Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Once the game gets going, the recipe seems to have remained unaltered. There is no one who moves through the shadows and hugs the walls like Sam Fisher. But the levels in Blacklist are more varied than the empty office spaces and busy army bases you have come to expect from the franchise. [September p.54]

Blacklist is the most complete game of the franchise. The enemy A.I., agility in the actions and all the weapons and gadgets are the perfect support for a proposal of espionage. In addition, the integration of cooperative and competitive multiplayer is total, with a really clever solution that seals an adventure for lovers of action and stealth.

The equipment helps boost Blacklist’s gameplay to highpoints in the tense moments when quick thinking gets you out of a jam.

It’s a rarity when a title delivers engrossing, compelling, varied and highly replayable gameplay in both its single and multiplayer elements. Splinter Cell: Blacklist is such a manner of beast and other than a few graphical inconsistencies it remains one of the most solid all-around combat experiences I’ve snuck around behind and embedded my knife into.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist is the pinnacle of stealth action gaming and easily the best Splinter Cell outing to date.

Blacklist returns Splinter Cell to flagship franchise status, no matter how crowded Ubisoft's portfolio has gotten during Sam's shore leave.

The stealth genre gets some much needed reinvigoration.

The story is engaging, the characters have a sense of depth to them I enjoy, and the stealth action rivals, if not surpasses, the most recent Metal Gear entry. All in all, this is a game designed for players who bide their time before sneaking behind an enemy and sending them on to the great beyond.

Sam Fisher returns to the PlayStation 3 and we are inclined to celebrate his comeback. The story and its characters are interesting, the missions are varied, and the amount of playing styles available to the player is truly satisfying. The multiplayer is an added bonus. Visually, however, the game isn't that strong, with a couple of technical flaws spoiling the fun. None of them are gamebreaking though, so you should just get over it and buy the game if you're interested.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist wanted to go back to basics. By throwing a handful of RPG elements into the games, Ubisoft signs a great Splinter Cell that in spite of some faults, is a rightful heir to the franchise. Without revolutionizing the genre, it should seduce without trouble any lover of the genre or any fan of infiltration games. Powered with a powerful scenario and a well known graphics engine, Tom Clancy's franchise hands back a clean work without revolution but with enough evolutions to please the gamers.

In spite of its uninspiring story, Splinter Cell: Blacklist creates a sense of urgency that few games can match. It gives you the tools — the guns, the high-tech devices, the goggles — to accomplish your mission and then lets you use them as you see fit.

All in all, this is a pretty great entry in the series for Splinter Cell.

Sam Fisher's latest is a treat, and quite possibly the most complete and robust Splinter Cell experience to date. It's not without some flaws of course, and I do wonder if it will be re-released on PS4/X1 in the next several months, but fans of the franchise should take note and suit up.

Blacklist suffers from the fact that it's way too tempting to shoot your way out of a tough situation. The incentive to sneak is mostly missing and the cramped level design doesn't help. Still, Blacklist has some pretty fun levels and nice free-form gameplay. [Sept 2013]

Sam Fisher is officially back. Blacklist may suffer from a cliched story and some finicky controls, but this is still stealth at it's absolute finest.

It’s big, bold and a bit silly at times but for a silky action adventure that will give you more than you put in then you shouldn’t look much further.

A ludicrous story and some gameplay missteps still don't stop Blacklist from being a truly enjoyable stealth sandbox. [Nov 2013, p.52]

At the end of the day, though, Splinter Cell Blacklist is all about thwarting evil doers within the veil of shadows and in that it excels exponentially. With an enjoyable globe-trotting campaign and a robust multiplayer offering, we’re glad Sam has re-entered the Sony spotlight. [October 2013, p72]

The game is caught between providing a hard stealth experience while reaching for a larger audience and it's a testament to Ubisoft's efforts that they pulled it off.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a good experience, challenging and with quite enough content to last in time.

It might not have the most imaginative of plots and the delivery of that narrative is just okay but it’s not supposed to be anything too deep – it’s a summer blockbuster. In those terms, Splinter Cell: Blacklist succeeds at every turn thanks to Ubisoft Toronto’s impressive balancing of stealth and action that is, as yet, unmatched in this genre.

Blacklist makes it fun to fly solo, but it's when you join others that the stealth action really heats up.

Sam’s learned new tricks, gained an almighty toybox and feels righteously superhuman to control, but spreads himself thin in an effort to impress.

The good news is, if you're up for some cooperative stealth and mercenary antics, Splinter Cell: Blacklist is right up your alley. If all you desire is more Sam Fisher action, however, you may come away feeling a little shortchanged.

Next time Ubisoft: more focus on stealth and, please, better checkpointing. [Issue#235, p.72]