Game of the Year

Author's Rating:

Pros: Outstanding Graphics. Superior Sound. Fun/Exciting Gameplay. Save/Load Feature.

Cons: Somewhat Short. A Few Bugs.

The Bottom Line: 
Ghost Recon is one of the best games available. If you like war themed games from recent times, this will do it.

Author's Review
This review inspired one of my friends to buy this game, and he has loved it ever since.

Want a fresh new engine from the makers of Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear? Ghost Recon has it. For my birthday, I received Ghost Recon because of my request by the high score of PC Gamer's review. When I first ran the game (running Detonator 3 drivers), it ran quite smooth even with Tom Clancy's new ballsy game. In the new days (with Detonator 4 drivers) GR really pumped out the frames.

Gameplay

So you all want to know if GR is a good game to play? Well, my answer is yes. You have three levels of difficulty, the first very easy letting you complete levels with ease. The second, however, beefs up the AI allowing enemies to drop, and run to cover. The third is the Elite setting, which if you haven't played a Tom Clancy game before, I wouldn't recommend it. As for smoothness, you are going to need a pretty good computer to keep up with GR's new engine. I would recommend about 800MHZ, 128RAM, and, of course, a GeForce 2/3/4 of some sort.

Graphics

Well, for someone like me, used to the Half-Life engine's textures and models, I would say that GR beats the competition. With levels ranging from wilderness battles to swampy marsh, and the glorious city levels, GR is going to need some good graphics, and boy, it does. The textures are sharp and realistic making you feel more and more into the game. But you still have to keep in mind of the system requirements.

Sound

I'd give this section an "oh my God" for the ability to make you cry. Well, it doesn't actually make you cry, but it'll sure scare you at first. I recommend at least two speakers and a subwoofer for this game, cranked high. The louder and crisp the sound is, the more you'll enjoy gameplay. Just think of running around with your team and suddenly your 'mate opens fire on an enemy with his M4 and scare the living hell out of you, everytime. Even with a Sound Blaster 16 PCI, I was fully impressed. Just don't use head phones on GR, for some reason it just doesn't cut it. The ambience is wonderful also, which has to be wonderful without music.

Missions and Maps

The storyline is so-so with the regular old "kill the Russians" theme. You start off with a low-end team, suited with rifles and maybe a M249. You are placed in a breaktaking outdoor wilderness area which you have to look at twice because of the beauty. Your mission is to take out a Russian camp and capture their leader. The first time you encounter the enemy, it is intense, it isn't just a game anymore. Instead of the Counter-Terrorism quiet-fights, you are at war blasting unsilenced M4s and machine guns versus the enemys' AK-47 rifles. Once you take them down, you feel the gust of wind of the ambience and get cold, and you are ready for more. Contains 15 missions.

Features

GR lets you quick save and load DURING the game which is the ultimate update. Rather than just dying and have to start the whole mission over, just press your quick load and you are there. GR was a bit bad when it came to weapons. It restricts you to change the main weapon! Nevertheless, after every mission you are awarded medals and such and get to upgrade your team, which is always cool. You also get hidden soldiers after every mission too. You can also play Single Player mode that allows you to pick any map to play at three different modes. Did I also mention multiplayer through Ubi.com?

Overall

If you like Counter-Strike or Rainbow Six, this is the FPS for you. It has everything you ever needed, and wanted in a Tom Clancy special.