Ghost Recon 2 multiplayer diary

A soldier doesn't ask why, he just follows orders and does his duty. Fine words, noble even. But they are little comfort out here tonight. The squad is tense and it's no surprise; there aren't enough of us to defend this position and we can already hear the enemy some way off.

The NK troops are sloppy, we can hear them a mile off, shouting, talking, their equipment rattling. My squad, the Ghosts, pride ourselves on our silent manoeuvres, our ability to get in and out and complete the mission with no-one alive to tell the tale.

You're ghosting us

But all the stealthy training is of no use tonight. There's just six of us to defend this position, the company commander saying it was vital. We're exposed, with just shallow rock ledges to protect us. The quartermaster has given us three tripod-mounted assault weapons but here on this ledge it takes a supreme act of bravery or plain stupidity to use them – such would be the level of exposure to enemy fire.

The enemy is closer now, through the green glow of our night-sights we can see movement through the trees. There's too much cover here for attackers, in an ideal world we'd have got the Air Farce to drop a daisycutter in here to clear a killing zone free of trees. But there wasn't the time or the resources.

The fear and tension amongst the squad bursts into merriment, there's talk of rescuing colonist's daughters from their virginity and other lines from Aliens. Someone attempts a few lines from Predator with an Austrian accent. But there's suddenly an end to that...because the enemy opens fire...

Six weeks in basic

Among the many games you could be playing on Xbox Live right now, perhaps you've not considered Ghost Recon 2. After all, you've got Halo 2 and that's the pinnacle of online first-person shooters on Xbox Live isn't it? But that isn't necessarily so.

In recent weeks there's been something of a change in the games that I see folks on my friends list playing. Sure, Halo 2 is still popular. But most evenings will show a majority of those online playing Ghost Recon 2. Why should that be?

You've probably already read our review of Ghost Recon 2 and seen that we gave the game a solid 8/10. That's a really good score, but hardly a threat to Halo 2's popularity. Yet played with friends online Ghost Recon 2 becomes a much better game and despite some serious technical problems is the most fun I've had on Xbox Live yet.

Great place for a picnic

It seems somehow wrong that we're engaged on military manoeuvres in a place as beautiful as this. The light cascades like God's fingers through the leafy canopy high above in the treetops. This forest seems like somewhere you'd gladly come to spend time with nature, yet here we are on a mission that will result in death.

There are four of us in this squad and we've been tasked with an urgent and delicate mission. It's imperative that we take the small hamlet a couple of clicks across the river. We know the enemy hasn't had time to reinforce his position so we'll probably only meet resistance equal to our own.

A look at the map shows there are two ways to approach the enemy held ville. To the south on lower ground a rope bridge crosses the fast flowing river. It's a risky route and bound to be watched, but we feel it's better to divide forces to give ourselves a better chance at success. We say goodbye as two comrades head to the lower ground to make that crossing.

Meanwhile my team mate and I carefully scout the ground to the north. It's hard to hear anything over the roar of the massive waterfall ahead of us. The river crossing is exposed and it's here we are in the most danger. My comrade takes up position behind a rock, his sight scanning the far bank for signs of enemy activity.

Atmosphere

What Ghost Recon 2 has going for it is atmosphere and tension. The game instils a genuine sense of fear and foreboding. The Co-op game modes allow up to sixteen players to work together as a team, defending a position or working through a map to eradicate every enemy soldier.

With respawns disabled the game becomes even tenser, the AI troops are no slouches when it comes to hitting the target and players killed by the first shot fired are common. For a real sense of drama it's best to play with the AI set on hard, with the radar that shows enemy positions switched off.

In my mind there's no better online experience than you and a few friends defending a position against the onslaught of waves of enemy troops. The more people on your team, the more enemy that are thrown at you at any one time. Even with six or so friends, at times trying to defend against a barrage of deadly accurate enemy fire is a hard task.

And then there are the adversarial modes, such as in the last example where two teams of human players play a deadly game of hide and seek. There are singleton deathmatch style modes – but most people I play with prefer co-op and squad based games. It's teamwork that makes Ghost Recon 2 such a wonderful online game, it forces players to work together in a way few other Live experiences do.

Divide and conquer

"Looks clear," he says. And I begin to make my way across the river, wading in up to my waist. The far bank is reached without incident and I take up a defensive position lying on a piece of ground that offers a defilade position to spot approaching enemy troops. "It's all clear this side," I say into the radio. "You can cross the river."

My team mate reaches my side when we hear the gunfire off to the south. It sounds like world war three, with Squad Automatic Weapons, rockets and grenades all merging into a terrifying sound. And now our team mates to the south aren't answering radio calls and we know we're in trouble, it's now or never so we'd better move.

The trees whip buy as we run. Impact, I'm thrown back. Someone out there has drawn a bead on me and opened up, a glancing blow. My heart races and my breath comes in rasps, I'm hit but can continue. There's gunfire to my right as my team mate spots the enemy soldier and drops him with a three-round burst from his carbine.

We move on, still moving as quickly as we can to reach and take the enemy village. I can hear bullets whizzing by my head, the troops from the south have spotted us and are firing from long range. But we keep moving. And suddenly I'm alone, my squad mate has taken a hit to the head and falls at my side. There's no time to lose, I have to get to the village. I drop over the rise and see it before me, it's undefended. With a sense of triumph I run into the centre of the hamlet sensing victory…and that's when the enemy sets off the Claymore.

SNAFU

Ghost Recon 2 isn't without its problems though. The Xbox Live interface is one of the poorest you will see and the net-code really needs some work. The game seems to struggle when you throw too many players into a lobby that should be able to cope and some evenings it's almost impossible to join your friends.

There's no indication of who's talking at any given time and you have to pass through two menus just to get to your friends list. In some ways playing GR2 online is a test of your perseverance; the sublime play can only be reached by a trial by crappy menus. But believe me it's worth it in the end.

There's a patch on the way that will fix these ills and then Ghost Recon 2 will be one of the finest online experiences available on Xbox. What we have here is a game that captures the atmosphere of Operation Flashpoint, with excellent modern graphics and masses of excitement. If you have Xbox Live, then your collection isn't complete without this game.

I'd like to thank my squad mates for their co-operation in this endeavour. Please note due to operation requirements of secrecy and their continued activity in the field, their identities have been hidden. Recon…out.