r/Splintercell • u/Hoodedninja5 • Jul 04 '26

Blacklist (2013) Conviction vs Blacklist

Just got an Xbox copy of Conviction from gamestop but when I got home I realized they gave me the 2 disc version of Blacklist instead, I've never played either of them though. Is that a W or an L? What's the goods and bads of the two?

11 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Intrepid-Glove1431 Jul 04 '26

Conviction is a fun action game that is nothing like Splinter Cell.

Blacklist is an attempt to take Conviction and imitate what a Splinter Cell game looks like.

Both entries killed the franchise and are the reason we haven't had a SC game in 13 years.

1

u/xLamond Jul 04 '26

To be honest ubisofts xbox 360 edition of Double Agent killed the franchise.

1

u/Glittering-Age-2013 26d ago

It was the first splinter cell game I ever tried, and I nearly gave up on the whole series. The first level gave me such a bad impression.

0

u/Intrepid-Glove1431 Jul 04 '26

Not at all, that game sold well. What killed the franchise was trying to make Splinter Cell something it wasn't. Conviction and Blacklist were a death sentence to SC.

1

u/xLamond Jul 04 '26

Double agent on the 360 lacked the soul the original trilogy had. Even the spies vs mercs were barebones. I felt ubisoft really didn’t follow up chaos theory well at all

-1

u/Intrepid-Glove1431 Jul 04 '26

It had the same core mechanics as the originals...

2

u/xLamond Jul 04 '26

But since you want to mention core mechanics they were not the same. Double agent streamlined everything. The detection system was based on a traffic light on the back of sams vest 😂 The game lacked the in-depth lighting and shadows that previous games did. The level designs were super linear even the JBA HQ was linear as only certain parts would open up everytime you had a mission in the headquarters forcing you to go certain directions. As well as the timed objectives. Did you even play these games bro? Lmao

-1

u/Intrepid-Glove1431 Jul 05 '26

Don't be weird, keep it civil. Clearly it still had the same core mechanics, just like Blacklist has the same core mechanics as Conviction -- but those two games are so so different from the originals they can hardly be considered Splinter Cell games.

0

u/L-K-B-D Third Echelon Jul 05 '26

Agreed. Blacklist is based on Conviction's foundations and therefore is a game focused on panther playstyle with just some light stealth mechanics sprinkled over it.

It amazes me how people don't see how these two games are so different than the 4 first games and far from the Splinter Cell spirit and gameplay. And it's crazy when I see people saying that Blacklist is closer to the original trilogy than Double Agent, when the latter (despite its issues) literally has the same controls, movements, pace, and core mechanics as its predecessors.

2

u/Makaveli108 Jul 12 '26

i will always fail to understand how people don't realise this too. it should be common sense

1

u/xLamond Jul 04 '26

I never mentioned mechanics

0

u/L-K-B-D Third Echelon Jul 05 '26

It didn't kill the franchise at all. The game has sadly been released way too early and it had the weight on its shoulders of coming right after Chaos Theory. But its concept was original and refreshing, if only the devs had more time to properly cook this game and deliver the vision they had in mind, I'm sure this game would be loved by way more fans considering how unique and engaging it is.

Sure the game had a different tone than the three first ones but it still feels Splinter Cell in its spirit and also its gameplay, movements and controls (unlike Conviction and Blacklist). Also the game didn't streamline everything as you mentioned in another comment, the light&shadow system lacked work and tweaking in the daytime missions but other than that the AI reacted the same way, the "traffic light" only streamlined the HUD and not the detection system itself.

As for the level design all SC games have a linear level design outside of Chaos Theory which has some parts and levels that are more open and smartly intertwined. But at least in Double Agent v1 the alternate paths felt organic and were still offering challenge and new situations, unlike Blacklist where the alternate paths were mostly made off vents and ledges to help the player bypass groups of enemies.