Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2

The latest in Ubisoft's acclaimed 'Ghost Recon' tactical shooter series, GRAW2 has demonstrated that Ubisoft's Paris studio is more than able of overcoming the tremendous legacy of the acclaimed predecessors of the series. Released almost precisely a year after the original GRAW, GRAW2 is clearly the result of those twelve months of work and programming by Ubisoft Paris. While the essential gameplay hasn't changed all that much, the compelling cinematic narrative that drives the game and the stunning visual quality, engineered for true 1080p HD, is a testament to their labors.

GRAW2 puts the player squarely back into the saddle as Capt. Mitchell, leader of the super-elite Ghost Squad. It's two days after the momentous battle in Chapultapec, and the battlelines have moved north to the U.S.-Mexican border, in the dense urban sprawl of Juarez. Mitchell, acting solo or with the help of his three-man squad, battles across Juarez and into US soil in pursuit of leaders of a nascent rebel force and the nuclear device crack mercenaries have brought into the States. While the motives of these mysterious mercs are not revealed, there's barely time to breathe during the harrowing three-day pursuit that takes the player from desert villages to graveyards, night time assaults on sprawling haciendas to a frenetic assault on the enemy holdouts themselves. Along the way Mitchell has the aid of M1A1 tanks, helicopters, APCs, UAVs, and a medley of acronyms and friendly forces.

Gameplay hasn't changed greatly from the original GRAW. The most prominent change is the addition of a device called the 'Cross-Com', which GRAW players will recognize in the upper-left corner of the screen that allows on-the-fly command of troops and assets. Uniquely useful, however, is a new integrated function which allows the player to see through the eyes of his team for precision tactical coordination even while not in visual range. The Un-manned Aerial Vehicle takes special advantage of this feature, as you must now use the Cross-Com to actually 'see' through the eyes of the UAV to target enemies. No more automated scanning and patrolling! Still there are the familiar controls and the environmental interaction. Virtally every object in the game can make for useful cover and concealment, which lends GRAW2 a tremendous degree of realism and is absolutely critical for success at the highest levels of difficulty.

The squad construction has taken a small blow in the new design. The player is forced to take exactly three squad members at the start of each mission, and there are now 'slots' which can only be filled by specialists. You must take one Rifleman for the top slot, a gunner or grenadier for the second (the latter of whom is thoroughly useless), and the third slot gives you the option of a marksman, a rifleman, the medic or the anti-tank gunner. The anti-tank gunner shows promise, but only a tremendously skilled player can get through the game without the assistance of the medic. All in all, the squad AI just barely qualifies as useful and occasionally pushes the realm of being a burden to have around.

One notable improvement over previous iterations of the game is that players will observe that enemies lack the preternatural awareness that one found in previous Ghost Recons. Enemy squads rarely are on the lookout for you, and those that are will not fire upon you unless you are in clear sight or have uesd a weapon in their line of sight. Within a realm of realistic use, supressed weapons find their niche for silent removal of foes. Occassional bursts of silenced fire will eliminate a foe without alerting any comrades not within his immediate vicinity, as well as preventing him for calling out for assistance. Though the enemy AI has an appaling ability to 'see' your avatar even crawling across an area, the AI appears engineered to force oppositional forces to rely upon their hearing as well as their sight. Relocating after firing a few shots will occasionally give the player the chance to 'get the drop' on an attacking force, especially at night when the use of NVGs contributes vastly to a player's warfighting ability. Still, there are moments when enemy forces will fire on your position with supernatural speed, sometimes in the half second between the flash from your muzzle and the impact of your bullet. This may be a function of the 'Ultra-Realistic' difficulty setting, but ultra-realism should not in my opinion include reflexes that would make Spider-man take notice.

The injury physics are realistic and appreciable, though there are apparantly only four classifications of bullet strength- light, moderate, severe, and heavy. The calibers listed under the weapon statistics have no appreciable bearing on impact at various ranges. A 7.62x51mm round will do the same damage as a 6.8mm bullet. Still, it's worth taking a 'heavier' weapon for the increase in damage. Two body shots are usually sufficient at the moderate and severe levels to take down a foe, though firing from the hip is little more than a waste of ammunition- no 'shooting on the run'. Headshots at all calibers are a gratifying instant kill, which encourages skilled players to take precision scoped weaponry over a spray of automatic fire. One odd quirk is that the Zeus missile-launcher comes with ten rounds of tank-busting ammunition, but the portable grenade launcher comes with only six. An odd number, and one I believe is an oversight on the programmer's part. The selection of weaponry would make a weapons collector blush- some familiar firearms from GRAW return, along with a few of the newest devices on the market now and even a few weapons still in a highly experimental stage in the real world. With perhaps one or two exceptions, virtually ever weapon is pulled from existing firearms, making for an eterntaining dose of realism.

The one glaring weakness in the background of the game is the poorly mocked-up CGI that occupies your communications window in the upper right-hand corner. The dolls are jerky and too smooth compared to the incredible detail on the terrain and character models, and the Paris team did not account for English translations when they were synching lips and sound. A more effective method may have been to have live actors themselves playing on the small screen, as in the much-hailed Command and Conquer series. But the dialogue does provide a degree of back story for the flow of the combat itself and helps to reveal the motivations behind the attack on Juarez, and the direction of the cinematic sequences has coordinated with the thrilling and evocative orchestral score to create a movie-quality experience for the player. The first swoop of the helicopter into Juarez is accompanied by thunderous music as the Blackhawk soars over devastated buildings and leaping flames.

Communications aside, GRAW2's most notable feature is the stunning graphical quality of the game itself. On a HD system, the details are so precise that a player can see the individual colors on the pixel-pattern of the modern uniform the Ghosts wear, as well as the textured velcro of the Crye armor and the swirling dust motes kicked up by boots. Explosions ripple the air visibly and detonations burn with a white-hot flash of light. There is little to no visible plane clipping and the fantastically realistic textures, combined with incredibly dynamic lighting, make for a game so incredibly engaging that it can be jarring to find the gameplay interrupted. Metals glisten, cloth wrinkles deepen with shadow, and there's a few magical moments when the first time the player crosses into a building's shadow and one watches the way the light literally creeps along the curve of helmet and shoulder before disappearing down Mitchell's back. It's a graphical tour de force and an incredibly impressive visual display.

GRAW2 really takes the lead for realistic combat and tactical warfighting, perhaps only challenged by the Rainbow Six series unique and extensive squad command and tactical ability. GRAW2 is clearly meant to be a linear crawler for the player, and demands a high degree of patience and concentration. It is incredibly challenging and rewarding for it, with extra achievements designed to provide a challenge for even the most experienced player. It clearly stands in contention for title of 'Best Tactical Shooter' released in the last year, and is a more than worthy successor to the series.