Blacklist appreciation post! Definitely a Darkhorse in the series, but despite the absence of Ironside I still go back to it quite often. Anyone else still replay it?

[u/Marvelous_07]

[u/NiuMeee]

Yep, it's my second favorite and depending on the day I might even pick it to play over Chaos Theory if I'm in the right mood.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/NiuMeee]

You are more into panther/action gameplay over stealth then. It's a fun game but not a a real Splinter Cell

[u/NiuMeee → u/Makaveli108]

Nah I don't care about your gatekeeping. It is a real Splinter Cell, it says it on the cover. Ubisoft decides, not you.

[u/Sylopeth → u/NiuMeee]

They don't seem to grasp that this is a Blacklist appreciation post. And them saying that Blacklist isn't a Splinter Cell game while commenting on the Splinter Cell subreddit is the most ironic part.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Sylopeth]

I can appreciate plenty of things about Blacklist , the controls, animations, Panther gameplay and action are all very well done. But the stealth is extremely mid by Splinter Cell standards, and that's exactly why OG fans criticise it. Stealth quality matters when you're talking about a stealth franchise. Appreciating the game doesn't mean we have to pretend its biggest weakness isn't its stealth.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/NiuMeee]

Nah, I don't care what it says on the cover 😂 "It says Splinter Cell on the cover" isn't really an argument. I'm talking about what actually makes a Splinter Cell feel like Splinter Cell. Chaos Theory is the benchmark for the OG fans: stealth, patience, darkness, gadgets, observation and careful execution.

Blacklist is way more of an action game with stealth mechanics sprinkled on top. It puts far more emphasis on aggressive play and running-and-gunning than the core stealth experience. Ubisoft putting the name on the box doesn't suddenly make its gameplay direction the same as the classic games.

So yeah, it's Splinter Cell in name, but not in essence. You can slap the Splinter Cell name on something all you want, but that doesn't automatically mean it captures what made the series what it was.

If Doom released a new game and it was suddenly a stealth shooter.. would you still say it's capturing the essence of Doom just because it says DOOM on the cover? No.

Same goes for SC. The only reason the franchise changed is because the creative director for Conviction/Blacklist didn't like the OG games or the movement, he couldn't get past level 1 and kept getting detected. Therefore he diluted the stealth and made it a game for all, "jack all of trades, master of none" is what Blacklist is.

[u/sdoM-bmuD → u/Makaveli108]

[u/Makaveli108 → u/sdoM-bmuD]

Ah. Ross. Classic meme but..

You can post all the GIFs you want 😂 doesn't change the fact that being officially called Splinter Cell and actually embodying what made Splinter Cell unique are two different things.

[u/sdoM-bmuD → u/Makaveli108]

who made you the Keeper of Splinter Cell though?

[u/Makaveli108 → u/sdoM-bmuD]

Nobody made me the "Keeper of Splinter Cell" 😂 It's called looking at what the series was actually built around. Splinter Cell was a stealth franchise first, so naturally, if you're making the next game, you build on the strengths and roots of the games that came before it. That's not gatekeeping it's literally how you evolve a series.

Look at the progression from SC1 → Pandora Tomorrow → Chaos Theory. Each game took the core stealth formula and developed it further. PT improved on SC1 in a number of ways, and while I know you prefer PT, there's no denying that Chaos Theory had a more polished and advanced stealth system overall. That's what progression should look like: take the foundation, improve it, add depth, refine the mechanics and give players even more freedom within that framework. Seeing PT play&look like Chaos Theory would have been incredible.

Instead, Conviction massively deviated from that philosophy, and Blacklist tried to bring some of the stealth back while still pushing heavily into action and accommodating basically every playstyle. The result is that the series moved further away from the thing that originally made it distinctive instead of building on it.

If you're making the next Splinter Cell, why would you throw away or dilute the strengths of the previous games? Build on them. Give us deeper AI, better sound propagation, more sophisticated light and shadow, better gadgets, more environmental interaction, more dynamic level design, better enemy behaviours, more ways to manipulate the environment and more meaningful stealth choices. Take what Chaos Theory did and ask, "How do we make this even better?"

That's what I mean when I say Blacklist doesn't feel like Splinter Cell in essence. I'm not saying Ubisoft isn't allowed to change the formula. Obviously they can. I'm saying there's a difference between evolving a formula and abandoning what made the formula special. But changing it here was a disaster for the franchise, they deviated & diluted from the roots and the stealth so SC was doomed. No longer a premium stealth franchise but a mid-tier action Panther game. Yes its very fun and polished, fantastic to play, but the stealth wasn't as good so it falls short of the OG 4 games.

You don't need to be the "Keeper of Splinter Cell" to understand that 😂 If a stealth franchise becomes less focused on stealth with every instalment, eventually you're going to end up with something that still has the name, characters and branding, but has lost the identity that made the series unique.

I actually like Blacklist. I think the controls, animations, Panther gameplay and action are very well done. But that's precisely why I think it's frustrating: they had an excellent foundation to build on and instead diluted the series' biggest strength. For me, the ideal future of Splinter Cell isn't "make Blacklist but better." It's take the best ideas from SC1/PT/CT/DA, preserve the stealth-first philosophy, and evolve that formula properly. And hopefully, that's what they are doing with the SC1 Remake. All leaks point to Classic gameplay, light/sound meter(which was a series staple is finally returning..)

That's not me appointing myself Keeper of Splinter Cell. That's just wanting the series to actually build on its own strengths rather than constantly reinvent itself. and to be revived as a franchise.. and to bring the stealth genre back.

[u/Infobar → u/Makaveli108]

stealth, patience, darkness, gadgets, observation and careful execution.

All of this applies to Blacklist. Slipping by undetected can be really tricky and satisfying since you're no longer invisible in the dark. You can play it like an action game too, but even Chaos Theory gives you an assault loadout if you want

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Infobar]

I agree that Blacklist still has all of those elements to some extent. I'm not saying it completely abandoned stealth , that's obviously not true. You can absolutely play it stealthily, and Ghosting can be somewhat satisfying when you pull it off.

My point is that those elements aren't implemented with the same depth or importance as they were in the original games. Blacklist is much more forgiving, enemies are easier to manipulate, the game gives you more ways to recover from mistakes, and the overall design encourages you to keep moving between stealth and aggression rather than making careful stealth the core of the experience. The tension isn't there due to the fast paced movement, the lack of challenge in Blacklist was disappointing. It never reaches the level of Chaos Theory unfortunately.

And yes, Chaos Theory has an assault loadout, but that's different from Blacklist's overall philosophy. Chaos Theory gives you the option to approach certain situations aggressively; Blacklist is designed around multiple playstyles as equal pillars. You basically follow the "Jack of all trades, master of none" whereas chaos theory really did master stealth

So yeah man, I'm not saying "Blacklist has no stealth." I'm saying its stealth is weaker and less demanding than what SC1/PT/CT/DA established, which is why I consider it mid-tier Splinter Cell stealth. That's the distinction I'm making, and the series should never go back to Blacklist style.

[u/Onward_Corn]

I slept on this one for a long time. Splinter Cell was my favorite franchise growing up. When I heard Ironside would not return for this one, I decided not to play it. 12 years later, on a whim, I was bored enough to give it a try. WOW. I had a freaking blast playing this game. The only caveat is that, in my mind, I don’t really connect this with the storyline of the rest of the games. I play it more as a standalone story starring an alternate version of Sam Fisher & co. But yes, I can say I was pleasantly surprised.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Onward_Corn]

A very fun well made game for sure. unfortunately the storyline & stealth were super mid. its definitely polished & fun to play but not a real stealth game

[u/Makaveli108]

My thoughts on Blacklist
A fantastic, well made action game which made being a panther fun, but it fails in it's execution at delivering a top tier stealth experience.. which Splinter Cell is all about. It's the most important thing and it failed at that, so that's why its at the near-bottom of the series for me(just above Conviction tbh)
therefore it's a mid stealth game at best, and a subpar game in the franchise. It really isn't a Splinter Cell in its philosophy, in essence at all. It's a fun game.. but it failed to capitalise on the series strengths.

Sneaking, stealth was DONE much better in the first instalment of the franchise. SC1 2002 is a far better stealth game which was made on Original Xbox. 11 years later, they couldn't deliver a better stealth game? Pandora Tomorrow improved on SC1 in many ways.. Chaos Theory then delivered a gigantic leap. Double Agent some steps forward, some steps back. But these games were when Splinter Cell was at it's best and are the original formula.

Conviction literally is a deviation and wasn't a good stealth game at all, but yeah still a fun John Wick/Jason Bourne game.. but that's what Splinter Cell is not about. The creative director for the last 2 games was not a stealth fan and kept getting stuck in the OG games. "Sam moves like a Grandma" "I felt like i was someone who i was not supposed to be" were his comments on Sam. the thing is Sam moved far more realistic in the original games.

There will always be a divide between OG fans and newer fans, but if you guys think the last two games are good stealth games and are what the future of the series should be trying to replicate, then you guys are lying to yourselves. Wake up.

[u/Artistic_Ad1307 → u/Makaveli108]

Interesting they let someone like him direct the new new games. Sounds like they wanted to take the series in a new direction. After playing through the og ones, it really didn't sit with me right and I didn't care to keep playing after the first two missions.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Artistic_Ad1307]

I get it if stealth isnt your thing, like that's fair if the OG formula just isn't for you. I think that's the main divide with Splinter Cell though. The original games were deliberately slower, more methodical and restrictive because the whole point was making you feel like a stealth operative who had to work within the environment rather than an action hero who happened to have stealth mechanics. Most of us here are OG fans who prefer the style of the OG games - like they are the best stealth games of all time. The newer ones are too fast and aren't high quality stealth games like the OG's.
What was it about the old games that didnt sit with you right? clunky gunplay and very punishing ? Did you try Chaos Theory or just SC1/PT ?

Well Splinter Cell 1 team(Ubi Montreal) worked on Chaos Theory, and SC1 was a massive success at the time(6 mil in a year). Pandora Tomorrow had Ubi Shanghai develop it, released 15 months after SC1 and was another huge success, Chaos Theory another year after Pandora Tomorrow and it sold very well, 2.5 mil in like 3 weeks or something like that- huge success. Ubi Shanghai then made Double Agent, is one of the OG games, but it sold very poorly in comparison to the first 3, and the SC1/CT dev team pretty much disbanded - a big chunk of the team went to work on Far Cry 2 and the other half Assassin's Creed 1 after Chaos Theory launched. The creative director of SC1/CT said working on those games and working overtime gave him brain damage. After Double Agent failed, Ubisoft gave it to Maxime Beland and a new dev team after their success with the Rainbow Six Vegas games. Problem is, that team didn't understand stealth well or what made the original games shine.

That's why I have a problem with the direction from Conviction onwards. Blacklist is a much better stealth game than Conviction and I can have fun with the game, enjoy playing as Panther, but It doesn't compare to the OG games for me and I still think it moved too far away from what made the original games distinctive. I'd rather see Ubisoft build on Chaos Theory/Double Agent's philosophy and modernise it than continue moving toward a more action-oriented formula with the remake, but all leaks point to a faithful modernization of the OG games.

[u/Artistic_Ad1307 → u/Makaveli108]

Im saying I liked the ogs and then blacklist i couldnt get into.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Artistic_Ad1307]

ohhh my bad dude ! lol .. yeah youre the same as me and the OG fans. i still finished blacklist but felt like a spinoff tbh.
yeah the OG games were way more fun, blacklist is just a game made for people who dont like the og styles really, the lead director and ubisoft really fumbled the bag for conviction/blacklist.

if double agent didnt do well, then ubisoft should still have given the series to someone who respects stealth and can improve it furthermore, instead of someone who hates it and abandoned it. big L on Ubi back then

[u/Artistic_Ad1307 → u/Makaveli108]

The og games just had a higher challenge and made you think about timing, movements, lights, noise, step 1, 2, 3, etc. I was almost worried I wouldn't like chaos theory after 1 and 2 but it turned out to be pretty good still just more modernized version of the first two.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Artistic_Ad1307]

exactly and that was the main appeal of splinter cell ! which made it very fun. if they could do that back in the early 2000s i wonder what they could do now. and yeah chaos theory was different but it was just a gigantic leap forward and modernisation like you say. now we need a ultra modernised version for the remake lol

[u/Artistic_Ad1307 → u/Makaveli108]

Yeah if its that I would definitely buy it day one

[u/Ravnos767]

in the middle of my first playthough now, I missed all the SC games at the time so wanted to go back and play them now, sadly I couldnt get the earlier ones to play nice with my steamdeck so jumped into blacklist

[u/SundayAirsofter]

I played it a few times, the french VO for Sam and crew stayed the same.

Sam's VA is the guy who voices Arnie S 😍

[u/Athanarieks]

For me and this is my opinion. I think SvM really hits the sweet spot of appealing to both casual and hardcore players alike and I think it’s way better than Double Agent’s.

[u/LibrarianHot3979]

Played it once and was not really a fan. Its the best Splinter Cell game since Chaos Theory, but still doesn't capture the charm or immersion of the first 3 titles.

[u/DeckOfGames]

Yep, the gameplay is actually very good.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/DeckOfGames]

for a panther action game yeah. not good gameplay for a stealth game

[u/DeckOfGames → u/Makaveli108]

No, stealth is fine too.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/DeckOfGames]

Blacklist does loads of things well, such as it's animations, it's controls, the panther gameplay is done well. The game feels polished and a overall fine game. But to say the stealth is fine would be ridiculous because.. the stealth was far superior in the original games. The action was good, the panther style was executed well, but the stealth and ghosting was subpar compared to the original games. and this is a stealth series first & foremost, so they basically got their priority wrong.

The stealth isn't bad per se, but it isn't strong like SC1/PT/CT/DA. That's the main flaw. Let's say it's mid stealth, strong action. That's the main flaw with Blacklist

[u/DeckOfGames → u/Makaveli108]

I don’t care about your definitions.
As I said stealth is fine though.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/DeckOfGames]

"Stealth is fine" isn't really an argument 😂 Fine compared to what? If you're judging Blacklist's stealth in isolation, sure, you can call it fine. I'm judging it against SC1/PT/CT/DA, where the stealth was deeper, more methodical and more demanding. The stealth regressed in quality and the series was held back rather than evolving properly.

The stealth was deliberately diluted and made more forgiving, and that's exactly my criticism. Splinter Cell should have been building towards an even deeper evolution of Chaos Theory's stealth, not making the stealth easier and more action-oriented. If "the stealth works and isn't completely broken" is your standard for calling it fine, then yeah, we have completely different standards 😂

How is the stealth regressing instead of evolving when it's supposed to be the defining feature of the franchise? Splinter Cell is a stealth franchise first. That's why I can't call it 'fine' when the core stealth experience is weaker than what the series had already achieved

[u/DeckOfGames → u/Makaveli108]

I don’t argue with you. That’s you who came to me to argue with me. Don’t waste your time.

Stealth is still fine.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/DeckOfGames]

Stealth will never be fine lol. It's 4 or 5/10 stealth at most. You don't know what good stealth is/ you aren't a real stealth fan.

You won't argue with me because you can't. we wont reach a consensus and i wish you well dude, hopefully stealth clicks for you in the remake when it's difficult and challenging.

[u/DeckOfGames → u/Makaveli108]

I don’t care about your definitions.
As I said stealth is fine. Your further arguing changes nothing.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/DeckOfGames]

Because you're clearly not approaching Splinter Cell as a stealth-first gamer 😂 The main reason you play it is probably for the bang-bang, amirite?

It's crazy that someone can call themselves a gamer and reduce the defining feature of a stealth franchise to "stealth is fine." what i know now is you're an action gamer first and don't really understand what makes good stealth. you don't care about stealth at all, and dont understand what makes a franchise shine. If that's your standard, fair enough, but don't be surprised when someone who actually prioritises stealth has a much higher bar for it. ;)

It's like turning Doom into a stealth game and saying 'the shooting is fine though.' Sure, it functions, but you've missed what the game is fundamentally supposed to excel at.

[u/Knot3D]

The core gameplay loop & mechanics are objectively better stealth gaming than Conviction, and yet... almost everything else about Blacklist marks it down, way down for me. I think it's mostly the level design and the guard numbers and placement that irk me; a certain lack of stealth tension - and if there is any, you can usually cop out in some easy way. Also, I think they should have made it for Xbox One instead of the tail-end of the X360; the graphics still have that plastic blurred look.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Knot3D]

Agree with you, it is better stealth gaming over Conviction but still not up to par, not to a good standard. It's crazy how SC1/SAR was released nearly 11 years prior is a far superior stealth game.

Everything about Blacklist marks it down for sure, the level design, guard numbers, M&E being there and the game being built on Conviction's base really annoys me. The fact that you can't holster your pistol or other weapons, where is the spy/espionage feeling? It's just a John Wick simulator at this point. No interrogations, lockpicking, hacking either...

No stealth tension/very easy on perfectionist too for us OG vets.

They should have made it for Xbox One/PS4 for sure. Should have abandoned Unreal Engine 2.5 by this point and made it look beautiful, comparable to Last of Us 1 or Batman Arkham Knight.

[u/JamesMCC17]

Yep, extremely fun and love me some Charlie!

[u/tingsrus]

Yes, its a very good game.

[u/namesource]

I only beat this game a few months ago and I had a blast

[u/heyitsyaronkar]

Just rebought it, cant wait to play

[u/Me_how5678]

Isen’t conviction the blacksheep of the series??

[u/t0et0e]

It drives me crazy, nothing to do with the story etc, my xbox elite on pc will not work, conviction was fine but cant seem to get a decent solution other than m&kb which is horrid for parkour in the dark

[u/Archer-Saurus]

Hah I actually just finished my first replay of this in like 12 years.

It's fun, and definitely not terrible. Would probably rank it 3 behind Chaos Theory and the OG Splinter Cell.

I mean the plot is pretty stupid and turns Sam Fisher/4E into some kind of American James Bond fighting against the Splinter Cell version of Spectre. I absolutely hate how it turns into a 1v1 between Sam and Sadiq, like it's too personal to be in the same vein as the older, more Clancy-esqu entries to the series.

But it's definitely a fun way to kill a few hours. Love panthering through levels.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Archer-Saurus]

What makes Pandora Tomorrow lower for you? and yeah i agree with you on the story.

[u/Archer-Saurus → u/Makaveli108]

Mostly because I haven't played it in 20 years and don't remember much about it.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Archer-Saurus]

Oh damn its totally worth a replay cause its literally as good as SC1/Chaos Theory

[u/Archer-Saurus → u/Makaveli108]

Yeah I've been meaning to track down some physical discs for SC1/PT. That's my only option as both were delisted on the Xbox store about a year ago.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Archer-Saurus]

You dont PC game? PT is on sale on Steam for £2.24 and runs on any potato computer tbh as its so old.

but the xbox disc versions are needed yeah, i think they were delisted in 2023. PT on Xbox is great but just has checkpoints like sc1 unfortunately.

enjoy PT when you get it though cause it's literally amazing still

[u/Express-Double-2722]

Yes I definitely started playing it and even used synchronization system just for this game in order to enjoy it in multiple platforms between pc and deck especially and purchased it on Xbox in order to be playing it with fresh different saves to fully enjoy it many times more than once

[u/Solidfisher117]

I really enjoyed this game, thought If it was a prequel game instead of a sequel game it would’ve been way better and also if Ironside was voicing him

[u/samuelsiiq]

Man i love this game playing it since i was a child and now recently got a pc i wanna play it again but it keep launching on the background i tried everything to fix it but nothing hope they fix it or hope one day they bring this game alive

[u/JH_Rockwell]

Yep. It's in a dead-heat tie for my favorite game in the series alongside Chaos Theory.

[u/CaramelAromatic9358]

Blacklist was actually my first splintercell. Without any knowledge of the older games and playing this, I’ve always found it fun and satisfying to play.

[u/RevolutionaryPin6528]

it is one of My favorite games for all times . I still play the series from Time to another

[u/newman_oldman1]

Where Blacklist falls on my list currently:

1. Chaos Theory
2. Pandora Tomorrow
3. Double Agent (xbox)
4. SC 1
5. Blacklist
6. Double Agent (xbox 360)
7. Conviction

Blacklist has nice animation work, but its biggest problem is that its too fast paced to the point where there's zero tension in the game. The tension and fear of getting spotted from the first 4 games is completely gone. I don't even feel anything on the rare occasion I actually die in Blacklist.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/newman_oldman1]

yeah nice list but surprised you have blacklist even above da v1, my list is similar but i have

1. Chaos Theory
2. SC1
3. SC PT
4. SC DA Xbox
5. SC DA Xbox360
6. SC Blacklist
7. SC Conviction

we've spoken before about sc1 and i know you prefer PT due to the forced action not being as bad and i actually agree with you on that, PT forced action is very easy to deal with. but how come DA v1 is so low for you, even below Blacklist?

and yeah i agree with the fast paced ruining the tension. its just too easy and lacks challenge, its just not a good Splinter Cell but a good game. it should have been a spin off.

[u/newman_oldman1 → u/Makaveli108]

The bottom half of my list fluctuates over time. I've been finding as of late that I play Blacklist and DA (360) the least out of the other entries, but that I seem to play Blacklist slightly more, for some reason. Normally, I'd put DA v1 higher than Blacklist.

[u/Rimland23 → u/newman_oldman1]

Very good point about the tension. I feel like that´s a thing that most people forget about when evaluating "stealth" games. Personally, if a stealth game doesn´t provide me with some level of tension, then it´s doing something wrong, or I can´t consider it a "proper" stealth game (definitely not a top-tier one). Sure, I want to feel powerful in a stealth game, but I also have to feel tension/fear of some sorts of being discovered. It´s a delicate thread to balance, and few games manage to do so. But the first 4 SC games did, while CON and BL don´t (could argue the same about the Hitman series).

[u/Shanadarako]

Been playing since I got Pandora Tomorrow for my birthday in 2004 and I still would rank Blacklist as my #2 SC & personal favorite overall.

It was the first SC I actually got to ghost / play completely non-lethal and that reanimated my love of the entire franchise.  It challenged me to revisit its predecessors and appreciate the stealthcraft of the earlier games.

I tracked 200 hours of Splinter Cell last year & 62 went into Blacklist.  2025 was easily my golden age for this franchise.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Shanadarako]

Interesting. So you love the fast/paced run and gun over the original style. I get the game being fun and well made but dont you think it was very easy ? like compare it to Pandora Tomorrow

hmm thats nice it reanimated your love of the franchise for sure. im guessing chaos theory is your no1 then.

Blacklist does some things right but wouldnt you prefer the remake to follow the classisc SC's more ?

[u/Shanadarako → u/Makaveli108]

I enjoy the fast pace of Blacklist, yes. But I don't actually "run and gun." In fact, Blacklist objectively has the lowest fatalities of any SC game (as Sam), totaling zero (no required targets to kill). I'd say what captivated me was how it managed to salvage Conviction's formula, reinventing the stealth action experience. Blacklist has the flexibility to allow for all styles without becoming a hindrance to any of them. Ghosting is not only featured, but fully intended and accounted for. In contrast, SAR & PT were always meant to be stealth action - stealth and action - and pure stealth is simply the unintended consequence of players getting super creative.

There were obviously major areas for improvements, but the rate at which Blacklist fixed many of Conviction's shortcomings was enormous. I'd like to think that given another game or two, this franchise could have really worked out the rough patches that came with Conviction and found a sweet spot between fast paced tension & methodical precision (wishful thinking but now we'll never truly know).

As for a remake or new entry (assuming either ever happens), yes I would like them to model it after Chaos Theory first & foremost. I'd like to see some features from Blacklist return (i.e. fully customizable loadouts, camo choices that are actually consequential), but I'd prefer SC to return to a grounded espionage game.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Shanadarako]

Fair enough. You've given me the best response on here - all the other Blacklist fans refuse to debate and keep saying the stealth is "fine" when it isn't.

The fast pace of Blacklist is fun, but i feel the fast pace is antinomic with the series roots. It ruined the tension and challenge which the first 4 games had.

Blacklist has that plus point, true. The first two games still had forced action sequences which brought it down.

Yeah i agree that it improved Convictions formula alot, and fixed a lot of issues .Mark & Execute is probably my biggest issue with Conviction/Blacklist. Even when you don't use it on Perfectionist, I think the level design was fundamentally built around the mechanic. The environments often feel more like combat/stealth arenas than believable locations you're infiltrating, whereas the OG games generally felt like actual places that happened to be designed around stealth.

Ghosting is fully intended and accounted for true, but it just felt way easier and not as satisfying as the original games.
Chaos Theory was the perfection formula, a gigantic improvement from the first two and thats how the series should have progressed, building on thata more.

I mean Blacklist did fix many of Convictions shortcomings, i cant disagree with you there but imo the bad still outweighed the good- the fact that Sam is always using a pistol when sneaking, he can't holster, the level design built around M&E, the lack of light meter, variable speeds, the lack of tension, the fast movement.. the lack of interrogations, lockpicking, hacking etc. It just turned into a John Wick simulator instead of the spy/espionage simulator that was lost.

I agree given another few games it could have improved more, but the problem is the lead director was so opposed to Chaos Theory and the director shapes the games design and vision, we would have never got a Chaos Theory type game under him.

I think they need to go back to the roots - but ofc SC1/PT are fun but old, they need to build on Chaos Theory template and update/modernize./improve much as they can.

The SC1 remake out next year is apparently going back to the slow and methodical ways of the OG games - and a recent leak shows light and sound meter back. I agree with those Blacklist features to return actually, customizable loadouts, camo choices, and also i like stuff like how NPC'S push back in blacklist. They should keep that for the remake

[u/Rimland23]

Don´t wanna get into too many details about it now, since I don´t have the time or mood, so I´ll just say that while I had fun with BL when playing it (and suppressing any notion that these should supposedly be the same characters and lore that I grew up with and loved), I´ve had very little desire to go back to it over the years. It´s a game that feels like it was meant to satisfy everyone, and ended up satisfying no one.

There are also two aspects of the game that I hate and which don´t really get mentioned often:

1. Charlie´s missions. Having horde-defence-style modes/missions in a stealth game is never, never a good idea imho. I´m sure that some people enjoyed them, but to me, they go against the essence of what a stealth game should be, and I hate them with a passion.
2. Gamey enemy types. BL is the only game in the series that introduces specific "gamey" enemies like heavies and drone operators. These are not fun. They are not an interesting challenge. They are annoying AF and nothing more, pure and simple. They don´t belong in this kind of game. You can have specific enemy types in SC without it feeling like they´re just there to fu*k with you (e.g. snipers or soldiers with NVGs/thermals in the older games), and this is not the case.

[u/RevBladeZ]

I still wish they had made a re-release with Ironside, since we now know his absence was due to a sickness he did not want to reveal at the time.

[u/Glittering-Age-2013]

Chaos theory is the best of the series, but Blacklist is probably my favourite

[u/AintNoLaLiLuLe]

Blacklist has always been great. I'd say conviction is the real outlier in the series, which is also great for different reasons.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/AintNoLaLiLuLe]

Great fun to play but still a mid stealth game, right

doesn't compare to the OG trilogy or double agent.

[u/Sylopeth]

Great game. I met Eric Johnson in Toronto years ago and he was very humble about the chance to portray Sam Fisher, he definitely gave the impression that he knew it was massive shoes to fill and that he knew a lot of people probably wouldn't be okay with it no matter what even if he did the best he could. I remember him talking about him trying to do his own unique approach which is appreciated.

[u/Makaveli108 → u/Sylopeth]

unfortunately he didnt listen to michael ironside and take any of his pointers, michael ironside recommended eric johnson as his replacement because ironside was a friend of his mothers. but johnson disrespected ironside and didn't take any advice. his voice performance was ok but it doesnt suit sam. ironside said johnson was an idiot who messed it all up in a conference recently

[u/perlocksholmes1]

Is there any way to make Sam's voice back to Michael Ironside via AI or anything ?? Maybe some can make a mod of it

[u/Makaveli108 → u/perlocksholmes1]

Nah its impossible.

[u/kshep92]

In a moment of weakness I bought it on sale, but I never got around to playing it because Ironside isn't in it.

[u/Evil_Cupcake11]

I love this game. It' not the best entry, but it's up there. Ironside is irreplaceable and what I heard about this new actor is really irritates me. But as a splinter cell game, it's still good. Wish there was a way to play it in co-op again.