Ubisoft Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon by Tom Clancy

I ordered this game for my brother and when I played it to make sure it worked(i had a funny feeling about it) nothing happened! i was so upset and i wasn’t going to pay or go through the process of returning it through amazon so i am taking it to my local gamestop and trading it in there for a gamestop gift card where he can buy a used one there that is guaranteed to work! this really made me upset because i have had such good luck with amazon

I purchased this game based on all of the hype and good reviews I’d seen on it. Once I got it home to play it, not only did I not have fun, the game only succeded in making me angry.

I played through the training scenarios. Already I was not impressed with the controls. I tried playing the first mission 3 times. The premise seemed pretty simple. You’re in control of 2 3-man teams. You sweep through an area, accomplishing tasks and killing unfriendlies. I was thoroughly wasted on all three times I played the first mission. I didn’t even get close to the end of the first level. The controls were clumsy and the enemies were nigh impossible to see. Even the map gave me little information as to what was going on.

Now, I know you’re supposed to take your time with this game. Halo it ain’t. But, I like games that take time. I’ve played through levels of Splinter Cell and Hitman 2 multiple times just to get the fewest number of kills possible. I also finished Morrowind which is not exactly an instant gratification game. I didn’t try to haul through GR, absorbing damage. There are some games some people just can’t get the hang of. Maybe this was one of those for me. I also tried the first Rainbow 6 when it came out, and I hated that, too. Maybe it’s squad-based games I hate. I would rather be in control of one guy and know exactly what he’s doing than 6 and have 3 of those running around doing God knows what.

As with any game, I recommend renting it first. If you rent it and like it, great. It cost you an extra 3-5 bucks than if you just bought it. If you hate it, you save upwards of 45 bucks. The choice is yours.

Great game.

After burning out on Halo deathmatch and hankering for some good action to get the gaming juices flowing, I finally bought this game a couple weeks ago. The result? I am seriously addicted, and find myself creeping out of bed after the wife is asleep to just try one more mission!
I pretty much missed the whole tactical shooter phenomenon on the PC. I had gotten bored with endless varieties of Quake and tournament deathmatch and more or less gave up on the genre in favor of strategy games that take more thought and planning. So it’s been a pleasant surprise to see how far a shooter can be taken and how a game like Ghost Recon is more of a military simulator than anything else.
I wanted a game that has both a compelling single-player mode as well as deathmatch capabilities. Ghost Recon delivers on both. The single player game is great for the ability to select and customize the six soldiers that comprise your squad. You only directly control one at a time, but can guide the actions of the others through a command interface that sets movement waypoints as well as aggressiveness, and you can take control of any soldier at any time. In playing against others you control a squad of three. The command interface and squad set-up interfaces take a bit of getting used to, but I had it down pat after a couple sessions.
The gameplay is great and full of suspense and anticipation. You usually need to proceed through the map very carefully, keeping a low stance to evade detection while constantly scanning the terrain for your enemies. Unlike Halo, in which your targetting reticle lights up when it scans over an opponent, you may be unsure at times over what you’re really aiming at: an enemy soldier or just a tree? Also, forget about taking insane amounts of damage or finding a “health pack” to fix your wounds. A couple shots will kill your soldiers, and if they get wounded, they limp around for the rest of the mission. If they die, you lose that character forever and have to train a newbie for your next mission.
The game is great at creating a sort of spooky atmosphere. You are plunked down in a strange area with a map but no idea where your enemies are. The blowing wind makes trees sway and rustle, adding random movement that keeps you constantly on your toes. When gunfire has erupted from aside or behind me, I have literally jumped in my seat. One drawback is the total lack of interactivity with the environment. You cannot pickup objects, even weapons or ammo from your own dead. You cannot even open or close doors.
I have seen lots of complaints about graphics and while they are not stellar, as in Splinter Cell, they are good enough to convey a sense of realism. There are also complaints that the AI is too dumb to rely on to guide your other squad members. My biggest gripe with the AI is that it is sometimes TOO effective. Often my soldiers have taken out the enemy without me ever seeing where they bad guy was. I wish there was some sort of notification after which you could instruct your unit to fire at will or something. The bad guy AI is generally decent, with them running for cover, etc. In one scenario, I watched a dude drop to the ground, then crawl around the other side of a car, then re-emerge to try to shoot at me.
The only other main complaint I have is that the deathmatch option only supports two people playing on one Xbox, as opposed to the four allowed by Halo. And I understand if you do a system link, it is only one person per box. Unfortunately I am living outside the US and don’t have access to Xbox Live, but everything I have read says this game rocks when playing multiplayer online.
It short, Ghost Recon has a few shortcomings, but the outstanding gameplay simply overrides all of that. This is one of the best game purchases I have made — up there with Halo and Max Payne. I am a new convert to tactical shooters, and will definitely keep my eye on further Tom Clancy-tagged games and those from the wizzes at Ubi Soft.