I'm up for another Splinter Cell. The only thing that bothers me is that the some fans have irrational hate towards Conviction and consider Blacklist as the second coming of Chaos Theory. It's not.
Am I the only one who likes Conviction for what it is? Yes it has its problems but deep down, this IS a true Splinter Cell game to me and I am a die hard SC fan. The moment I saw the footage at E3, I knew I was going to enjoy this game.... and I did. I know I can't pick up bodies, whistle or pick locks anymore but it was a different Sam. He's been betrayed by his agency and he is pissed off, looking for answers. What I liked about Conviction was that Sam was free to act on his own accord and the gameplay shift justified that. And Deniable Ops. It's fucking amazing.
I, however, despise Blacklist for many reasons and one is the voice. From the moment "Sam" opened his mouth at the E3 demo, Splinter Cell as I knew it, was dead to me. I gave the guy a chance after the first playthrough. But after several replays later, I found myself wanting to kill this phony imposter for replacing my Sam Fisher. Don't give me the performance capture excuse, Ubisoft!
Ubisoft really destroyed the direction of Sam's character in Blacklist. He wasn't funny, dark or human, just meh. It's your average 30 year old cocky tough guy protagonist with no soul. Stale and emotionless as if he couldn't care less about the safety of the nation. Michael Ironside had more emotion in one scene during the Third Echelon HQ than Eric Johnson's entire performance in Blacklist. And Ironside was in a fucking isolated booth with pre-recorded lines! What really breaks the immersion is the phone conversations. The calls with his 26 year old daughter sound like boyfriend and girlfriend rather than father and daughter...... and it's creepy!
The Real Sam intimidates the bad guy with, not a loaded gun, but with his voice. HIS FUCKING VOICE! The knife is just a backup tool.
The scripted action sequences, IMO were way more prevalent and louder in SCB than in SCC and could have been avoided with some common sense (eg. Special Missions HQ infiltration)
CO-OP just didn't feel as fun as Deniable Ops. Sam and Briggs are not as fun as Bob and Steve or Archer and Kestrel. So many maps, but sadly they are mode specific.
The controls were FPS inspired and it's one of the reasons I dislike Blacklist. Sam never needed a sprint button. Not only that, he couldn't even holster his weapon, a basic feature in the last 5 games, Conviction included! And they broke the fucking cover system beyond all repair! Seriously, Conviction had the most amazing cover system (Hold LT, smooth and seamless) and Ubisoft decides to shit itself in the controls department (Press B to not stick to the fucking wall like you're supposed to and jump into the line of fire). Just keep Conviction's cover system and it will be fine and dandy.
And that's why I traded Blacklist in and kept Conviction with the other games. "It's ridiculous but it's probably the point. Like the smiley face on a cobra's hood." -Lambert.
SC7 has to have a story that is politically complicated, emotionally driven and spine chilling, like Chaos Theory.
Ubi Toronto/Montreal is most likely going to evolve Conviction/Blacklist's mechanics for SC7 so don't think get your hopes up. The only faith I have for this series is that they retire Sam for good and bring in a new character that can actually get shit done without a peep. If Ubi doesn't do that, I'm completely done with Splinter Cell. Sorry for the long rant with the bitching, moaning, repetitiveness and grammatical mistakes, but it's just how I felt with the direction the franchise is going. Ubisoft really needs a redemption with Splinter Cell and soon.
TL;DR Liked Conviction, Despised Blacklist. I miss Michael Ironside.