Splinter Cell Blacklist Diaries Part Three

This is my ongoing exploration of the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell games, played in release order. I will chronicle my playthrough of each title in turn and discuss any recurring themes and noteworthy events. This time I continue Blacklist.

Having thwarted the Engineers’ American Consumption attack, we were focussing on their American Freedom one, planned to happen in five days…

Curiously for a weekly attack, and the fact that we had seemingly just left Chicago, we had five days and nine hours to prevent the next one. Sam decided that we should stop playing defence, and go on the offence. For this, Grim leaked an email with a tracker on it, saying that Kobin had been talking to the CIA. It worked, as a man in a similar line of work, called Reza Nouri, had been forwarded the email dozens of times - marking him as a potential source for the Engineers.

I like the objectives being on the environment, I don't like them telling me obvious things

After upgrading my equipment, I landed on the ground at his place. I rappelled down a wall, and hid while a guard went past me. I knocked him out, and went into a garage, waiting for the talking to cease before I knocked out the mechanic. Another man fell after I mistakenly threw a noisemaker, and I got out my Tri-Rotor drone to scout the area. Two men and a dog remained, so I shot the dog with a sticky shocker - which missed, and only pissed it off.

Another shot took it down, but before I could get a bead on either of the men they had shot the Tri-Rotor out of the air. I shot them both, and a third that I hadn’t spotted with the drone or my sonar goggles, then headed around to the back garden. I managed to ninja stealth master my way through all of the guards, even literally piling four of them in one spot out in the open on the decking. I had to shoot the dog, though.

Now, just a few years later, the quality on drone cameras is vastly superior

Once in the pump room at the other side of the garden, I flew the Tri-Rotor down through the ducts to shoot two guards, and set off an EMP to knock out the power. Of course, this set everyone on alert, but reduced their visibility thanks to the lights being out. I knocked out one guard, and hid before his body was spotted by two more guards. They went to investigate, and I executed them both.

A third guard was a high value target, so I captured him. Unfortunately, I managed to get spotted in the attempt, which set the one guard on the roof’s sights on me. I climbed up a drainpipe and gained entry to the house, almost going through a laser that would have set off an alarm. Luckily, a guard walked through it, turning it off in the process, and I knocked him out.

Spotting the control box for the lasers, I shot it and continued through the house. Sadly, I was spotted again and had a bit of a firefight, culminating in my climbing up the wall and yanking two men off of the balcony. The house now empty, I began looking for the panic room, which was encased in titanium, and thus seeable with my sonar.

I mean... It's not exactly subtle

Sam thermited his way in through the roof and tried to make Nouri talk. He was reluctant, but when it became apparent that a kill team had been sent after him, he became much more talkative. We left and ducked behind a desk. I gunned down two of the men who breached the room, and Nouri ran off. I hung back, waiting for the team I saw on my sonar goggles to storm the main room, which they did.

Jumping off of the balcony, I landed behind them and executed two, gunned down a third and traded shots with the fourth. Once he went down, Nouri led me to an escape route, where I grabbed him by the back of the head, to keep him out of the line of fire.

Sam's getting on in years, he couldn't fireman-carry the guy...

There were three men patrolling the river, but I avoided them all with only a brief scare, before tossing Nouri into his speedboat. He handed over his phone with minimal beating, and as gunfire peppered the water around us, Sam had Grim verify the files he said were on there before gunning the throttle and getting out of there.

Back aboard the Paladin, Charlie informed Sam that Victor Coste was making progress in his recovery while Grim chastised him for letting Nouri go. However, it was because he put a virus on his phone, and it was going to lead us straight to the Engineers. Not that it did, but thanks to something Charlie did - whatever the hell he was doing - we got a lead in London, a sleeper cell that had just gone active. It led us to a warehouse, where Briggs was put on overwatch as I went in. I beat up a dog and made it most of the way along the waterfront before a sniper spotted me.

After a couple of shots I was climbing the fire escape, where Briggs shot a guy who had just spotted me during a cutscene. I made my way along the rooftops, taking out everyone in my way and avoiding being spotted somehow by the skin of my teeth at least twice. By the time I went down a ladder and inside a building, there was only one sentry left conscious in my wake.

"It's raining, this must be England" Sam said, stereotyping a country based on weather

Deciding to scope the area with my Tri-Rotor, I shot a few men with sticky shockers, then snuck around to take down two others. Since there was a drone controller, I was unable to use my sonar goggles, but after a quick execution the area was clean. I quickly climbed up to get a dead drop, before sliding down a couple of elevator shafts.

Checking and double checking my sonar goggles, I ducked out of a room and was instantly spotted by an armoured man. I switched to my sniper rifle and shot him a couple of dozen times, while shooting a few others, before he finally went down. I cleaned up the stragglers and went into their main office, which had all of their plans detailed and laid out on boards and shipping orders. Sam scanned it all before noticing that the final truck had been loaded up, ready to get going.

Here, Sam cockily said that of COURSE he wouldn't be spotted, despite having been spotted three times today...

Deciding to put a tracker on the truck, I jumped out of the window and shot out a light to get everyone’s attention, because Grim told me to leave everyone alone. I nipped past them all and got aboard the truck, where Sam decided to open up the biological weapon they had aboard it, exposing himself to the chemical agent like a tool.

After his contamination, Briggs reported that he had hacked a cellular tower and recorded one conversation, which registered on Grim’s systems as a partial match for Majid Sadiq, the leader of the Engineers. I went around the truck, and up over a pipe and the steel rafters, shooting out another light to get everyone’s attention again before nipping under the shutter.

Finally weapons-free, I sent out the Tri-Rotor to taze a few people with sticky shockers, then went in to shoot the final two guards. I went for the door at the far end, again being instantly spotted by an armoured guy. I was starting to believe that they had sensors in those helmets…

I hadn't yet purchased the "blow up drone" upgrade...

Once that guy was dead, and Sam was starting to cough, I went down into a sewer system beneath the warehouse. Through a grating, I went further down where Sam’s vision became woozy. It was difficult to murder the three dogs that were blocking my way, because my gun wouldn’t aim properly, but I did it and very slowly climbed a ladder.

Briggs wanted to leave his post, but Sam denied permission, insisting he was fine despite numerous readings to the contrary. I stumbled through a laboratory area, miraculously not being spotted by the several men in hazmat suits I passed, before dropping unconscious.

Sam woke to the gentle ministrations of a handgun to the face, though Sadiq swiftly punished the man before questioning Sam himself. His contacts had no idea whom Sam was. He gave no information before Briggs burst through the window, scaring off Sadiq and jabbing something into Sam’s thigh.

Where will you be, when diarrhea strikes?

Together, we fought off several heavily armed men before making our escape to the upper level, where we fought some more. Once the area was clear, we reached the roof, where Sam bitched about being saved, rather than Briggs killing Sadiq, and banishing him from anymore field missions…