Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

The game begins with Sam Fisher and his old friend Victor Coste about to leave Andersen Air Force Base in Guam when an unknown enemy force destroys the entire base. Sam and Vic escape with the help of hacker specialist Charlie Cole, despite Vic being severely injured from protecting Sam from a grenade. Soon after, a terrorist organization calling itself “The Engineers” claims responsibility for the attack and declares that it is the first in a deadly series of escalating attacks on US assets known as “The Blacklist.” They declare that the attacks will cease only when the US government recalls all American troops stationed abroad. President Patricia Caldwell, who had just shut down the corrupt Third Echelon, assigns Fisher, Charlie Cole, Isaac Briggs, and Anna ‘Grim’ Grimsdóttir to the newly formed special operations and counter-terrorism unit known as “Fourth Echelon.” She appoints Sam as commander and assigns the unit the task of tracking down and stopping The Engineers. The headquarters of Fourth Echelon is a customizable cargo plane codenamed “Paladin.” Sam and his new team’s first mission is to kidnap Andriy Kobin from a CIA safe house in Benghazi, Libya, and obtain information from him about The Engineers’ plans. Sam successfully extracts and arrests Kobin, restraining him aboard the Paladin. Kobin divulges details about his business associates in Mirawa, Iraq. While infiltrating an insurgent stronghold, Sam discovers that the Blacklist attacks are more serious than previously thought. When Sam arrives at a death chamber, he discovers an executed US soldier whose execution was videotaped. Majid Sadiq (Carlo Rota), a terrorist and former MI6 agent, was the executioner. Sadiq tells Sam in the video to stop intervening or face the consequences. Mirawa’s intelligence indicates that the next Blacklist attack will occur in Dallas, Texas. Sam tells Fourth Echelon that a direct attack would be too easy and that the true target is another city. Charlie notes that the TSA list of “do not fly” citizens was offline for about six hours when a group of men traveled through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The target is a water filtration plant near Navy Pier that is set to release a dangerous biological agent into Chicago’s water supply. Sam disables the devices and closes the outflow valve, saving Chicago. Back on the Paladin, Kobin reveals to Sam information about one of his associates, a dealer named Reza Nouri, who provides mercenaries for hire. Sam raids Nouri’s mansion in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and interrogates him. Nouri claims that it is none of Sam’s business to which he lends his men. During the interrogation, Nouri’s mansion is attacked by suspected Quds Force operators. In exchange for safe extraction, Nouri agrees to give up Sadiq. Grim and Charlie learn of a sleeper cell of The Engineers in London, England. After activating the cell, Sam infiltrates an abandoned mill to gather information on The Engineers’ next moves. Sam discovers Iranian shipping documents, confirming his suspicions that Iran and the Quds Force were involved in the Blacklist attacks. Sam sneaks onto the truck as the last of the chemical bombs is about to leave the shipping bay and places a GPS tracking device inside the bomb. Sam is exposed to near-lethal amounts of the chemical agent and is captured alive by Sadiq while attempting to flee. Briggs, who was providing sniper cover, is forced to save Sam but allows Sadiq to flee. Sam infiltrates the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, which has been converted into a Quds Force headquarters after recovering from his exposure to chemical weapons. Sam configures a flash drive on a mainframe computer given to him by Charlie to search for and rip anything related to the Blacklist attacks. The flash drive reveals nothing, proving Iran is not responsible for the Blacklist attacks and dispelling previous suspicions. On the Paladin, Briggs informs Sam that the GPS tracker implanted in the London bomb has arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to Grim, there are four bombs containing dangerous nerve agents. The bombs arrive at the Philadelphia transit yards, forcing Sam and Briggs to disarm them before the nerve agents are released into the public transportation system. Grim’s analysis also indicates the presence of a high-value Engineer target. Sam pursues the Engineer leader in the transit system after Sam and Briggs successfully defuse the fourth bomb. The Engineer manages to flee the train but is fatally shot by responding police officers. The fourth Echelon is forced to return to the Paladin empty-handed when Nouri is checked in as a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sam and Briggs devise a plan to break into Guantanamo and question Nouri again using Briggs’ CIA credentials. Sam successfully interrogates Nouri, who confirms that Sadiq is the mastermind behind the Blacklist attacks but cannot predict when the next attack will occur. Nouri also admits that Sadiq knows Fourth Echelon and their identities. Sam evades capture and escapes the prison, riding out of the bay in a boat with the help of Briggs. Briggs drives himself and Sam to the Paladin, which has landed at an airstrip in Mexico’s Yucatán state. Terrorists attack the Paladin before Fourth Echelon can take off. Sam and Fourth Echelon repel the attack, which Charlie admits was his fault for contacting an old friend on the ground. After taking off, Sadiq launches a cyberattack on the Paladin. The intelligence on board the Paladin and the onboard computers are all compromised, leading to a crash in the Gulf of Mexico. The Paladin is successfully reclaimed by Fourth Echelon, averting the crash. During the cyberattack, Sadiq successfully executes the “American Fuel” Blacklist attack on Sabine Pass, Louisiana, the US’s largest oil reserve. While the US government activates continuity of government procedures, Sam attacks Sabine Pass, preventing the leaking oil from spreading to other reserve posts and preventing a chain reaction. Another high-value Engineer is present, and Sam pursues him. The Engineer reveals Sadiq’s true and final plan: to obtain all US military secrets. Sadiq successfully kidnaps a group of high-level civilian and military personnel, including the Secretary of Defense, and holds them at the Site F government bunker beneath Denver International Airport (DIA). Fourth Echelon contacts President Caldwell, who directs them to divert from Denver. Sam orders Kobin to relieve the Paladin pilots of duty because they refuse to defy orders. During a blackout landing in Denver, Kobin successfully drops Briggs and Sam. Briggs and Sam storm DIA, tasked with planting a virus designed by Charlie to prevent file transfers to Sadiq. Briggs, separated from the other hostages, surrenders to Sadiq in the computer terminal. Sadiq’s men torture the Secretary of Defense into complying with their demands, but Briggs steps in and kills the Secretary before the data transfer can begin. Briggs and the other hostages are used as human shields as the Engineers attempt to flee Site F. Sam is revealed to be disguised in an Air Force uniform near the back of the hostage group. As Delta Force sharpshooters open fire on Sadiq and his men, Sam breaks free, and Sadiq flees on foot after wounding Briggs. Unarmed, Sam pursues Sadiq, disarming and assaulting him before wounding and arresting him. Even after defeat, Sadiq claims to have “won,” threatening Sam that if he kills him, the twelve nations secretly supporting The Engineers will rise, and if he puts him on trial, he will “spill every secret he knows.” Having no other option, Sam employs the Fifth Freedom and unofficially imprisons Sadiq while President Caldwell announces his death, and the game concludes with Fourth Echelon preparing to resume operations. Vic has recovered from his injuries, and he and Sam are seen about to question the captive Sadiq in the post-credits scene.