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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist

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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
North American boxart
Developer(s)Ubisoft Toronto
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Shanghai
Ubisoft Red Storm
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Director(s)Maxime Béland
Patrick Redding
Gunther Galipot
Producer(s)Jade Raymond
Designer(s)Laurent Malville
Richard Carrillo
Simon Larouche
Writer(s)Richard Dansky
Matt MacLennan
Composer(s)Mike Zarin
Kaveh Cohen
SeriesTom Clancy's Splinter Cell
EngineUnreal Engine 2.5[1]
(Ubisoft internal SC team called LEAD) with Havok physics
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360
Wii U[2]
Release
  • NA: August 20, 2013
  • AU: August 22, 2013
  • EU: August 23, 2013
  • JP: September 5, 2013
Genre(s)Action-adventure, stealth
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer[3]

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist[4] is an action-adventure stealth game published by Ubisoft. It is the sixth installment of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series and is the direct sequel to Splinter Cell: Conviction. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Xbox 360, in North America on August 20, 2013, Australia on August 22, 2013, Europe on August 23, 2013, and Japan on September 5, 2013.

Gameplay

The game is set in a third-person perspective so the protagonist and the objects around him are visible. As well, there is voice integration with Xbox 360's Kinect peripheral, which allow players to say things to distract enemies and then attack. The player can also use the Kinect sensor to control the protagonist with their body instead of the Xbox 360 controller.

In the Wii U version, the Gamepad controller's touchscreen acts as an interface to access gadgets and other features from the protagonist's arm-mounted computer, or OPSAT. It also incorporates the screen and motion controls to highlight enemies through thermal vision when using the Killing in Motion mechanic.

Multiplayer

The "Spies vs. Mercs" competitive mode introduced in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is again featured in Blacklist.[5] The first look of this mode was announced to be presented on May 2, 2013 as seen in the puzzle reveal video.[6] Blacklist also features co-operative gameplay in which each mission can be accessed by talking with your crew inside the Paladin.

Synopsis

Plot

The game begins with Sam Fisher and his old friend Victor Coste who are about to depart from Andersen AFB in Guam when an unknown enemy force destroys the entire base. Assisted by hacker specialist Charlie Cole, Sam and Vic manage to escape, although Vic is injured after protecting Sam from a grenade. Soon after, a terrorist organization calling itself "The Engineers" assumes responsibility for the attack and announce that it was the first of a deadly countdown of escalating attacks (called "The Blacklist") on United States assets, declaring that they will halt the attacks only after the U.S. government accomplish the demand of calling back all American troops deployed abroad.

In response to this new threat, Patricia Caldwell, the President of the United States who had just shut down the corrupt Third Echelon assigns Sam, Charlie, Isaac Briggs and Anna 'Grim' Grímsdóttir to a newly created special operations and counter-terrorism unit called "Fourth Echelon" and installs Sam as the commander with the task of hunting down The Engineers and stopping their plans. Fourth Echelon's base of operations is a customizable cargo plane, codenamed "Paladin".

Sam and his new team's first course of action is to capture Andriy Kobin from a CIA safe house in Benghazi, Libya and obtain information that leads them to know further about The Engineers' plans. Sam successfully extracts Kobin and arrests him, keeping him aboard the Paladin. Kobin reveals some information about his business associates in Mirawa, Iraq. Infiltrating an insurgent stronghold, Sam learns more about the Blacklist attacks being more serious than originally thought. Sam arrives at a death chamber to find an executed US soldier whose execution was taped. The executor was Majid Sadiq, a radical terrorist and former MI6 agent. In the video, Sadiq directly tells Sam to stop intervening in the Blacklist, or suffer the consequences.

Intelligence from Mirawa points to the next Blacklist attack being in Dallas, Texas. Sam asserts to Fourth Echelon that a direct attack would be too simple and that the true target is another city. Charlie notes that the TSA list of "do not fly" citizens was offline for roughly six hours with a group of men traveling through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport during the time the list was offline. The target is a water filtration plant off Navy Pier, which is scheduled to release a hazardous biological agent into the water supply of Chicago. Sam stops the devices and shuts off the outflow valve, sparing Chicago.

Kobin reveals to Sam back on the Paladin intelligence about one of his associates, a dealer named Reza Nouri who supplies mercenaries for hire. Sam assaults his mansion in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay and interrogates Nouri. Nouri states that to whom he lends his men is none of Sam's business. During the interrogation, Nouri's mansion comes under attack from suspected operators of Quds Force. Nouri agrees to give up Sadiq in exchange for a safe extraction.

Grim and Charlie gain intelligence about a sleeper cell of The Engineers in London, England. The cell has been activated and Sam infiltrates an abandoned mine to gain intelligence on The Engineers' next plans. Sam finds shipping documents from Iran, confirming the suspicion that Iran and Quds Force were involved in the Blacklist attacks. With the last of the chemical bombs about to leave the shipping bay, Sam sneaks onto the truck and places a GPS tracking device inside the bomb. Sam is exposed to near lethal amounts of the chemical agent and, while trying to exfiltrate, is captured alive by Sadiq. Briggs, who was providing sniper overwatch, is forced to rescue Sam, but lets Sadiq escape.

After healing from the exposure to the chemical weapons, Sam infiltrates the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, which has been transformed into a Quds Force headquarters. Sam installs a flash drive on a mainframe computer given to him by Charlie, which is programmed to search and rip anything related to the Blacklist attacks. The flash drive reveals nothing, proving that Iran is not behind the Blacklist attacks, reversing previous suspicions.

Back on the Paladin, Briggs informs Sam that the GPS tracker placed inside the bomb in London has reached US soil in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Grim analyzes that there are a total of four bombs containing hazardous nerve agents. The bombs arrive at the transit yards in Philadelphia, forcing Sam and Briggs to disarm the bombs before the nerve agents are released into the mass transit system. Grim's analysis also assess that a high value Engineer target is present. After Sam and Briggs successfully defuse the fourth bomb, Sam gives chase to the Engineer leader in the transit system. The Engineer escapes the train, but is shot dead on site by responding police officers.

Returning to the Paladin empty handed, Fourth Echelon is given a break when Nouri is checked in as a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sam and Briggs form a plan to break into Guantanamo to interrogate Nouri again under Briggs' CIA credentials. Sam successfully interrogates Nouri who confirms that Sadiq is the mastermind behind the Blacklist attacks, but is unable to tell Sam when the next attack will be. Nouri also admits that Sadiq knows of Fourth Echelon and is aware of the team's individual identities. Sam evades capture and escapes the prison, riding off from the bay with the help of Briggs in a boat. Briggs drives himself and Sam to the Paladin, which has landed at an airstrip in the Yucatan province of Mexico.

Before Fourth Echelon can take off, the Paladin comes under assault by terrorists. Sam and Fourth Echelon fight off the attack, which Charlie reveals was his fault for contacting an old friend while landed. After taking off, the Paladin comes under a cyberattack directly from Sadiq. All of the intelligence on board the Paladin is compromised, as well as the on-board computers, leading the Paladin towards a crash in the Gulf of Mexico. Fourth Echelon successfully regains control of the Paladin, averting the crash. During the cyberattack, Sadiq successfully executes the "American Fuel" Blacklist attack on Sabine Pass, Louisiana, the largest oil reserve in the US.

While the US government activates the continuity of government procedures, Sam assaults Sabine Pass, shutting down the leaking oil from reaching other reserve posts, averting a chain reaction. Another high value Engineer is present, to whom Sam gives chase. The Engineer reveals the true and final plans of Sadiq: to extract all of the US military secrets. Knowing the continuity of government procedures, Sadiq successfully kidnaps a group of high level civilian and military personnel, including the Secretary Of Defense, and holds them at the Site F government bunker under Denver International Airport (DIA).

Fourth Echelon calls President Caldwell, who directly orders Fourth Echelon to divert from Denver. The Paladin pilots refuse to defy orders, so Sam orders Kobin to relieve the pilots of duty. Kobin successfully drops Briggs and Sam during a blackout landing at Denver. Briggs and Sam assault DIA, tasked with planting a virus which Charlie custom-built to safeguard against the transfer of files to Sadiq. Briggs surrenders to Sadiq in the computer terminal, separated from the other hostages. Sadiq's men torture the Secretary of Defense into complying with their demands, but Briggs intervenes, killing the Secretary before he can begin the data transfer.

The Engineers attempts to flee Site F using Briggs and the other hostages as human shields. It is revealed that Sam is disguised in an Air Force uniform at the very rear of the hostage group. Sam breaks free from his captors as Delta Force marksmen open fire on Sadiq and his men, and Sadiq escapes on foot after wounding Briggs. An unarmed Sam gives chase, disarming and assaulting Sadiq, before wounding him and taking him into custody. Even upon defeat, Sadiq claims that he has already "won", threatening Sam that if he kills him, the twelve nations who are secretly backing The Engineers will rise and if he puts him on trial, he will "spill every secret he knows". Leaving him with no choice, Sam employs the Fifth Freedom and unofficially imprisons Sadiq, while President Caldwell announces that he is killed and the game ends with Fourth Echelon prepares to continue operations. In the post-credits, it is revealed that Vic had recovered from his injuries and both he and Sam are seen about to interrogate the captive Sadiq.

Characters

Blacklist again stars Sam Fisher, who is now the spymaster and commander of the newly instated Fourth Echelon. The game also sees the return of Fisher's old ally, Anna 'Grim' Grímsdóttir, along with new characters such as Isaac Briggs and Charlie Cole. Victor Coste, Patricia Caldwell and Andriy Kobin reprise their roles from Conviction.

Development

In November 2010, Jade Raymond from Ubisoft Toronto announced that the studio was developing a new Splinter Cell game.[7] During the Microsoft's press conference at E3 2012, Splinter Cell: Blacklist was officially revealed; the talk highlighted new features for the series including Kinect integration.

It was also announced that series veteran Michael Ironside would not reprise his role as the voice of Sam Fisher, with this part filled instead by actor Eric Johnson, who will also be performing motion capture duties. In a "Blacklist" developer diaries Ironside stated that he would not return to voice the character, but instead pass the torch to another actor.

Ubisoft executives said that the change was made to take advantage of new performance capture technology to create a richer experience, with Ironside assisting Johnson in the role. Elias Toufexis, voice and performance capture actor for Andriy Kobin in Splinter Cell: Conviction, announced on his Twitter account that he will reprise the role in the game.[8][9]

Release

Splinter Cell: Blacklist was released in North America on August 20, 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360 with a European release on August 23.[10] Additionally, the UK's Wii U version was released on August 23.[11]

The limited edition of the game, titled the Paladin Collector's Edition, contains a remote-controlled plane, the graphic novel Splinter Cell Echoes, the Billionaire's Yacht co-op map, Upper Echelon Pack (Dead Coast Map), Gold Sonar Goggles and a limited edition poster.[12]

As a tie-in, Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Spider Bot was released for the iOS and Android platforms on June 10, 2013 and is available on the App Store.[13]

Reception

Pre-release

Based on early screenshots and videos of Blacklist, the game was praised for removing Conviction's monochrome visuals, according to Joystiq.com's Mike Schramm.[25] The new voice actors, however, have not been received well by some fans.[26] Ubisoft responded with a statement saying that Ironside wasn't returning as Fisher because they needed an actor that was "physically capable" of a motion capture performance. Thus, Johnson was hired for the job.[27]

In contrast to the positive reception, Tom Bissell wrote that he felt "sick and infuriated" after watching a demonstration of the gameplay at E3, which featured an interactive torture sequence.[28] Because of the negative response, Ubisoft decided to remove the torture sequence entirely from the final product.[29]

Post-release

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version a 85.45% and 84/100,[14][18] the Xbox 360 version a 83.81% and 82/100,[15][20] the PC version 80.12% and 83/100[16][19] and the Wii U version 78.60% and 75/100.[17][21]

Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot gave the game a 8.0/10, praising the gameplay mechanics and story as well, but criticizing some of the levels of campaign.[22]

Ryan McCaffrey of IGN gave the game a 9.2/10, praising the game's return to form and comparing it to 2005's Chaos Theory. Criticism was aimed at the "dated graphics" and the new voice actor for Sam Fisher (whose youthful quality seemed "out of place").[23]

On October 16, 2013 Ubisoft announced that the game has failed to meet sales expectations.[30]

Technical issues

Upon release of the Windows version of the game, several users with slightly outdated graphics cards faced an issue with game crashing upon running the DirectX 11 version of the game. Different solutions were posted on various game forums that worked for some until Ubisoft released a patch on the same day to fix this and other small bugs with the game.[31] There were also several issues in different levels of the game making the game unplayable, however, the new patch fixed several of these crashes encountered.[32]

References

  1. ^ ""PC version is shaping up to be something special" - Interview with the devs of Splinter Cell Blacklist".
  2. ^ "Line Designer, Ubisoft - Wii U". Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Splinter Cell: Blacklist's online features revealed: progression, unlocks and Fourth Echelon". OXM. January 16, 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  5. ^ Schramm, Mike (11 September 2012). "Splinter Cell: Blacklist aims to take Conviction's promise to the next level and then some". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  6. ^ Spies vs Mercs Puzzle Reveal Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca2CpaVTEKM
  7. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (26 November 2010). "Jade Raymond Making Splinter Cell 6". Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Elias Toufexis to play character in Tom Clancy's "Splinter Cell: Blacklist"". One Red Leaf Entertainment. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  9. ^ Garcia, Jr., Rene. "INTERVIEW: ELIAS TOUFEXIS (2012)". Working Author. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Splinter Cell: Blacklist Release Date and Trailer/Screens Read more at http://www.gamershell.com/news_147653.html#E3rjSdYhSStHAV6y.99". January 17, 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  11. ^ "Splinter Cell: Blacklist Coming to Wii U in August". April 10, 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  12. ^ Jackson, Mike (January 25, 2013). "Splinter Cell Blacklist Collector's Edition includes real R/C plane". CVG. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Splinter Cell: Blacklist Spider-Bot iOS game lands on App Store".
  14. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  15. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  16. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for Wii U". GameRankings. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  18. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  19. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  20. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  21. ^ a b "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  22. ^ a b VanOrd, Kevin (August 14, 2013). "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist Review". GameSpot. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  23. ^ a b McCaffrey, Ryan (August 14, 2013). "Splinter Cell: Blacklist Review". IGN. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  24. ^ de Matos, Xav (August 14, 2013). "Splinter Cell Blacklist review". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  25. ^ Schramm, Mike (Sep 11th 2012). "Splinter Cell: Blacklist aims to take Conviction's promise to the next level and then some". Retrieved 4 December 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Good, Owen. "Inevitable Movement to Restore Splinter Cell's Voice Actor Begins, Will Fail". Kotaku. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  27. ^ Dyer, Mitch. "E3 2012: Why Michael Ironside Won't Return for Splinter Cell Blacklist". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  28. ^ Bissell, Tom. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Shooter". Grantland.com. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  29. ^ Conditt, Jesssica. "Torture scene removed from Splinter Cell: Blacklist, no one 'loved' it". Joystiq. Retrieved Jan 30th 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. ^ Phillips, Tom (16 October 2013). "Ubisoft: Splinter Cell, Rayman Legends missed sales targets". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  31. ^ "Splinter Cell: Blacklist Directx 11 Crashes Fix". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  32. ^ "Splinter Cell: Blacklist - v1.01 Patch Notes". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
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