Infiltrate Festival Hall | Mission 3 - American Consumption Splinter Cell: Blacklist Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Since it is the first, fully fledged, night mission, you definitely should use the nightvision goggles, which will help you considerably sneak through dimly lit areas and avoid contact with the enemy. Go ahead and reach the door that leads to the festival hall. Climb down the stairs and open the grate of the ventilation shaft, and reach the main hall. Start your exploration on the catwalks above the hall. It is worthwhile to stop for a moment and learn the current situation - the entire ground floor of the hall is being patrolled by armed men with flashlights and your job is to reach the opposite end of the location, where the entrance to the basement is.
The festival hall is a vast location, which means that your character is allowed a considerable freedom of choice, when it comes to the route. You can approach the exit of the hall in two different ways. The first variant assumes that you make your way through the left side of the hall and, to do that, you should remain on the catwalks. Continue along your path over the catwalks and reach the spot where Sam will be able to zip down the line. After you reach a catwalk below, take the ladder, which will take you to the very bottom.
Hide behind the small fence and wait for the enemies staying here to scatter. Only after that, resume along your path, and keep close to the left wall of the hall. Use the objects that you pass by in the form of covers, by hiding behind if there currently is a guard nearby. Make it through the small tunnel but, only after the terrorist that you can see in the distance goes right. Eventually, you should approach the hut shown in the screenshot.
The second variant assumes that you make your way through the right part of the hall. In this case, stop after you reach the first tall post. Slide down, shimmy to the right and slide down the drainage pipe to the very bottom. Start your march towards the current mission objective. You have probably noticed that there is a single enemy around so, hide behind the nearest cover and wait for the terrorist to go left.
Quickly, move on because the terrorist may be back here any moment. Further throughout the exploration, you should watch out for the enemies deployed to the left of Fisher. After you reach a new area with Christmas trees, you should wait for the guards to finish their conversation and scatter. Once it is safe here, approach the pole shown in the above screenshot and climb up the drain pipe, which will take you to the catwalks above.
Start exploring the upper platforms and direct your steps ahead and to the left. Do not attempt jumping down after you are directly above the exit, because Fisher would not survive such a fall. Instead, keep going ahead, pass by the first post and stop at the second one. Hang down and move towards the drain pipe, then slide down a bit. For the next time, you need to be patient here and wait for it to be safe enough for you to slide to the very bottom down the drain pipe.
Both of the variants described above take you to the same spot. You should try to reach a small hut located to the left of the exit, from the festival hall ,marked by the game. Jump over the low fence, at the left wall of the building, and stand in the position shown in the screenshot.
Do not hurry too much with exiting the hall, because the exit is very well guarded. First of all, you should pay attention to the two guards in this area. Wait for the guard on the left to stop next to the fence to the left, and for the guard to the right to move away from the stall located in front of Fisher. Jump down from the hut's roof quickly and go ahead. Jump over the stall shown in screenshot 1. Note - if you do not want to take the risk of a longer walk at one take, hide in the corner shown in screenshot 2. It is pretty risky, though, because one of the enemies may come round after a while.
This isn't the end, yet. Before you come close to the exit from the hall, you need to make sure that the guard, who has been patrolling the corridor behind the door, doesn't intend coming your way. Move in only if the terrorist is currently going away from the door. Additionally, squeeze past the guard nearby. Open the door to the staircase.
Note - if you do not want to risk too much with scouting the guards, you can try diverting their attention by, for example, using the sticky noisemaker again, which will lure them away from the hall exit.
Additional tips for the Panther/Attack playing style: You definitely should take advantage of the fact that the guards can't make it to the catwalks above. Try to eliminate them with rifles and explosives.