Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series have had tremendous success. The newest edition, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighters has finally been released. It was originally scheduled to be released in November of 2005 but it was pushed back until March of 2006. But the extra wait was well worth it.

You play as Captain Scott Mitchell. You command the Ghosts and Special Forces. Your mission is to stop a group of renegade soldiers that have been reigning terror across the world. They have already killed the Canadian Prime minister and they plan on doing to this to the Mexican president and vice president. Your mission is to prevent this, along with destroying the renegades, recovering stolen nuclear codes, and other missions. All of this takes place in the beautiful Mexico City.

The Ghosts are armed with the new IWS (Integrated WarFighter System). The IWS has an advanced weapon system, enhanced survivability, and satellite communication devices.

After the initial, intense, and much needed training mode at the beginning of the game... you begin the real battle in Mexico City. You will be thankful for the delay in the games original release when you see how highly detailed and realistic the environment is. Previous editions of the game had very dull and bland environments. Advanced Warfighter is nothing like them. The entire game contains vast and open urban and rural environments that look just like the real city. Everything about the visual effects is impressive.

One part of the visual effects that got my attention was the way that light and shadows play a role. Sunlight can blind you just as much as shadows can make it hard to see. While waiting for your characters eyes to adjust to the light or darkness, an enemy may see you and kill you off before you even knew he was there!

Another great improvement with this edition to the series is the new real time Cross Com. This shows you the status of your squad so that you can see where to place them on the field. There is also a targeting reticle. Both of these new improvements also coincide with the new UAV drone, the Cypher. The Cypher can aid you be flying above and searching for enemies and intelligence. Any information found will show up on your Cross Com.

The controls of this game are a bit difficult to master. This is why the training mode at the beginning is very welcomed. The story is not exactly the best either. Most of the game is about the game play... which is by far excellent, along with the stunning environment. So, don't let the lack of a gripping story get to you. There is also a multi player mode and co op play available. The replay value of this edition is much higher than the previous editions as well. This is because the game play is not so linear, nor is the environments. This adds for greater strategy and options for completing your missions and objectives.

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter is available on XBOX 360, XBOX, Playstation 2, and for your PC. It has an ESRB rating of T for teen. This is because the game features blood, language, and violence. For those of you who like to cheat, a strategy guide is available.