Splinter Cell Blacklist: I'm done.

[Extragorey]

They already explained why Michael Ironside isn't returning to voice Sam.

Still a shitty reason. Michael Ironside is a big part of what made Sam Fischer such a great character. This new guy may be a good actor, doesn't mean he's a good Sam Fischer.

Hehe, "Fischer". Way to show how much you know about it.
On topic: I've only ever played Chaos Theory and a tiny bit of Conviction, but Sam Fisher did seem to have the most awesome voice. It's a shame the same voice actor isn't returning.
Also, from watching the E3 gameplay videos for Blacklist, it does look awfully like a generic action game.

 

[Extragorey]

They already explained why Michael Ironside isn't returning to voice Sam.

Still a shitty reason. Michael Ironside is a big part of what made Sam Fischer such a great character. This new guy may be a good actor, doesn't mean he's a good Sam Fischer.

Hehe, "Fischer". Way to show how much you know about it.
On topic: I've only ever played Chaos Theory and a tiny bit of Conviction, but Sam Fisher did seem to have the most awesome voice. It's a shame the same voice actor isn't returning.
Also, from watching the E3 gameplay videos for Blacklist, it does look awfully like a generic action game.

How dare I have a type on the internet.

Ha, I see what you did there.
But seriously, a 'typo' would be if you misspelled it once; since you wrote "Fischer" twice, I figured you probably didn't actually know the correct spelling.

 

[Slycne]

Let the poor old bastard retire instead of reverse-aging him and making him come back with a new voice actor. Why even go through this nonsense? I think the change of gameplay would be easier to accept if we were controlling a new less-experienced field agent.

Granted, that didn't work out so well in Metal Gear Solid 2. People want to continue to be Sam or Snake, not Raiden or Lt. New Face 4th Echelon.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I agree. They should have just made a new character since they're trying to reinvent the whole franchise. Sam is old, yet in the newest demo and trailer he looks younger, he is taller and even a acts like he's 20+ years younger. When you can't get the iconic voice to return you really should make a new character. I wouldn't mind it. Sam has been through a lot. It's time for him to retire.

 

[Doclector]

That looks like fun. But it doesn't look like splinter cell. Matter of fact, it seems pretty reminiscent of Ghost recon future soldier, except...less stealthy.

So, yeah, it'll probably be pretty good, but it sucks to be a stealth fan right now. Why didn't they go with a new IP for it? Oh wait...the name alone sells. Grrr...

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Let the poor old bastard retire instead of reverse-aging him and making him come back with a new voice actor. Why even go through this nonsense? I think the change of gameplay would be easier to accept if we were controlling a new less-experienced field agent.

Granted, that didn't work out so well in Metal Gear Solid 2. People want to continue to be Sam or Snake, not Raiden or Lt. New Face 4th Echelon.

I'll give you that, but Raiden was handled ALL wrong in MGS2. People seem to respond well to Assassins Creed and it's new Assassin Ancestors, although this might not be a great example either as neither character has had the iconic identity of Sam.

It seems to me like a lot of people are pretty pissed about it as soon as they realize that Mr. Ironside is no longer voicing Mr. Fisher. Might just be that very loud vocal minority though.


Blacklist makes a whopping 6 games starring the already-too-old Sam. I think it's bothersome that they seemingly abandoned the recurring Sam-is-too-old plotpoint by now. Even Chaos Theory featured 2 trainee Splinter Cells who were being trained for the purpose of replacing Sam. Whatever happened to that?

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Probably not. Chaos theory was the best Splinter cell. Double agent was decent. Conviction was the death of the series. Ubi have pulled an EA and made Blacklist generic. Maybe they knew the stealth audience had already given up on it a decided to aim for a new one.

 

[paislyabmj]

The reason I loved hitman blood money as much as I do is that I could very easily go through the levels in a manner that would make a Ritalin popping 14 year old hooked up to mw3 look subtle by comparison.In the same game a levels that would let me win by poisoning doughnuts,putting ether on panties,sedating yappy terriers and stealing a necklace by being "taken upstairs" by the wife of a man I just murdered.As long as I can have my stupidly convoluted stealth solutions then absolution can include as many nun battering routes as it wants and its fine by me.

never been a splinter cell fan but blacklist hardly looks promising so I don't think ill look into it.might pick up the pc version chaos theory one of these days as it is so highly acclaimed and I don't really have much of a backlog.

 

[Cyrus Hanley]

They already explained why Michael Ironside isn't returning to voice Sam.

Which is not a very good reason.

I know it isn't.

What would you rather have: arguably the most recognisable part of your series by this point, or mildly better lip-sync?

The former.

They already explained why Michael Ironside isn't returning to voice Sam.

Aye, but if that reasoning was legit, EVERY mocap actor would also have to be the voice actor for any given character.

That could very well be the case in this game.

I know Andy Serkis likes to play it that way, but other than him it seems to be a pretty weak argument.

Well that seems to be their main argument. :-/

 

[PBMcNair]

Even Chaos Theory featured 2 trainee Splinter Cells who were being trained for the purpose of replacing Sam. Whatever happened to that?

My money would be on Sam killing them at some point in Conviction. Downside of being a nameless, faceless soldier I guess.

 

[Luke3184]

And the first two seconds were so promising...

 

[baddude1337]

It's a shame. Ghost Recon: Future Solider actually has more stealth than Splinter Cell now.

 

[Wayneguard]

It sounds so wrong when this Sam speaks.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

It's saddening. I always loved it that in the first game you weren't even allowed to kill anybody until like the 6th mission. And now this?

 

[Krantos]

Why they didn't just add in a new character and have Sam being in the background giving out orders while stemming the political tide is beyond me.

This.

I think the problem a lot series have is they think they need to have the same Main character every game. Same is old, he's been through hell. I think he's earned a rest. Let Ironside do Sam as the new Lambert and have the new guy be the younger protege. Hell, that right there opens a whole new set of story tropes you can use.


On the gameplay side...

All I'll say is I'm tired of series trying to be Call of Duty when they don't need to be. Ghost Recon: FS was another great example. The campaign could have been great if they'd allowed both stealthy and action focused approaches to most encounters. They could even still keep the forced stealth sections. The game was great when it was doing that. Instead they routinely stuck you in forced gunfights and gunner sections that just didn't work as well. When I'm controlling a walking mech that shoots mortars and missiles and I'm LESS engaged than when I was sneaking around ordering my squad to take people out, something has gone wrong.

It's possible this game will be alright, but I'm expecting it to just be another third person shooter.

"The Sam Fisher you knew is dead."

Yes, Vic. Yes he is.

 

[Krantos]

Granted, that didn't work out so well in Metal Gear Solid 2. People want to continue to be Sam or Snake, not Raiden or Lt. New Face 4th Echelon.

The problem with Raiden wasn't that he wasn't Snake. It's that he was Raiden.

If you make your character a whiny bastard, people aren't going to like him.

Take Assassin's Creed 1 and 2. People loved Altair. People loved Ezio. If you make the new character interesting and make people want to play them, they won't care that it's a different character.

 

[Drummie666]

Oh fucking hell I thought that Beland was done here, but noooo, Ubi doesn't seem to understand that putting a man who doesn't understand how a slow-paced, tense stealth game can be fun, on what is supposed to be a slow-paced, tense stealth game, is an absolutely, horrifically terrible idea.

My god Ubi, what the hell is wrong with you?

 

[Skuffyshootster]

...or for that matter Hitman: Absolution?...

In all fairness, the new E3 gameplay in Chinatown has restored my hope in Absolution. I'm upset Jesper Kyd isn't returning, though.

 

[The Last Nomad]

Looks like a good game, but maybe a bit too easy. No point in doing things stealthy if its easy just to run and gun. Reminds me of Alpha Protocol which was like a bad version of Splinter Cell.

This used to be my favourite series but other modern series (like Assassin's Creed) showed up and took over by being similar but better. They should really stop making this series.


EDIT: Also, Ubisoft have a reason you don't like it so far: http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/19/splinter-cell-blacklist-at-e3-you-have-to-go-with-something-explosive/

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

...or for that matter Hitman: Absolution?...

In all fairness, the new E3 gameplay in Chinatown has restored my hope in Absolution. I'm upset Jesper Kyd isn't returning, though.

He is working on Assassin's Creed 3 so it's all good.