Companion app for Ubisoft's upcoming Splinter Cell Blacklist game sneaks onto the App Store

It's becoming increasingly common for large console gaming experiences to get their own mobile companion apps.

As its name suggests, Ubisoft's new Splinter Cell Blacklist Spider-Bot iOS freebie is one of those very same companion apps. For Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist, natch. D'oh.

I've had a little bit of hands-on time with the game, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

In Splinter Cell Blacklist Spider-Bot, you ARE Sam Fisher and you must take control of the titular advanced infiltration gadget.

You'll use a serviceable touchscreen analogue stick to navigate through high-tech mazes in order to collect intel and escape. The mazes become increasingly treacherous, with the once-simple task of intel collection turning into a mad scramble through an enemy-ridden labyrinth.

You can finish all of the mazes without collecting all of the intel or destroying the enemy bots, by the way. However, if you want to get the highest score possible and earn more Forth Echelon currency for use in Splinter Cell Blacklist, you should strive to flawlessly complete every level.

Any high scores you set will be uploaded to the Uplay leaderboards. So, if you're of those ultra-competitive gamers, you're likely to get a lot more out of these Spider-Bot antics than the average shooter fan.

If you're after an quick and entertaining mobile gaming fix, then you could do a lot worse than download Splinter Cell Blacklist Spider-Bot. It's not the deepest of experiences, sure, but if you want to kill a little bit of time when you're on the go, it'll get the job done.