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Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon has been around for a while, but as with all Xbox games, the Play Live option adds an entirely new dimension.
Using next-generation military technology and the newest infantry gear and weaponry, you play as one of the Ghosts, an elite team of US Army Green Berets spearheading a UN peacekeeping force. And since it’s transition from the PC, new female characters have been added for the ladies. And believe me when I say, the gals are just as tough as the guys!
Although there are not a lot of females playing this title on Live, those that I’ve met have always opened a real can of whupass on me! And it might just be me, but besides making a smaller target, the female soldiers like Astra Galinsky seem to be able to run faster than the blokes!
For anyone daunted by getting to grips with all the cutting-edge hardware, there’s a training area where you’re taken through the basics of everything from sidearms and grenades to rifles and claymores. Once in to the mission, combat is realistic and deadly, playing on large 400m x 400m maps (with multiplayer maps from Ghost Recon and Ghost Recon Desert Siege) representing locales throughout Eastern Europe. In solo mode, you play through a 15-mission campaign, controlling up to six soldiers in two teams.
The command interface is a little tricky to pick up at first, but once you’ve got the hang of it, it becomes second nature.
As you play through this mission, you unlock new content and features-that can also be used on Live-with a task-based reward system. A Player dossier keeps track of your completed tasks, unlocked maps, weapons, statistics, and your rank (Private, Sergeant, etc.), which increases with every five tasks completed.
Mission is the meat & potatoes of this title. It’s here that you’ll learn the basics you need to keep you alive in multiplayer modes. If you’ve seen the trailers of this game, you’ll know that one of the features of the Ghosts is their ability to camouflage with their environment-hence their name. This doesn’t mean the enemy rebels are slouches at staying hidden though. When I first played mission, I was getting a bit frustrated at the lack of enemies to shoot-then suddenly, all hell broke loose!
It’s essential to play Mission right through at least once before you can really assess this title. After your first game, you may be tempted, as I was, to think Ghost Recon is a little slow getting going. But remember, you’re the platoon leader and you set the pace of the game, though admittedly, it does take a while and a few repeat games on the same map before you get to know the map and discover the best hiding places, best areas to take cover, and where the enemy like to hide etc. Trust me though, once you get in to the game, you’ll get hooked. I played Ghost Recon‘s Mission mode right through in two marathon all-day sessions and loved it. So stick with it. It is worth it.
As for the maps themselves in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, they’re amazingly varied, and you must adjust your tactics to suit each one. On the first map, you’ll be strolling through the mountains on breezy spring day when you run in to a sniper trap. Later on in the game, you’ll be in a misty swamp, at night, with nothing but your nightvision goggles and your hearing to tell you where the enemy are. The next game might be a snowy day in Vilnius, or Red Square, and instead of snipers, it’s close-quarter urban combat with tanks and machine gun nests you have to be concerned with.
Each map comes with a set of objectives that you must complete, so when picking your team it’s a good tip always to have at least one demolitions specialist and one sniper for each mission. And while you’re playing, take a step back to check out just how good the rendering is in these maps at some point. From the cathedrals in Red Square to simple graphics like the rubble on Battlefield, it’s apparent that the developers put a lot off effort in to making this an FPS action game with an almost infantry-sim quality. Superb!
There are three multiplay options, splitscreen, link play, and Live. And it’s here that Ghost Recon really comes in to it’s own. If you’re in a similar situation to me and haven’t been able to play multiplayer before, then Live will be a gift from the Gods for you too. You may think you’re hot stuff if, like me, you’ve unlocked 26 of the 50 tasks in solo mode, but once on Live you’re in for a real eye-opener. While the enemy AIs are good, real opponents really test your ability.
My favourite GR modes on XBL (Xbox Live) are Team and Co-op. In Team, the players in the game are divided in to two squads, which play each other on either a selected or a random map. You can play Last-Man Standing, Hamburger Hill, Siege, Domination, or Search & Rescue. All have their good points, which will appeal to your personal preference, but I usually opt for LMS. This is basically what it says.playing until all the enemy have been killed and you’re the Last-Man Standing. And if you’re hosting you get to set the number of respawns each team/player gets, along with a host of other options.
Split screen is available in co-operative & adversarial multiplayer modes, although I am told it is not an option when playing online. And don’t forget, to communicate with other members of your squad, you need to press the white button your controller to operate the walkie-talkie. Otherwise (like me), you’ll find yourself feeling like a complete plank when you realise you’ve been talking to yourself for the last ten minutes!
The graphics in the game are excellent with new environmental effects, improved lighting, and new special effects rendered with the Xbox particle and shader systems. Dolby Surround Sound is superb, with bullets whistling past your ears and enemy footsteps creaking eerily closer on the floorboards as you hide in a cottage. And when a grenade or tank shell explodes close by, the audio and vibration system combined makes you feel as though you’re really in the thick of things.
Overall, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon has everything: superb sound & graphics, great sound, thrill-packed action, excitement, and danger. With Live, it’s even better as you find yourself developing a real sense of camaraderie with fellow squad members.
GR is Just what we’ve come to expect from the Tom Clancy franchise that also gave us Splinter Cell; it’s one of the finest Xbox titles available, whether you play Live or not. Enjoy!
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
8 8 10 10 |
| OVERALL | 9 |