Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter review

When Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360 and began showing off launch titles in 2005 there was one game and one game alone that had me really excited. That game, at the time, was known as Ghost Recon 3. While many gamers were still enthralled by the multiplayer possibilities of Halo 2 online, I along with a select group on my Friend’s List were still enjoying the delights of Ghost Recon 2. I would go as far as to say that, in co-op mode especially, Ghost Recon 2 was Live’s finest hour on the original Xbox.

So you can see why I would be so looking forward to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and at the same time realise that for me the game had an awful lot to live up to. Playing a game you’ve spent most of a year looking forward to is always difficult, how can a piece of software match up to your aspirations after such a long time? It’s a question I think many gamers have been asking as they’ve played Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and perhaps more will do so next week when they get their hands on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The Trooper

I’m happy to report that Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter really lives up to my expectations. And no, we’re not talking about the excellent graphics here. I’m talking about the single player and multiplayer gameplay. So let’s look at the single player campaign first.

You play Captain Scott Mitchell, a member of the Ghost Recon team. Posted to Mexico, Mitchell and his team are called into action when a military coup plunges the nation into chaos and threatens the lives of both the Mexican and US President. Beginning in the sun-drenched streets of Mexico City and moving on to a variety of locations, Mitchell must complete a variety of objectives either solo or with three AI squadmates and help the US and Mexico regain control from the military junta.

Afraid to Shoot Strangers

That’s the setting, but how well does the action play out? Ubisoft seems to have totally nailed an excellent control scheme for GRAW. Eschewing a multitude of button presses, the movement of Mitchell is a context-sensitive delight. Push towards a wall and Mitchell will pull close to it, Solid Snake style. Push towards an edge and Mitchell will lean out and take a peak. Crouching behind low objects works just as well, with the added benefit of being able to peak around and over the object or low wall.

Squeezing the left trigger gives a very slight zoom, slowing the soldier down if walking, and enabling a more accurate shot when the right trigger is pulled. Pushing the right stick in will bring up a zoom sight view if your gun has one. These controls in combination with the excellent wall hugging make for an easy way of moving around and staying safe within the game. Peaking around corners and letting rip on enemies using a combination of both triggers is satisfying and easy to accomplish.

Tailgunner

The controls aren’t perfect though. Sections where you man a minigun on a blackhawk helicopter dont' seem as convincing as the rest of the game. And the way you order your squad and support units such as the UAV, tanks and helicopters doesn't always work for the best. Orders are given via the d-pad and in the heat of battle it’s all too easy to get confused and order your men to run at the enemy when what you had intended was to send tanks forward. Your AI squad is a powerful tool, but they really require some intelligent use if they’re not to get killed.

You have to think tactically and experience with THQ’s Full Spectrum Warrior will pay dividends. Place your squad in a good covered position and they will be an invaluable aid to taking out the enemy, don’t use them wisely and they’ll be running around like headless chickens. Perhaps what was needed here was some better autonomous AI, with the Ghosts having enough smarts to find cover if you ask them to do something stupid. However I did find if they took hits it was generally my own fault.

Die With Your Boots On

Ordering other units around works pretty well. You can target vehicles for tanks and Apache gunships to take out from your regular vision and using the tactical map opened with the back button. A few problems have slipped through the net, in some missions you may find your support chopper is shot down, yet at the end of the mission the pilot will appear on your cross-com HUD device to say he’s heading back to base.

Other problems? Well it takes too long to do something as simple as throw a grenade. I can understand why this was done, to prevent grenade spamming in multiplayer games. But seeing as the multiplayer game has a different control set anyway, there’s no reason why grenades couldn’t be better implemented in the single-player game. Another annoyance is the collision detection behind objects, you think you’re about to throw a grenade over the wall, and instead you drop it on your own head. Left-handed players and fans of legacy controls are also left out in the cold with no choice but to play the right-handed way.

Yet for all that, the controls in the game work really well. This is no run and gun game. If you’re going to rush through the seven to ten hour single player campaign treating it like that you’re going to (a) run out of ammo on a regular basis, and (b) find the game unsatisfying and rather too difficult. GRAW requires intelligence just as it requires a precise aim. Steady tactical progress reveals a deep and very interesting single-player adventure that very rarely falters. I’m less keen on missions where the Mitchell goes into action on his own, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign and know I’ll be tackling many of those missions again soon. One of the things that helps make the single-player experience so good is the fair and intelligence way save checkpoints are laid out.

GRAW is a game that was born for Xbox Live play and while the single-player experience is a lot fun, I’d say that the game isn’t really value for money unless you intend to take it online. That’s pretty much a caveat for the whole Xbox 360 experience though which is built around the Xbox Live system. As I briefly mentioned earlier, the multiplayer game brings a new control set, changing the way you’ll play the game.

Be Quick Or Be Dead

The main difference is that it’s no longer possible to use cover in such a convincing way, there’s no wall hugging now. You can still lean, but it requires the use of the left bumper rather than an easy push on the left stick. I can fully understand why this decision was made. If players could use cover as effectively as they can in the single-player campaign, many battles would become stalemates as everyone sought cover. If the game supported 32 vs. 32 matches then I’d say the cover system would be fine, but with most matches at most being eight on eight, encouraging everyone to hide would just spoil things.

So what choices exist for multiplayer play? Well sadly, unlike GR2, you’re not going to be playing through a bunch of the single player missions with friends. But the good news is there’s a new four-mission campaign created especially for co-operative play. Playing through these with seven friends is one of the finest Xbox Live experiences available today. The maps are interesting, offer a variety of objectives and really encourage players to work together to meet the targets given in the game’s story.

Blood Brothers

As in Ghost Recon 2, you can play multiplayer maps in adversarial or co-operative form. In GR2 we used to have great fun ramping up the difficulty and taking on as many AI troops as North Korea could throw at us via a co-op firefight game. You can set up games like this now in GRAW, with all manner of different game modes on offer to play with, or against friends. The number of options available is very impressive; you can edit or create your own game types tweaking all manner of separate features.

One the of more important aspects of the GRAW multiplayer setup is that of classes. Players can choose to be a Rifleman, Grenadier, Marksman or Automatic Rifleman. You aren’t limited to carrying specific weaponry but a Marksman for example will be more accurate with and quick to reload a sniper rifle than a Grenadier would. The multiplayer modes work very well indeed and have resulted in something I’ve never seen before, my friends list showing 40 or so people on line, with nearly all of them playing the same game – GRAW.

Como Estais Amigos

Online play isn’t without problems. Just as in GR2 you may often find yourself kicked from a match after the map has loaded for no discernable reason. The fault isn’t entirely Ubisoft’s. Many people are running servers catering for more players than their broadband connection can handle. But the game really should have had some sort of connection test and guide system to help hosts set up rooms that will work well for their connection without kicking players. Once in a stable room the play works very well, I’ve hardly seen any lag or major problems in rooms with a reasonable number of players in. And in my experience of playing a lot of GRAW online is that fellow players are having more fun with this game than anything else they’ve played on Xbox 360 so far.

So there we go. It’s a fantastically fun and intelligent game from Ubisoft. I suppose we should spare a few words for the visuals. They’re great, but you know that already. There are plenty of details and flashy effects to create a very convincing Mexico City and it’s environs. The lighting is especially good. GRAW is one of the best looking games you can play today. The multiplayer game loses some of the flashier lighting effects to create a smoother faster paced experience, but even then it looks better than most other games you could mention. The sound too is very atmospheric, great use of surround and meaty samples make for a good workout for your surround system. Some friends have reported the occasional graphical glitch in both multiplayer and single-player games but I’ve not witnessed these personally.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is every bit as good as I expected it to be, there are a few nigglest that prevent this game getting the very highest mark, however in my mind it’s the best use of the Xbox 360 yet. If GRAW is as well supported with extra maps and content as Ghost Recon was, this is one of those genuine cases of a game you’ll be playing until a sequel comes along.