Splinter Cell: Blacklist - airstrike, electrocution or torture?

The E3 show floor is one of the worst places to demonstrate stealth. Creative director Maxime Béland's first act is to hand us a pair of headphones. "They cancel out dubstep and dance music," he says solemnly, acknowledging the shrieking backing track that still penetrates our meeting room in the depths of the Ubisoft stand.

The headphones help, but the game doesn't. Our extended runthrough puts a new spin on the demo shown at Microsoft's E3 event: a disguised Sam takes a wounded man into a terrorist camp on the Iran/Iraq border, but the men inside quickly rumble him, forcing him to shoot two in the head, then torture the leader to find more information.

When twisting a knife in his shoulder brings no results (an experience we're really hoping doesn't include controller vibration) he strips down to his more comfortable rubber-suit-with-three lights evening wear and proceeds to bring hell upon the adjoining village.

As action, it really impresses - it has the most fluid takedowns you'll have ever seen in gaming, thanks to a more flexible and fully performance-captured Sam. It's also a more brutal version of Assassin's Creed's free-running: press A and move the stick forward to make Sam break into a run that won't be stopped by obstacles (hurdled), doors (kicked in), walls (climbed), and enemies (stabbed in the throat, assuming you've got Sam's wicked-looking new knife equipped).

It's fast, brutal, and very satisfying, made more so by an upgrade to Conviction's Mark and Execute. The ability to tag enemies then hit a button to swiftly slay them in sequence can now be done in motion rather than from a hiding spot.

"This is a philosophy more than a feature," says Béland of Sam's murderous speed. "The philosophy is that Sam is always one step ahead, he's always fluid, and he's always moving forwards. We wanted to keep his momentum as much as possible." It's all beautifully slick stuff, but only Godzilla would consider it stealthy. And that's before the UAV drone shows up.

Softly softly

We shouldn't worry, says Béland: this is just the most spectacular path through a level that's been designed to offer choice at every step. It starts small - you're given the entirely consequence-free option of stunning or slaying your hostage post-torture - but as the level expands there are different routes to take.

If you choose to go full stealth, you'll have to use the new Abduction ability to kill from cover, stash the bodies away from prying eyes (an ability which returns after being unwillingly cut from Conviction) and stay away from dogs - which present a major problem as they can't be fooled by simple hiding.

You're aided by tools like Sam's new stealth-friendly crossbow. We see it used when Sam yanks the body of a guard off a balcony, which then attracts the attention of two guards down below. An electrical bolt aimed directly into the puddle they're standing in knocks them out. We're promised there'll be other bolts to distract, disorientate or just disembowel.

There'll be similar variety in your other kit, with an elaborate upgrade process. Fans of violence will be able to buy and upgrade guns; fans of stealth will be able to retool Sam's op suit to boost health and bullet resistance, and reduce the amount of sound it makes.

Cash for this can be earned both in the single-player, adversarial Spies vs. Mercenaries mode, and the mostly-undiscussed co-op - and only the finest of lines will separate them. "My dream, and I don't know if we'll be able to do it," says Béland, "is to have no main menu in the game." Instead, every gametype will be reached from the main Strategic Mission Interface (SMI).