Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Review (Reviews)

Chris Stead, GamePro Australia

14/03/2006 11:10:41

This is some sweet, sweet gaming! Tom Clancy's crew of 'in & out before you know it' military types saddle up for squad-based strategy action title number three and deliver players their first real taste of next-gen gaming. The graphics are off the charts, the multiplayer features are excellent and the level design refreshingly free-roaming - but despite this delicious piece of gaming cake, the re-emergence of some current-gen issues sour the icing.

At least Clancy's patented cocktail of political intrigue is its usual potent self. Gamers are transported to the year 2013 where some lousy beatniks have made off with - of all people - the president of the USA. While the rest of the planet applauds this good deed, the US government send in you, Captain Scott Mitchell and the rest of the Ghosts to rescue the cretin and, while there at it, recover stolen nuclear codes and deliver some comeuppance. The cut-scenes are stunning - especially on the Xbox 360 with its surround sound - and the rich cinematics really suck you into the scummy alley ways of Mexico City, where the entire game unfolds.

Thanks to its futuristic setting, developer Ubisoft has been able to incorporate an advanced weaponry technique into the gameplay called the IWS or Integrated Warfighter System. This, to put it simply, is friggin' awesome. As commander of your squad, you have full visual and aural communication with all the allied forces in your area and it's delivered to you in a window-within-a-window format which suits the gameplay no end. If you send your squad forward for example, you see the footage from a camera on one of your team's kits that bobbles up and down as they run for cover - very cool and quite useful when devising your strategies.

The gameplay itself will be familiar to the series' veterans, but will also feel more advanced. You control a squad of three men, as well as the occasional vehicle and other players off-screen (like air-strikes). You are tasked with completing ever evolving objectives using the lay of the land and your team as required. Unlike other games of this nature, the gameplay is more hardcore and if you are caught in the open or make a mistake you'll be dead in seconds - there is little margin for error, just like the real thing. And while not quite as remorseless as the original Ghost Recon, series veterans will be happy to known it is closer in spirit to its foundations than the relatively GR2.

And we say more advanced, we are not just talking about the improved graphics - which make the entire battlefield live and breathe to a whole new level of realism - but more so the interactive 3D map (which you can use to guide your team around the map) and a nifty interface. The latter sees each player in the battle highlighted in a coloured glow depicting the side for which they fight. By aiming at an individual, you are immediately displayed all their important details, including health level. It is this as much as anything that gives the game its next-gen feel - information is pouring at you in titbits of easily digestible and always useful packets and your need to act with reflex and skill on this information draws you into the atmosphere something fierce.

Kudos must also go to the slick control scheme, although it does have its flaws. It takes quite a while to get your mind around the range of controls on offer - in particular the time intensive weapon swap system and the laboured zoom mechanic, both of which could have been more user-friendly. However, the way your player moulds himself into the environment is quite invigorating. As soon as you approach a wall or protective cover your player immediately backs against it and peers around the corner - it feels very organic and smooth and allows you to duck and weave your way across the battlefield realistically and without hassle.

But for the non-veterans the mission structure is not always as pain-free. You will occasionally be issued objectives with no clear indication of how to achieve them and your level of experience with the GR gameplay will determine how quickly these mini puzzles become frustrating. Plus, for all its next-gen visual splendour and game world depth, your still stuck to old school point-to-point objectives based gameplay and there has not been any real movement to something more free and dynamic.

Perhaps it is too early to issue complaints like that, after all Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is available on current-gen as well: but despite this there is no doubting the beauty of the presentation. Sound is wonderfully mastered and in an early level when a helicopter hovers above you, you can almost feel the blades twirling above your head. It's equalled by the visuals which are quite magnificent, with wonderfully animated characters, robust explosions, killer frame-rates and the aforementioned interface tying it all into its futuristic setting nicely. The choice to keep the entire game in one city - Mexico City - also works a treat and you'll feel like you know the place better than the back of your hand by the time you've hit the final stretch. Plus, the environment still manages to feel varied and rarely linear. But with everything so sharp, when you stumble across a graphical bug it really breaks the illusion - lets hope Ubi get on the case with future patches.

As for the A.I, it is pretty damn sound, without been mind-blowing. The enemy A.I will make good use of cover and even sneak up on you behind environmental obstacles - plus they are wicked shot. However, they become way too predictable on repeat gaming. Your team A.I is excellent on second, screwed the next. You never have to invest too much energy in keeping them alive, which is a standout feature of the game, but they still suffer from bouts of idiocy, like wandering in front of your line of fure. Using a Full Spectrum Warrior like command interface feels very naturalistic and smooth, although the variation in orders your can issue you squad is lame to say the least: we want more that move and regroup. This is clearly somewhere GR4 will need to focus upon. And anyway, the multiplayer features are excellent. Up to 16 players can battle it online (including co-op) with up to four players joining the game from the one console - nice! There are a host of game modes too ensuring that this is the hottest property on the Xbox Live marketplace upon retail release.

Indeed, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is Ubisoft at its top tier best. It is one of the few games on Xbox 360 to actually take some (if minimal) advantage of the machine's increased power and while the other formats aren't nearly as impressive, they are still good games. There are a couple of niggles, sure, and the gameplay still drifts a little too much between hardcore military Sim and arcade actioner, but even those with limited taste in the genre won't help but be impressed.

Score = 9.0/10

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Graphics: 5.0

Sound: 5.0

Control: 4.0

Fun Factor:

Scoring scale: 1-5

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Publisher: Ubisoft / Developer: Ubisoft / Genre: Action / OFLC Rating: MA (15+)