Maxime Béland, creative director for the upcoming Splinter Cell: Blacklist is undoubtedly proud of his most recent work. With regard to his last outing, though, he doesn’t have too many kind words.
In an interview with Joystiq, Béland tells the story of how he and another producer were asked to steer the sinking ship that was Splinter Cell: Conviction. “It wasn’t going well,” he said. “We changed the direction and kind of shipped the game in two years.” He refers to the 2010 release as “very sweet and sour for me.”
Though the game didn’t tank in sales, Béland and his team knew they could do better. Sitting down with over 80 Conviction reviews, the team wanted to figure out what worked and what didn’t. For instance, the black-and-white visuals that appear throughout most of the game were not well received, and they were one of the first things to go.
With the knowledge that the single-player campaign of Conviction was seen as “too short, and the scope of the game wasn’t big enough,” Béland calls Blacklist’s predecessor a “stepping stone.”
“We’re making a much bigger singleplayer story, co-op, spies vs. mercs,” Béland says. “And blurring the lines between all of these modes, I think, is going to make this game huge.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a stealth/action title slated for March 2013. Continuing the saga of super-spy Sam Fisher, the game will release on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.