Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Review: A Squad Based Success

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Review: A Squad Based Success

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Ubisoft
Shooter

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Ghost Recon title and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 was probably my favorite game in the series since the original Ghost Recon and Island Thunder. With as much time that has gone by you have to expect some changes and I couldn’t help but worry about what those changes might look like ever since I saw the first gameplay trailer that was released. To get straight to the point, this is not Ghost Recon as we remember it. This is a whole new animal that features so much greatness. Past Ghost Recon fans and those new to the series will both find much to love with this game and especially when it comes to the single player campaign. Of course there are still some things that I do not like about the overall game, but at least when it comes to the single player campaign it still feels like you are playing a Ghost Recon title.

The single player campaign features 12 missions that easily captures your interest and generates excitement while playing the game. One of the best reasons for this is the way the game is presented. It does a fantastic job of presenting you with the situation, including great cutscenes and nice character interactions that we haven’t seen before from a Ghost Recon title. Right from the beginning the presentation has you on the edge of your seat and it gets you very involved in what is going on. The missions are a great treat and they don’t feel tiresome or overdone whatsoever. They somehow bring about a fresh feel to the shooter genre and I feel that they are visually unique and impressive. I must also say that the technological toys that you get to play within each mission are fantastic as well, especially when you get to the warhound. Being able to control that beast is easy and fun to handle. There are many great aspects to the gameplay, the missions and the mission types, specifically when it comes to the use of the new tech toys and the sync shot.

The gameplay is wonderful when it comes to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. There is so much team work involved in this game that it finally feels like an actual squad-based shooter. They did a wonderful job putting the pieces together to give you a real squad- based experience. This is especially effective for infiltrating rooms. You will never enter a room or move on to a new area without your entire team set up in a breach position. Also, the best feature in the game is the sync shot option. If you have multiple targets in sight, you can sync with your teammates by selecting each target in visual range for you and your team to fire upon at the same moment. It’s so easy to set up and handle well in terms of the gameplay. It really adds to the fun and uniqueness of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and it also helps make this become one of the best squad based shooters out there – one that actually feels like you are a part of and in command of your squad.

I’ve been a dedicated Ghost Recon fan since the original and I’ve always been a huge fan of playing the online multiplayer modes. I loved Ghost Recon’s multiplayer and have had some of my best online experiences from the online multiplayer whether it’s been by regular deathmatch type modes or siege, which has always been a favorite. This however is where Ghost Recon: Future Soldier feels the most different from the past Ghost Recon games. I’ve been playing this online for a long time now and that includes many hours on the beta. It plays out like the campaign does and it has a lot of great tools for you to use while playing online. It features wonderful maps, a good ranking system and allows you to improve your weapons through the gunsmith.

To say it best – I love playing this game online and it’s a lot of fun, but if you are an original Ghost Recon fan, you will more than likely be disappointed by how the game plays out online. Don’t get me wrong as it’s not bad by any means, it just doesn’t feel as good as Ghost Recon use to nor does it play the same. I would say the cover system online ruins it a little bit as well and a quick shot isn’t always going to serve you well. I would also say they have a few more bugs to work out as some of your deaths might leave you puzzled after seeing the kill cam replay. That’s nothing to worry about though as I am sure they’ll get those things fixed quickly. The teamwork is still heavily involved in the online game modes. You won’t win without teamwork and you can end up putting your team in a bad position if you go out on your own. You can get stunned and have the enemy hack your feed which will show your enemy the position of each one of your team members. This is one of many key reasons you will want to play a team game online. It really is a lot of fun online and it has fun game modes for you to play and keep you playing for a long time. For those Ghost Recon fans, this game will grow on you as long as you appreciate it for what it is.

One of the game’s best features is the gunsmith where you can fully customize each one of your weapons to any style that you would like. Whether for better range, control or power, there are many different ways to build your weapon and it’s a lot of fun to do so. There are many options to optimize your weapon for your play style, even if you like to sneak around and use a silent weapon. By the way, you can put a silencer on any of the weapons. You will easily enjoy this feature throughout the campaign and with any of the online modes.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a squad based success. One of the best shooters I have played in awhile and it is so easy to get into the gameplay and fall in love with it. In fact, it has so many features to fall in love with that you will want to play this game again and again. If you are a fan of shooters than you should certainly pick this game up immediately, even if you’ve never been a fan of the Ghost Recon games in the past. This is a whole new look for the series and one that plays out wonderfully and still keeps that Ghost Recon feeling alive.

Score: 9/10

Responses

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  1. Great review man! Glad you enjoyed the campaign- my brother did too. I played the beta quite a bit, and I fear this is one of those games that suffers from it’s players having the “COD” mentality. Like you said, teamwork is a must, and it was hard to find that when I played. I wasn’t sold on it from the beta, but I might pick it up for the campaign.

  2. Thanks, Max!

    It’s definitely worth it just for the campaign, but don’t forget about co-op campaign as well with friends. This is a game that I can see people replaying again, that’s how fun the campaign is.

    I still have a lot of major gripes about the multiplayer, but I think the multiplayer can still grow on you and give you a change of pace from the campaign when you need it. The maps are awesome and once you learn them you will be able to settle down into the multiplayer a lot easier just because you know where to go and what to watch out for.