Eastern Europe: 2008 Once again the world teeters on the brink
of war. Right wing nationalists have taken over Moscow and are on a mission
to rebuild the former Soviet Union. One by one, the former
Soviet satellite states fall back into control of the U.S.S.R. A nervous free
world sits on the sidelines. You are a member of US Special Forces
Group 5, First Battalion, D Company. Equipped with the highest
tech battlefield gear produced, and trained with the latest covert warfare techniques,
your team is invisible, silent, and merciless. You and your team are “Ghosts.”

Your mission: stop these godless communists! Voted
PC Game of The Year 2001 by IGN PC and PC Gamer,
Ubi Soft brings this different first person shooter to the
Xbox with full Xbox Live support. Not a typical FPS, this game brings
a welcome new team based element to console gaming. Team work is critical. Try
charging into a room full of ruskie’s here, and your going back to the US in
a body bag faster than you can say “die, commie!“

From street figthing urban combat, to rescuing shot down pilots in the wilderness,
Ghost Recon puts you in the role of an elite US special forces
member. You are on the front lines of this new threat to the stability of world
peace. You will be assigned various missions in order to stop these fascists
from there goal: world domination. Your platoon is the best trained and most
experienced Green Berets on the face of the earth, the only ones that can take
on and neutralize this threat. So let’s see what this game has to offer eager
Xbox fans!

Gameplay

Ghost
Recon has 15 single player missions, but where it really shines
is on Xbox Live. Single player allows you to control your squad mates, while
on Xbox Live you can compete against your friends or all together in a fantastic
co-op mode. Up to 16 players can get together with system link.

The first time you start the game you will be taken to the dossier
screen. This is where you create your player profile. Your dossier also contains
50 tasks you need to complete in single player missions to
unlock new weapons, specialist characters, and more maps that can be used in
multiplayer.

Game modes are composed of Training, which allows you to familiarize
yourself with the controls and controlling teammates, Campaign, to
start a new campaign or pick up where you left off, Quick Mission,
which allows you to play through the maps of Ghost Recon with different play
styles (Mission, Firefight, Recon), and Multiplayer.

When you start a single player campaign you will need to setup your platoon
to properly complete the mission successfully. The mission briefing will let
you know what type of specialists are required to complete the mission. The
different specialists in the game are the rifleman, the sniper,
support members, and demolition experts. You can have Ghost
Recon auto assign these platoon members, or equip them individually to your
own tastes.

In
game your character can walk upright, crouch, or go prone for better accuracy
and to make you a harder target to hit. Don’t play like you would in UC
or Halo, one bullet is often all that is needed to end your soldiers life, just
like in real life! As you advance in Campaign mode, you build up the stats
of your soldiers by assigning them combat points. Combat points
are rewards given to soldiers for accomplishing missions. As you accomplish
special tasks through the course of the campaign, you can unlock the hero (specialist)
characters, who increase the capabilities of your platoon through the use of
new weapons and heightened skills. Soldiers are also equipped with night vision
goggles.

You also have a command interface, map included, that allows you command
your platoon. You can also set way points for your team, including the ability
to set which direction your soldiers are facing when they reach the way point.Rules
of Engagement (ROE’s) can be assigned to your squad mates for both
movement (hold, advance, advance at all costs) and combat (recon,
assault, suppress).

Xbox Live

The
real fun starts when you play multiplayer with Xbox Live! Working
together as a team with the voice communicator is really what squad-based battlefield
combat is all about. Calling out for cover fire, backup, or letting your friends
know where the enemy is located is easy as pushing a button and barking
out orders! You have your choice of cooperative games (mission, firefight,
recon), team games (last man standing, search and rescue, hamburger hill, domination,
siege), and solo games (last man standing, sharpshooter, hamburger hill, cat
and mouse). Of course on Xbox Live you can still use quick match, optimatch,
and create a match.

The only thing that I don’t like about the gameplay is that you don’t see your
weapon on the screen. You have a target reticule with pips that converge when
you have your best aim on an enemy.

Ghost Recon Screenshot Ghost Recon Screenshot Ghost Recon Screenshot Ghost Recon Screenshot Ghost Recon Screenshot

Graphics / Presentation

The graphics in this game are pretty much identical to the PC
version. It’s too bad they didn’t try to improve on them somewhat. Levels are
huge, mainly outdoors with lush vegetation including trees and bushes that sway
in the wind. Draw distance is superb. Collision detection seems to be dead on.
Soldiers look good, but are not the best we have seen on the Xbox. The same
can be said about Tanks and APC’s. All in all it looks good, but we Xboxer’s
are spoiled with the graphics from other games, so it is a little bit of a down
point.

Audio

The sound in game is great. If a grenade or rocket goes of nearby you, your
hearing is temporarily muffled. This adds an awesome amount of realism to the
game, especially if you have a Dolby 5.1 sound system. Ambient noises are pretty
well done, you will hear birds chirping in the trees and the sound of wind.
Weapon sounds are ultra-realistic. Music? You can’t be listening to music
out on the battlefield, soldier! Custom sound tracks are not an option.

Control / Playability

Seems that Halo left a lot of developers out there with
what could be considered the best control scheme for a console controller FPS.
Looking and moving are exactly the same. You use the D-pad to change your stance
from standing, to crouching, to going prone. Right trigger fires your weapon,
left trigger is used for the command menu and map. A is used to reload, B to
cycle your kit (weapons), X for night vision, and Y to cycle soldiers. The black
button is used to change your weapons rate of fire, and the white button is
used to communicate on Xbox Live. Zooming in with your scope is familiar, it’s
done by pressing in the right stick.

Replay Value

While the single player campaigns might offer some replay
value, with the unlocking of specialists and new weapons, this game has infinite
replay value on Xbox Live. Playing team based missions is mega fun, just remember
not to step into one of your teammates line of fire! So many different mission
types will have you and your Live friends online for hours at a time. This game
is a keeper that will have you coming back for more and more.

Overall Score

Overall
Score: 9.0/10 [Not an Average] Highly
Recommended

Additional Comments

Anyone that has Xbox Live needs to have Ghost Recon also.
Moving around at night with your night vision goggles on, with all your buds
on Live is what the Xbox was designed to do. Voice communication in a game like
this is absolutely necessary. Working as a team has never been more fun. One
of the things I really love about the game is how sound is muffled for a few
seconds after a big explosion, it’s the next best thing to being on the battlefield!
So stand at attention, soldier, and go get yourself a copy of Ghost
Recon! – Gronar

When I first heard about Ghost Recon, I never thought I would end up getting
it because I’ve never been good at Tom Clancy games. However with Ghost Recon
I found myself immersed when playing with others on Live. It was so unlike many
of the games I have played before. There was no overly glorified heroes; no
menacing looking evil monsters; just the real thing. This game takes patience
and tactics and if you think you can just run in with guns blaring you’re as
good as dead. This game rocks. – UnknownHero

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