Sam Fisher returns in the most extravagant of Splinter Cell series as the head of 4th echelon with the head quarter being Paladin; a cargo aircraft. The game music is very intense and brings a sense of urgency to the whole game. The levels are immaculately designed and the graphics are excellent.
The scenario keeps changing so you are not doing any levels that feel repetitive. From iraq to libya to london to Chicago the level designs are par with the best.
4th echelon fights against the Blacklist attacks in the campaign and the story is pretty straight forward. Sam is still as agile and the gadgets and upgrades to his stock is also a fresh incentive to complete missions in a certain manner. Paladin aircraft can also be upgraded. Sam earns a mission fee after each level that can be used to upgrade the plane.
The mark and execute method is also back with some changes. Stealth makes a great way to finish level and now there are multiple ways to approach a situation to finish the work. Either blast your way through, sneak through without disturbing any guards or silently take them down. Sleeping gas grenade is also an addition which actually is a great weapon to silently put AI into a deep slumber.
Sam does feel too powerful but what makes the game a challenge is that there is no save system and the game saves only at certain check points so you are compelled to be more careful lest you have to repeat the process.
Overall its an excellent game with terrific sound and graphics and much better than Conviction.