Enemies deny melee attacks from the front.

Sam’s goggles don’t see through walls.

Mark and Execute doesn’t work.

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Much of what we’ve been trained to expect by Conviction vanishes when playing Perfectionist – delightfully so for series veterans. Suddenly, Blacklist slows down, becomes more methodical, and makes players consider how they approach each locomotive infiltration. Or, at least it does when Fisher learns important lessons the hard way.Perfectionist isn’t for everyone, but it’s one of many options in Splinter Cell Blacklist that help it define its distinct identity within the franchise. Yes, it draws on Conviction. Yes, it draws on Chaos Theory. Blacklist meets somewhere in the middle, dragging classic Splinter Cell into a modern era more so than falling back on its old ways.What separates Blacklist most is the Paladin, Sam Fisher’s aerial base of operations and the home of his newly founded Fourth Echelon agency. Paladin is the excuse for spreading Splinter Cell missions across the world, but it serves another purpose. This is where you’ll talk to crew members, learn more about the threats of a terrorist cell called The Engineers, and take on Blacklist’s substantial number of side missions. Each key player in Fisher’s life offers additional objectives, all of which support the mainline story or the upgrades each character offers. Charlie Cole, for instance, is a hacker who helps with Sam’s gadgets. Do a favor or two and you’ll be well on your way to better gear. On the other hand, Sam’s most trusted advisor, Anna Grimsdottir, manages The Paladin’s well-being; buying improvements from Grim gives Sam an advantage in the field, such as adding radar. Exactly what these characters’ side missions entail remains a bit of a mystery, like a lot of Splinter Cell Blacklist’s extracurricular content.The other important feature of The Paladin is that it unifies the campaign, co-op, and competitive multiplayer into one space. From the same central control panel, you can jump between core story missions and co-op objectives. Ubisoft Toronto wouldn’t speak to how cooperative tasks factor into the narrative, if Sam can bring a second player in the main missions, or who the stars would be. Similarly, the team is secretive about the return of Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer mode, which is in development at Ubisoft Montreal.The real purpose of IGN’s first hands-on with Splinter Cell Blacklist was to gain an understanding of how Blacklist feels. Truthfully, the Paladin stuff reminds me of Mass Effect – walking around, talking to Sam’s crew, buying upgrades for his suit, and navigating a world map feels very Normandy. In the field, though, Blacklist is fast and familiar. Forward-momentum drives each mission, but whether you use that to slip by swiftly or unleash some aggression is up to you.Blacklist categorizes your actions into three sections, and rewards you with various experience points based on your success. Ghost seemed to earn me the most points, but the score is a huge risk – by opting against killing at all, you go extended periods of time without earning XP, with the huge potential to blow it all. The Panther play style is the faster way to earn comparable experience, but the quiet-killing comes at the expense of your personal morality. Assault, meanwhile, nets comparable points at the expense of your humanity. You monster.I played a mission in Benghazi primarily as a Ghost. The thrill of ignoring a group of guys is as intoxicating as wiping them out altogether. Non-lethal weapons and gadgets feel great here, too. The new sleeping gas works wonders on chatty chumps, while the sticky shocker crossbow is an effective stun tool. However, Benghazi ends in such a way that it forces your hand. Rescuing an interrogation subject (remember the sketchy Andriy Kobin from Splinter Cell Conviction?) all but requires lethal force, particularly during an end-of-level raid. I couldn’t find a way to sneak around a siege, so I had to shoot my way through waves of attacking enemies. Bummer. But that’s just me.A later mission set in London was more my pace, and far closer to classic Splinter Cell. The rainy nighttime map, set in an old mill, was the perfect place for my Panther skills. I threw snipers off of rooftops. I whistled and pulled gullible grunts into elevator shafts. I cut through cloths and throats to slip through the shadows without getting anyone’s attention, busted enemy drones, killed unsuspecting enemies while hanging from pipes above, and used sticky cameras to blow suspicious guards away. The level design here accommodates all styles, of course. The incredible open-ended level design on display presented dozens of opportunities to escape, attack, infiltrate, subvert, and navigate. Windows, pipes, ropes, and ladders all led to alternate routes of varying verticality. Discovering a new path satisfies in the same way as succeeding through another.And that’s the point of Blacklist – above all else, and more so than any past Splinter Cell, it’s always about the reward. Challenges issued on the to-be-detailed Shadownet system pay Sam for completing specific goals, such as killing five enemies with certain weapons or with an assigned method. Experience earned in co-op and Spies vs. Mercs carries across to the campaign, and vice versa. However you decide to play Blacklist, its satisfying loop should keep you on your toes, experimenting and exploring its options.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor at IGN. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN