In its latest ComDev video, Ubisoft details the economy system in Splinter Cell Blacklist.
Community Developer Zack Cooper goes into detail about the Panther, Ghost, and Assault categories. More specifically, you’re rewarded with each of these designations as you complete missions by playing through in certain ways.
If you like going in quietly and coming out the other side without anyone even knowing you were there, you’ll be known as a ghost. A panther will strike and kill, but still manage to remain undetected throughout the mission, while the assault designation means you’re basically going in all James Bond and shooting up some baddies, probably with little care for how much attention you attract.
It seems that you earn points in each category as you undergo actions that apply to each. For example, as a panther, you’d earn points for lethal but quiet takedowns, whereas you’d earn points in the assault category if you went in guns blazing, or the situation happened to turn that way mid-mission.
Our guess is that the points at the end of the round are tallied up and, depending on which type of player you were in that mission, will determine your load out or unlockable items in the missions to follow, though these details aren’t concrete. Previous Splinter Cell games would give you a percentage score at the end of the mission, with the higher the number equating to the higher the stealth. It seems that Blacklist will do away with this, opting to still reward players even if they go in loud and proud.
Your “After Action” report will chart your progress in the mission as a ghost, panther, or assault player (or any combination of the three, as most games will likely go), but Ubisoft is playing it close to the chest (like a ghost, perhaps?) and not showing us any in-game footage from this part of the game just yet.
Take a look at the video below and follow our home team, Ubisoft Toronto, on Twitter! Splinter Cell Blacklist is expected to launch in 2013.