P
Phryxus
Guest
Having bought 360 and had some time to tinker with the games I bought, I thought it's about time I posted up another review - this time of arguably the best game in the line-up, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.
GR:AW
Most people think that if you've played one war game, you've played them all and in light of the flood of WWII action games and random shoot 'em ups, you'd be of fair mind to dismiss the next in Tom Clancy's perennial offerings as simple franchise trash - "not worthy of my time" you say, "seen it all before" you mutter. I'm meant to be impartial, to provide objective fact and sway you with gentle nods towards stats and numbers, but this time i'm going all out to say how wrong that attitude is. If you meet one requirement - you still have that irrepressible manly urge to shoot someone whilst looking damned cool doing it, this game is for you.
The 360 has had numerous failures at launch, Perfect Dark: Zero for example, was labelled 'disappointing' by many critics in regards to both gameplay and visuals, not looking 'next-gen' enough to warrant a console of its own. If you too felt this way, GR comes packing with all the extra visuals from every other launch title you may have missed, with spades - for me to claim that retinas are in danger of melting whilst playing this game is no mere understatement. For all you bells and whistles spotters, I can comfortably reel off that GR supports High Dynamic Range Lighting (and yes, I do know what that means!) as well as full HD support for newer television sets, allowing it to show off its scenes in all their bump mapped and pixel shaded glory.
Of course, my words can only express one thing at this moment, that it looks pretty. What I also need to say, nay, shout from the rooftops, is that all this is achieved with almost perfect fluidity - want to shoot that rebel over there on that skyscraper? Go for it! Want to sneak about and destroy most of the cars on the streets? Go get your marshmallows! All the while avoiding stutter and lag, apart from the odd occasion where an influx of new targets and bullets causes the new definition of hell on earth, chaos and frenzy coupled with the rippling effects of each little projectile that buzzes past your head, almost making you dodge and weave as if you were really there, right in the thick of it.
Naturally, graphics maketh not the game and over the course of 12 missions, you, in control of Ghost Leader Captain Mitchell, will indeed have plenty of shooting, sliding, scouting and leaning to do as you quell an uprising in Mexico City, South America, that results in lost Presidents, rogue nuclear codes and lots and lots of explosions. Your team of additional Ghosts, of which you can make a selection of 3 at designated rally points throughout the missions, will also join you on this new mission straight out of the freshly scribed pages of Mr Clancy's new impending threat story, sometimes providing you massive firepower in the form of AT soldiers or the more specialised Marksman on those harder missions, breaking up the normal flow of simply bringing your trusty riflemen and grenadiers along for the ride.
This, unfortunately, brings me onto GR:AW's most noticeable weakness - squad and enemy AI. Now, no game has delivered the perfect AI into the lap of gamers around the world, but watching your squad-mates blow themselves into oblivion on some cover or standing in the open under a hail of fire occasionally leaves you wondering why you can't just leave them in the trucks and go it alone. Fortunately, the squad AI rarely messes up in such a major way, with self preservation generally an accepted behaviour as they adapt to cover and move up to help you if you get pinned down. Above average would be the operative word, which can also be applied to the numerous rebels that frequent the American locales - they take cover, they normally move and they can indeed hit you if you expose yourself for too long, peeking out from the abundant forms of cover. It's not bad, even showing evidence of brilliance in some situations - just don't expect the artificial intelligence to blow you socks off.
All of this is well and good you say, it has guns, it has combat and it sounds like any other game. Take a quick read back through my musings though and you may notice how often the word 'cover' makes an appearance in reference to the gameplay. This in fact, is one of the best implemented systems in any recent game and definitely one that elevates it from simply being good, to being excellent. As a simple action, if you hold your movement stick in the direction of anything that looks like it could shelter you from harm, for a fraction of a second, your avatar, the expert Mr Mitchell, will plunge his back against it and allow you to pop off both aimed and quick shots from relative safety. Disengaging from said cover is achieved by either tapping the 'Y' button, or holding away from the shelter, taking you back to the free roaming method of navigation and combat. Simple, no? But its impact can not be understated. Whereas in previous GR games you had to rely on a - frankly unwieldy - lean and fire system, this new one allows you to more accurately scope out the surroundings and defend yourself - to compare it to Full Spectrum Warrior would be unfair, as you actually get to do some of the shooting yourself this time, but the emphasis upon cover is stressed just as much.
As with any good game though, this attention to the finer details spills over into all aspects of the game. Seeing as it's set in the near future, you get a whole load of new death-toys to play with. Of all of them, the 'Cross-com' is perhaps the most obvious departure from war as we know it. Instead of simply seeing through the eyes of your soldier, which, to be honest, any war game worth its salt does, you have a futuristic HUD that displays picture in picture camera feeds from your assets on the ground, video orders and also enemy activity - identified by the large red diamond and glowing outline that is placed around enemy troops in the vicinity and those who are targeted respectively. Overall, it gives a new, fresh feeling to warfare, whilst not being overly unbelievable and strange. Yes, it does make seeing enemies easier than it used to be, but in the chaos of sprawling city streets you'll need to be well aware of your surroundings, with snatched glances from behind walls sufficient to mark unseen enemies on your HUD that would otherwise cause a whole lot of trouble.
To continue on the subject of new toys, the developers also decided that occasionally, sticking it to some insurgents on foot just wasn't good enough. As well as short, on-rails helicopter minigun fests, tanks, helicopters and APCs are regularly placed under your command - the ground based items of which can be used as moving cover and refuge as you make your way through the streets and villages and objectives brimming with hostile presence.
"Fine" you say, "you've won me over" and indeed, I hope I have. War isn't for everybody, it's been done before, experienced before and is still around to be witnessed by our future progeny, but easy, intuitive controls, effective, tantalising graphics combine with genuinely interesting gameplay to provide the most realistic experience (that you can have in the comfort of your own home) yet. Machineguns kick up immense amounts of dust, grenades have just the right measure of devastation and unpredictability and it's all under your control with a twiddle of the sticks and a press of a button. Go on, suit up and boot up soldier, the battlegrounds are calling.
Score: 90% - Spectral Amazement!
Warning! This is an Xbox 360 specific review! All other versions of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter are entirely different products. If bought on another system, beware! Changes in graphics and such are to be expected, but some contain massive changes in gameplay and balance, such as the original Xbox version that cuts down your team to only 1 additional man and changes the campaign structure!
EDIT: I also forgot to mention the multiplayer, for those Xbox Live Gold subscribers, all of its benefits are at your command. You can join up with your friends for the separate 4 mission co-op campaign, squad-based team versus team play and solo matches as well as variations in the classic modes such as Terrorist Hunt and Hamburger Hill (all of which also being available on Local and System Link Play). The only difference is that the cover functionality is missing from the MP game, due to the fact that it was created by another set of developers. Instead, expect the lean and fire mechanism of previous games, coupled with the new effects and presentation of the new campaign.
GR:AW
Most people think that if you've played one war game, you've played them all and in light of the flood of WWII action games and random shoot 'em ups, you'd be of fair mind to dismiss the next in Tom Clancy's perennial offerings as simple franchise trash - "not worthy of my time" you say, "seen it all before" you mutter. I'm meant to be impartial, to provide objective fact and sway you with gentle nods towards stats and numbers, but this time i'm going all out to say how wrong that attitude is. If you meet one requirement - you still have that irrepressible manly urge to shoot someone whilst looking damned cool doing it, this game is for you.
The 360 has had numerous failures at launch, Perfect Dark: Zero for example, was labelled 'disappointing' by many critics in regards to both gameplay and visuals, not looking 'next-gen' enough to warrant a console of its own. If you too felt this way, GR comes packing with all the extra visuals from every other launch title you may have missed, with spades - for me to claim that retinas are in danger of melting whilst playing this game is no mere understatement. For all you bells and whistles spotters, I can comfortably reel off that GR supports High Dynamic Range Lighting (and yes, I do know what that means!) as well as full HD support for newer television sets, allowing it to show off its scenes in all their bump mapped and pixel shaded glory.
Of course, my words can only express one thing at this moment, that it looks pretty. What I also need to say, nay, shout from the rooftops, is that all this is achieved with almost perfect fluidity - want to shoot that rebel over there on that skyscraper? Go for it! Want to sneak about and destroy most of the cars on the streets? Go get your marshmallows! All the while avoiding stutter and lag, apart from the odd occasion where an influx of new targets and bullets causes the new definition of hell on earth, chaos and frenzy coupled with the rippling effects of each little projectile that buzzes past your head, almost making you dodge and weave as if you were really there, right in the thick of it.
Naturally, graphics maketh not the game and over the course of 12 missions, you, in control of Ghost Leader Captain Mitchell, will indeed have plenty of shooting, sliding, scouting and leaning to do as you quell an uprising in Mexico City, South America, that results in lost Presidents, rogue nuclear codes and lots and lots of explosions. Your team of additional Ghosts, of which you can make a selection of 3 at designated rally points throughout the missions, will also join you on this new mission straight out of the freshly scribed pages of Mr Clancy's new impending threat story, sometimes providing you massive firepower in the form of AT soldiers or the more specialised Marksman on those harder missions, breaking up the normal flow of simply bringing your trusty riflemen and grenadiers along for the ride.
This, unfortunately, brings me onto GR:AW's most noticeable weakness - squad and enemy AI. Now, no game has delivered the perfect AI into the lap of gamers around the world, but watching your squad-mates blow themselves into oblivion on some cover or standing in the open under a hail of fire occasionally leaves you wondering why you can't just leave them in the trucks and go it alone. Fortunately, the squad AI rarely messes up in such a major way, with self preservation generally an accepted behaviour as they adapt to cover and move up to help you if you get pinned down. Above average would be the operative word, which can also be applied to the numerous rebels that frequent the American locales - they take cover, they normally move and they can indeed hit you if you expose yourself for too long, peeking out from the abundant forms of cover. It's not bad, even showing evidence of brilliance in some situations - just don't expect the artificial intelligence to blow you socks off.
All of this is well and good you say, it has guns, it has combat and it sounds like any other game. Take a quick read back through my musings though and you may notice how often the word 'cover' makes an appearance in reference to the gameplay. This in fact, is one of the best implemented systems in any recent game and definitely one that elevates it from simply being good, to being excellent. As a simple action, if you hold your movement stick in the direction of anything that looks like it could shelter you from harm, for a fraction of a second, your avatar, the expert Mr Mitchell, will plunge his back against it and allow you to pop off both aimed and quick shots from relative safety. Disengaging from said cover is achieved by either tapping the 'Y' button, or holding away from the shelter, taking you back to the free roaming method of navigation and combat. Simple, no? But its impact can not be understated. Whereas in previous GR games you had to rely on a - frankly unwieldy - lean and fire system, this new one allows you to more accurately scope out the surroundings and defend yourself - to compare it to Full Spectrum Warrior would be unfair, as you actually get to do some of the shooting yourself this time, but the emphasis upon cover is stressed just as much.
As with any good game though, this attention to the finer details spills over into all aspects of the game. Seeing as it's set in the near future, you get a whole load of new death-toys to play with. Of all of them, the 'Cross-com' is perhaps the most obvious departure from war as we know it. Instead of simply seeing through the eyes of your soldier, which, to be honest, any war game worth its salt does, you have a futuristic HUD that displays picture in picture camera feeds from your assets on the ground, video orders and also enemy activity - identified by the large red diamond and glowing outline that is placed around enemy troops in the vicinity and those who are targeted respectively. Overall, it gives a new, fresh feeling to warfare, whilst not being overly unbelievable and strange. Yes, it does make seeing enemies easier than it used to be, but in the chaos of sprawling city streets you'll need to be well aware of your surroundings, with snatched glances from behind walls sufficient to mark unseen enemies on your HUD that would otherwise cause a whole lot of trouble.
To continue on the subject of new toys, the developers also decided that occasionally, sticking it to some insurgents on foot just wasn't good enough. As well as short, on-rails helicopter minigun fests, tanks, helicopters and APCs are regularly placed under your command - the ground based items of which can be used as moving cover and refuge as you make your way through the streets and villages and objectives brimming with hostile presence.
"Fine" you say, "you've won me over" and indeed, I hope I have. War isn't for everybody, it's been done before, experienced before and is still around to be witnessed by our future progeny, but easy, intuitive controls, effective, tantalising graphics combine with genuinely interesting gameplay to provide the most realistic experience (that you can have in the comfort of your own home) yet. Machineguns kick up immense amounts of dust, grenades have just the right measure of devastation and unpredictability and it's all under your control with a twiddle of the sticks and a press of a button. Go on, suit up and boot up soldier, the battlegrounds are calling.
Score: 90% - Spectral Amazement!
Warning! This is an Xbox 360 specific review! All other versions of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter are entirely different products. If bought on another system, beware! Changes in graphics and such are to be expected, but some contain massive changes in gameplay and balance, such as the original Xbox version that cuts down your team to only 1 additional man and changes the campaign structure!
EDIT: I also forgot to mention the multiplayer, for those Xbox Live Gold subscribers, all of its benefits are at your command. You can join up with your friends for the separate 4 mission co-op campaign, squad-based team versus team play and solo matches as well as variations in the classic modes such as Terrorist Hunt and Hamburger Hill (all of which also being available on Local and System Link Play). The only difference is that the cover functionality is missing from the MP game, due to the fact that it was created by another set of developers. Instead, expect the lean and fire mechanism of previous games, coupled with the new effects and presentation of the new campaign.
.