Splinter Cell Blacklist Trailer spotlights tech expert Charlie Cole

The latest Splinter Cell Blacklist trailer features new support character Charlie Cole. Charlie stays out of the action and is essentially quarantined in the Paladin to be your contact person.

As described by mo-cap/voice actor David Reale, Charlie is a hacker. He is depcited handing Sam the brand new SMI (Strategic Mission Interface), which is the size of a thumb drive. With the SMI, Sam will be able to keep in communication with the Paladin, as well as do things like controlling drones or scans.

Charlie enters the Fourth Echelon as the newbie, and a bit of the runt of the team. He clashes often with fellow hacker Anna Grímsdóttir over philosophies, as Anna has grown to act more by the book, while Charlie doesn't mind breaking the rules. Notably, this is a trait he shares with Sam, who brought him into Fourth Echelon in the first place, and basically is the guy who keeps Charlie around.

David then describes his experience acting for the game, with the mo-cap feeling more like theatre than film. The actors themselves don't get to see the detailed CGI backdrops players see, and have to imagine all of it happening in their heads. In fact, even more than theatre, David relates it to just playing around in the basement, with animators having to fill in the nitty gritty details, such as hand typing animations.

David finally brings it back to his character Charlie, explaining how Charlie's new to everything going on, and isn't used to dealing with death and the other grim details of the job everyone else is. Charlie is going to be hit with the immediacy of the threat coming from The Engineers.

Ubisoft has made it a point to share more gameplay details first, including its much vaunted Spies Vs Mercs mode, so it's good to hear a little more story. Don't be surprised if they squeeze in an extra shock reveal just before the game's release.