Splinter Cell Blacklist is an action stealth video game developed and published by Ubisoft. Coming after Splinter Cell Conviction it was released in August 2013 for PC consoles and Wii U. It was the same year of the sad loss Thomas Leo Clancy JR. To a large extent I think this affected this franchise in terms of its in depth espionage narratives he wrote. By now this game has probably been played over and over by millions but I just want to revisit it with you. Lets get into some of the highlights of this game focusing on three aspects: graphics, gameplay, storyline.
Graphics
So it came out at the end of the lifecycle of the PS3 and 360 and at the brink of the ushering in of the PS4 and Xbox One. This was a little tricky because high visual fidelity visuals of the then oncoming next generation had been touted at the time at E3 2013 by the likes of Killzone Shadowfall, Infamous Second Son etc. So as much as this game's graphics were good I think it did not have the impact it should have had. Nonetheless to cut to the chase they look really good and are a huge improvement from the previous games.
Just to kind of digress a bit I like how the story missions are structured and that you tackle them in the order you see fit. You also get this character and weapons upgrade system which was definitely a new thing to Splinter Cell games, more of an expansion from what it was in Splinter Cell Conviction whereby you could only upgrade the weapons. This alone brought some degree of diversity to the game affecting story progression and overall gameplay experience.
The character models are great and well defined, NPCs are fairly good though in some instances not so convincing. I really have no problems with how the game looked and still look's. So not much can be said in this department other than really good visuals.
Gameplay:
Very similar to its predecessors the gameplay is but you kind of get that slight feel of no real need for stealth at all times which is a little bit of the Splinter Cell DNA alteration if I should say. This is all in a good sense as you can tackle you missions with a bit of aggro liberty. If you are used to Splinter Cell games everything in this title is the same. The only problem I have and this is in general with Splinter Cell games is how unforgiving they can be when it comes to your life. At least with this game the character and gear upgrades kind of gulf the impact of that so to illustrate.
Story
This is the spine of any Splinter Cell game you can think of. The depth and realism expressed by Tom Clancy here is even in todays terms still unmatched. The story is very authentic and you can easily pattern it after real life events. In this title in particular it continues from were conviction left off with a few additional characters added to the cast.
It maintains its consistency and does not at all let down from the Splinter Cell main theme story. It is less of a personal Fisher story more to a sort of CIA hero. In comparison to the previous game it lacks that dark theme that was in the previous title but again not bad still.
I want a continuation of these game however my concern is who will be the writer and will there be as good as Tom Clancy because Splinter Cells backbone is its narrative, its what makes it what it is. Pertaining to this game I don't want a remake or remaster Its fine as is. So I think with some games the way they have been developed at the time is a good enough classic presentation of the time the game came out. Remaking the title might just as-well blur that classic feel as the code is being revamped for more modern aesthetics.
Splinter Cell sequels yes but who will be the author? Your thoughts? That's all for now.
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