E3: Splinter Cell Blacklist Demo

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Here's the E3 demo in question [http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2012-splinter-cell/730933].

So, there's another Splinter Cell game on the way and here are a few first impressions from the E3 Demo: First off, they're opting to keep the faster, more violent gameplay of the last game in the series, Conviction. Of considerable note is the introduction of a mark-and-execute while moving fast, and possibly even an auto-mark that can be done on the fly (although it's not entirely clear from the footage). In addition, they are introducing some Kinect functionality for certain actions (limited to voice-related actions, if the footage is any indication), but it is unclear if there is an analog version of the actions or if Kinect will be required to play the game. They's also brought more gadget oriented gameplay, with an updated version of the sonar goggles and a new tazer crossbow (other types of ammo? A grappling hook?) shown in the demo.

As for the plot, it's your standard "state-backed terrorist conspiracy." Sam is now back with the US government and is after the "Blacklist," a list of escalating state-sponsored terrorist attacks against the US unless they pull out of those counties, with presumably one demonstrated at the beginning of the game. No word on whether or not the game will be Mid-East-centric (the demo took place on the Iraq-Iran border) or if they will also have a more global reach like the earlier games. Expect some nefarious US-based group to be behind it all.

No word on multiplayer or the total-stealth levels that I love.

So, is this the path forward for the series or is Ubisoft straying too far from the original series?

Also, what are your predictions, hopes, etc. for the game and the series?

Any other reactions?

 

[Baldr]

They been getting a lot of hate online because they are replacing Michael Ironside with Eric Johnson. Ironside is still active with production and fleshing out the personality of Fisher, but Ubisoft wanted to do full body and face capture with Fisher and Ironside does not match Fisher's physical traits. I don't think it deserved the amount of hate it is getting.


I would love more Stealth, that what made Chaos Theory as close to perfect as a gameplay can get in it's genre.

 

[Shpongled]

Conviction was a disappointment to me, i felt it left the stealth roots the series was grounded in to become more mainstream and appeal to the masses. This E3 demo just proves to me that Splinter Cell is no longer is a stealth-based series, it's now a generic 3rd person shooter that just happens to offer silencers for your guns.

And this "mark & execute" bull, does anyone actually like this mechanic? Wheres the fun in clicking on a couple of enemies and sitting back and watching my character do all the actual gaming? I may as well be watching die hard, pointing at any bad guys with my index finger and watching bruce willis do his stuff, if i'm playing a video let me actually goddamn play it, rather than watch the computer play it for me.

"Stealth action gets even more aggressive."
"Sam Fisher is no longer hiding in the shadows."

All these sorts of statements that have been coming out about it, i don't like it. What's the point in stealth if i'm not punished for getting caught and getting involved in gunfights? Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of stealth if i'm essentially a one-man army anyway? Surely the point of stealth is that you need to stay undetected because you simply can't fight your way through it. Now that's no longer the case, stealth is just a side option if i want to try something novel.

Sam Fisher is no longer a super-stealthy in-and-out-without-being-seen sort of character, he's just another generic Master Chief style one-man army. Yeh, i could take my time and find a stealthy way through, but whats the point when i'm capable of taking on an entire army anyway. Why did the NSA etc go to all the bother of equipping me with sticky cams and airfoil rounds and snake cams etc, all they needed to do was give me a pistol and send me on me merry way, watch me as i single handedly fight mano-a-mano with an entire organization.

They've just removed all incentive to take it slow and stealthy and simply made us treat it like your standard 3rd person shooter affair.

I played every single Splinter Cell game up to and including Conviction, and for all but the last one, getting myself involved in a gunfight for mw meant i'd failed. In Conviction it felt like it didn't matter for shit if i got myself involved in a gun-fight or not, since i could just easy-mode mark and execute my out of it and carry on with my mission with little to no repercussions for being caught.

Anyway, rant over. tl;dr, splinter isn't a stealth game anymore, it's just your bog standard 3rdPS. Maybe this new one will change that, since we can't judge a game before it's out, but from everything it seems they're just pushing the series more and more into the generic shooter genre.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I loved the Splinter Cell series, but it really peaked at Chaos theory, and then went downhill faster than a greased duck on a slip 'n slide. Played a couple of levels of Conviction on my friends xbox, and it was like playing Gears of War in Cod's setting, the only thing that it had in common with the previous games were the names of the characters, and the vague ability to be hidden in shadows, which for some asinine reason made the screen go black and white so you couldn't see a damned thing while you were trying to be stealthy.

Seriously, what's the point of Splinter Cell if it's not a stealth game?

 

[Black Arrow Officer]

Hold your venom and bile, folks. I saw a "move body" button prompt pop up.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/pc4bh

I just feel like when every new game is announced gamers immediately jump on it and lose their ability to think rationally. From what I saw, there's still stealth, but you can also play it quickly like in Conviction. I really don't understand the whining over this one.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

No Michael Ironside = no Sam Fisher. No one else can do that voice. NO ONE! They should have retired Sam and developed a new character. This way they are consciously destroying Michale Ironside's legacy as Sam Fisher. It's a disgrace.

Not only that but it's even more dumbed down than Conviction. Aiming to become even more cinematic. Fuck cinematic give us a freakin' challenge!

Time to put this franchise to rest. God damn it Ubisoft. Why do you have to fuck up every franchise after first couple of games?

From what I saw, there's still stealth, but you can also play it quickly like in Conviction. I really don't understand the whining over this one.

You don't see very well then. It's not about the features, it's about the priority of those features. It is clear day that the emphasis is put into gunplay and that stealth is optional. In real stealth games it should be the other way around.

But the thing that put the final nail in the coffin for Splinter Cell was the story in Conviction. I don't know a single gamer that chose to kill Lambert in Double Agent. Yet they forced that decision on us in Conviction, and they based the story on Sarah being alive. No one gave a fuck about Sarah. We've never even seen her prior to Conviction. I choose to ignore Conviction and Double Agent for PC/360. Double Agent on PS2 was 10x better. Splinter Cell ended after Double Agent on PS2 for me. Everything that happened after that is just a bad dream.

Maybe it's time to retire from being a gamer. Every day I have to watch my favorite franchises being dumbed down and ruined to cater to a wider audience of double digit IQ casual morons who don't give a shit. That and shitty DLC.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Am I the only person who doesn't really like stealth? I like it sometimes but sometimes I just want to do the rush in and kill everything in the room approach.

So...... this game is a buy from me then.

 

[Woodsey]

It looks shit, it will be shit, there's no Michael Ironside so that's shit, Sam is looking younger than ever and moving like it too, so also shit, another fucking game set in the Middle East, shit, half of it looks automatic, shit.

Games are reaching a fucking singularity where everything's a smorgsboard of automatic gameplay. Nothing's allowed to be in it's own fucking genre, it all has to be that with a '-action' stuck on the end.

I mean yeah, it looks fucking wonderful when he shoots 7 people in 5 seconds. Very 'cinematic'. Too bad it's meant to be a bloody game.

Overall though I'm staying positive.

(Oh, and Fourth Echelon sounds like one of the designers had their 5-year-old son think up the name.)

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Am I the only person who doesn't really like stealth? I like it sometimes but sometimes I just want to do the rush in and kill everything in the room approach.

So...... this game is a buy from me then.

The thing is, there are a lot of games out there that offer what you seek, and far too few of what stealth fans want. That's not just a problem for stealth fans. It's a problem for you as well. Developers are making the same games over and over again. You will get bored of them pretty quickly. The industry needs more variety. Splinter Cell just became a brown shooter in case you didn't notice.

 

[Drummie666]

Where the hell is Michael Ironside? That's the ultimate betrayal. Forget the whole lack of real stealth, which is bad enough, but sam fisher, is not sam fisher anymore. For christ's sake, the fact the Sam was still Sam was the only thing that kept Conviction afloat, now we don't even have that.

And they couldn't even get a guy that sounds like him. Sam is, what, in his 50s now? He sounds like he's in his late 20s.

FOURTH echelon? Come on. That's just dumb! And why is SAM the head!? Grim should be in charge dammit, she's the brains! Sam's just a field operative!

AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[Janus Vesta]

In Chaos Theory and Double Agent you could do EVERY level without killing anyone, it was even technically possible in the first 2 games. In Conviction the game FORCES you to kill people. In the first level if you don't kill the first 2 guys and sneak around them the game points the camera at them and wont let you move until they die.

I will REALLY hate if they do that again. Also, get rid of Fisher. Let him be the new Lambert and let us play a new guy. They're been teasing that since Chaos Theory, with the rookie splinter cells and in Double Agent with the guy you train in the first level. Let Sam move on, and let someone new take over.

 

[baddude1337]

Don't be surprised if they change it up. After the reaction Future Soldier got at E3 a few years ago they massively reinvented it.

As it is though, it just makes me sad. What happened to all the stealth games? And why the fuck is Sam the head of a brand new organisation, meaning this is a sequel, but looks younger than he does in any of the other games?

 

[Woodsey]

Don't be surprised if they change it up. After the reaction Future Soldier got at E3 a few years ago they massively reinvented it.

As it is though, it just makes me sad. What happened to all the stealth games? And why the fuck is Sam the head of a brand new organisation, meaning this is a sequel, but looks younger than he does in any of the other games?

Watching the CG trailer is just bizarre. It doesn't connect as being him in the slightest bit, and they've not even gotten someone with an interesting voice to takeover.

Ironside's has so much character in it you could recognise it in a second.

 

[ultrachicken]

Don't be surprised if they change it up. After the reaction Future Soldier got at E3 a few years ago they massively reinvented it.

As it is though, it just makes me sad. What happened to all the stealth games? And why the fuck is Sam the head of a brand new organisation, meaning this is a sequel, but looks younger than he does in any of the other games?

This, on top of the fact that the new organisation is named "fourth echelon," and Sam's at the head. Intelligence agencies do not operate by sequel basis, and they most certainly do not send their leader to do field operations.

Even as someone who liked Conviction, I will not abide by this.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Am I the only person who doesn't really like stealth? I like it sometimes but sometimes I just want to do the rush in and kill everything in the room approach.

So...... this game is a buy from me then.

Fans of action games have already dozens for different games to choose from. Hell, the entire industry is pretty much trying to cater to your tastes right now. Us stealth fans? We've got next to nothing. Metal Gear's going hack-and-slash, we've heard fuck-all about the next Thief game. Splinter Cell was one of the bastions of true stealth. And Ubisoft fucked it up. Not every game needs to revolve around killing everyone, and the fact that they've forced Splinter Cell into becoming this shoot-from-the-hip, auto-aimed frag fest is just another death-knell for the stealth genre.

From what I'm gathering from the information here is that this is still a stealth game but you just have less incentive to do it stealthy.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Am I the only person who doesn't really like stealth? I like it sometimes but sometimes I just want to do the rush in and kill everything in the room approach.

So...... this game is a buy from me then.

Fans of action games have already dozens for different games to choose from. Hell, the entire industry is pretty much trying to cater to your tastes right now. Us stealth fans? We've got next to nothing. Metal Gear's going hack-and-slash, we've heard fuck-all about the next Thief game. Splinter Cell was one of the bastions of true stealth. And Ubisoft fucked it up. Not every game needs to revolve around killing everyone, and the fact that they've forced Splinter Cell into becoming this shoot-from-the-hip, auto-aimed frag fest is just another death-knell for the stealth genre.

As a fellow stealth enthusiast, I understand your frustration. That said, doing good stealth is far more difficult to do, especially since you need to ramp up difficulty as the plot progresses.

Case in point: Sniper Elite: V2. Great sniping sections. Terrible stealth sections.

That said, you can easily find action games where stealth is key, such as the Batman: Arkham series, Deus Ex: HR, or the Hitman series (lets not make any judgments about Absolution until we get our hands on it, current gameplay footage still places an emphasis on stealth, although I've got concerns about linearity). They doesn't have the same level of risk as some stealth games, but playing most areas stealthfully was far more effective than running in guns blazing.

Then there's games like Skyrim, Fallout 3/New Vegas and likely the upcoming Dishonored, where you can go loud or stealthy and result in entirely different yet rewarding experiences (hell, the Dark Brotherhood quests implied stealth, but there was nothing really preventing you from just taking a great-hammer to some poor sods face to win in many of the missions).

The point is, yes, good pure stealth games are harder to come by, so try to play the same games differently and feel a different experience.

Don't be surprised if they change it up. After the reaction Future Soldier got at E3 a few years ago they massively reinvented it.

As it is though, it just makes me sad. What happened to all the stealth games? And why the fuck is Sam the head of a brand new organisation, meaning this is a sequel, but looks younger than he does in any of the other games?

This, on top of the fact that the new organisation is named "fourth echelon," and Sam's at the head. Intelligence agencies do not operate by sequel basis, and they most certainly do not send their leader to do field operations.

Yeah, let's be honest, the current round of Tom Clancy games are not exactly winning literature prizes left and right and I am kind of disappointed that they didn't fire the writing staff after they proposed the plot to Conviction. As for Sam, I pray I heard that wrong when they said he was head of... whatever new agency has sprung up. Ex-field agents get supervisor duty, not administration.

That said, the basic outline of the plot (i.e. a bunch of state-sponsored terrorists decide to coordinate attacks on the US with an insane ultimatum) at least is an improvement over "hey, an entire government intelligence agency with trigger authority has gone rogue without the other 15 agencies with much bigger resources and guns calling them on it and only Jack Bauer Sam Fisher can stop them despite not giving a shit about all this." Seriously, while I enjoyed Conviction's gameplay (not as much as before, but still) the plot felt like I was hammering my head against the wall...

 

[Dangit2019]

To me, it seems that people are judging this on the "it's not completely stealth therefore it is s***" level, but the way I see it is that if it's a good game, it's a good game. It could definitely be bad, of course but here's a hypothetical situation for you: If George Lucas made a horror movie set in the Star Wars universe and it was one of the scariest movies of all time, the fact that it was made in a universe for action-adventure shouldn't make everyone think that it's bad.

If this game delivers well on the action approach, I will judge it on how well it works with that approach, not by stealth elements alone.

 

[prophecy2514]

already dropped off the splinter cell bandwagon when I saw the Conviction gameplay trailer few years back. After seeing this, won't be jumping back on.
Chaos Theory was arguably my favourite game for the ps2, its such a terrible shame its devolved from a quality stealth game to boring generic third person shooter.

 

[crono738]

They been getting a lot of hate online because they are replacing Michael Ironside with Eric Johnson. Ironside is still active with production and fleshing out the personality of Fisher, but Ubisoft wanted to do full body and face capture with Fisher and Ironside does not match Fisher's physical traits. I don't think it deserved the amount of hate it is getting.


I would love more Stealth, that what made Chaos Theory as close to perfect as a gameplay can get in it's genre.

Yeah, fans are understandably pissed about Ironside being replaced, as he's been the voice of Sam Fisher for almost a decade. It'd be like replacing David Hayter as the VA for Snake in MGS4. As others have said, trailer looks to be shit...the series started going downhill after Chaos Theory.

 

[Shpongled]

To me, it seems that people are judging this on the "it's not completely stealth therefore it is s***" level, but the way I see it is that if it's a good game, it's a good game. It could definitely be bad, of course but here's a hypothetical situation for you: If George Lucas made a horror movie set in the Star Wars universe and it was one of the scariest movies of all time, the fact that it was made in a universe for action-adventure shouldn't make everyone think that it's bad.

If this game delivers well on the action approach, I will judge it on how well it works with that approach, not by stealth elements alone.

Here's another hypothetical scenario: It's like your favourite Chinese takeaway suddenly announcing that they're becoming a sushi-bar. Yeh, the sushi might be nice, but i have other places i can get my sushi, i loved their chinese and now they've stopped selling it. It's like that, only in this situation there are hardly any chinese takeaways around for miles, but sushi-bars are ten-a-penny, you're practically drowning in sushi. We've lost a rarity that we loved and in return got some generic samey copy-paste of a million other games out there.

Of course we're annoyed.