Wed, Sep 12, 2012 | 02:24 BST
Splinter Cell: Blacklist builds on Conviction’s story, successes and failures
Splinter Cell: Blacklist doesn’t try to pretend its much-vilified precursor doesn’t exist; it moves directly on from Conviction’s plot, and Ubisoft Toronto hopes to learn from its failings.
“The game takes place about six months after Conviction,” creative director Maxime Béland told Joystiq.
“You’re going to see in the first half hour of the game where it’s not just the President coming to Sam and saying ‘I need your help yet again’. We’ve made it very personal for Sam.”
Interestingly, that six month gap won’t go unfulfilled.
“We’re going to be also doing some exciting stuff in the gap between the two that’s outside of the game,” Béland added.
Béland also worked on Conviction; he said he was brought in quite late in the process, when the project faltered, to take it in a brand new direction and release in under two years.
Describing the results of this Frankensteining as “sweet and sour”, Béland said he used it as a “stepping stone” while preparing for Blacklist. He and his team went through Conviction’s reviews and feature list to work out what to keep and what to axe.
Blacklist is expected in March 2013, on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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Posted in: Action, PC, PS3, Ubisoft, Xbox 360
Tags: Maxime Beland, Splinter Cell: Black List, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Ubisoft Toronto
14 comments
#1
Yoshi
12/09/12, 7:58 am
Wait so they’re saying Conviction was a failure? WTF XD
Sure it wasn’t like the originals in the sense you restarted the mission if you got caught but they didn’t fail by a long shot.
#2
Gadzooks!
12/09/12, 8:41 am
I loved every minute of Conviction. It had a slightly Batman vibe, like each scenario wad a puzzle but you know there is a bit of leeway so it’s not a case of ‘seen = restart’.
Just ditch the stupid color desaturation when stealthed and it’s all good.
Brilliant terrorist hunt modes had better make it to the sequel too.
#3
Edo
12/09/12, 8:53 am
@1 Yes,too any TRUE Splinter Cell fan it WAS a failure.I’m just glad that they admitted this “Frankensteining” thing…I personally called it a CoD/Ghost Recon mutant but it is close enough.
#4
viralshag
12/09/12, 9:13 am
I thought Conviction was probably one of if not the best game of the series.
#5
roadkill
12/09/12, 9:20 am
It’s good to see that the story of Blacklist will continue the story of Conviction. I loved Conviction! Both in terms of story and gameplay. Hopefully I’ll fell the same for Blacklist. I have faith in Maxime.
#6
abbe
12/09/12, 9:23 am
@3: I’m sorry for not being a TRUE Splinter Cell fan. Apparently.
#7
DaveDogg
12/09/12, 10:14 am
huge Splinter Cell fan here loved Conviction apart from the war time level and thought the colour desaturation thing was really cool. glad to hear hiding bodies is back though
#8
viralshag
12/09/12, 10:23 am
@6, I wouldn’t worry too much, it seems like most of us are terrible “true fans” of Splinter Cell.
Conviction was different to the rest and a lot better than Double Agent (even though I didn’t mind that game too much either).
#9
Erthazus
12/09/12, 10:34 am
Conviction was just terrible. Uncharted 2 stealth Rip Off. There was no stealth at all. Only stupid action without aiming.
#10
YoungZer0
12/09/12, 10:38 am
I loved Conviction. After playing the amazing coop, i simply couldn’t go back to chaos theory and double agent. The controls felt way too unresponsive, the gameplay way too slow.
The story of Conviction was one of the better aspects of the game. Seeing that the game goes back to the whole terrorist hunt bullshit makes me really, really sad.
Probably not going to buy it.
#11
Yoshi
12/09/12, 10:51 am
Conviction had stealth, sure you could TRY to run and gun but you’d fail pretty quickly.
#12
Da Man
12/09/12, 11:18 am
Conviction was terrible, Fez rip-off and no stealth. Stupid action without strategy.
#13
YoungZer0
12/09/12, 11:25 am
@11: No, i’d say Conviction was pretty forgiving, as it should be. I want all stealth games to be like that. Fast and fluid. If you want to see how not to do it, go play Ghost Recon Future Soldier. They really messed that game up.
Got caught? Too bad, here’s a storm of respawning enemies. Oh you wanted to get caught? That’s too bad, you ain’t gonna get a new weapon now.
Getting caught shouldn’t mean ‘mission failed’. It should add another layer, not ruin the whole experience.
Having that said, Conviction was way too easy. Unlimited ammo for the pistol? Why? Mark & Execute was fine, but it shouldn’t refill from one simple takedown, it should be something that takes time to refill.
#14
absolutezero
12/09/12, 11:48 am
Everything from the video reveal of Blacklist has little to nothing to do with Stealth. He smashes through a fucking door under heavy fire, in broad daylight, in a black body suit thing, in a desert environment.
No. no.
I fear for Garrett.