Customer Reviews

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Island Thunder

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you're a fan of the Ghost Recon series of games, the Island Thunder set brings your platoon-based gaming to a hostile Cuba of the future.

There's the great graphics, where each of your friends and enemies look like real people, with proper movements and actions. Your environment is misty, rainy, soggy, with detailed trees and grass. You really feel like you're crawling up the road, watching for that enemy tower.

The sound is also quite good. None of the rock-thumping rambo music here - you listen carefully for where your enemies could be hiding, and watch for signs that an ambush is being laid.

Multiplayer is where this game shines best, though. An assortment of maps, campaign types and of course a wide variety of players means that the game will stay interesting long after you exhaust the built in missions. Downloadable new maps mean that the game can be fun pretty much forever!

A warning to arcade-style button mashers - this isn't a game like Doom where you just hop in and blast away. If you try that, you'll be slain quickly and pretty disappointed. You have to learn how to work with your troops, how to approach silently, how to work out a strategy to take advantage of your strengths. This is a game that involves a lot of patience and coordination. In this game it's not the person with the fastest fingers who wins - it's the person who pays the most attention to what is going on, and plans accordingly.

By now, Live subscribers have realized that they can't escape the military prowess of Ghost Recon-so far, it's been a perfect shot of multiplayer bliss. For even more Ghost action, Island Thunder is an excellent follow-up that both hardcore players and newbies to the game can set their sights on. Island Thunder is much more than just an expansion pack. Like the PC version, the game contains eight new maps that take place in a near-future Cuba, and once unlocked, a handful of new specialists are at your control. But additional Live features overshadow even these expected extras. The most apparent are the in-game dynamic stats that continually track your gameplay. You can also play in more maps, which include several Desert Siege and original Ghost Recon levels. More weapon kits are available for each soldier, too, enabling for greater diversity in player tactics. A complete training stage is included to familiarize new recruits to the intuitive control scheme. All of Ghost Recon's sharp sights and sounds continue to stand out in Island Thunder. Again, the graphics are clearly improved upon from those in the PC version-soldiers look cleaner, and even explosions detonate much more realistically. Booming firepower from fellow gunners in an all-natural environment filled with bustling leaves and thunderous falling rain completes a great soundtrack. The best part of Island Thunder is its price tag. At $10 less than a regularly priced Xbox game, this shooter is a bargain. Though it may seem to be a simple add-on, Island Thunder has enough features to make it feel like a brand-new game.

I just bought the game yesterday and I have to say they really did a good job. I haven't gotten far into the campaign yet, but I think they've definately made it more of a challenge. Also, for those of you who like to unlock everything, this time there are only 18 items listed in the dossier (compared to the 50 that was in Ghost Recon). For the multiplayer aspect they've added a lot more weapons, especially a much better silenced sniper rifle that can actually drop enemy's without having to be a headshot. I haven't tried it online, but I'm seriously thinking about getting XBox Live after playing this game... it would be awesome online. One down side is that it is just like Ghost Recon in that if you want to play against friends using link play, it's only one player per XBox/TV!

If you enjoyed playing Ghost Recon you will find Island Thunder to be an even better game. The new weapons maps are just a small part of the expansion. The graphics have improved dramatically, the game is visually more crisp with more colors (unlike the usual green tint that overshadowed the original Ghost Recon), and the sounds have also improved (both voices and environment).
The environment completely comes alive, the clouds move and darkens the terrain when they cover the sun, the rain and lightning is extremely realistic (both visually and sound), and the terrain offers so many hidding places (great for snipers).
The AI has also improved, making the game that much more challenging (as if the realism of 1 shot kill wasn't challenging enough already).
The new maps are HUGE and extremely detailed. The new weapons are very impressive and accurate.
The multiplayer split screen mode offers a new game type, Defend (those of you who have played Ghost Recon on Xbox Live ought to be familiar with it).
With all these new improvements, this game makes the original Ghost Recon seem like a Nintendo 64 game. I don't see why anyone would go back to playing the original Ghost Recon (for the exception of a particular map that is not on Island Thunder) after playing Island Thunder.

Ok first off id like to say that this game is totally awesome. The beginning intro is beutiful. More graat missions, more killer weather effects and a pile of exellent new multiplayer maps. And yes it is compatible for X-Box live. It also is the first game to have voice activated commands so all you is get the X-box live head set and you can issue commands to your Ghosts offline or online!!! System link supports 1-16 players. The grahpics haven't really changed from the first one but its very cool to see gear dangling off the ghosts as they run. The story line is always the best when taken from a Tom Clancy Book. Don't buy this game if your not prepared to spend hours just strategising where to hit the enemy from or just where to go! The enemy AI is the best i have every seen in a game. Usually if u shoot an enemy and it misses they won't do anything but just stand there. In GRIT {Ghost Recon Island Thunder) They will hear it a run for cover behind buildings and trees. Very hard game if you like to complete the missions with no causalties. The only cons i have seen in the game are these when you shoot a guy he dies before the bullet reaches him and plants seem to get 2D when close to them. But overall its the best Squad based army game. So even if you don't have the first Ghost Recon go buy it. Well worth the money for the time and effort your gonna be puting in for this game.

First and for most...BEST GAME EVER for xbox live play. This game was so good on SO many levels. The single player campaign was fun...not insanely great, but fun...."ghost recon fun." This is one of those games that is truly addicting and, in its day, got plenty of Xbox Live play. This game was actually the reason I signed up for an Xbox Live account, and without it, who knows what I'd be playing today.

Okay, so, in its time, this game had pretty good graphics. You look back at them now and they don't look too hot, but when it first came out it was awesome. Other than that, I think the best thing about this game was its multiplayer aspects. Not only were the maps great, but all the different modes of play were great. I remember when this game was popular, SO many people played it, and it was obvious why. Another great thing about this game is the fact that it is a very tactical shooter and not so run and gun like most FPS games out on the market today. Overall, this game is great and even today it stands up as a great shooter. If more people played on Live (well, any at all) I think I might find myself playing this game quite a bit!

9.0 Presentation
This game was presented very well. The menus were very easy to use and were pretty clean cut and simple - GREAT! Doing things like joining games and checking friends list was never a hassle.

8.0 Graphics
Back when this game came out, the graphics of this game were very good. I think if I were judging the graphics in todays world, I would score them pretty low, because, obviously, they don't stand up.

7.0 Sound
The sound effects and music in the game were good. They seemed to fit the game and mood and were good in its time. Overall...pretty good!

9.0 Gameplay
This game played SO well and the fact that it stayed "tactical" makes it even better. I loved the gameplay over Xbox Live and its multiplayer aspects were fantastic.

10 Lasting Appeal
In its day, this game was played SO much that it definately had lasting appeal. I "over"played this game until the day GR2 came out (which wasn't that great) and finally Halo 2 took over my life!!!

This game improves on alot of the errors from the first gameand ads alot more. 8 missions will take about 2 hrs to beat, but since I got it for 15 bucks it was worth it. I dont have time to sit around for hrs on end playing on Live so I cant really give this game a higher rating do to its lack of single player missions.

Graphics are much better, enhancements to the interface are plentiful. Plethora of new guns to choose from. Only major drawback is that it seems to encounter a lot of connection problems - no more than the first version, but I was really hoping they'd improve in that area.

Ghost Recon Island Thunder is not the squad-based, tactical shooter you would expect it to be. It's not a bad game as long as you're not buying it for the squad tactics. It's not a run and gun game. It's realistic in many ways, such as the absence of medkits that will heal you instantly. A well placed head or torso shot can kill you. What disappointed me is the lack of control you have over your squad in the campaign mode, and the complete absence of it in multi-player versus mode. In the single player campaign mode, you are in charge of 6 soldiers. One would think that just like in any standard squad-shooter, GRIT would allow you to directly control one of the six while being able to give specific commands to the rest of the squad. But in reality the six soldiers are divided into 2 teams of 3, called Alpha and Bravo. You can directly control any of the six, but you CANNOT control the two other soldiers in your team. Say, you're in Alpha. You cannot order anyone in alpha to stay, follow, or go somewhere specific. They will always follow you wherever you go. If you stand, they stand. If you go prone, so will they. You do have the ability to command Bravo. You can tell them to go anywhere in the map in however way you want them to. You can even assign the level of their aggression. But sadly, you CANNOT give individual commands. You can only order the 3. So in reality, this is a two-man squad shooter, giving you direct control of one man (Alpha) while giving you command over the other (Bravo). While the limited squad control isn't too terrible in the single-player campaign mode, it's a total disgrace in the multi-player mode. In generic squad-based, 4-man-squad games such as Brute Force or Conflict Desert Storm you can have any member of your team either follow, stand their ground, or go somewhere specific. You can assign a sniper to stand back while you have one guard the gate you're about to go through just in case someone tries to run after you. You can then have the other member follow you as you move forward. In that set up, you have a sniper covering your back, a hidden teammate to blind side on rushing enemies, and a buddy right on your tail for extra firepower and added protection. In GRIT, the only option you have is no option. Your 2 teammates will mimic everything that you do. You cannot spread them out, so if someone finds you and uses a grenade, you're all dead. As a solo affair with no teammates GRIT is as realistic as you can get. But to advertise it as a squad-based game is simply a lie. On the minor points, the interface of GRIT is an absolute nightmare. It's as confusing as they come. I will not even begin to try to explain it, as thinking about it alone is confusing enough. And speaking of more confusion, the radar system in GRIT for tracking down enemies is a distraction at best. At its worst, the radar in GRIT will just get you lost and frustrated. It's supposed to tell you the general direction of where your enemy could be. But it points you to the HEMISPHERE your enemy could be hiding in. In some situations, you could almost do a complete 180 and the radar's pointer still won't change. Also, call me an idiot, but in the campaign mode there was a part that made me spent 20 minutes running around looking for the enemy, only to find out that the radar has been detecting a stationary enemy jeep with two dead machine gunners on them! That was bad.
Overall, the in-game presentation of GRIT is impressive enough for anyone to at least keep on giving it a try, often times questioning themselves if there's something wrong with them because they can't quite get into the game. But the absence of control over your squads and other minor logic flaws interfere with what could've been the game of the eyar.

Ghost Recon: Island Thunder is an expansion pack to the Xbox game, Ghost Recon. Like the original, you are part of a squad of four US "Ghosts". The graphics, which were excellent, have much stayed the same. This game plays like the orginal, in which you can try to use stealth, or a guns-blazing approach, although stealth is preferred. It does not require the original game to play.

Like the first one, Ghost Recon: Island Thunder will support online play, via Xbox Live. There will be a lot more multiplayer maps. If you liked the first one, I suggest buying this. Also, if you liked SOCOM on PS2, you will also like this.