First Glance:
Tom Clancy shooters typically require squad management skills. Other than that,
I’ve always enjoyed the entries in the Rainbow Six franchise. High Tech weaponry
and gadgets can only improve the package… Right?
The Short Story:
Realistic weapon sounds, decent graphics, and high tech weaponry are nice but a
clunky squad management interface, sub-par AI on the part of your team mates, and
below average voice acting make an otherwise great game into a so-so experience.
The Score:
This is a tactical shooter. That means you have to be ready to invest some time to
learn the controls which are not intuitive. A long absence from the game means
having to learn the controls all over, including how to issue commands to the various
units you’ll have at your disposal throughout the campaign. The multiplayer offering
is fun but again, long absences mean learning how to play all over again. Add in a
lengthy and difficult campaign and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
earns a 2 on the Busy Gamer scale.
Body of review:
Usually slapping Tom Clancy’s name on a box means two things, an excellent
squad based tactical shooter and a high learning curve. With Tom Clancy’s Ghost
Recon Advanced Warfighter (hereafter referred to as GRAW), the learning curve is
exceptionally high but the shooter offered is certainly below the norm for his titles.
The control scheme used for GRAW is problematic. You’ll use the D-Pad to issue
select and issue commands to the various units you control making weapon
selection somewhat difficult. Each weapon typically comes with alternate rates of fire
further compounding the issue especially should the weapon come equipped with a
grenade launcher. You’ll find yourself trying to remember which of the buttons
switches weapons or fire modes as the enemy unleashes a hail of lead and
explosives at you.
Your teammates, the other Ghosts of your squad, can be difficult to deal with as well.
Using up on the D-Pad will order them to a position while down will order them to
form up on you. The shoulder buttons allow you to control whether they hold their fire
or go “weapons free”. Left or right on the D-Pad will allow you to cycles through any
other units you may be controlling. As far as issuing squad commands, it seems
simple and it is to a point.
The problems arise when your squad actually moves into action. Ordering your team
to move behind a building, for instance, to take cover results in one of two scenarios;
in the first, only one member of your team will be able to offer fire support because
the other two members have pulled so far behind cover that they have no line of sight
on targets. In the second, the team will ignore the cover in order to take pot shots at
the enemy, remaining in the open long enough to allow the enemy to easily mow
them down.
The enemy AI, on the other hand, is well handled. Enemies will move up taking cover
as they can and use the landscape to flank you if you’re not careful. This is another
problem for your squad as they will sometimes ignore an enemy coming up behind
them to focus on the enemy you are firing on. This often results in your entire team
being taken out by one enemy while you are pinned down. And on occasion, if you
have ordered your team to hold their fire, they will allow the same enemy to bypass
them completely and take you out from behind their cover.
There are some high points to the game, of course. The weapons sounds are very
convincing and it’s fun to play with the high tech devices you have at your disposal.
Using the UAV to scout out areas you’re moving to is nice and the threat of having it
shot from the sky by alert enemies makes its use more realistic. The voice acting isn’
t bad but there are certainly some parts that will make you wonder if the person
delivering the lines actually wanted to be involved with this project.
The issues I have with the game could likely be overcome with practice, lots and lots
of practice, which is why I have to recommend the Busy Gamer pass this offering up.
There’s just too much work to be done to enjoy the game on a tight schedule.
Tom Clancy shooters typically require squad management skills. Other than that,
I’ve always enjoyed the entries in the Rainbow Six franchise. High Tech weaponry
and gadgets can only improve the package… Right?
The Short Story:
Realistic weapon sounds, decent graphics, and high tech weaponry are nice but a
clunky squad management interface, sub-par AI on the part of your team mates, and
below average voice acting make an otherwise great game into a so-so experience.
The Score:
This is a tactical shooter. That means you have to be ready to invest some time to
learn the controls which are not intuitive. A long absence from the game means
having to learn the controls all over, including how to issue commands to the various
units you’ll have at your disposal throughout the campaign. The multiplayer offering
is fun but again, long absences mean learning how to play all over again. Add in a
lengthy and difficult campaign and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
earns a 2 on the Busy Gamer scale.
Body of review:
Usually slapping Tom Clancy’s name on a box means two things, an excellent
squad based tactical shooter and a high learning curve. With Tom Clancy’s Ghost
Recon Advanced Warfighter (hereafter referred to as GRAW), the learning curve is
exceptionally high but the shooter offered is certainly below the norm for his titles.
The control scheme used for GRAW is problematic. You’ll use the D-Pad to issue
select and issue commands to the various units you control making weapon
selection somewhat difficult. Each weapon typically comes with alternate rates of fire
further compounding the issue especially should the weapon come equipped with a
grenade launcher. You’ll find yourself trying to remember which of the buttons
switches weapons or fire modes as the enemy unleashes a hail of lead and
explosives at you.
Your teammates, the other Ghosts of your squad, can be difficult to deal with as well.
Using up on the D-Pad will order them to a position while down will order them to
form up on you. The shoulder buttons allow you to control whether they hold their fire
or go “weapons free”. Left or right on the D-Pad will allow you to cycles through any
other units you may be controlling. As far as issuing squad commands, it seems
simple and it is to a point.
The problems arise when your squad actually moves into action. Ordering your team
to move behind a building, for instance, to take cover results in one of two scenarios;
in the first, only one member of your team will be able to offer fire support because
the other two members have pulled so far behind cover that they have no line of sight
on targets. In the second, the team will ignore the cover in order to take pot shots at
the enemy, remaining in the open long enough to allow the enemy to easily mow
them down.
The enemy AI, on the other hand, is well handled. Enemies will move up taking cover
as they can and use the landscape to flank you if you’re not careful. This is another
problem for your squad as they will sometimes ignore an enemy coming up behind
them to focus on the enemy you are firing on. This often results in your entire team
being taken out by one enemy while you are pinned down. And on occasion, if you
have ordered your team to hold their fire, they will allow the same enemy to bypass
them completely and take you out from behind their cover.
There are some high points to the game, of course. The weapons sounds are very
convincing and it’s fun to play with the high tech devices you have at your disposal.
Using the UAV to scout out areas you’re moving to is nice and the threat of having it
shot from the sky by alert enemies makes its use more realistic. The voice acting isn’
t bad but there are certainly some parts that will make you wonder if the person
delivering the lines actually wanted to be involved with this project.
The issues I have with the game could likely be overcome with practice, lots and lots
of practice, which is why I have to recommend the Busy Gamer pass this offering up.
There’s just too much work to be done to enjoy the game on a tight schedule.
BusyGamer Rating
GHOST RECON ADVANCED WARFARE
PLATFORM : XBOX 360
COMPANY: UBI SOFT
REVIEWER: Grits Review Main
