I could only play a few matches last night so I can't fully talk on the subject quite yet, but my impressions so far aren't good. Being a merc wasn't fun at all and being a spy felt overpowered. It's ridiculous that spies have lethal guns and their melee is (or at least sometimes is) a one hit kill even from the front.

You should feel powerful as a merc, like a hunter. While as a spy you're the prey that has to outsmart him... well, if you can just run up and punch a merc in the shoulder and he dies then there's no "smarts" involved. Maybe they have a real spies vs. mercs mode that's unlocked later, but from what I played, it felt like a lame version of tag. Spies should only be able to jump on mercs' head and break their necks from behind, no guns, knives, cloak, etc BS. Are any fans of the old games enjoying it? Does leveling up the merc help at all? Even if it does, the level design feels lacking too IMO.

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

The one thing that seems to be consistent with almost every review I've read is that Spies vs Mercs is pretty much awesome.

@itwastuesday: Yeah, I had a sub-machine gun... pretty much like a P90, while mercs have assault rifles and I think later shotguns are an option too for them. Also, a spy can just run up and instant kill a merc by running straight at them, so there's no need to sneak behind other than it being the safer route since spies don't have a ton of health.

I thought classic mode is what removed lethal guns for the spies?

I've played a ton of spies vs mercs. The blacklist game mode, which is what training grounds is, is not very great. It caters to your more action game fans. Its fast paced, yes, spies have guns, albeit very underpowered guns compared to mercs, and no, it isn't very fun. But after you rank to about level 3 or 4, and training grounds goes away, you can get right into classic mode matches.

Classic mode is what you remember spies vs mercs being, more or less. I love it. No crazy gadgets, no lethal guns for spies, just emp, flash bang, an emp crossbow that only holds one bolt at a time, and classic green nightvision. Your main weapon is darkness and teamwork. The mercs have rifles, grenades, proxy mines, and the most important gadget, flashlights. If they shine it on you, you stand out against white walls like nothing else, and you can say goodnight. It's incredibly fun, and tense and feels like real splinter cell. It does take a few matches to get the hang of though.

This is all coming from a long time splinter cell fan also, I've been with it through the good games and bad. This one has been pretty enjoyable so far.

That's great to hear. I was playing training grounds since I hadn't leveled up yet. Ubisoft is silly for locking the real/actually fun modes... devs should stop copying COD, but I'm glad the real mode is actually in the game somewhere.

Mercs can get a lot of armor later on and powerful guns that shoot down spies in a few hits. You just have to know where to stand that you won't be ambushed by a spy.

Dying was never really a problem for me, it's just that being a merc doesn't feel that cool anymore and the fact that spies can kill you from the front somewhat breaks the entire mode IMO.

Does the merc still have the spin move? I'm still in the training grounds, but I noticed that wasn't there anymore.

I only remember playing this mode in Chaos Theory and dragging the mercs back into their spawn point so I can jump up and down every where as my friends tried to spawn

Mercs lack both the spin and the charge in this game. They can sprint and melee though.

I keep wanting to buy this since I enjoyed past Splinter Cell games but I just couldn't care less about the story in these games and as we near the end of the console generation, story has been the one aspect of games that has kept me going.

Good thing the Classic mode is in there. Spies with guns sounds so stupid.

Not sure how I feel about Mercs lacking the spin... it was pretty easy to abuse it, so maybe it's good they took it out. Still a really good move to have when you know a Spy is really close but you're unable to see him.

Yea, both the spin and the sprint were good defenses if you knew a spy was about to jump on you. Taking it out might have been excessive.

One of my gripes is that in classic mode, the spies are able to just sticky shock you and run up and knife you. And so far as I can tell, there is nothing you can do to defend this. Lets just say the made spies way more lethal.

After playing it a lot more I have to say spies having guns isn't a problem, since their sub-machine guns are so weak you can only kill a near death merc or another spy with the guns (there are game modes where spies/mercs are on the same team). The main problem is that spies can kill from the front or sides... it almost feels like playing Assassins Creed's multiplayer with them, since they're so powerful now. The multiplayer is very fun though.

@deathstriker: Glad to hear you didn't give up on it. I know personally, I bought this game for the return of SvM, and during my first training grounds stint, I was disappointed too. But sticking with it was completely worth it. I've clocked in 27 hours now, mostly just on multiplayer. As you really learn the ropes, it becomes a very fun experience that few multiplayer games have competed with. I've recommended it to several of my friends, and after some practice, they are really enjoying the SvM now too.

If you expect the multiplayer to be good in any game that isn't Call of Duty, Halo, Gears or Battlefield you're wrong.

lol.

lol.

Okay let's clear something up here: how the hell are you "spies" able to shoot down a merc with your pea shooters? Every time I've tried to shoot a merc in SvM they just turn around and mow me down instantly.

@jdh5153 said:

That is true. I enjoyed the spies vs mercs though despite its shortfalls. Its a good decision by ubi part to bring it back in blacklist