For Gamescom, Ubisoft released a ten-minute gameplay video for Splinter Cell: Blacklist narrated by creative director Maxime Beland. It clearly demonstrates how Ubisoft has beefed up the action elements for this latest installment in the action-stealth series.
The "Mark and Execute" system from SC: Conviction will make a return, allowing the player to queue up multiple targets and then insta-kill all of them with a press of a button. The development team at Ubisoft Toronto has added a new wrinkle to this mechanic called "Killing In Motion." The actual rules of "Killing In Motion" aren't clear, but it allows you to essentially pull off instant executes on the run. In the video, Sam runs up to soldier, slashes his throat, and then quickly guns down his two comrades.
As the head of Fourth Echelon, Sam has direct control over some amazing firepower. He can call down airstrikes on heavy targets, such as a gun emplacement. He can also directly control a UAV and wipe out enemies in a hail of machinegun fire and missiles. Both airstrikes and UAVs seemed to be limited to certain points of missions, though, so you'll still have to do most of the killing the old-fashioned way.
The new action-oriented features of Blacklist will probably receive a mixed reaction from series vets. It should be noted that the stealth mechanics from Conviction look to be intact, though. Beland said during the video that they want to offer player "tons of choice." It seems like the goal is to let the player approach the game with either a stealth or trigger-happy mentality. As long as both sides of the coin are sufficiently developed, no one will have any cause for complaint...right?
Blacklist will debut in Spring 2013 on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
