Overall and Final Verdict
Freedom and customization permeate every facet of Blacklist and that is a refreshing thing to see as a gamer. Knowing that me and a friend could both play through the game and have completely different experiences is great in this age of carefully crafted set pieces and games on rails. As a fan of the older games I found the transition to run and gun gameplay a sad one but am happy to see Sam Fisher return to the shadows in Blacklist.
I am not entirely sure if saying that there may be too much to do in a game is truly a slight but that is how Blacklist leaves me feeling. The tons of choices and customizability from the jump left me feeling a bit overwhelmed and I simply defaulted to a standard, comfortable load out and rarely bothered to experiment. The enemy AI can seem a bit unfair at times and getting into a gunfight with more than one or two enemies is typically a bad idea unless you are specifically equipped to do so.
With the recent passing of the great Tom Clancy, Splinter Cell: Blacklist will go down as the last game released during the legendary author’s lifetime that displayed his name. With its fluid controls and stealth-action that gets back to the roots of the series, Blacklist is a quality title that will appeal to both old fans and fresh players to the Splinter Cell series. Going dark.
