to fully customize and upgrade Sam, his suit, goggles, weapons, the Paladin and much more.

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If Ubisoft wanted me to pay loads of money for Splinter Cell: Blacklist DLC, then they’d offer an audio track of Michael Ironside doing all the Sam Fisher dialogue. Charge me $20. I’d pay it. Seriously. Back when the first Splinter Cell game came out, I never thought I’d ever care about what Sam Fisher sounded like. He was just another gruff dude that I was steering through a video game. But, after five or six titles in the stealth action franchise, it turns out I do care a lot. No offense to new Sam Fisher actor Eric Johnson, but I winced the first time I heard his version of the Fifth Freedom sneak-hero. I’d argue that the voice of a playable character communicates more about their personalities than their character design or in-game abilities do. Voice acting’s second only to maybe animation in terms of its importance for making audiences love or loathe a character. In the last few months, we’ve seen three prominent video game franchises commit to changes in the actors who voice their lead characters. Splinter Cell Blacklist has Johnson taking over for original Sam Fisher Michael Ironside. Batman: Arkham Origins will have Roger Craig Smith as the Dark Knight and not the long-established Kevin Conroy. And, after weeks of teases and speculation, it’s been confirmed that David Hayter won’t be reprising the role of Snake in Metal Gear Solid V. That job goes to Kiefer Sutherland now. (Though there still might be some sort of Hideo Kojima misdirection going on in this case, since more details about the game have yet to be revealed.) With all this flux, it’s worth thinking about the role that voicework plays in game creation. "Once upon a time, it didn't matter who did voices for video games. It was a last-minute task given, it seemed, to anyone who could read." With most Nintendo first-party characters, the company’s made a choice to keep them relatively mute. Really, it’s the player’s control that serves at the character’s ‘voice’. Think about how different Samus Aran came across in Metroid: Other M. Sure, the story and dialogue rubbed some people the wrong way. But the very fact that words were coming out of Samus’ mouth at all made her seem changed. She was no longer the grimly resolved engine of destruction from previous games. She seemed, at once, more knowable and less focused. Think about how weird it’d be if Gordon Freeman started yapping in the next Half-Life game. All of a sudden, he’d have to start explaining things and expressing his feelings and all that. An element of mystery would get removed from the crowbar-wielding scientist. A very important ingredient of a winning recipe would be changed and maybe not for the better. When it is in a game, voicework is a primary vector for telling players about the world that’s been built and how they’re supposed to feel about the scenarios happening inside of it. When Nolan North quips during a gunfight, that’s an indirect communication about the level of danger the player and Nathan Drake are facing. Hearing Jennifer Hale’s voice come close to cracking lets you know how high the stakes are in a Mass Effect game. "... putting new performers in these roles amounts to severing a long-term relationship." Once upon a time, it used to not matter who did voices for video games. It was a last-minute task given, it seemed, to anyone who could read. But, nowadays, it’s an opportunity to define a crucial component of understanding primary and secondary characters. Getting a big Hollywood persona attached to a project doesn’t always help achieve that end, since the facial expression skills screen actors hone aren’t always of use in a video game. And, yes, you can explain away these voice actor changes in any number of ways. A new person in the recording booth could be meant to drive home a change about the direction of the series. Sometimes, full performance capture like in Blacklist—as opposed to something that was previously only a vocal portrayal—requires someone new to play the part. Or maybe the main character needs to come across as younger or significantly changed. And who knows if it’s contract negotiations that might influence personnel changes? Some people might simply too expensive to keep on after a while. Nevertheless, putting new performers in these roles amounts to severing a long-term relationship. Ironside voiced Fisher in five games over most of the last decade. Kevin Conroy has played Batman in one medium or another for just about 20 years. And Hayter’s first turn as Snake was in 1998. The new guys may be good—great, even—but their very presence will make the experience of playing Batman, Sam Fisher and Snake entirely different. And if these new performers don’t live up to their forebears, there’s always the mute button. Or really, really expensive vocal track DLC. It could be a whole new revenue steam, after all. Think about it, won’t you, Ubisoft? To contact the author of this post, write to evan@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @EvNarc

Splinter Cell: Blacklist hits Japan on Sept. 5th.

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-Paladin (hub) overview with other NPCs (starts around 4 mins in)
-customization system briefly shown off, many options to allow different gameplay modes (starts 7 minutes in)
-certain equipment pieces allow for different gear loadouts; more pistol/2-handed weapon ammo, gadgets, etc, also stealth/armour ratings different
-also plenty of cosmetic options, e.g. goggle colours, camo styles
-all upgrades/weapons have physical representations in the Paladin
-SMI - new menu system shown off, how it links SP/Co-op/MP together
-pre-order bonus (Upper Echelon suit) is the Chaos Theory suit for those that want it
-can hop inbetween game modes on the fly, no need to dig through menus
-14 co-op maps, all SP/co-op/MP maps are original, no reused content (except maybe barrels and crates)
-taking lessons from older SC games, admits the last few SC games were a bit weak
-emphasis on mini sandbox-style levels
-showing an older build from january
-showing off mission briefing for the first mission (Benghazi, day time mission), some game play, secondary objectives - starts around 19 mins in
-Sam no longer the lone wolf with the handler; has to lead a team from the start, eventually watch the 4E team grow
-perfectionist difficulty - stripped abilities, not simply difficulty ramp up
-cannot execute, no frontal takedowns allowed, no sonar goggles (see through walls), one-shot one-kill
-can see difference b/w armour types, more stealthy armours look lighter
-room at 12 min in, can be entered in multiple ways
-all lights in the game are dynamic - can be switched off by switch, destruction or EMP
-levels have multiple approaches, in instance of the mill, multiple connected floors, can climb around it outside to approach it differently
-possible to bypass all enemies, can finish the game with no kills, maybe some segments that might require you to neutralize enemies to proceed (non-lethal a possibility of course)
-heavy archtype enemy, cannot be attacked from ahead, requires more effort to disable (possibly the same in co-op that requires well-timed mark and executes to kill)
-forced stealth segment during London mission - cannot be detected, no enemies touched
-co-op has split screen
-BL's story will standalone, written so that old games are not required reading in a sense
-graphic novel is lead-in into the game for the game

For those who missed the last couple of posts I did here, my name is Zack Cooper. I’m the Splinter Cell Community Developer (ComDev).

Recently we shared the Spies vs. Mercs reveal trailer, and just a few days ago, the CO-OP trailer.

What we bring to you today is a fresh look into the CO-OP experience. This time we’re really going all out!

Ubisoft Shanghai is doing the maps, and we are incredibly proud of what they’ve been putting together. As you may know, they’ve got a rich history in the Splinter Cell franchise, having led the charge on Pandora Tomorrow and the current-gen version of Double Agent.

Here at Ubisoft Toronto, we’re tasked with making sure everything fits appropriately into the grand package of Splinter Cell Blacklist. Not only are there 14 unique missions… there’s a ton of variety contained within those missions.

There are four different mission types — two of which we’re talking about today. They’re given to you by the different characters on the Paladin (Sam’s mobile command center that houses 4th Echelon).

The Isaac Briggs missions are the CO-OP campaign missions, in that they’ve got their own storyline which is tied into the core Blacklist narrative. Those missions have to be played with a partner (split-screen or online). Briggs has tactical expertise, being former Army and CIA, and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty should the situation call for it. His missions have all sorts of exotic sequences, and play to the three playstyles (Ghost, Panther, Assault).

The Grim (Anna Grimsdottir) missions are great for the hardcore: the Ghosts. She’s focused on intel and analytics, chasing leads for valuable data. She wants you to get in and out, and to complete the objective without leaving a trace. The missions Grim provides need to be completed without detection – if you’re spotted, you start from the beginning.

We’ll be providing more details about Single Player, Spies vs. Mercs, AND CO-OP as we get closer to the August 20th launch date… but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this brand new ComDev video.

I’ll be sticking around for the rest of the hour to do another Q&A… so let me know what’s on your mind!

Wanted: one co-op partner for Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Must enjoy crashing through doors simultaneously, long walks in the dark, and pretending that one of the character’s is still voiced by Michael Ironside. Preference given to someone that can quote Chaos Theory’s Sam/guard chats and those who would rather muck about with the AI over actually following the mission text. To be in with a chance, watch the video below and apply in the comments.(more…)

Sam Fisher, meet Isaac Briggs. He's the co-op partner on loan from the CIA in Splinter Cell: Blacklist and judging by this trailer, he seems to play well with others. Well, others on his own team. As the trailer says, there are four mission types playable on 14 different maps in split-screen co-op. Splinter Cell: Blacklist arrives Aug. 20.

I am grumpy. In the world away from my desk and monitors, people have been meeting and playing Splinter Cell: Blacklist and I wasn’t invited. They were probably worried that having someone there who has completed every Splinter Cell, bar that rubbish one set in the prison, would mess up their plans. I might be disrupting their electrical flow of PR by dropping truth EMPs. Like pointing out that Ubisoft don’t understand what “Ghosting” means. They don’t want my truth making their screens all squiggly. The thing is, Ubisoft/The MAN, the video below of the Spies vs Mercs mode might have just won me over.(more…)

- 14 missions you can only play in co-op
- can take up to 10-30 minutes for each objective
- each of the four mission types relies on who sends you into the field
- Charlie Cole, Kobin, Grim, and Briggs each assign you different goals
- Example: Grim wants you to retrieve information without alerting a guard
- Briggs is the other Splinter Cell in the field with Sam
- customize Briggs’ suit and loadout to the same degree as Sam
- you and your co-op partner can roll into the field with wildly different gear
- mark-and-execute functions differently in co-op than it does in Conviction or Blacklist's campaign
- guys with helmets might require a double-tap to the head
- some missions have unavoidable action sequences
- spies can cloak, monitor enemies through wall
- mercs can track their enemies with a motion tracker and inject adrenaline to counteract incoming fire
- spies thrive on instant-kill melee strikes, although they can pack effective guns
- gas grenades, EMPs, flashbangs, explosive mines, the sticky cam, resupply packs, and smoke bombs all return

- Spies vs. Mercs Blacklist doubles the player count
- four mercs against four spies
- three terminals spread out across a map to be hacked or protected
- loadouts can be created from scratch
- you have to unlock the ability to do so
- the demo build makes this possible after just a single game
- a number of presets spread across recognizable classes
- spies include a saboteur who can disrupt enemy equipment, an intel scout who can tag enemy's whereabouts and a predator who can disappear out of sight
- Mercs have a hunter who's access to a UAV drone that can detonate on demand, a peacemaker in the tank role and a disruptor who can deactivate the spy's own electronic devices
- co-op places Fisher and Briggs together
-Spies vs. Mercs Classic strips away the customization
- this mode also makes it two on two encounters
- maps on Classic mode are filled with deep darkness with bits of light

It feels so good to be back on PlayStation.Blog! Whether you got a chance to check out our Spies vs. Mercs trailer or not, we’re bringing some deeper insight (and a live Q&A to follow) into what we’re working with in Splinter Cell Blacklist’s multiplayer experience.

First off, if you’re not familiar with Spies vs. Mercs, I will say one thing: It is an experience like no other. Either you’re playing as a Spy in third-person perspective, trying to remain undetected and hack terminals while being quick, agile, and deadly in shadows; or you’re the Merc, in first-person perspective, a brute force with unmatched weaponry who’s trying to defend the data from the infiltrators.

One of the cool aspects of Spies vs. Mercs in Blacklist is that you will be playing both sides before a game is done. There’s a very applicable quote from “The Art of War” (by Sun Tzu) that I like to use: “Know thyself; know thy enemy.”

By that, I mean that you can’t truly master the Spy until you fully understand how to eliminate one. The same thing goes for playing as (and neutralizing) the Merc. A game of Spies vs. Mercs isn’t done until you play as both classes — which also helps prevent the ‘rage quit’ (added bonus!).

Now… that’s the overview. Going under the hood, today we’re revealing two of the multiplayer modes: “Spies vs. Mercs Classic” and “Spies vs. Mercs Blacklist”

Two VERY different games, played in VERY different ways. ‘Classic’ is a mode that was designed specifically for our fans. Gunther Galipot was the creator of the original concept of Spies vs. Mercs from Pandora Tomorrow. He’s returned for Blacklist as a Game Director, and he’s bringing his baby back just like it was in PT and Chaos Theory.

It’s 2v2… and very much an intense game of ‘cat and mouse’ meets ‘hide and seek,’ in which you and your partner need to be in constant communication to outsmart your opponent(s). Spies have no lethal weapons, and rely on vertical navigation, shadows, night vision goggles, and smarts. The Mercs have heavy weaponry, a flashlight to track the Spies, their own set of tools, and force… but also need to play intelligently, themselves.

What you can’t see is your greatest threat.

It’s also worth mentioning that the maps played in Classic are lit differently, to further push the core elements of light and shadow.

Spies vs. Mercs ‘Blacklist’ is a new and refreshing take on the original Splinter Cell multiplayer experience. It supports a maximum of eight players (4v4) and, while many core principals return, there’s an incredible amount of customization that comes into play.

It’s really all about creating your own playstyle. You can do so by configuring loadouts with different weapons, gadgets, vision modes, and armor parts with both active and passive abilities – which are specific to each of the sides.

Spies now have access to lethal weapons and gadgets – adding an entirely new dynamic to Spies vs. Mercs. Despite the uptick in speed and pacing, strategy and teamwork remain at the heart of the gameplay.

There’s SO much to obviously talk about with Spies vs. Mercs (both Classic and Blacklist), and there’s still more to reveal down the line…

…but for now, what’s on your mind? I’ll be here for an hour to take your questions.
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