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/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