Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Another fantastic series that I adore, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. I covered Splinter Cell: Double Agent which was on the Xbox 360 previously, so I'm going to go through the rest of them now. I'm also doing to do something different than usual, I'm going to go through them in reverse chronological order. Usually the first one or two games in a long running series tend to be my favorite, or at least the ones that I have the most feeling for since they got me into the property to begin with. In this case it's not that Splinter Cell was not a powerful series to begin with, but I wasn't nearly as awed by it as I was once it started rolling; or as much as I was by the most recent title: Splinter Cell Blacklist.
Splinter Cell is a series of games created by Ubisoft that are created through the endorsement of and consultation with writer Tom Clancy, as they've done previously with the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon franchise. The story follows Sam Fisher, a spy from a secret branch of the NSA titled Third Echelon. At this point, in Blacklist, there have been a lot of changes since he first started work with this group. Third Echelon was dissolved due to internal corruption and rebuilt as Fourth Echelon which functions under direct command of the US President and lead by former 3E member Anna Grimsdottir.
There is so much to love about Blacklist. The Splinter Cell series is constantly changing it's controls and gameplay to become a much smoother game. Double Agent especially offered overly complex and somewhat awkward controls, Blacklist however borrows a lot more from the majority of third-person cover-shooters and their easy to use gamepad layout. This means you're fumbling less during fast-action sequences and making less mistakes when sneaking up behind someone to incapacitate them.
Blacklist handles perfect and looks gorgeous. They maintained the 'projected information' method they established in Conviction for displaying hints and mission information right onto the landscape which was a great choice. The character designs are full of expression and the cutscenes blend perfectly between gameplay and cinematic. The musical score, though sadly not produced by the usual Amon Tobin and isn't quite as unique as what we heard in Chaos Theory and yet is still very powerful and appropriate for the game.
I don't really want to talk to much about the game in this post since I can't focus on everything that makes it such a great experience without going on for pages. Splinter Cell Blacklist is just such a polished title. It's a huge jump up from the previous Xbox 360/PS3 titles in the series both graphically and in it's controls. It begs for replay in both it's various multiplayer modes and it's various array of single-player side missions available both during and after you finish the main story. Blacklist even allows you to choose how you want to approach each mission; for those who enjoyed Conviction's run-and-gun focus, or those who preferred the strict non-lethal approach of the first games. You choose how you play and you are rewarded appropriately with points in either Assault, Panther of Ghost play styles.
I can and will go on about Blacklist forever. I've been playing it on and off since I got it and it just doesn't get old. I honestly have no idea how Ubisoft will top this title because it's very close to perfect. Splinter Cell fans, play this game.
Actually, everyone play this game.
Splinter Cell is a series of games created by Ubisoft that are created through the endorsement of and consultation with writer Tom Clancy, as they've done previously with the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon franchise. The story follows Sam Fisher, a spy from a secret branch of the NSA titled Third Echelon. At this point, in Blacklist, there have been a lot of changes since he first started work with this group. Third Echelon was dissolved due to internal corruption and rebuilt as Fourth Echelon which functions under direct command of the US President and lead by former 3E member Anna Grimsdottir.
There is so much to love about Blacklist. The Splinter Cell series is constantly changing it's controls and gameplay to become a much smoother game. Double Agent especially offered overly complex and somewhat awkward controls, Blacklist however borrows a lot more from the majority of third-person cover-shooters and their easy to use gamepad layout. This means you're fumbling less during fast-action sequences and making less mistakes when sneaking up behind someone to incapacitate them.
Blacklist handles perfect and looks gorgeous. They maintained the 'projected information' method they established in Conviction for displaying hints and mission information right onto the landscape which was a great choice. The character designs are full of expression and the cutscenes blend perfectly between gameplay and cinematic. The musical score, though sadly not produced by the usual Amon Tobin and isn't quite as unique as what we heard in Chaos Theory and yet is still very powerful and appropriate for the game.
I don't really want to talk to much about the game in this post since I can't focus on everything that makes it such a great experience without going on for pages. Splinter Cell Blacklist is just such a polished title. It's a huge jump up from the previous Xbox 360/PS3 titles in the series both graphically and in it's controls. It begs for replay in both it's various multiplayer modes and it's various array of single-player side missions available both during and after you finish the main story. Blacklist even allows you to choose how you want to approach each mission; for those who enjoyed Conviction's run-and-gun focus, or those who preferred the strict non-lethal approach of the first games. You choose how you play and you are rewarded appropriately with points in either Assault, Panther of Ghost play styles.
I can and will go on about Blacklist forever. I've been playing it on and off since I got it and it just doesn't get old. I honestly have no idea how Ubisoft will top this title because it's very close to perfect. Splinter Cell fans, play this game.
Actually, everyone play this game.
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