Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Multiplayer Thoughts

As I watched IGN's live stream of the Splinter Cell: Blacklist multiplayer, I wanted to hug the guys at Ubisoft and yell "thank you!"

Nostalgia is a tricky thing. We look back at games we loved as kids and think "man, I'd love to play that again." Some of us even make the mistake of actually doing it, only to realize that what we thought was good has evolved as gaming has become more advanced. However, I have always looked back at my time playing the Splinter Cell's multiplayer with sad frustration.

Splinter Cell is a game about spies. You play as Sam Fisher, a man who is inserted in to dangerous situations and takes out enemies with stealth, gadgets, and silenced weapons. When they finally released multiplayer for the game back during the days of Xbox, they took a different approach to multiplayer. Rather than having 2 teams of spies, you had spies (handling like Sam Fisher) vs. mercenaries (handling like a FPS soldier). The spies would have to hack data using subtlety while the merc would, of course, try to stop them using brute force and more obvious traps.

The thing about the original incarnation is that it was a great idea on a system that couldn't handle it. Controls weren't precise, graphics made it hard to operate in dark areas (which every map is filled with), and online multiplayer hadn't picked up enough steam to attract all but the most die-hard players to the multiplayer lobbies. This lead to the game being very difficult for new or average players to do well in. I loved the modes, but there were just too many limitations for it to actually be enjoyable.

Ubisoft dropped this multiplayer mode for its next two games, opting for different styles of multiplayer, namely spy vs spy and cooperative play. While the latter was enjoyable, I could help playing the last game and wishing I could try Spies vs Mercs again. Lo and behold, Ubisoft came through and is bringing it back with their upcoming game. And based on what I've seen, they made the right choice.

They will be streaming multiplayer over the next few Tuesdays, but here is what has me excited so far:

• They've learned how to design maps. Previously maps were a ramshackle of vents, stairs, and platforms. Maps never felt like they flowed well together, and usually led to players (especially mercs) being able to lock down certain areas. It appears that areas are more open, but make generous use of cover. Spies also have advantageous elevated positions in key areas, allowing them to sneak around places with heavy traffic rather than only having clever hiding options in more obscure areas.
• Mercs and spies are balanced. While that was always a goal, an average spy could give a highly-skilled merc a run for his money if he played carefully. I have a problem with that because a good merc vs a good spy was almost always a decided outcome. Mercs now have more tricks up their sleeves, with tons of unlockable options to customize gameplay. I also imagine that customization will very much be a mind game - if a merc brings a tool to let him see a spy using infared vision, he risks wasting a valuable slot if no one uses that gadget.
• So much customization! We're in a gaming landscape that is used to having a perpetual carrot-on-a-stick. Giving us functional and cosmetic items to work for, which will take about 60 hours to fully unlock, is very needed. People aren't happy with leaderboard-only games anymore - we need to work for our shinies, and I think this will keep an audience captive much longer.
• 4v4! When it's just you and a teammate against two others, the stakes are high. Making one bad move sets your team back a lot. In 4v4, I can have a bad game and not lose it for my team. I always hated that feeling in Chaos Theory - doing my best, but being unable to keep up with the learning curve and making my teammate waste 10-20 minutes on a game he just can't win.
• Gameplay looks smooth. In a mode that demands precision and accuracy, I'm thrilled to see that characters don't get stuck on scenery, have an extended jump animation, fight with a bad camera, or any other "minor" things that would get you killed in this fast-paced game mode.
• The barrier between good and bad has been removed. Although the team at Ubisoft was proabaly holding back a bit, it was encouraging to see the newbies of IGN put up a fight against them after only a few hours of experience. There were a couple IGN kills where it was obvious that Ubisoft was feeding them kills for the audience, but for the most part I think both sides wanted to win. In past games, the learning curve was so high that you could barely function if you didn't understand the intricacies of a map. While this will still be a determiner between "good" and "great," I'm glad that the barrier for new players has been removed.
• Spies vs Mercs has arrived in the right year. Although they should have released this 6 months ago when people won't be dropping the game after 3 months, but at least Ubisoft is giving us one last "hurrah" on this console generation, finally giving us the spies vs mercs we've wanted!

So needless to say, I'm excited for this game. I eagerly await more gameplay as the days creep closer to that August 20th release date, as well as August 27th when I get all those Gamestop cards for my birthday!

See you tomorrow!

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