Sam Fisher looks to improve his repertoire seeing that there are 29 different actions he can perform in the newest installment. From hacking to bomb defusal to email decryption, these actions will change depending on what set on buttons you choose to use at the time. There are 3 different (modes/layouts) or sets you can use, one is for stealth, another for aggression, and another for interaction. The developers describe the game as one of “scripted situations with unscripted solutions.” If you are in a café you can use the aggression mode to flip the table over; use the interaction mode to pick the table up; or use the stealth mode to hide underneath the table.

Eurogamer describes the games plot as such:

“What’s happened is that Sam’s been betrayed. Drawn back to Third Echelon after a couple of years minding his own business, he becomes the victim of some sort of conspiracy that leaves him a fugitive, unsupported by his former crutches. Everyone he ever worked with is now after him. He has to source his weapons and tools from the black market. He’s no longer in a catsuit and the iconic night-vision headset’s gone too. Instead he’s wearing a hoodie, with a ragged beard and longer hair, and the section we’re shown, along with the meat of the game, is about uncovering the truth without falling into the hands of law enforcement.”

They objective of the game this time is not to avoid detection but rather to avoid being captured. Ferland says the reason for this change is to make the game “more accessible” because many of his friends had previously avoided the game or put it aside because it was too hard to beat. When asked how the fans might respond to such a radical change Ferland responded:

“We’ve been working very closely with the fans from the beginning,” he insists. “Their first reaction was, ‘What’s going on? Where’s Sam?’ And then they discovered these new possibilities, this new mechanic and they said, ‘That looks awesome. I want to play it.’” Right. “To us, it’s a nice way to expand the brand because Ubisoft is a nice company and you can push it hard with innovation, especially in Splinter Cell, and sometimes when you want to push innovation you need to adapt your creative direction to fit the kind of gameplay you want to provide.”

I can’t wait to hear more about Ubisoft upcoming installment of Splinter Cell and am anxious to buy it and try out all these possibilities. It seems that they are going in a different direction from previous Splinter Cell games but the aspect and abilities seem to be similar but given an interesting twist to the old gameplay. I have no doubt that this game will be a hit as all Ubisoft games usually are and I can’t wait until November to play this game.

[Eurogamer]

-Brandon “Hoosierdaddy812″ Petesch-