gridironcj :
I understand that graphics aren't everything, but I feel insulted when games are sloppily ported over from console. 90% of the games I own on PC have all of the setting options that I could ask for. Also, given my rig and the resolution I play at (2560x1440), visuals are very important. What antialiasing settings does the game offer? If it offers SSAA, then that's great. Is there a FPS cap in any part of the game, particularly multiplayer?
I have a few gameplay questions as well. Is stealth more of a factor than Conviction? Are there many forced action sequences? Is stealth linear (only one way to get by using stealth) or are the many routes? Is multiplayer as strategic even though sneaking up behind mercs and choking them out is no longer in the game? I've been playing the Splinter Cell franchise since the very beginning, so Conviction really kicked me where it hurts. Feel free to express your opinions on the gameplay. Thank you all for your feedback so far. I'm aching to play a new game soon and once grad school starts next month, time will be severely limited. Unfortunately, all of the biggest games of the year are released in the 4th quarter of the year.
Antialiasing options are FXAA, MSAA x2 and x4, SSAA 2x2 Grid and 2x2 Rotated Grid, TXAA x2 and x4. Couldn't tell you about an fps cap (my CPU struggles to get 60 most of the time even in DX9), and haven't tried multiplayer, sorry - I'll try both tonight.
The game definitely resembles Conviction - the story also continues right after those events, but stealth is much more a factor. Though the missions are pretty linear, there are many ways to approach or sneak around. In my 2 hours of playing/testing there's one 30 second forced-action sequence because you're dragging another person around and can't stealth, but it's over very quickly. There's also a Perfectionist difficulty (which is insane IMO) and it also disables Mark & Execute. You can move and hide bodies now, and there's bonus points for playing stealthily and non-lethally, though I prefer to go lethal.
Here's a decently detailed review of the PC version:
http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/games/pc/Splinter-Cell-Blacklist-Review-377780.shtml
Hope I've helped you out a bit - again, the game looks damn good with all the DX11 options cranked, and I've read that it will make use of multiple cores - it just doesn't use Hyperthreading, I guess.
UPDATE - just went home and played some over lunch, and there is no framerate cap in SP or MP, and not sure what you mean by choking the Mercs out, but you can stealth-kill them if you sneak up behind, like in SP. And I don't know if it was this way in the other games, but when you play as Mercs, it's 1st person.
Also, you pick what missions you want to go on next - story missions are marked in red, and the others are co-op or solo side-missions you get from talking to your crew (one person has Ghost missions, another has Panther missions, another has Horde-mode missions, and the last has co-op-only missions.) And you can access Spies vs. Mercs at any time.
. i never played Splinter Cell series other than conviction but personally i just don't like the 'mark and execute' system. does the previous installment have something similar to it?
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