Ubisoft unveiled the next Splinter Cell during Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference. Splinter Cell: Blacklist, said to be the "most ambitious" game in the series yet, will arrive in spring 2013.
The first gameplay demo showed government operative Sam Fisher fighting his way through a terrorist camp on the Iraq/Iran border. A lot of the signature Splinter Cell gameplay elements were on display. For example, performing stealth kills allows you to stop time and queue up one-shot kills on multiple targets. Fisher still has plenty of gadgets at his disposal as well, including a tiny camera to look past closed doors.
The "Blacklist" refers to a series of terrorist attacks being carried out against the United States. These attacks are being masterminded by a series of rogue nations trying to force the US to withdraw troops from hotspots across the globe. Who better than Fisher to stop this global conspiracy?
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the demo was the use of Kinect voice recognition. The player was able to call out to lure a guard. Also, he can call Fourth Echelon to bring in an airstrike on enemy forces.
Ubisoft confirmed that the game will ship with both single-player and co-op. It will also feature the "spies versus mercenaries" competitive multiplayer. Spies-versus-mercs was a popular mode from earlier in the series so I'm glad to see it returning.
Blacklist is in development at Ubisoft Toronto. It's the studio headed up by Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond. It's the first game that they'll be heading up.
