June 4, 2012 by Paul Curtin
One of the biggest surprises at Microsoft’s E3 2012 media briefing was the debut of the next installment in the Splinter Cell series. We haven’t seen Sam Fisher in two years since Conviction, and earlier today we were shown Sam back in Blacklist and kicking tons of terrorist ass with the return of the “Mark & Execute” system that blew everyone away when first teased during Conviction‘s E3 2009 demo.
With another member of the Tom Clancy series, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, just being released and borrowing the Mark & Execute system, it’s nice to see Ubisoft already bringing back Splinter Cell, which does it even better. Fans of the series will also be happy to know that the Spy vs. Merc multiplayer mode will also be making its return.
In the demo we saw (which you can check out below), Sam is shown again pulling off amazing Assassin’s Creed-like maneuvers and laying waste to groups of enemies within a matter of seconds by using the Mark & Execute system. The trailer also shows off new abilities like Sam being able to call in air strikes and even Kinect integration that allows the player to use his own voice to get the attention of guards and then pull them away from their posts. Check out the official gameplay demo, trailer, and press release below.
The United States has a military presence in two thirds of countries around the world. A group of 12 have had enough and initiate a terror ultimatum called the Blacklist — a deadly countdown of escalating terrorist attacks on U.S. interests. Sam Fisher is the leader of the newly formed 4th Echelon unit: a clandestine unit that answers solely to the President of the United States. Sam and his team must hunt down these terrorists by any means necessary, and stop the Blacklist countdown before it reaches zero.
