New Splinter Cell: Blacklist trailer stirs controversy with torture scene

Gears of War writer “disgusted”

Chris KempAugust 19, 2012

A new Gamescom trailer is making waves due to its controversial content. The trailer in question is for Ubisoft’s upcoming stealth title Splinter Cell: Blacklist, which should release early next year.

The trailer showcases much of the same of what we saw at E3, but the conflict comes in when you use an analogue stick to torture a guy – twisting a knife in his clavicle. You’re then giving a moral choice – kill him, or spare him.

“Sam will do whatever it takes to retrieve crucial information before it’s too late,” creative director Maxime Beland explained.

One person who was particularly upset by the content was Gears of War: Judgment co-writer Tom Bissell, who called the torture scene “a blithe, shrugging presentation of the very definition of human evil, all in the name of ‘entertainment.’”

“We’ve arrived in a strange emotional clime when our popular entertainment frequently depicts torture as briskly effective rather than literally the worst thing one human being can do to another – yea verily, worse even than killing.”

“I spent a couple days feeling ashamed of being a gamer, of playing or liking military games, of being interested in any of this disgusting bulls*** at all,” he went on to say.

Check out the trailer for yourself, and let us know how you feel about it in the comments. Has Ubisoft gone a bit too far?