The United States has a military presence in two thirds of countries around the world. A group of rogue nations have had enough and initiate a terror ultimatum called the Blacklist - a deadly countdown of escalating terrorist attacks on U.S. interests. Sam Fisher is the leader of the newly formed 4th Echelon unit: a clandestine unit that answers solely to the President of the United States. Sam and his team must hunt down these terrorists by any means necessary, and stop the Blacklist countdown before it reaches zero. Sam is back in his tactical suit and goggles, and he's more deadly than ever. He is the only secret operative with the power to act above the law, and uses ruthless methods to interrogate enemies in order to extract crucial information that will prevent the next Blacklist attack. Pursuing the terrorists to the far reaches of the world, Sam flies from exotic locales to U.S. cities as he races against the clock to find out who's behind the Blacklist. Thrilling gameplay is enhanced by full motion performance capture, creating a highly cinematic experience. Always one step ahead, Killing In Motion lets Sam strike with lethal precision by marking and executing multiple enemies in one fluid motion. Active Sprint allows him to traverse the environment easily and fluidly, climb walls and leap over barriers in order to reach his next target while on the move. Splinter Cell Blacklist innovates from the roots of the franchise, and players can enjoy a series of twists on franchise favorites including reinvented classic weapons. Infiltrate terrorist cells by using new gadgets such as the upgraded snake cam and micro-trirotor drone which allows Sam to scout ahead, mark targets remotely, distract enemies, or explode with frag grenade force. Splinter Cell Blacklist is also bringing back fan-favorites like the sticky shocker, and for close quarters combat, players can wield the curved and brutal Karambit knife. With a mandate directly from the President, Sam is building a whole new Echelon unit; his team, his way. Anna "Grim" Grimsdottir is his technical operations manager, CIA operative Isaac Briggs brings additional firepower, and resident hacker Charlie Cole rounds out his support crew. 4th Echelon is a fully mobile ops unit with unlimited resources and cutting edge technology aboard the repurposed stealth airliner, the Paladin. Sam and his team are aware of terrorist attacks in real time thanks to the Strategic Mission Interface (SMI). The SMI allows the team to receive data about mission objectives while on the move. Players can earn money for completing missions and objectives and buy upgraded weapons and items from the SMI hub aboard the Paladin.