No, Splinter Cell will NOT return to normal.

[Scanty Chunk]

I want to share with everyone that I am 100% sure that Splinter Cell AND its multiplayer will never return to its original form. They will NOT go back to what made the game great.

I want you guys to look at this link http://web.archive.org/web/20101225212903/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/214761/splinter-cell-conviction/

This article is about why Conviction was so different. It turns out that when they started conviction, they got a new Creative Director: Maxime Beland... This new Creative Director was the Director behind Rainbow Six(!!!), and had stuff to do with designing Assassin's Creed. Here's what he has to say about his "masterpiece".

"The core gameplay in stealth games shouldn't be slow; it shouldn't be about studying patrols for 10 minutes before making a move."
      - Maxime Beland

This is the guy who calls the shots behind Splinter Cell now since Conviction...

"Instead of just doing another game in the same way as the previous titles, I proposed that we change the angle," he explains. "I wanted the stealth gameplay to be very different. Traditionally it's very slow, and requires you to study the patrol patterns of the bad guys. It's not permissive, and I wanted to change that. I wanted to take Sam and turn the whole stealth thing around. If he's supposed to be the best in the world, then he should be able to run without making a sound. Me? In real life I can't run silently, but Sam should be able to."
      - Maxime Asshole

"Hanging onto and creeping along ledges in stealth games is the slowest and most utterly f**king boring mechanic you can possibly imagine in a video game."
      - Who else than Maxime Beland

He obviously doesn't like anything that made Splinter Cell what it is, then WHY is he the Creative Director for it?!?!
This guy makes me really really really mad.  >:(

[VaNilla]

You should check out Blacklist before judging it. He wanted to change things up for Conviction, and it was a good game, just nowhere near as good as the old games. Blacklist looks awesome so far, it doesn't matter what he said years ago.

[Cronky]

I second VaNilla's comment. While I haven't kept my eye on Blacklist too much (I'd rather expect little and be pleasantly surprised, rather than vice versa) it does seems to be heading into "old but new" territory, whereas Conviction was just new.

Maxime Beland got a lot of flak, on places such as this forum, for the exact reasons that you stated Scanty Chunk, often being sited at the director behind Rainbow Six in turn as the reason why. While Conviction wasn't what hardcore fans hoped it would be, it again wasn't a terrible game by itself. It simply seemed like a separate game that they put Sam Fisher in to.

Perhaps it's a tough one to imagine in the aftermath of all of it, but pretend you saw Conviction without Sam Fisher. Imagine a Splinter Cell game that you were in control of a different spy (or merc), with different skills (such as Mark and Execute), with different views on the game world. I believe this would have made reactions much less of what you are saying up there. Most people seemed to be upset because their established character, with an established gameplay type had been "drastically" changed.

From a company perspective though, a big risk is taken when you gamble that fans will like the series even if the main character has changed. Imagine a Thief game where you don't play as Garret, a Metroid game without being Samus or a Zelda game without Link. Which are you more of a fan of? The Series or the Character?

Blacklist does seem to be heading in a "more right" direction, as far as fans are concerned. My biggest concern is that last I heard Michael Ironside wont be voicing Sam Fisher. It puts another variable in the situation I stated above when asking about series or character fandom. Does the voice actor really matter if the game is well made (which until otherwise stated, it could possibly be)? Will that stop your purchase?

[Scanty Chunk]

Yeah, you guys have a point when it comes to not judging it yet. But from what I've seen from blacklist so far, it's not anything close to what I am wanting to play from a Splinter Cell game. Sure, Conviction was a good game then that's awesome. But the fact is, it doesn't satisfy what I want from a stealth game.

[AgentX_003]

Yeah, you guys have a point when it comes to not judging it yet. But from what I've seen from blacklist so far, it's not anything close to what I am wanting to play from a Splinter Cell game. Sure, Conviction was a good game then that's awesome. But the fact is, it doesn't satisfy what I want from a stealth game.

did you even see this video  : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9El0-UZ5u0  ? 

[frvge]

I think Blacklist looks way better than Conviction, when it comes to stealth.

[SheikTheGeek]

I think Blacklist looks way better than Conviction, when it comes to stealth.

It does.  But the real question mark is left on Multiplayer so far.

[VaNilla]

I think Blacklist looks way better than Conviction, when it comes to stealth.

It does.  But the real question mark is left on Multiplayer so far.

They're revealing it this week or the next, so we'll know soon enough.

[RaDRoacH]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ca2CpaVTEKM

05/02/13.

[frvge]

We'll see.

[RaDRoacH]

Full pic:



The Spy have a Karambit and i'm curious about it, dunno if be happy or worried.

[VaNilla]

The Spy have a Karambit and i'm curious about it, dunno if be happy or worried.

It's probably just their way of cutting out the tedium of having to grab before breaking necks. Maybe the mercs will be even more powerful, so powerful that the spies are forced to play more stealthily. What if they let you knife from any angle, and removed the elbow mechanic? It would make sense if they've made the mercs even more powerful. I actually think that would be pretty cool; it would make SvM even more stealth based than it already is. However, we can't say anything for sure until we see the reveal.

[frvge]

I'm curious what it'll be.

[NeoSuperior]

They just shouldn't do the same mistakes as Double Agent did and I am not talking about the gameplay. I am talking about the menue.

DA had:

1. No lobby, only automatic gamefinding
2. Only 1 gamemode
3. No customizable game options
4. No item selection for merc aside from granades and drones (for spy:only 1 out of 4 items pickable)

[Farley4Fan]

Hmm... I wrote it off after I saw Sam using a predator drone to call in missile strikes.  Maybe I was wrong  0_o