Sam Fisher returns in style later this year in the seventh entry of the enduring Tom Clancy espionage action series, “Splinter Cell: Blacklist”. While at PAX East 2013 I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Blacklist’s art director who went into detail about this brand new sequel and touched on how the staff at Ubisoft Toronto is looking to breathe new life into the revered franchise. Featuring a delightfully seamless gameplay style, and even a new actor voicing Sam Fisher, “Blacklist” is aiming to rewrite the book on stealth action gaming.

Taking place after the events of “Splinter Cell: Conviction” Blacklist picks up with Sam Fisher now the commanding officer of the newly established “Fourth Echelon”. A top secret division which answers directly to the President and is tasked with stopping terrorist attacks around the globe. In this sequel a secret group of 12 terrorists have set a series of attacks in motion which take place all over the globe and are referred to as “the Blacklist”.

Ubisoft has gone great lengths to remedy many of the issues from past titles by focusing more on the game’s flow. Fisher’s actions now transition seamlessly from one to another curing the “clunky” gameplay situation from previous installments. This change is partly a result of the strides Ubisoft has made with their new privately motion capture studio, and the results are stellar. Cutscenes now have a far more dynamic feel to them, thanks in addition to the topnotch performances from the cast. Sadly, however Sam Fisher’s original voice actor cult Hollywood favorite Michael Ironside has passed on the torch to new actor, Eric Johnson. According to the folks at Ubisoft this was done primarily because at his age, Ironside was essentially too old to participate in the motion capture process being utilized by the develop team. Rest assured that Sam still sounds like himself, thanks to Johnson’s excellent Ironside impersonation while still delivering his own twist on the performance.

Also, Ubisoft is promising plenty of unlockable items and gear including a high definition version Fisher’s old “Chaos Theory” suit! While “Blacklist” still has to bake a bit longer before release, you can already tell Ubisoft has whipped together a sweet new installment packed with loads of new enhancements and features including “user created” missions. Splinter Cell: Blacklist is scheduled for release the same day as Saint’s Row IV, August 20th. Welcome back, Fisher. It’s great to have you back.