Splinter Cell Blacklist: I'm done.

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Fan complaints about Splinter Cell Conviction:
Omg, I can't make a noise to attract guards any more? Wtf?
I can't set up traps for guards/enemies any more!
Wtf, I can't move bodies! There's no strategy!
Jesus, there's no non-fatal takedowns!
Stealth is so unnecessary, I can just shoot my way through!
The guards are so dumb! All I have to do is stand in a corner and they lose me!
THIS ISN'T SPLINTER CELL, I'M DONE WITH THIS FRANCHISE

New Splinter Cell gameplay trailer:
Sam sneaks past two guards using cover.
Sam climbs a wall, attracts a third guard by making a noise.
Sam K.O.s the third guard, drops his body over the edge to attract attention from the first two guards.
Sam stealthily takes down the two guards, both having fallen for his trap.
Sam then drops from above onto a fourth guard, knocking him out. He has the option to move the body, but has no time because he's been discovered.
Sam then attempts to slip away, but can't because the guards aren't idiots, and must fall back on shooting skills.

Fan reaction to new Splinter Cell:
THIS ISN'T SPLINTER CELL, I'M DONE WITH THIS FRANCHISE


TL;DR
Stop fucking whining. This is closer to Splinter Cell than anything has been in years and, frankly, it's already looking better than the old Splinter Cell. Being immediately fucked when discovered isn't good game design. The current design of rewarding clever, stealthy play while still allowing players to fall back on shooting if they mess up is better.

Okay, calling in an airstrike might have been an odd choice to give him - though, we don't have context for the mission, it might have been entirely reasonable in the circumstances - and it sure does suck that Ironside isn't voicing Sam any more. But the rest of what we know so far indicates fairly clearly that this is a Splinter Cell game, and quite possibly a good one at that.

30 seconds of dashing desperately between cover and shooting a few guards doesn't remove the fact that stealth, tactics and strategy - or at least the building blocks for them - seem to be fully present.

I agree. The airstrike may have been a bit much, and it really really wont be the same without Ironside, but I think this is looking better than Conviction already. Not Chaos Theory good, but good. Most of the old stealth moves seem to be back, the only real difference being that they've still got mark and execute (one of the few things about Conviction that I really liked. Made the game piss easy maybe, but was still tons of fun nonetheless), and that it is taking place in the day, rather than all the missions being at night. I liked this when it was first introduced in the 360 version of Double Agent because I think daytime missions actually enhance the stealth, because when shadows are few and far between you actually have to be much better at timing your moves, and have better awareness of your surroundings in order to remain undetected.

There are a lot of games I want this year, and this hasn't made it's way into 'must by' territory yet, but I'm not counting it out either.

 

[RK]

Being the son of a man who was actually in the special operations division of the military, I can say with certainty that Sam will not be able to move like that at his age (same age as my father 55). I felt meh about Conviction and will probably hate this game just because it looks like Call of Duty: Stealth Optional (I am not a fan of Call of Duty either). Splinter Cell WAS a stealth game kids, this new thing is a bag of shit.

 

[ComradeJim270]

I gave up on Splinter Cell when the demo for Conviction became available. I played that and immediately knew that it didn't offer me the sort of experience I enjoyed in the previous games. It didn't feel like Splinter Cell, and if I want to play a game that doesn't feel like Splinter Cell, well... hell, I have lots of those already! Why buy Conviction?

They did the same thing with Rainbow Six. I liked it when it stayed realistic and required you to plan things out. When it suddenly let you shrug off gunshots as you charge into a room with only a moment's forethought, it gave up what made it unique and interesting and, from my perspective, it got lost in the crowd. It became just another shooter.

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

The only thing I kind of dislike about the new game is Sams suit.

It seriously just looks like he's wearing a cheap, grey wetsuit.