9.0

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

The face of war has changed. Enemy lines blur, and there is no longer a clear opponent. New enemies and new threats require a new type of warfare - a new type of soldier. Enter the Ghosts...

Features

• Next-generation gaming technology: Ghost Recon® 3 is built from the ground up for next-generation consoles, taking full advantage of powerful technology with amazing textures, lighting and particle effects, multi-windowing and state-of-the-art physics. Old generations will be built using top technology that pushes those systems to their limits.

• Become the soldier of the future: Gain access to the future of military technology. Using a fully integrated combat system with cutting-edge weapons and revolutionary communication systems (see below), gamers will embody the soldier of the future. Based on actual U.S. Army research, the Ghosts give gamers a realistic view of how war will be fought in the next decade.

• Revolutionary feature: Use the revolutionary Cross-Com, a communication device powered by satellite technology. Attached to the soldier’s monocle, the Cross-Com provides full situational awareness and command of the battlefield. Command the Ghost squad and remote allied forces and drones, and direct artillery and air strikes. See what the squad sees and receive visual and auditory intel from allied forces and unmanned drones.

• Stunning urban environment: One city, multiple locations. Ghost Recon® 3 takes place entirely in Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities. A stunning, meticulously detailed universe will provide complete immersion in the urban war of the future

• Top-notch multiplayer experience: Ghost Recon® 3returns to deliver industry-leading multiplayer and cooperative gameplay for one of the hottest online franchises with a host of exciting new features.

First of all for those that have never heard of the Ghost recon series let me do some introductions and then explain the latest mission details for this latest and maybe the best so far. First off, as the name implies, the player takes command of a group of elite soldiers who are called The Ghosts. This team of soldiers get all the tough jobs and they insert deep within any area of conflict, even though the name implies mostly recon there is more than a few gun battles to be had.

In this latest game, Ghost recon Advanced Warfighter  (Or GRAW), there is some major conflict brewing and soon comes to a head in Mexico D.F. (Districto Federal). The Ghost Recon team is ordered in with a joint operations team designed to capture some Mexican military officials who happen to be selling technology to some rebels in Columbia. Here is where things hit the fan as they say. The US President and the Canadian Prime Minister and the Mexican President are all in the Metropolis the sign an agreement.

This is a policy that is designed to control illegal immigration and the movement of drugs and terrorists in this hemisphere. Right in the middle of this very public signing the leaders are attacked by Mexican soldiers. The Ghost recon team is scrambled and ordered to meet with Secret Service agents that are protecting the U.S President in order to secure his safety and get him extracted. With the Mexican leader in enemy hands as well it is up to the Ghosts team to get in there and kick some butt in a loud precise military manner.

This time around what's really cool about all of this is of course the weapons, but this time around other than calling in a mortar strike like other Ghost recon titles. there are support assets in certain missions, these include Helicopters, fighting vehicles, and a recon drone that comes in real handy.

One of the things about this game that really gets the player deep into the experience of the game is the Cross Com system. A rather interesting command communications system. In the game it's a communication device powered by satellite technology. The system is attached to the soldier's monocle, using the system gives a player in command of this awesome team a situational awareness that is priceless in battle.

Using this system effectively the player will is able to make better command choices both in movement and in full blown battles. Using the system the Ghost team can also control and communicate with other remote allied forces, drones and air strikes. This comes in real handy when you want to have your own armour clear out an area or an attack chopper take out some pesky enemy armour.

The game does an impressive job of making the player feel as if the world is in deed his to walk around in. right up until the point of going too far off from the mission area. If that happens the heads up display gets a bit of static feed back and you get to hear some one call up over the communications that you're leaving the mission zone. Never a good idea, so keep on to your task. Even with this in place it still feels like a huge open world. In several maps there are chances to come in from a different angle and flank the enemy. Or even get an elevation advantage which is what I used in one of the earlier missions. Gave me a thrill and I can't wait for more.

The command system is the basic fare. Move forwards (Advance), regroup, cover fire. Hold fire, weapons free. But there is enough there to make one feel as if they are commanding troops in a battle zone. There is plenty of action to go around, but the pace is not as fast as some other shooters like Call of Duty or Medal of Honour series of games. In this game one shot can kill the player's character so use of cover, and peeking and firing from cover is a must in GRAW.

Graphically, the XBox version of GRAW is rather impressed and although not as detailed as the XBox 360, it still gives the console a run for its money and XBox owners should be pleased with the end results. Everything has been professionally implemented into the game, whether its the sprawling cities or high detailed characters, one can be forgiven if they let their imagination sore and believe that they are part of the game.

As with the graphics, the developers have done a marvelous job at implementing the sound effects and the ambient sound of gun fire cracking in the distance and a person yelling or even a baby crying some place in a building all lend itself to give a feeling of eeriness as you and your team make there way through the deserted streets. Music is well done and seems to lend itself well to most of the action and transitional scenes. The only odd music is the rock sounding music that comes up during some of the helicopter rides, but this is not really too annoying at all. It just feels a tiny bit off since the rest of the game is so solid.

In conclusion, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is a very adept first person shooter that relies strongly on realistic squad based mechanics. Recommended to anyone who loved the Tom Clancy's series of squad based games. Great stuff!

Edwin Millheim