MAX PAYMENT
Member
EMF goggles get me killed more often than they don't. I run into walls and lose a lot of situational awareness that I get to maintain with thermal, sonar.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist |OT| Warning: May Contain Trace Amounts Of Stealth
- Thread starter Sober
- Start date
Lostconfused
Member
The opposite for me. Your viewing distance is far too short with Thermal while Sonar does leave you blind between refreshes and Merc gadgets don't show up on it at all which means you'll be stepping on mines far more often than you should.
MAX PAYMENT
Member
I didn't realize it picks up mines. I'll check it out again.
Lostconfused
Member
It picks up everything, so everything is bright glowing orange including mines and drones and you don't have to wait for the sonar pulse to see the merc on the other side of that wall. I do find that the mass of orange on screen can get a bit confusing sometime, but most of the time keeping track of my surroundings is not a problem.
the_batman
Banned
i wish i had access to the Grim mission, Billionaire's Yacht. i bet ubisoft is going to release it as paid dlc for the people who didn't get it as a pre-order bonus which is bullshit since it's already on the disc and installed on my hard drive.
The code for Millionaires Yacht is in all the PAL versions except for the standard edition. Would definitely buy it if it was cheap enough.
Finished the campaign last night playing Ghost on Perfectionist for my first run. Loved it all, although the end bit was confusing till I died a few times and then it told me what to do as prior it was pretty vague.
Think this is my GOTY edging out TLOU purely on replayability.
Finished the campaign last night playing Ghost on Perfectionist for my first run. Loved it all, although the end bit was confusing till I died a few times and then it told me what to do as prior it was pretty vague.
Think this is my GOTY edging out TLOU purely on replayability.
the_batman
Banned
why do people call it Millionaire's Yacht?
MAX PAYMENT
Member
First time I messed with EMF I was running into walls and stuff. And I do remember te amount of orange being really disorienting.
Edit: what platform are you on?
Lostconfused
Member
Sleeping Lesson
Member
Anybody on PC want to do some co-op/SvM later this evening? My handle on Uplay is SleepingLesson, and it's Sleeping_Lesson on steam.
AgentOtaku
Member
Some much truth in this post and yes to the last bit
Thinking of picking up the PS3 Trilogy now
The_Macho_King
Banned
I haven't really got to experience a full game of spies vs. Mercs. Wii U's multiplayer feels totally broken. Hard freezes and one time i got killed and instead of respawning my character got back up and I was able to still kill other players, in other words I couldn't die... lol, wtf
AgentOtaku
Member
Also, how's the PS3 version/community?
Thinking of trading In the WiiU version as the load times are really starting to piss me off.
...but DAT vsync though
Thinking of trading In the WiiU version as the load times are really starting to piss me off.
...but DAT vsync though
Beat it, fun for what it is.
Wish there was Ironside, game was buggy as hell for me, and gear progression was kind of pointless.
Onto multiplayer!
Edit : Bugs ( PC )
- Controller Would bug out, reload game
- Audio, voices cut out during missions
- Audio, Never heard anyone's, on the paladin's tv feed, voice... the whole game
- Graphics, Textures didn't load once, reload game
- Glitches, Sam would fly around the map every now and then
- Glitches, mission wouldn't progress, reload save
- Glitches, general unresponsiveness with button prompts
Wish there was Ironside, game was buggy as hell for me, and gear progression was kind of pointless.
Onto multiplayer!
Edit : Bugs ( PC )
- Controller Would bug out, reload game
- Audio, voices cut out during missions
- Audio, Never heard anyone's, on the paladin's tv feed, voice... the whole game
- Graphics, Textures didn't load once, reload game
- Glitches, Sam would fly around the map every now and then
- Glitches, mission wouldn't progress, reload save
- Glitches, general unresponsiveness with button prompts
Geez, Briggs' third missions HVT is insane to grab. Beat the first two on Perfectionist with a level 3 newbie but I couldn't even get past that HVT in the third mission for an hour with one of us getting triggered and dying. Ugh. Hopefully all the Assault points accumulated from trying to grab him wasn't saved when I quit to desktop. Gonna try to ghost it again tomorrow but man... not looking forward to that.
JumpJeff84
Member
I've played this a ton this weekend...awesome game!
Skel1ingt0n
I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Splinter Cell is a series that fits in a weird niche for me. It's an IP that I hold very near and dear to my heart, and I reminisce about many great stories playing the first few games on the original Xbox. Yet, it's a series that I'd never put in my Top Ten - and lately, I've grown less and less excited for each consecutive release.
Recalling the first game - it was a re-imagining of the stealth genre, and brought a whole lot of awesome to it. It was a graphical showcase, controlled great, and was a reason to buy a console. While Pandora Tomorrow was more of the same - a rushed sequel, IMO - the third entry re-invigorated the series, and the genre, all over again. Once more, Ubisoft made Splinter Cell a showcase title for the Xbox, and it just absolutely nailed most everything.
The IP is home to some absolutely incredible suspense - some missions are an absolute perfect blend of story, stealth, suspense, music, dialogue, gameplay, choice... the works.
But Double Agent and Conviction have really watered down the series. And then Blacklist's original reveal officially made me stop caring. I remember texting my friend when it was first shown that Ubisoft had officially destroyed one of our favorite series. See, this friend is who I "share" Splinter Cell with, as it was his anxiousness on his birthday that got me excited for it so many moons ago.
But, then the incredible happened - Blacklist started getting some positive reviews. The critics like it, and gamers like it. GAF likes it. So I decided I've spent money on worse things, and pulled the trigger on the X360 version in an effort to avoid UPlay and in the case I hated it and wanted to trade it in.
Incredibly, it's actually pretty dang good.
Like... this feels like Splinter Cell! Right off the bat, though, I think it's worth throwing out my disappointments. No hacking and no lock picking are big ones. No great NPC conversations. Forced action sections. And the biggest one - way less of a dependence on darkness and a more forgiving "sound" system. These are - unquestionably - big deals; and it's because of the reasons that this new entry will never live up to the original or Chaos Theory.
But it also does a lot right. You get a surprising amount of choice. Which direction to go. Which gadget to use. Which takedown to select. Which path to follow. The controls are tight - and while the Uncharted-esque segments are a little goofy, I really like the vertical play of a lot of the missions.
The gadgets are a lot of fun, and they work. The suspense is right up there... I just finished up a mission that started on the roof in the rain, dodging snipers... Incredibly atmospheric. The flashing light from the sky, the blinding white of a construction zone.
The story is generic, but pretty entertaining so far. Dialogue is pretty good. Characters are very likeable. I miss Ironside; I really do. That man was a PERFECT casting choice, and just nailed the delivery of his lines. He was Fishcer. But if things had to change, and I know they do, the new guy isn't too bad. There's even a fair bit of humor sprinkled in that actually made me chuckle.
The levels are beautiful. The game is obviously running on old tech on old hardware. I miss the "ZOMG" visuals of the first few games - but there are definitely moments of real beauty. And the variety is really great.
Most of all - it's fun. Too many games layer so much on that I lose track of why I'm doing anything. Splinter Cell Blacklist is a back-to-the-basics affair that keeps me engaged and entertained, and that's what I want.
***
I'm only about four or five hours in right now, but I'm having much more fun that I thought I would. But I suppose what frustrates me most is that for as good as it is, I miss how great it once was. I hope that this is a stepping stone to making the next-gen Splinter Cell entry a developer centerpiece, and a AAA affair that re-invigorates the stealth genre like it once did a decade ago.
Recalling the first game - it was a re-imagining of the stealth genre, and brought a whole lot of awesome to it. It was a graphical showcase, controlled great, and was a reason to buy a console. While Pandora Tomorrow was more of the same - a rushed sequel, IMO - the third entry re-invigorated the series, and the genre, all over again. Once more, Ubisoft made Splinter Cell a showcase title for the Xbox, and it just absolutely nailed most everything.
The IP is home to some absolutely incredible suspense - some missions are an absolute perfect blend of story, stealth, suspense, music, dialogue, gameplay, choice... the works.
But Double Agent and Conviction have really watered down the series. And then Blacklist's original reveal officially made me stop caring. I remember texting my friend when it was first shown that Ubisoft had officially destroyed one of our favorite series. See, this friend is who I "share" Splinter Cell with, as it was his anxiousness on his birthday that got me excited for it so many moons ago.
But, then the incredible happened - Blacklist started getting some positive reviews. The critics like it, and gamers like it. GAF likes it. So I decided I've spent money on worse things, and pulled the trigger on the X360 version in an effort to avoid UPlay and in the case I hated it and wanted to trade it in.
Incredibly, it's actually pretty dang good.
Like... this feels like Splinter Cell! Right off the bat, though, I think it's worth throwing out my disappointments. No hacking and no lock picking are big ones. No great NPC conversations. Forced action sections. And the biggest one - way less of a dependence on darkness and a more forgiving "sound" system. These are - unquestionably - big deals; and it's because of the reasons that this new entry will never live up to the original or Chaos Theory.
But it also does a lot right. You get a surprising amount of choice. Which direction to go. Which gadget to use. Which takedown to select. Which path to follow. The controls are tight - and while the Uncharted-esque segments are a little goofy, I really like the vertical play of a lot of the missions.
The gadgets are a lot of fun, and they work. The suspense is right up there... I just finished up a mission that started on the roof in the rain, dodging snipers... Incredibly atmospheric. The flashing light from the sky, the blinding white of a construction zone.
The story is generic, but pretty entertaining so far. Dialogue is pretty good. Characters are very likeable. I miss Ironside; I really do. That man was a PERFECT casting choice, and just nailed the delivery of his lines. He was Fishcer. But if things had to change, and I know they do, the new guy isn't too bad. There's even a fair bit of humor sprinkled in that actually made me chuckle.
The levels are beautiful. The game is obviously running on old tech on old hardware. I miss the "ZOMG" visuals of the first few games - but there are definitely moments of real beauty. And the variety is really great.
Most of all - it's fun. Too many games layer so much on that I lose track of why I'm doing anything. Splinter Cell Blacklist is a back-to-the-basics affair that keeps me engaged and entertained, and that's what I want.
***
I'm only about four or five hours in right now, but I'm having much more fun that I thought I would. But I suppose what frustrates me most is that for as good as it is, I miss how great it once was. I hope that this is a stepping stone to making the next-gen Splinter Cell entry a developer centerpiece, and a AAA affair that re-invigorates the stealth genre like it once did a decade ago.
NullPointer
Member
And just to throw some kudos out, if you challenged me with making a great stealth game that you could also go full tilt loud assault in, I'd slap you in the face and tell you you're nuts, you're wasting your time, and to get the hell off my lawn. While assault here isn't perfect, or my preferred style, I love that it feels like the most challenging of all the paths most of the time. The fact that there is any decent balance here at all is pretty damn crazy.
Nice writeup Skel1ingt0n, and yeah, I hope the game does well and validates the work involved in pleasing the hardcore audience. The foundation here is a great one though.
Nice writeup Skel1ingt0n, and yeah, I hope the game does well and validates the work involved in pleasing the hardcore audience. The foundation here is a great one though.
Sleeping Lesson
Member
Mid-game spoilers, regarding the part where the gameplay changes.
Playing as Briggs was a cool surprise! I was very impressed with the competence of the game as a first-person shooter. Not sure why they disallowed marking enemies and taking cover, but still enjoyable. The sight picture on his Px4 is not at all like the real deal, though I suppose he uses a custom/aftermarket three-dot system.
Actually found the aim acceleration a bit touchy in those sequences, yet it's fine in SvM (playing on 360). Anyone else find this?
Sleeping Lesson
Member
I'm on PC, but I didn't notice any issue with that.
I really love it when the game crashes and I decide to close Uplay a little later for the night and then can't open it up again the next day after waking my PC up from sleep. Of course I checked the task manager and can't find the normal .exe process or anything that seems like it might relate to it so I don't know what to do other than restart the machine just to play the damn game. This is the third time it's happened to me.
Uplay apparently gets pissed if you close out of it and happens to be quite moody.
Uplay apparently gets pissed if you close out of it and happens to be quite moody.
Can anyone tell me roughly how much I have left? I'm not sure about the numbering, but the last mission I done was (Late Game Location Spoiler!)
I'm probably sounding like a broken record on this thread, but this is such a pleasant surprise of a game. I'm so glad nearly all the good stuff Ubisoft promised, wasn't just damage control due to the E3 showing. It'll definitely be making my top 10 at the end of the year.
Guantanamo.
I'm probably sounding like a broken record on this thread, but this is such a pleasant surprise of a game. I'm so glad nearly all the good stuff Ubisoft promised, wasn't just damage control due to the E3 showing. It'll definitely be making my top 10 at the end of the year.
Around 3 more missions.
Cheers.
Lostconfused
Member
Don't get hung up on that and just enjoy the game. You might get used to the new guy but the old Sam died with Conviction.
iNvid02
Member
i had a similar issue, i forgot to apply the 1.01 patch after reinstalling the game which probably made the patched saves incompatible with the pre-patch version.
1. downloaded 1.01 patch from here and install if you didnt already
2. turning off save game sync in uplay settings
3. go into C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\savegames\YOURID\91 and if your system does regular restore points just use
windows previous versions to copy back what was there before and get rid of any new game saves it created
4. after that you should have your progress back, reenable save game sync and it should keep your progress again
AgentOtaku
Member
Agreed
Honestly treat it like James Bond, that's what I do
We've transitioned from the Brosnan to the Craig era...
Yep, everyone going on about wanting Origin to die haven't obviously used Uplay.
Though, I haven't ran into save problems yet. *knock on wood*
Except Craig comes into his own. Conviction Fisher doesn't. It's just a bland reboot while using a five year old plotline they didn't know where to go with. :/
AgentOtaku
Member
totally agree. It was more of a loose comparison that alluded to how Craig/Neo-Fisher are more super serious/Bourne-esque in their initial approach.
Anyway, I'm completely done with the Wii U version and am trading it back in for the PS3 one. Reasons:
- Loadtimes ARE that fucking bad. Specifically doing shit on the Paladin probably takes 60 percent longer than it honestly should. Like I said prior, AC3 was tolerable, but this really is unacceptable.
- I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but the controls are kinda botched. Specifically where as in the PS3/360 versions, cover is mapped to X/A. In the Wii U version, it's still mapped to B, but to actually move from cover to cover, it has you switch over to input A instead of continuing to use B. It makes no sense as the other versions just share that input on the same damn button. You end up overthinking what should be smooth/fluid movements.
Also the analog range on this is weird. The deadzone is a bit too big and the Wii U gamepad's analog settings feel too loose/sloppy. You end up having to be overly deliberate with their manipulation. It doesn't feel as precise as it should.
- The tablet display stuff really is superfluous. I ended up not using it and just relying on the Dpad instead because it was faster.
Off-Screen IS boss though and I will really miss Vsync
Origin doesn't cause even half the problems Uplay does, and EA doesn't force Origin integration into its games that release on Steam.
AgentOtaku
Member
the hell!?
It is the same on 360 and PS3. No idea what he is talking about.
AgentOtaku
Member
Wait, so then it's swapped?
A/O is go into cover on PS3/360?
Cause as I said, it's B on Wii U
Lostconfused
Member
Which Origin games released on steam in the past year?
edit:
Oh and this is why I like EMF goggles, almost all of the advantages of the sonar goggles and almost none of the drawbacks.
EMF Goggles said:
The new Sam has grown on me. I mean, it's basically a new character, but he's not bad.
Give it some time.
Does anyone know if the bug in the hospital COOP mission has been fixed?
I am referring to the part where Sam and Briggs are on the ground and have to survive a wave on the butts. If you die in that part, it doesn't properly reload.
Very frustrating getting to the end only to have it bug out.
I am referring to the part where Sam and Briggs are on the ground and have to survive a wave on the butts. If you die in that part, it doesn't properly reload.
Very frustrating getting to the end only to have it bug out.
JumpJeff84
Member
I like the WiiU version a lot. Controls fine to me, but man, the load times are ridiculous.
It happened to me on the 360 after the last update so I'm guessing no.
That's kind of the rub, isn't it?
I mean, on PC, load times are 3-4 seconds at most while the other consoles do it in ~20 seconds. On Wii U it's over 1 minute for nearly every load screen. That's a bit nuts, I think.
I do believe the reason is due to the engine choice. As this is still based on a heavily modified UE2.5 engine, they don't have the same robust data streaming options available ala UE3 and have to load more data at level start.