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I always heard that Ironside was let go because he couldn't do both the mocap and the voice work for Sam at the same time, so he was replaced by a younger actor who could. I have always thought that was a bullsh*t PR excuse from the top on down, so what I really think happened was Ubi weren't willing to shell out what Ironside was worth and hired a cheap throwaway actor for Sam to save some money on the project (it does look rough around the edges in the final product). Nothing else makes sense to me, as only money should drive them to make such a stupid decision. Which would make sense, considering the game came out around a time when Ubi was struggling with consumers, with the infamous releases of Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed: Unity with all their problems. Couldn't blame then for wanting to save a load of cash in that climate.
Sounds like Ubisoft: spend the smallest amount of money possible in hopes of making the most money. Surely it couldn't have cost them that much more to get Ironside back. What a shame, too.
It just figures into how the company was at the time, making dumb decisions like rushing the product and cutting corners to appease those giving them pressure or to save money where they could.
Well they did try to replace him as well for the last game. That resulted in a big fan backlash though, in no small part due to the reception of Blacklist. After that IO Interactive decided to bring him back.
Ironside was still involved in the game though so I don't think it was about money (also, Blacklist came out around the same time as Black Flag, not Unity). It was because they went for the Uncharted type thing of having the actors do all the movements and the voice instead of doing it seperately, but Ironside was too old for the physical stuff.
I'm with @MajorDSmythe, Blacklist was great, I really liked how they sort of merged the styles of Conviction and the old games. Best since Chaos Theory for me. I think the bad press it got before it had even come out led to it being pretty underrated.
I just don't get the mocap excuse. There's mocap actors for the action animations and voice actors for the same character in loads of game, so it's a strange move to drop the iconic voice of your whole franchise for such a senseless reason. If the decision had to be made Ubi could have at least chosen an actor similar in vocal tone to Ironside, but instead they got a young guy to play a greying Sam Fisher. Just don't understand it.
I'd also really like to see a better contracts system, where we're given more control in making a mission. It's cool that we can actually make contracts for other players with specific mission constraints, but I feel much is still limited. I wish you could control where some targets are located in the level, for instance, or how the AI would patrol the space. In the system they have now you are only allowed to walk around and mark random NPCs, which is rather boring considering that the vast majority of the AI outside of the main level targets and their guards seldom move at all. Doesn't make for much of a challenge, or given the contract designer much control.
I'd also love to see season one's Elusive Targets freed up and made available as open contracts for players after the second run through of them is concluded, for those that want to experience the little dialogues in them but missed the contract window or failed one beforehand.
They should bring back the ET's eventually but remove the rewards - that way the rewards are still exclusive, but you can still get to experience any that you missed. I'm still pissed I missed the Gary Busey ET, because it's not coming back again (some licensing issue between Square Enix/IO after their break-up is the cause for that, apparently).
EDIT: Apparently Microsoft is set to make a big announcement on April 10th regarding original Xbox backwards compatibility - perhaps it is one and the same with this Splinter Cell announcement, and all original Xbox SC titles will be available to play on the Xbox One? Could be.
Definitely agree about the ETs and keeping the exclusives locked in. I just think it's a shame to not let players at least experience each contract later on considering the additional work that goes into them and how some of the contracts actually flesh out the world more with targets who know those of the main story. I tried my first ET yesterday and was ticked at some of the aspects of them, which I detailed in the "Last video game you played" thread. It seems the ETs can randomly change the gameplay from the way the game plays in the main story, which is frustrating. While you can punch anyone without killing them in the regular levels, in ETs punching seems to be able to kill all of a sudden, which I found out the hard way when 47 decided to hit a woman in the face instead of subduing her. And because she was a protected NPC I failed immediately before I even got started on the contract.
It's a shame the Busey contract won't be back, as I wanted to play it really badly and thought it was a cool idea.
Yeah, I admire the exclusivity of it, but at the same time, it bugs me when games create limited content - why? Less isn't more in this case, and you should have everything you've crafted on offer. I hope we get some other tweaks, too come season two: I know human shields were also available in the early stages of the game, but were also removed, for some reason.
Which ET is that? I saw you mention that a little while ago, but I couldn't think of any ET I played, or any sort of civilian/enemy/NPC on the map, that you could kill with a punch. You likely failed because you weren't meant to harm her whatsoever - the punch didn't kill her. Was subduing even an option? Usually those types of special NPC's are given a rule set so you can't even subdue them, but I guess that varies, too.
The only thing I can figure is that certain NPCs can't have any harm whatsoever come to them, as that is the only explanation I can think of for how 47 killed with just a punch when that only causes a knockout in the main story missions.
Ahh yes, the parameters for her aren't just solely for killing (as I mentioned previously, punching someone in the game will only ever subdue them, never results in a kill unless, of course, you're using an axe or saber or something): you cannot harm or subdue her whatsoever.
A tip for the future: if you are playing an ET and you mess up, but it doesn't immediately result in a failure like it did for you with The Guru, you can quit to the Main Menu and try again. As long as you aren't getting that Mission Failed screen OR you aren't completing it, you can technically try it as much as you'd like. Hell, I think you can even flat out restart it and you'll be allowed to try again.
You'll notice that aforementioned rule with some contracts: you'll be tasked with killing someone in, say, an explosion or accident, but there will be someone with them that cannot be harmed or subdued or messed with in any way, so you're responsible for luring them away, then killing the target.
I still haven't finished that actually, I only played the first three episodes I think. I'll get round to it at some point.
Quite gothic. The music in the latest installment just never really stood out to me sadly, past the Patient Zero DLC having some VERY good musical cues throughout.
I know there's a retry system for the ETs, basically such that you can restart the level as long as you've not completed the main mission objectives. It gives you the ability to see where the target goes and the patterns they walk to get an idea of how to kill them, then you can restart and execute your plan. Only when you kill the target or complete a supporting objective tied to the target can you no longer restart.
Perhaps they tweaked it for some odd reason, because when I did it, it definitely told me to not harm or subdue her. Be careful going to subdue people on stairwells too: another glitch in the game, where any attempt at doing so on a stairwell will result in 47 spinning them around and punching them right in the face. To this day, I still forget about it and it chaps my ass every time it occurs.
I can't wait to see your thoughts on some of those escalations that involve not touching certain NPC's in any way, shape or form, while simultaneously having to kill someone in the same room as them AND hide any and all dead bodies in 90 seconds or you fail. Some of them are such a pain. There's one on Colorado that is so maddening, I've still yet to get past Level 3.
And yes. Though I'll say it'd feel even more nerve-wracking and tense if you couldn't reload or restart at all: once you start it, you must end it. Of course, that opens the door to, say, your power going out and losing the ability to play it, but I know that already exists, unfortunately.
I would love it if Hitman abandoned the current gunplay and went for one more realistic and interesting. If you've alerted people and need to escape, you should be able to shoot guns out of people's hands, shoot guards in the legs to take them out of the action and only allow them to shoot as they lay on the floor, unable to walk, and generally wound the NPCs coming for you so that you can actually attack strategically. As it is now you either go for a headshot or you're wasting your time. I've run into that stairwell issue, yes. Hate those times when you've got to subdue someone at the right time but they go for the stairs and you know your opportunity is gone. I've tried a few of the Escalations on the main levels, and they can offer a challenge. One in Paris I've still not completed demands that you have your pistol out at all times, so I spastically rush to subdue and drag enemies into hiding all while stopping every five seconds to whip my pistol out again. Infuriating! I think they've balanced the ETs as reasonably as possible, giving enough time to do them but not an insane degree to make them more limited and exclusive. I also like that IO give you the option to restart or to do it with no restarts, depending on what challenge you like. I go for the former option, however, simply because I'm new to the game's mechanics and I want to get enough silent assassin ratings to unlock some of the outfits (especially the winter garb 47 can wear).
He's back. :D
I hope it's foreshadowing a future release in the franchise rather than only referring to this crossover with Ghost Recon. Hope Ironside returns for a solo SC title.
I will say this, though: by getting Ironside back Ubi are already acting much smarter than they were during the time of the last game.
Just my two cents.
But Fisher is supposed to be a verteran, so Ironside's voice fit Fisher.
Though I agree on Eric Johnson and the hate he received. I have said before that I view the Splinter Cell games like the first few Bond films. Blacklist is OHMSS, Johnson is Lazenby, neither deserved the reception they received. With this in mind, I pray that the next Splinter Cell won't mirror DAF (in regards to the lack of effort from the lead).
There are games that do it seperately still but I think it generally looks better/more realistic if they have the actor doing both at the same time, it's one of the reasons Uncharted has always looked so good and I think most big budget games do that now. I know with Assassin's Creed for example they started doing it that way with 3 and the characters looked a lot more real and natural than in the Ezio games.
I agree though that it wasn't a worthy trade off and it would have been a worthy sacrifice to have Ironside's voice. Didn't think the new guy was terrible though.