Key Highlights:
- Ubisoft’s new Splinter Cell Blacklist Threat trailer focuses on the Engineers and their escalating attacks against US interests.
- Sam Fisher leads Fourth Echelon as the Blacklist countdown moves towards another strike.
- Splinter Cell Blacklist launches later this month on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U.
Ubisoft has released a new Threat trailer for Splinter Cell Blacklist, focusing on the Engineers, the Blacklist countdown and the escalating attacks Sam Fisher has been tasked with stopping.
The trailer asks what the Blacklist is and who is behind it while showing Sam investigating the threat with Fourth Echelon.
The Blacklist is an ultimatum created by the Engineers, a terrorist organisation threatening a series of escalating attacks against American interests unless the United States withdraws its military forces from overseas. Each attack is tied to a countdown, leaving Sam and his team racing to identify the next target before the timer reaches zero.
Sam now leads Fourth Echelon, the unit formed after the events of Splinter Cell Conviction. The team operates from the Paladin mobile command centre and has been given direct authority to pursue the Engineers across multiple locations.
The Threat trailer is largely cinematic, but it also includes brief gameplay footage and another look at the wider conflict surrounding the Blacklist. The focus is less on individual mechanics and more on establishing the scale of the threat and the pressure created by the countdown.
GLN previously covered new Splinter Cell Blacklist gameplay and co-op details after Ubisoft showed more of Fourth Echelon, customisation and the new Perfectionist difficulty earlier this year.
Splinter Cell Blacklist launches in North America on August 20, followed by Europe later that week. The game is coming to PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U.
Later update: Ubisoft followed the Threat trailer one week later with the Splinter Cell Blacklist 101 trailer, which expanded on the same setup by explaining the Engineers’ seven-day attack cycle, introducing Isaac Briggs and detailing Sam’s Assault, Panther and Ghost approaches.
The finished game also answers the trailer’s central mystery. The Engineers are led by Majid Sadiq, who uses the Blacklist attacks to force the United States into withdrawing its forces from overseas. Fourth Echelon ultimately tracks him down and stops the campaign before the Engineers can complete their plan.
