Once a spy hacks into a box, they've got approximately two minutes to seize control of it. The goal of each round is to overtake the three circuit boxes scattered throughout each stage. On the other team you have the Spies, who have physical capabilities that the other team lacks, as well as stealth tools that allow them to sneak around. These users play as a team from a first-player perspective, with limited technical options but plenty of firepower. In this mode, you've got one team of "hunters" that keep an eye on three circuit boxes that must be protected from incoming hackers. If you prefer to be more competitive with your friends, you'll be happy to hear that Spies vs. If you both get critically injured, the mission's over. If you do go down, try to crawl out of harm's way, lest you put them in the same boat. Just keep in mind this will take a few precious seconds and will leave the resurrecting person wide open to attack. Like most co-op supported games these days, you have a limited amount of time to run over and refill them with health. However, if your partner does run out of energy, he or she isn’t necessarily out of the fight.
Other times, they're much trickier, littering the area with land mines that can damage your life bar, or even taking your partner hostage. Sometimes this is easy, with a lot of them running outside, letting you pick them off with a pistol or assault rifle. There's also a set of survival missions where you're asked to take down a certain number of guards in the fastest time possible. With this kind of strategy, you'll take out guards in no time. One strategy involves one man taking the "low ground" – killing or knocking out ground patrols – while the other takes the "high road" – watching out for snipers and keeping his partner out of harm's way. It's important to be on the same page as your ally, working out a plan to slowly but surely take down enemies. Running in with a rag-tag effort will result in a huge firefight where you'll likely get killed. Working as a team is vital, as we learned with our hands-on with the game. They'll team up through different instances, such as assisting one another to get over a large wall, or working out a plan to take down enemies without alerting their allies. Each has the same capabilities when it comes to stealth and weaponry, including a silencer pistol and high-tech toys that will help you infiltrate with ease – such as the night vision goggles and the mini-cam that lets you peek under doors. We recently had a chance to go hands-on with both during a recent event hosted by the developers.įirst, let's talk about this new mode, where one player controls Fisher while the other guides his ally, agent Isaac Briggs. Along with a single player campaign that will take you all over the world, Splinter Cell Blacklist comes with an all-new co-op mode, along with the return of Spies vs.