E3 2012: New Splinter Cell: Ironside ‘Blacklisted’

OXCGN:

"Today, Ubisoft announced the next iteration in the franchise entitled Blacklist, and many warning signs blared in my head: little to no stealth was present, Sam looks young, the connection to Conviction was never explained (as it is obviously a sequel since Third Echelon is shut down)…

And one of the most appalling: Michael Ironside will not be returning as the voice of Sam."

[gaminoz]

I've always been a huge fan of Ironside and noticed that the voice wasn't the same.

I wonder if he was asking for too much?

[ThichQuangDuck]

They claim that it is due to motion capture of the voice actor while he is talking so it looks realistic. I do not think Ironside would ask for more on what might be the last game after all this I kind of hope it is. They claim there is stealth still yet he calls in a missle. Ubisoft really disapointed me with this one, only getting it for spies vs mercs if I do get it

[krazykombatant]

They should have just created a whole new character in my opinion would have finally shown the fans that they are moving on and that those that aren't on the glorified QTE bandwagon to piss off. Like you said the only reason I might get this is for spies v. mercs. No ironside means no buy. Most likely than not the game will not involve stealth. There will be a few points where you don't have to confront people but there will be other option were they will force you too. Just like conviction.

Lastly, did you even notice that most the take downs are now all lethal, i didn't see a knock out or kill option when the input button appeared.

[BadCircuit]

The game does look more action oriented, but that's where stealth seems to be going.

The voice will take awhile to get used to, but the new one is fairly close. At least it isn't as bad as having an American accent for an arabic assassin (as in the first Assassin's Creed).

[krazykombatant]

If you listen closely, the voice is nowhere near close, sam sounds like hes 20-early 30s. If Ironside wasn't going to be the voice they should have gone with a different character, just made up a new one from scratch.

[ThichQuangDuck]

No I have been playing since chaos theory and at first thought people were making a huge deal about nothing but if you rewatch the trailer the voice is completely off. Like even before he talks you expect Ironside. They should have made a new character. Stealth is not going action oriented it is just trying to appeal to the mass group of people that hated stealth games thus losing all of the core audience because ubisoft does not care that chaos theory was the best or had the better sales then conviction

[Belgavion]

I don't find the lack of Ironside as big a deal as others. It wouldn't be difficult to find a sound-a-like replacement anyway. I haven't seen the trailer though so don't know if there's a different voice on there...

[gaminoz]

Watch Dogs seems to be the new Semi stealth game for Ubi....it looks a bit like Hitman.

Splinter Cell looks like a mix between Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon.

[Hooshuwashu]

I think Ubi just wants action games... SC is anaction game, AC wants to be an action game, GR wants to be an action game.

[Proeliator]

I hated how there was little to no actual stealth in the gameplay shown... the story interests me and I too have rejoiced in the news that SvM is back, so we'll see if it's an unfair trade-off as the author says..

[Hooshuwashu]

I felt the voice was fine, but I didn't jump onto the series until Conviction.

[Proeliator]

If you've played the series since the beginning it's depressing how it's now at this point. conviction certainly wasn't a bad VIDEO GAME, but it was a bad SPLINTER CELL GAME./

[Bathyj]

Man, I keep saying the same thing. The new SC looks like an awesome game, but it looks to be sliding further away from its roots.

[Summons75]

Everyone one of my friends and myself have played since game 1 and loved conviction. I was a little ticked when Ironside wasn't the voice actor but the game looked amazing

[Drewminati]

michael ironside played a huge role in making sam who he is! i would like to know why they changed voice actor

[Tyre]

That's a shame, i really liked Michael Ironside as Fisher. He did too, i wonder what made him not do the voice? Thx Ironside for all the great voice acting. Splintercell fans will miss you!

[sonicsidewinder]

Put it this way, Ironside was the silver lining to SC:Conviction, but that didn't stop it from being a crap splinter cell game.

What's the diference here? No silver lining at all.

[Zha1tan]

As a gamer who has played Chaos Theory this looks like utter crap.

as per usual looks shiny and has nice scripted smooth animations but how much of the game are you in control?

walk around, press for one button takedown, mark all the enemies, press fire and win.

so immersive, so engaging.

Ubi just needs to drop the tom clancy stuff and move on.

[Plagasx]

First no real stealth and now no Ironside???

Okay, Splinter Cell is officially dead now.

[ExgamerLegends]

It looks like mgs and uncharted at the same time. I was sure they ripped that map straight out of uncharted 2.

[krazykombatant]

This is pathetic.... So much for continuity, ubisoft gives us a story to try and relate more to sam. What do you do in the sequel make him younger, different voice actor and thus completely alienating your previous fanbase. screw you ubisoft screw you.

[CC-Tron]

The thing is he doesn't look younger he has some gray in his hair. The character model is fine. It's just the voice that doesn't fit. I didn't buy Conviction because it didn't seem to continue where Double Agent left off. This game would be great if it weren't Splinter Cell.

[Hellbound1978]

Ironside IS Sam Fisher in my book. IMO if they knew they were not gonnna use him they should have...

A:Retired the character, story wise. Maybe have a "Create a Cell" so you can make your own rookie (male or female).

B:Made this a prequel thus making Sam younger in appearance, actions and voice.

At least then the loss of his signature gravelly voice wouldn't come as such a blow.

[DigitalRaptor]

The Splinter Cell franchise has been slipping from its roots for years. The HD trilogy collection on PS3 made this ever more than clear to me. An evident lack of true stealth and focus on action, and now the news of no Ironside. A real shame.

It's a good thing they announced Watch Dogs.

[optimus]

There could be many reasons why Ironside didn't come back, they even gave you a clue when they said he had "issues" with Conviction...This type of stuff happens all the time in the entertainment industry. When the talent becomes or is bigger than the game they want to have more control over the product., or it could be a matter of more money. I call it the "charlie sheen syndrome".

If the game ends up being a great game then a voice change is very little to complain about. I actually like the direction it's going, more action/less stealth. The early games actually bored me more often than not...sneak hear, sneak there, kill 1 guy, sneak for 10 min kill another guy; rinse and repeat...

And if there is one thing i hate in ANY game is one that gives me different weapons and gadgets but i end up going through the level or game not needing to use any of it...but in terms of continuity i do agree with some that they should have came up with a different character. Perhaps a cousin, or younger brother to sam fisher.

And for the record, Lara Croft has gone through several changes in appearance and voice but i don't recall people complaining about that.

[DeusExer]

I've been a fan of the series since Day One.

No doubt, Ironside brought charisma to the role of Sam Fisher. They became one in the same. After Chaos Theory, I felt that Double Agent was a step to refresh the franchise, and Conviction was an attempt to streamline the gameplay.

Sure, the game had lost it's stealth focus, but I have continued with the series to witness the journey of the character of Sam Fisher. The journey and character of Sam is more important to me than the gameplay.

My beef is that while Blacklist is a sequel to Conviction, the character of Sam Fisher has changed.

He is no longer the gruff, elder-statesman of the previous games, instead he's taken on the case of Benjamin Button. I think this tarnishes the franchise.

If Fisher is meant to be leading Fourth Echelon, why couldn't he be a NPC, with Ironside retaining the role? Bring in a new character to steer the ship for upcoming titles.

However, in doing so, people would probably complain about not being able to control Fisher.

That all being said, I'm still looking forward to Blacklist, even with the more action-orientated focus.