Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist

The seventh installment of the Splinter Cell series, combining aggressive stealth and action.

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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a 2013 action-adventure stealth game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. The game is the sequel to Splinter Cell: Conviction and the seventh installment of the Splinter Cell series. Players control Sam Fisher, a highly trained operative working for the Fourth Echelon, in a mission to stop the Engineers, a group of terrorists which is trying to coerce the United States into recalling all of its troops stationed abroad.

Quick Facts

Developer

Ubisoft Toronto

Publisher

Ubisoft

Director

Maxime Béland, Patrick Redding

Producer

Alexandre Parizeau, Andrew Wilson

Designer

Laurent Malville, Nitai Bessette

Artist

Scott Lee
Joshua Cook
Patrick Ingoldsby

Writer

Richard Dansky, Matt MacLennan

Composer

Mike Zarin, Tony Hajjar

Lore & Background

The game's plot involves Sam Fisher, now commander of the newly installed Fourth Echelon, seeking to stop a terrorist group called the Engineers. The Engineers are led by Majid Sadiq, a former MI6 agent. The game features the return of characters such as Anna 'Grim' Grímsdóttir, Isaac Briggs, Charlie Cole, Victor Coste, Patricia Caldwell, Andriy Kobin, and Sarah Fisher. The game underperformed commercially, selling two million units within three months of its release.

Reader's Guide

Gameplay emphasizes stealth and third-person perspective. Players can use approaches categorized as Ghost (non-lethal, non-aggressive stealth), Panther (lethal, aggressive stealth), and Assault (loud, direct combat). The mark-and-execute system returns. The Paladin serves as the game's hub. Multiplayer includes Spies vs. Mercs (asymmetrical mode) and cooperative mode. The Wii U version was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, which also developed the game's multiplayer.

Did You Know?

Blacklist is the first title developed by Ubisoft Toronto, a studio founded by Ubisoft in 2009.
Eric Johnson provides the voice and motion capture for Sam Fisher, replacing Michael Ironside, who was unable to reprise the role after being diagnosed with cancer.
The game was directed by Maxime Béland, who had worked on Conviction.
The game's multiplayer functionality was set to be shut down on September 1, 2022, later delayed to October 1, 2022.

Gallery

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Operation Blacklist?

This term does not refer to a specific mission title but rather describes the main campaign of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist released in 2013. Fans often use it colloquially to describe Sam Fisher's hunt for the terrorist group known as the Engineers.

Who is the protagonist in Operation Blacklist?

Players control Sam Fisher, a legendary operative working within the Fourth Echelon organization throughout this narrative arc. He leads a specialized team to track down rogue cells threatening global security.

What are the main objectives of Operation Blacklist?

The primary goal is to stop the Engineers from coercing the United States into recalling all troops stationed abroad through cyber warfare and nuclear threats. Fisher must dismantle their network before they can execute their final plan.

How does the Operation Blacklist storyline conclude?

Fisher successfully defeats the Engineers' leadership and prevents their digital apocalypse from destabilizing world governments. The Fourth Echelon remains operational, setting the stage for future conflicts in the franchise timeline.