Sit back and close your eyes and remember when you were in elementary school and the P.E. teacher, or your own teacher, told you that the whole class was going to play Capture the Flag. This could have either brought on great excitement for you or dread; all dependent upon how well you understood the game and how well you could get along and communicate with your friends. When I was first told that I was going to be able to play a co-operative game within Splinter Cell: Blacklist called Spies vs. Mercs, this is exactly how to felt to me. We had to “capture” three separate areas, as the spies, and keep the mercs from eliminating us from the area in which we were trying to “capture.”
In Spies vs. Mercs mode, the players are put into teams of four and play the role of either the Spies first or the Mercs first. They are then revealed the three sections of the map that need to be “captured” or “controlled.” It is then up to each of the teams to communicate with each other as to how they are going to go about getting these areas. With communication being of the utmost importance before starting the level, as everyone gets to choose what type of Spy or Merc they are going to be. It is important to have a well balanced team.
The Spies are the team who have to contain the three areas. In order to do this, they must maintain their presence, at least one team member, within an area while it comes “online.” It does this by telling you the percentage of uploading your team has done within that area. As a Spy, the player is able to set up triggers that will alert them when someone from the Merc team has entered into the area. The nice thing about being a spy is that the player does not always have to remain on the ground in order to maintain their presence.
While being a Spy, players are able to climb any available area and get up into the rafters to be less likely to be seen. It is also more difficult to hide once they have been noticed because of the fact that the other team now has them within their scopes. The Spies move very stealthily and feel as if there is a lightness within their movements. Still once they are caught within the cross-hairs of the Mercs weapons, it can be difficult to maintain the presences needed with the said area and therefore the Mercs side of the team starts to get the upper hand.
When on the Mercs side of the game, there are four different types of weapons that can be chosen and it is important to converse with your teammates to have the most balanced team. Mercs move at a slightly slower pace as they are laden down with weaponry to take down the Spies and don’t have to be as stealthy about it. The reason they are not having to be as stealthy is that their weapons take down the Spies quite quickly and therefore it only takes one or two shots to send them into a respawn.
This is a mode of the game that I can feel myself wanting to play over and over again. I still have plenty to learn about how to become the best Spy or Merc that I can be. It is truly a part of the game where the communication between the four plays is imperative. Sure a person could go in thinking that they could “school” the rest of the players with their skill, but ultimately everyone has to work together in order to properly control the map.
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