More stealth action from Sam Fisher is always a good thing and Blacklist doesn't disappoint

The Splinter Cell series has had a pretty fantastic run so far, with nearly every game scoring mid-80s or much higher. That said, Splinter Cell: Conviction received a little more of an icy reception (though it scored well with most outlets) for a few nagging technical issues and some...

Solid and mostly believable narrative, Better-than-average voice acting, including Eric Johnson as Sam, The Paladin as a hub is a great concept, Spies vs; Mercs is back!, and better than ever, Solid graphical presentation overall, Varied environments make for fantastic playgrounds, This game is a...

Occasionally characters get stuck in the environment; Some minor graphical texture tearing; Disc switching for cooperative missions once you get to disc two

After a frankly stupid amount of pre-release trailers and press-baiting teasers, the new Splinter Cell is finally here amidst the weeks where the industry kicks back before the run-up to Xmas. Was it worth the wait? Oh, hell yes.

+Tight controls; +Great story

-Lacks technical polish; -Difficulty spikes

Find out why this is the best Splinter Cell in years in our full review.

+ Level design, + Spies vs; Mercs, + Gorgeous visuals, + Co-op missions

Some frustrating sections; Character models outside of Sam

, President Caldwell has shut down the increasingly corrupt Third Echelon and replaced it with the cleverly titled Fourth Echelon. The newly minted Fourth Echelon is a much more streamlined covert team rather than a massive agency like the NSA or CIA.

+ Crisp gameplay; + Beautiful lighting and environments; + Quantity AND quality; + Awesome amount of character customization

- Playing as Briggs during the SP campaign; - Faces look awful during cinematics

Splinter Cell: Blacklist – prior to this entry, I'd only played the first game in the series, on the Xbox, and I didn't quite get it. It had some issues that made it pale in comparison to Hitman 2 , one of my favourite games at the time when it came to stealth titles.

Andre Kobin goes from being an intensely detestable two-bit thug to the coolest character in the series? How did that happen?

Ghosting through a battleground of enemies shooting at where they think Sam might be hiding - and never once realising their mistake until it's too late

Hello; wildly out of place first person shooting segment

feels like an apology to the fans who took exception to what they saw as a dumbing-down of the series, but the developers have not abandoned their ambitions to capture a more mainstream audience.

Hanging from a ledge on a balcony, I pressed the Back button on the Xbox 360 gamepad and grizzled superspy Sam Fisher drew an armed guard closer with a whispered a come-hither taunt. Decision time: do I toss an incendiary grenade at his feet and watch the flesh cook off his bones?

Replayable campaign, Spies vs; Mercs multiplayer, Beefy co-op modes, Great story

Dated graphics

The United States has troops stationed in a long list of foreign countries, and not everybody's thrilled about the company. But a terrorist outfit known as "The Engineers" is going a little further than a letter-writing campaign.

+ Rewarding and intense stealth focus; plenty of gadgets means lots of tactical options, + Killer competitive multiplayer; exciting co-op missions; loads of upgradeable gear to buy

- Cover system and context-sensitive environments sometimes behave in seemingly arbitrary ways; ? Sam couldn't bring along some hamburger meat for guard dogs